After a great time in Houston, we set out for Galveston at about 11am Sunday morning. The drive took about an hour, and then…

Hi Galveston!

We parked our car (at Galveston Park N Cruise, $65 for a whole week, inside, and RIGHT across from the port.  Like, RIGHT across from the port!) and then dropped off our luggage to be taken aboard the ship.  Then, we stood in an insanely long line, outside, that I forgot to take pictures of.  The crazy line moved pretty quickly though, and we were soon inside…and in another long line, that I couldn’t take pictures of.  Then we went through metal detectors, and had our water shaken to make sure it wasn’t liquor (o_O).  Then, we got in ANOTHER line, to get our Sail N Sign cards, and have our picture taken, so that they could verify who we were when we got on and off at ports.  THEN we were able to get on the ship,  and go to our room, which we either didn’t get a picture of, or lost the memory card or something.

Anyway, we washed up, changed, and started exploring the ship!  The first night, there was a dance party for the kids, hosted by Camp Carnival, which is the program for kids 2-11.  Izzy got down!

And won a medal for her awesome dancing:

Go Izzy!

Those kids were jamming!  And y’all…they played the Casper slide!  THAT’S what I should have gotten video of, lol!

Anyway, after that, we were all tired, so we were back to the room for the night:

To watch some Pocoyo

But not before checking out the balcony

Then ending up like this

And waking up to look out of the window

Y’all, I have such a struggle getting Izzy to get into the bath tub….but she sees the ocean, and says “Swim, swim, help, mommy, wanna swim!” O_O

The next day was a sea day, and we took Izzy to Camp Carnival to be with her group (2-5yo) as soon as they opened.  She barely had time to say bye to us once she saw those other kids, lol.

I circled her, lol

Then Byron and I went to explore the ship some: (And apparently didn’t notice the smudge on the camera lens for a while O_O)

We Looked at (yea, just looked) the outdoor track and workout area

Pretty carved fruit at the buffet

Not pictured is Byron hurting his ankle at the basketball court while I was off checking out the (overpriced) spa

Picked up Izzy for lunch..

A Hairy Chest Contest on the pool deck O_O

And soon is was time to go get ready for dinner, which was one of the Elegant nights!

Towel Elephant!

Always wipe the bottoms of your feet after lotioning, so you dont slide around in your ridiculous shoes!

And watch for chocolate stealing babies!

We woke up in Cozumel the next day!

We dropped Izzy at Camp Carnival and went off to do our Beginners Snorkeling excursion! We stopped and got a crappy underwater disposable on the way.

Y'all have NO idea how much bravery it took to for me to take one hand off of that floatie to do a thumbs up. I can't swim, and we were in DEEP water!

I have no idea why we didnt take out the mouthpiece for this picture, lol!

  Then we went back to the ship and got Izzy, who promptly fell asleep on the (FRIGHTENING, SEATBELTLESS) cab ride to the beach

Excuse the quality, this was scanned in. That thing is REAL and creepy, and feels really awful to touch. Izzy...didn't meet it, lol!

She woke up to eat though, lol

And to see the beach for the first time in her life (and mine!)

And play in the sand, and taste the ocean

and NOT cooperate for a picture with mommy!

And a wave knocked mommy down while taking this one with daddy, lol

Next up is Grand Cayman, and Jamaica!

Very, VERY early on Friday, the 13th of January, we set out on for our vacation!

After about a 8-9 hour drive, we arrived at our hotel, the Aloft by W, in Houston, TX. (this photo is a night shot, from my cellphone.)

There was a slight bit of drama, as we had called ahead to ask about checking in early, and were told it would be fine.  It wasn’t. There weren’t any rooms available. BUT they did have one available within the hour, so it turned out ok. The room was great, and in a great location (very close to the Galleria mall, just a very short walk away!)

The Lobby at the Aloft

While in Houston, we:

Ate at the Cheesecake Factory (for the first time)

Crab Wontons and Calamari

Izzy NOT eating her food, lol.

Lousiana Chicken Pasta. Yummy!

Visited the Water Wall

It's cold over here!

Byron being silly

Shopped (window) at the Galleria

This is a big sign!

Walking, Walking!

This is a lot of freaking stores!

Jumped up and Down

Ate at the Breakfast Klub

This line, in the cold? This food better be good!

Finally made it inside, but still a line!

Delicious chicken and waffles! Well worth the wait!

Slept

All tired out!

Ate at Pappadeaux (We actually walked to Pappadeaux from the hotel, thinking it was closer than it was.  It was only 1 mile, but in the cold, and bundled up in a heavy coat, so…yeah.  But, on the way back, I had downed a rather large drink, so I’m pretty sure it was the fastest mile ever, lol!)

Fried Alligator

Boutin

Big Bay Platter

King Crab with Pasta

Swamp Thing. Peep the Sippy cup in the background, lol!

Checked out the View

We had an absolute blast in Houston!

I’m linking up with Mimi over at Lipgloss and Binky this week for her Frugal.Fab.Friday meme!

As you may know from recent posts, I wear a size 11 in shoes. So, I usually can’t find shoes in my size in most stores. Target is one of the few places that I can usually find my size, so when I found myself there Thursday night, of course I had to check their merchandise. And what do I see? A glorious, glorious clearance sign! (Byron says I have “clearance glasses”.  I can spot a clearance sign from anywhere in a store, lmbo) Then I spotted these boots!:

Usually $40 on clearance for $11.98. Praise.the.LAWD!  I even tweeted that there was no way they weren’t coming home with me.

And wellll…. they come home with me!

And that’s my fab deal this week!

Ok, my fashionista friends, I need some assistance.  Like I’ve mentioned before, I can’t really put together a fab outfit.  At least I don’t think.  But I don’t want to look crazy!  So, here is what I’ve put together so far. Un-ironed, rather blurry, bad pictures, because I was in a hurry.  But they’re good enough to get the idea!

Please, offer your opinion on if I need to move things around, if I need some different items, if I need to take things away.  How should I accessorize? I may have to update this tomorrow with better, unhurried pictures, because there are a few things that I didn’t end up photographing.

I kinda loved this. Snagged on clearance at Kohls for $6, down from like $50!

This is less boring than it looks in this picture, I promise! The top has a cute open crochet detail at the back!

I dont know why this is SO blurry! But the top has little metal medallions all over, which makes the detail that you see up top.

Again, I don't know know why so blurry!

Attack of the blur, again! *sigh*

And here are my “summer” shoe options!

My crazy, crazy sale finds! From L-R, $16, $14, $24 for both pairs of sandals, $7, and are you ready? $2!!

So, there we go! HELP ME!! Is there hope for these outfits?

I am TIRED.  We’re about 10 days away from our vacation, and we are just now getting into planning mode full swing. I took a little time this weekend to put together outfits, and try everything on to make sure it looked like I thought it would.  It didn’t, of course, so it was back to the drawing board for some outfits.  I’m going to put together a post, with pictures, and hopefully you ladies can give me some insight.  I’m not a fashionista, but I want to look good, so I may need a little help!

I was supposed to be done with work until February, so that I could pack, plan, and prepare for the cruise.  Yesterday was supposed to be the last day.  But that’s not happening.  *sigh*

I feel ah.maz.ing now that I’ve been off of my birth control for about a month.  I had no idea that I was being affected SO much by it. I feel like I came out of a fog!  I feel so much more laid back, my relationship with hubby is improving, and not that you want to know, but my sex drive is through the roof, lmbo.  So, i don’t think another hormonal birth control is in my future.

I really have to get myself back on my healthy eating/workout grind.  I know I probably won’t make any real progress until after we return from our trip, but I have it on my mind, which will help me make better choices.

I have LOVED having my Senegalese twists this past month or so.  I took them down yesterday to wash my hair, and my hair is noticeably longer.  I was a little freaked out my how much I shed, but I had to remind myself that it was actually a whole month’s worth of shedding.  I’ll be re-doing that same style some time this week.  My head is pretty sore for about the first week, and I want to be used to them before we go!

Are any of you located in Houston, or familiar with the area?  We would love to check out some great restaurants or sights while we’re there, so any suggestions would be appreciated!

I got new glasses!  I’m pretty sure I’ll be vlogging at some point this week, to show them off!

We’re redoing Izzys room!  In addition to the yellow that is already there, I incorporated pink and green (using her tissue pos from her birthday) and started new bedding, and Byron has built her a beautiful tv stand, with cubbies for storage.  Instead of the regular store bought cube baskets, I made the baskets, using different fun fabrics in different colors.  It just needs to be painted now!

I have had THE hardest time finding cute sandals this time of the year.  I’ve been on basically every site I can find, and every store we have locally.  I finally, FINALLY found what I was looking for at Rack Room Shoes,and I was able to find 3 pairs of cute flat sandals for about $45. SCORE!  What do ya’ll know about the size 11 struggle?  Not to mention, I randomly found two SUPER cute pairs of heeled sandals at a local boutique, on clearance.  $1.99 for one pair, $6.99 for the other. Yep!

I’ll be posting a review/giveaway for Silky Wraps this week!  Be on the lookout.  Also, you ladies who I’m supposed to sending the Covergirl items, I have NOT forgotten about you, lol, just been crazy busy.  I’ll be emailing you for addresses, and sending out your items when I send out the package for this giveaway!

Hope your 2012 is off to a great start!

So, we ended up taking the party on the road, to my mom’s house. Which ended up for the best, because there was a MAJOR standstill on the interstate, due to roadwork, and I would have been really upset if our parents had been the ones in traffic for (extra)hours, instead of us.

I was up until midnight Friday night making this cake:

Which is think is QUITE adorable, for my first time working with (homemade) marshmallow fondant. And making these cupcakes:

With homemade buttercream frosting, which was OMG good, as was the cake! I used the recipe here: Rose’s Favorite Yellow Cake and it was just amazing!

I also made these:

Which are candy dipped pretzels and oreo pops. The brown is milk chocolate, and the white are vanilla candy melts. The drizzles are dark chocolate for the brown, and white chocolate, colored in pink and green.

I didn’t get nearly the pictures that I wanted to, because everything was a little on the hectic side, due to the last minute change of location, but overall, everyone had a great time, and all of the food was yummy!

On Born Day:

1st Birthday:

And Today!

Happy Birthday my sweet Izzy!

So I scrapped the first cookies and tried again. I’m very pleased! They aren’t perfect, but they’re cute, so I’m happy, and proud to serve them! And Izzy helped this time. If you consider using placemats to slide across the floor, pulling out all of your tupperware, and making a milk puddle to stomp in to be help. Once she saw the finished products, she had a little meltdown about “baby bird cookies”, lol, so least they’re recognizable to kids,lmbo!

I am a DIY’er, to the core.  I won’t pay anyone to do anything that I can (reasonably) do for myself.  With that said, I’ve realized that for every DIY’er, and crafter, there sometimes comes a moment when you understand that all crafts aren’t for you.  Yep.

Today, for the first time, I attempted to make fancy iced sugar cookies,like over at Sweet Sugar Belle, and Sweetopia.  I didn’t think it looked easy, by any means.  But I DID, however, think I could do it.  So I made my sugar cookies.  Burned the first batch, even though I was in the kitchen, standing right by the oven, the whole time.  So, I made them again, and baked them perfectly.  They even taste really good! Let them cool almost all day, then I made my royal icing.  Mixed my colors, and started icing.   It was all downhill from there.  Maybe my icing was too thick.  Or too thin.  Maybe it’s because I hurt my back earlier, and bending over my counter had me in agony.  Maybe the tendinitis in my wrists was keeping me from having a steady hand.  Or maybe, just maybe, decorating cookies is not.for.me.  There’s a lot of possibilites for what could have gone wrong.  Maybe all of these, or none of these, I don’t know.  But I DO know that these:

are some crazy looking cookies.  I don’t know if my perfectionist nature (when it comes to this type of thing) will let me serve these at Izzy’s party.  Who knows, maybe they’ll look better in the morning. #sideeye.  To be fair, the brown ones aren’t finished, I’m supposed to turn those into owls.  We’ll see how that goes tomorrow.  Right now, I think the most likely scenario is that they’ll be scrapped, completely.  I really hope that the whole fondant thing turns out better than this did.

I was really, really excited to this.  By the time I decided I was done trying to salvage these, I was so disheartened, and my back was hurting so badly!  I may or may not have eaten a whole bag of mini-donuts and listened to break-up music while I stared at these. (I didnt do that. {Ok, so I did do that.  Just the donuts though.})  I really don’t even know how the crazy design came about.  Half of those had a pink base at first, but the green icing on the pink base looked a little too much like mold to me.   I should have gotten a picture of THAT.

I still have the cake, cupcakes, candy-dipped pretzels, and oreo pops.  So, it’s not a really big deal if I scrap the cookies.  It’s just so disappointing!  I guess you can’t win them all though. *sigh* anyway though….I’m going to take a painkiller for my back, and revisit these in the morning.  I may even just throw it all away and start over, on a smaller scale.  Who knows, maybe I just need practice?

Ok, so first, the weird angle is because I used my cell phone to film this, and holding it, instead of finding something to prop it against, like a normal person.

Second, I realize that my voice sounds really deep and raspy in this, lol! I am SO, SO tired behind only getting like 4-5 hours of sleep last night, so I believe that’s the culprit.

Third. I really do have a southern drawl, lmbo!

So, I’m the the thick of preparing for Izzy’s birthday, on the 16th! We’ll be having a little party for her on the 16th, and of course, I’m going totally DIY with her decor! The theme that I settled on is Owls & Polka Dots, in a color scheme of pink, brown, and green! I wanted to share a few of the printables that I designed for her party!

Cupcake Toppers:

Water Bottle Sticker labels:

Cupcake Wrappers:

Tent cards, for the food and desserts!

And, her iron-on for her birthday shirt!

By popular demand, here is the recipe for Gorilla Bread!  This is a Paula Deen Recipe, so unless you have major discipline when it comes to sweets, I wouldn’t recommend making this unless you have guests or something coming! Here is a link to the original recipe, but I’ll post it here, with my notes also!

Paula Deen’s Gorilla Bread

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (I only used about 1/2 stick of butter, after reading the comments on the recipe, that it was a little “greasy”)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar (Only used 3/4 cup)
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count) (I used 4 cans of biscuits, plain, store brand, no flaky layers, or butter flavor.  Just plain biscuits!  There wasn’t enough cream cheese to fill all of these, I just alternated between filled and unfilled)
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (I used about 1 cup of nuts total, and pecans instead of walnuts)

Directions

So. My child is crazy. Really. She comes running to me, and says “nassy nose, mommy. Tissue”. So, ok. I get the tissue, and pick her up to look at her nose. Looks clean. I tilt her back, to look inside. O_o. She had a lucky charm cereal piece in her nose. Not the marshmallow though, the other, ones. O_o. So,i get a pair of tweezers, and lay her back, thinking I can grab it. *sideeye* no luck. She won’t be still , and the struggle is pushing it further back.
So, I call Byron, and he comes home, to see if he can hold her, while I pull it out. But by the time he gets home, it’s even further back. So far, that we question if it’s still there. Out comes the flashlight. It’s still there. Izzy and I are at the pediatrician. I’m praying they don’t say anything about an xray.  So…yeah..I’ll update later. With lighter pockets. All over a piece of friggin cereal.

*update- So, the pediatrician said it was too far back for her to get it .  BUT, since it was cereal, and gets mushy when wet, she said we probably don’t have anything to worry about.  If it had been like..a pea, or a piece of meat, she would have sent me to an ENT Specialist.  So, we just have to watch her for any signs of infection, at which point she would DEFINITELY have to go see the specialist, but as it stands now, they think she’ll be perfectly ok.  She did, however have to get a flu shot.  I was going to put it off until after her 2nd birthday, when they could just do the mist.  BUT, that was before we decided we were going to take a cruise. I feel that it’s better for her to get it now, so that it has time to work into her system before we take her on the ship with ALL of those people.  Plus, if she gets sick (which I doubt) she’ll have plenty of time to recover!  So, no more cereal for Izzy, at least not any that’s small enough to go up her nose! (You’d think that after the sticker situation, she wouldn’t put anything else up there, but…ah, kids!)*

So! My Thanksgiving dinner went really well!  All of my dishes turned out well, and aside from a slight turkey-juice-spilling-on-the-bottom-of-the-oven-causing-flames-and-a-kitchen-full-of-smoke incident, there were no mishaps!  The menu went as planned, except for the replacement of the pound cake with carrot cake cupcakes.  I was so busy that I neglected to get all but THE most random pictures from the day.

We put up our Christmas Tuesday night, since I knew that I would be cooking all day long on Wednesday.  (sidenote, I had no idea that I could get SO tired just from cooking.  I was on my feet, in the kitchen for about 6 hours.  I felt like dying afterward!  I used to cook for a restaurant, where I was responsible for all of the hot buffet.  I was cooking for 8-9 hours a day, 5 days a week then.  I’ve lost EVERY piece of that stamina, lol!)

We really need to replace this tree.  It’s the little one that we bought last year, for our apartment, and it is wayyy too small for the house, lol!  It only stands higher than the mantle because of the tree topper!  It will work well enough for this year, but next year we’ll get a big, pre-lit one, and maybe put this one in Izzy’s room, and let her decorate it however she wants to.  Or do like the other people in the neighborhood, and put it on the front porch. o_O Yep.  Lighter, fully decorated trees, on the front porch.  Some people even wrapped boxes and put them under the tree. They’re fancy over here, lol!

Izzy didn’t get to wear the dress that I bought her for the day, because it was actually too hot for a sweater dress, at least inside the house.  She still looked cute in her little jeans though!

It’s about to start getting very busy around here!

The random assortment of things that will (hopefully) come together for a beautiful tablescape.

I’ve got everything I “think” I need for my Thanksgiving tablescape. Except…well, the tables. We’ll pick those up on Wednesday, along with the chairs. We picked up the carpet cleaner today, and I’m going to do that when Izzy wakes up from her nap. We’ll put up the Christmas decorations either tomorrow or Wednesday (I know, I know, you’re supposed to wait until the day after Thanksgiving. But if I wait, our parents probably won’t get to see our house decorated for Christmas, because we’re going to them for Izzy’s birthday in a few weeks, and then spending Christmas here at home, with just us. I WANT MY MOMMA TO SEE MY TREE….so…yeah…)

I’m trying to decide when I need to start my prep work for all of the cooking I’m planning to do.  The turkey has been in the fridge since Friday. I’m crossing my fingers that it’s ready to go into a brine tomorrow. It still feels…solid, lol. I may have to let it soak in cold water in the sink for a while tomorrow.

I should probably take the ham out of the freezer tonight.  Other than the turkey and ham, the menu plan is:

• Greens (a mix of mustard and turnip)
• Dressing
• Baked Macaroni and Cheese
• Roasted Veggies (Butternut Squash, Red Potatoes, Carrots)
• Buttered Corn
• Bacon Wrapped Green Beans
• “Real” Cranberry Sauce
• Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Pecan Pie
• and an undecided dessert.  I was going to a Cream Cheese Pound cake, but I did a test run of the recipe, and the cake was pretty dry.  I made some mistakes (not letting my cream cheese, butter, and eggs get to room temperature before doing my mixing, which the more experienced bakers say can ruin a pound cake), so I’m not sure if I want to try it again, or just scrap it.  If I make it, I definitely have to send it home with the guests, because I will eat it ALL.  So..yeah, lol.

I feel like I need more veggies or something.  I may sneak into the grocery store insanely early tomorrow or Wednesday and grab some brussels sprouts or something.  I also need to do some type of bread.  I have a package of yeast in the cabinet, so I may try to find a good recipe I can do on my own.  Since I have my guests coming rather early, I’m also making a spinach dip and some pinwheel sandwich thingies to serve as snacks.  I should probably get a fruit platter or something too. Maybe.

Also, be forewarned, my sappy post about what I’m thankful for is going to be coming soon!  I know you guys are probably gonna do them too, so don’t judge me, lol!

How are your holiday preparations coming along?

The lovely Mrs. Pancakes, over at The Adventures of Team Pancakes! is featuring me today, as a part of her Inspire Me! series!  I was very excited when she asked me to do the interview, especially because it was right around a time that I was feeling a little dazed about what I wanted to do, career wise.  Answering the interview questions made me realize that…. I kinda actually know what I’m doing, lol!  It really opened my eyes, about myself, and my business, so thank you, Mrs. Pancakes!  I was able to inspire myself too!

So please, ladies and gents(?), go check me out!

Inspire Me Series: Christina/Visual Luxe

• Yeah, so, at first I had named this post Wednesday randoms.  Only..it’s not Wednesday.  It’s Thursday. Ok. lmbo!
• We bought a totally monster turkey. 24lbs.  I’m feeding 9 adults, 1 teenage boy, 2 preteen boys, and a seriously cute toddler.  And I plan on sending everyone who doesn’t live here home with a plate.  I’m not a big fan of turkey, so I really need it to be taken of.  That turkey, along with a ham that Byron insisted on, cost almost what I spend on groceries for a whole week around here.  I host big dinners just far enough apart that I forget how expensive it is.  I still have to buy all of the rest of the groceries too!
• I’ve gotta find Izzy something cute to wear for Thursday!
• I am really starting to feel burnt out!  This vacation can’t come soon enough! we’re about 60 (maybe 50 something) days out, and I’m very excited!  We’ll be staying 2 nights in Houston, then driving to Galveston the morning of cruise departure.  7 days, Western Caribbean, on the Carnival Magic!  We’ve paid for the cruise (without adding any debt, of course), and booked the hotel, and…that’s it.  Haven’t bought a single article of cruise wear, don’t even own luggage.  We should probably get on that.  Sooner than later.
• Izzy has been very possessive of MY phone lately. Demanding “BIRDS!” (Angry Birds), or painting, or balloon popping.  She has also been learning to use a digital camera.  Here’s a picture she took of me yesterday.  She insisted that I hold Frank!
• I am SO ready to start decorating for Christmas!  I’ve decided to go bright and shiny, pink, teal, and silver!  I think Izzy will love it, and I’m going to do my best to make the decorations fun without going tacky.  But that’s part of the fun, right?  We’re thinking about doing LED lights, but do they really save any money?

That’s all for now!  I need to work on my ridiculous fabulous Thanksgiving menu.  I’ve created a spreadsheet.  Yes, I’m crazy.

As a BzzAgent, I was given the opportunity the try several different offerings from  the Private Selection brand, which (for me) are available at my local Kroger store.  The people over at BzzAgent notified me that my vouchers had been loaded to my Kroger card (isn’t that cool?!), so I went to the store to pick up some things to try!

From the dessert options, I decided to try the Pineapple Upside down cake.  It looked good enough on the package, but…it’s frozen cake.  My expectations weren’t that high.

I checked out:

And then got those bad boys home to try them out!  Cute little things, huh?

Microwave for 1 minute, and then let stand:

Then flip over and eat! (But let it cool a little.  I burned my greedy little tongue on the first bite, lmbo)

This was very, very, VERY good.  And at a whopping 430 calories, it had BETTER been.  The only reason I was able to eat this is because I had been so busy all day that I barely ate!  I personally wouldn’t buy it again, but ONLY because of the calorie/sugar content.  If you’re not concerned about that, I would definitely recommend!  Byron thought it was really good as well!  They only cost 2.99 for the box (2.49 with a Kroger card), which is a good price for a yummy dessert for 2!

I was able to try 2 more products, and I’ll share my experience with those after we eat them!  All of the opinions are, and will be 100% my own.  The products were provided to me, free of charge, as a BzzAgent.