Cara Box Reveal

Like I mentioned in my H54F post, I participated in this awesome blog swap:

It's hosted by Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals. The point of the swap is to make some new blog friends and to support each other.

I got paired up with two different bloggers: Betsy, who blogs over at Musings of a Museum Fanatic and Eliz at Tiny Bits of Nonsense. I had to send a blog package to Betsy, so go over there and check out what I got her! Oh and click around because she's pretty awesome and doing a giveaway!

I got my package from Eliz today, along with my wedding shoes (but I'll talk about them in another post!) The theme of the Cara Box was Holiday Sparkle, and she out did herself.

It was SO much fun going through everything she got me.  

 I loved the cosmetic bag. It's perfect to leave in my desk at work! The headband will look great with this black and white sweater I have. Plus, as a first grade teacher, I can NEVER have too many hand sanitizers! 

 I think Kaitlyn got this same nail polish. It's such a fun glitter and it goes great with this manicure idea I pinned awhile back. I also loved the pedicure set, because it has BOTH of my favorite colors teal and yellow. Eliz also included some Airheads (which I will promptly enjoy as soon as my mouth is healed) and metallic pens. It was super fun to get to know these two ladies. I can't wait to find out the theme for the next Carabox! 

PS. Check out my new blog design, courtesy of Amy over at The Charming Blog

High Five for Friday- Holiday edition

Man, I haven't done this in a really long time. Not because I don't have anything to celebrate, but because I've been slacking with my blog. NO MORE SLACKING!

Today, I am linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk Blog. This is seriously one of my FAVORITE link ups so let's do this!

1.

My family and J are pretty fantastic. I already shared my fun gifts from my family, but then Wednesday J gave me his gift...a super cute Vera Bradley cover for my Kindle. :) Love it!


2.

Post Christmas day shopping! Found some incredible deals. Cannot wait to rock some of these new clothes.

3.

My save the dates came in! Granted, these are the ones with the wrong website, so I'll be getting the corrected ones in a week. But still! I love how they turned out!

4. Went back to the oral surgeon yesterday. Dr. Gesek said everything looked great! YAY!

5.

Received my first CaraBox today. It's this AWESOME swap set up by Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals. I'll post about it later today!

Overall, a pretty phenomenal week! Tomorrow I am going bridesmaid dress shopping with my best friend, my future mother-in-law and sister-in-law and my best friend. Have a great Friday!

Christmas fun recap

I admit I haven't been in the Christmas spirit this year. The weather's been weird and my surgery left me cranky. I've been feeling a bit bittersweet about the fact that next Christmas will be different from all my other Christmases past (even though I can't wait for my first married Christmas with J). So I'm glad that I had yesterday and today to spend with my family the way we always do:

Kicked off the holiday by rocking my new Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. They were cute AND comfy!

Forgive the smile, my face was still aching from wisdom teeth!

Christmas morning opened presents with the fam:

Dad rocking the Santa hat... that hat is like 20 years old!

My family loved the gifts that I gave them, even though they weren't incredibly extravagant. I'm blessed that my mom and dad are paying for my entire reception, so I told them not to get me anything special, but they didn't listen:

Two beautiful shirts, a LOFT gift card, and a Kindle Fire! I'm a lucky girl. Spent the rest of Christmas in my pjs watching movies with my mom, dad, and uncle. My brother had to work (apparently people still watch the news on Christmas Day?)

Today, my brother, mom and I hit the mall in search of good deals and a good meal! I hit the jackpot:

 

I bought an adorable red blazer from Marshall's (never ever find stuff there!) and two cute blouses from Old Navy. Then I went to Loft where my mom found me a great coral sweater for 4 dollars and a pair of black crop pants for work for 14! I also ended up getting a graphic tee and a pair of jeans from there as well.

Afterwards, the three of us ate at Maggiano's. The food was so yummy. At one point I just looked at the two of them and told them thank you. My family has taken such good care of me this week and I'm such a lucky girl to have them in my life.

Off to finish watching Love Actually. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I woke up this morning to the sound of my brother telling me to get up. I came downstairs in my new pjs that I received last night. Opened some fun presents with my wonderful family. All the while getting teased by my dad and my mom telling us to stop and smile. Just like every other Christmas for the last 20+ years.

Dad a few years ago, laughing at my brother's reaction to his gift. 

It blows my mind that this is the last Christmas that I will be spending this exact way for the rest of my life. This time next year, I will be married. J and I will be spending Christmas morning together. Waking up together and maybe starting traditions of our own. I absolutely cannot wait for that, but for right now I'm going to enjoy every single holiday filled moment of today. Starting with chowing down on some cinnamon rolls with my family.

I hope all my blog friends have a beautiful day today. Merry Christmas to all of you!

Source

Things I've Learned

So today is Saturday. I have no idea where the time has gone. Actually, I do. It's been spent laying on a couch, catching up on Army Wives, eating some Jello and macaroni and cheese. While I've been trying to recover, my wisdom teeth operation has taught me a few things:

1. I could never EVER be a vampire. Nope. I hate the taste of blood, especially after my surgery on Thursday. Guess I could never be Bella, could I?

2. Macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes have healing powers. They were the first food that I could eat without wanting to puke my guts out. 
3. Netflix is amazing. Seriously, without it, I'd probably be twiddling my thumbs trying to figure out what to watch. Especially now that they have some Disney classics on it!



4. My family is the best. All three of them have been doing a really good job of taking care of me. Even if I'm kinda over the fact that I have to call my dad on his phone if I want to step downstairs. 
5. J is a great fiance. I already knew this, but he's come over almost every night to check on me. Even if last night, he laughed at my swollen chipmunk cheeks.
6. Which brings to another point: I would not be cute with big cheeks. I've always been jealous of girls that have gorgeous cheek bones and cute heart shaped faces, but there's definitely a reason I'm not supposed to have a face like that. :)
7. Pain killers and antibiotics stink and rock at the same time. They make me feel good and yet yucky all at once. Not cool. Medical field make some meds that just make you feel good okay???

So there ya have it. My lessons from my recovery. Now I'm off to sleep and maybe attempt the Jaguar game tomorrow? I'm not going to be cheering anyways, since we'll be getting our butts kicked by Tom Brady, so it should be a good recovery spot!

PS. Holy cow! It's 3 days until Christmas. Seriously where did this year go???

Wisdom teeth stink...

I HATE DENTAL PROCEDURES. I know, I know, most people do as well, but I have NEVER had a good dental experience.

Exhibit A: 1994
Had to have a baby tooth pulled because it had a massive cavity. Gave me some novacaine. Everything going splendid...until novacaine WEARS off halfway through! They were almost done, so the dentist just finished it without pain meds. My dad still has the scars on his hand from where I gripped his hand.

Exhibit B: 2011
I had to have a root canal. The actual root canal went OK. But the crown procedure did not. The dental hygienist sucked and apparently didn't send off the right mold. So my dentist bitched me out for waiting so long to get my permanent crown. When she realized it was her people's mistake, she made me a new one. But it still didn't fit, so she had to scrape away my gum. Oy vey.

Exhibit C: 2012
My first cleaning this year, I had to have a deep cleaning. My fault for not being the greatest dental health person. (Please don't reprimand me! I know, I know.) I brush my teeth twice daily but that's about it. After experience the awfulness that is a deep cleaning, I was an ideal dental health person. Took the nasty mouth wash and everything.
So I was told I wouldn't need another deep cleaning. But apparently, halfway through my second annual cleaning, which was a deep cleaning, my dentist realized no one had ever updated my chart. So I had to go through a deep cleaning for NO REASON!!!

So needless to say I was NOT looking forward to my wisdom teeth extraction today. After I woke up, I felt ok. In a bit pain, but okay. Dr. checked me out, gave me some more gauze and sent me on my way.

I was halfway home when I realized something was wrong. My mouth wouldn't stop filling up with blood and I felt faint. After stopping at critical care, they sent me back to my surgeon. He took very good care of me, putting meds and stitching me up. When I asked if what happened was normal, he said there's a very small chance of not clotting and that I was today's lucky winner. YAY me.

So now I'm sitting on my couch, eating some mashed potatoes and watching the latest season of Army Wives. It's like Netflix knew I'd be sitting on my butt for a few days so they added new episodes.

Any of you ever had dental issues? Here's my plan for the rest of the weekend:

I totally agree, don't you?

First day of winter break...

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