This is our happy dance

School: done
Finals: finished
Babysitting: done at 4pm today
Stressing: over with!
Husband: relaxed and not sure what to do with himself
Brinley: super happy and keeps telling Ryan "I missed you Daddy"
Me: pumped to have my husband (and the macbook pro) back home for good ;-)

Now we can really start celebrating Christmas!
Can you believe there is only 9 days left until Christmas!??!?!?!

Enjoy Brinley's happy dance, AND her singing the ABC song :-)



Look at all our Christmas cards!! How exciting!! We got 8 in one day. EIGHT! It was insane. We love them all.

You can see ours on the bottom left, second up. I got more cards than envelopes for some reason so I decided to put one on the cabinets! I love looking at them all!

Truth Tuesday: The E.L.F.'s came early

I don't know how I found this wonderful makeup website, e.l.f., but they were have a wild deal 2-3 weeks ago that I jumped on. Everything was 50% off. Holy. Cow.

I'm not one to buy expensive makeup in the first place, and on the rare occasion I do, I stick to the same colors. This was the perfect, and cheap, opportunity for me to step outside my boring box.

Hence, all lipsticks were 50 CENTS. 

I bought 3. I think I am obsessed.
The lipstick isn't high quality, but for a bit of color for special occasions ie. church, dates, parties, play dates,  out clubbing...you know me :-) it is a perfect 3ish hour length lipstick.

aaaaand, if you're wondering why my hair is parted down the middle. Let me tell you a story of a girl who has always had a nasty cowlick right in the middle of her hair line. She has always battled with side parts, and swallowing the sad fact that bangs will never be an option. So, she is embracing her middle part again.

The worst part? Brinley inherited that cowlick. In the saaaaame spot as mine. CRY!

Opening Presents Video

We, I mean, Brinley, opened her Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Steele last night. I didn't know what was inside the gift bags, but I am so glad we decided to open them because Brinley has been busy non-stop with her new toys. It was the perfect way to start out our last week of school, work, and responsibilities!



Vegetarian Chili Recipe

I feel like I have been complaining about this Florida "fall/winter" weather for a long time. FINALLY, the temps have dropped into the 50-60's and it is beautiful. I hate that my blood is so thin now because I am SO cold all the time and it hasn't even dropped below 50 during the day! Pathetic!! Granted, the humid "cold" is much different than a dry "cold," like in the west. Humid cold goes straight into your bones, I swear. It is bitter cold. But still...we are totally pathetic.

This chili is the perfect thing to make on cold days. The original recipe is from Martha Stewart, but since I'm not a huge fan of zucchini in chili's, I decided to change around a few things.

What you'll need:

1 medium yellow onion, diced medium

1 orange or red pepper (orange is the best!)

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped (that is a looot. I do about 1-2 tsp of my favorite jarred garlic)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (or water! I'm trying to eliminate extra oils)

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

coarse salt and ground pepper

1/2 can tomato sauce

1 can (15.5 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (15.5 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chile's

Directions:

In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and orange pepper and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and pepper and garlic is soft. Add cumin and chili powder, season with salt and pepper, and cook until spices are fragrant.

Add black beans, pinto beans, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes into a crock pot. When onion and pepper mixture is done, add to crock pot. Stir it up. Put crock pot on high for 3-4 hours. Add any extra water if you think it is still pretty thick. I love my chili to be thick, but some people like it more soupy.

(You can also do this over the stove if you're in a rush)

 sauteing up the onion and orange bell pepper

even Brinley was gobbling it up!

lovely chili with beautiful color