New Year's Eve

"It only happens once a year: New Year's Eve.

It's a time when hopeless can be romantic, and a resolution can become a revelation.

And when one night can change everything."

"It's okay to listen to your heart.  I know it's risky.

Go ahead and take that leap.

There are so many things you can't control: earthquakes, war, famine.

It's important to remember the things we can control, things like love and forgiveness...love in every one of it's forms.

Love gives us hope.

Hope for the new year."

 Quotes for the movie, "New Year's Eve"

PS

Make your new year's resolution to win something AWESOME and come enter my GIVEAWAY!

2011: A Big Year in Review

So 2011 was big for us,

we got married,

I started working as a nurse,

we did some big things this year.

Lets take a look back...

January 2011

On New Years' Day, we took our final set of engagement pictures.

I had a gorgeous bridal shower.

We spent the weekend in Las Vegas celebrating my Handsome Husband's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.

We jetted off to Palm Springs for a fabulous bachelorette weekend!

February 2011

We had a super fun rehearsal dinner with our best friends and our families.

We got hitched!

We went on a gorgeous honeymoon to St. Lucia.

March 2011

Gardening Dad celebrated another birthday,

and a few weeks later,

Handsome Husband and I both celebrated our birthdays.

I started this here blog - read my first ever post HERE.

April 2011

We attended the housewarming for Best Friends Fashionista and Swagger as they settled into their LA apartment.

We were joined by Kindergarten Teacher and Swagger as we walked for cure in the MS Walk.

We spent a weekend in San Diego, soaking up the time with old friends.

Swagger celebrated a birthday, and we joined her as she knocked back cocktails in celebration.

Easter came, and with it came another wonderful day at Grandma Beach Bum's.

May 2011

Me and my Gardening Mom spent the weekend listening to country music at the Stagecoach Music Festival.

We spent Mother's Day at the lake with Handsome Husband's family, after spending the day before with my sweet Gardening Mom.

We said "see you soon" to Miss Does it All who is still off in Spain living her international travel dreams.

Swagger and I joined Gardening Mom and friends for a Girl's Weekend in Arizona.

I ran my first ever 5k with Tutor Girl!

June 2011

My not-so-little little sisters turned 17, and celebrated with a public sword fight.

We brought home our sweet little kitty, Diego.

We celebrate Lil C's 1st birthday a few weeks early so he could head to Idaho to spend the 4th of July with his grandparents and aunties in Idaho!

July 2011

We had a big birthday party for America over 4th of July weekend in Arizona with our friends.

Gardening Mom and Sister Swimmer went on their big humanitarian trip to Haiti.

August 2011

We went on our Tour de Oregon to witness the beautiful wedding of Best Cousin.

Handsome Husband and I celebrated our 3 year "dating anniversary"!

Best Friend Fashionista celebrated her birthday, and we joined in on the fun!

The OC Fair came to town, and we went on crazy rides.  (See above.)

September 2011

 Cute Apartment was the birthday princess this month, and she celebrated as such!

October 2011

I got my first big girl nursing job, and we made sure to celebrate it!

We did DIY costumes this year, and they were a big hit for Halloween!

November 2011

We got to see some good friends in San Diego after it being way too long.

We celebrate Thanksgiving with 2 very special additions to the dinner table: Cute Apartment and her little pup, Roxie.

(And apparently I really liked wearing that shirt.)

December 2011

Cousin Eyeshadow graduated college, and Grandma Beach Bum and I used that as an excuse for champagne!

We went on an amazing trip to Las Vegas with some even more amazing friends.

Our first Christmas as Mr and Mrs came and went far too quickly for my liking.

Things Thursday: Things I am Lucky Enough to Have Received for Christmas!

1. A wonderful brand spanking new iPhone 4S - thanks to Santa (aka Gardening Mombo and Hat Daddy-o)!

2. An amazeballs Kindle Fire - thanks to MIL Red!

3. A hot pair of Chinese Laundry boots, thanks to my Handsome Hubster!

4. An awesome new black peacoat from Sister Swimmer (which is ironically what I got her, too!).

5. A beautiful new Hobo wallet for all my cash money to hang out in!

6. Hot new undies and a brand new pair of Victoria's Secret yoga pants from sweet Sister Singer!

7. A fun new super comfy VS sweatshirt from Aunt Fancy Chef!

8. A night out in a beautiful San Diego hotel to look forward to from Grandpa Golfer and Gma Beach Bum!

9. Gift cards that mean some awesome date nights coming up from Handsome Husband's Dad and fam up in Oregon.

10. And so much more - thank you so much to all my generous family and friends!

Did you want some beauty products that you didn't find under your tree? Be sure to check out my GIVEAWAY going on now, for over $85 worth of fabulous beauty products!



Quotable Tuesdays

Beauty Bundle 200 Follower GIVEAWAY!

That's right, ladies.

The time has come - 

GIVEAWAY TIME!

 

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As promised, Tutor Girl from Heartfelt Happenings (formerly Hunnel Happenings) is teaming up with  me to bring you some pretty awesome goodies!

One lucky winner will win all of the above:

Adorable Target makeup bag

elf Studio Blush Brush

elf Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in Warm Tan

Sephora Professional All Over Shadow Brush

Stila Lip Glazes in Starfruit, Dreamy, and Grapefruit

ULTA Nailpolish in Heirhead

Softlips Pearl Tinted Lip Conditioner

and

MAC Eye Shadow in Trax

That's over an $85 value, all for one lucky Stress Case reader!

The makeup bag is perfect for you to stuff all your goodies in to take on the road with you, especially for those of you who do your makeup while you drive in the car like myself.  The elf Studio brand is all the rage in the blogworld right now, and the that is the bronzer I am currently using!  It looks super dark in the compact, but is great for even a paper white girl like myself!  Stila lipglosses are the bomb.com and I am having the hardest time not unwrapping them and putting them on my very own kisser.  Love the baby pink color of the ULTA polish, and softlips is like the best chapstick out there!  The MAC eyeshadow is the kicker for me though - Trax is my go to color, and one of the only shades I have had to replace multiple times because I use it so often!

Ladies, I gotta admit, I'd like to just keep all this fun stuff for myself.  A big big big thank you to Tutor Girl who was kind enough to suggest this little joint effort in celebration of 200 followers on this little ole blog! 

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The giveaway will be open for 2 weeks, and will close at 12:01am on January 10, 2012!  (How weird is it to say 2012 already!)

Enter below via the Rafflecopter Widget.

PS Rumor has it Tutor Girl has a giveaway in the works in celebration of her super soon to come 50 followers - lets get here there, cause I wanna see the goodies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Las Vegas: A Weekend in Photos

The weekend before Christmas, we headed into a fun-filled car with this awesome couple:

Twin Beauty School, and her boyfriend, The Bouncer

We stayed in this pretty hotel,

The Palazzo

behind these fancy doors,

in this gorgeous suite.


We went out on the town,

and soaked in the Christmas season.

We did some gambling,

and more gambling.

We went to an amazeballs dinner.

Did some more gambling,

a little more gambling,

followed by some gambling.

We had some cocktails,

which lead to this,

and this.

And we ended our last night out with an obligatory photo shoot in front of a water feature.

And that, my friends, was our weekend in Vegas.