Quaranthings

Admittedly, one of my favorite things about quarantine is is putting "quaran" in front of any word I want in order to make it quarantine conducive. This post for example, are things that are getting me through this quarantine - thus, quaranthings. My mom's birthday was on Friday which makes her a birthday quaranqueen. Quarantine in general, is a larger sign of these quarantimes. And so on and so forth.

So anyway, we are going on six weeks now since I have been banished from my beloved cubicle with a window view at my office, and sent to work from home. In that time states and the Nation as a whole have also locked down. These are the things getting me through these challenging quarantimes.

1.) Tiger King

Obviously. I actually only started watching this because EVERYONE was talking about it and I wanted to be able to participate and laugh along with the class. I made Nate watch it with me and we've been trading Tiger Kings memes back and forth ever since. If there is truly a light in these dark quarantimes, it's Tiger King. America thanks you, Netflix.

2.) Kelsea Ballerini's new album

I'm sure she did not do this on purpose but like, this is kind of the perfect quarantine album. Most of these quarantunes are a really nice mid tempo (with a few slow songs peppered in) that are perfect for like, doing the dishes, cleaning up around the house, writing in your bullet journal, and just generally winding down before you get ready for bed. Current favs: the other girl (with Halsey), love and hate, and needy

3.) The Morning Toast

I have followed Girl With No Job on Instagram for a while now because I think she's really funny, so I knew she had a morning show podcast with one of her sisters but I just never tuned in because it didn't peak my interest. But you know, now since we are living in quarantimes and we are looking for anything and everything to break up the monotony I randomly decided one morning to watch an episode.

It's "a morning show for millennials" that covers a handful of the top news stories in pop culture each day. I don't typically tune in to pop culture shows because it usually also has a political leaning and/or agenda - which is annoying and I'm not down for that. But I found that The Morning Toast for the most part, really and truly is purely pop culture. I love both Claudia and Jackie and their banter is so funny and entertaining. The Morning Toast is available as a podcast but they also do a live stream every morning on Youtube. It's now a morning routine for me to turn on The Morning Toast while I log onto work, check my email, and get my day started.

So for the next few items, one night I was by myself, feeling very ugly and down on the quarantine version of myself that hadn't left my house in seven days, and I googled something like, "self-care products for quarantine" and I found an article about all the cult favorite beauty products on Amazon. I threw caution to the wind and hit that "add to cart" button on a handful of items. These are those items.

4.) This face mask

I am way late to this trend but I am here to tell you this face mask is everything. I hesitated trying it months (years?) ago when it first came out and was super trendy because based on the reviews it was either a miracle worker or turned your face into a war zone. With sensitive skin, was I very afraid of the latter. I've used it three times now and so far I am loving it and it hasn't broken me out. You have the option to mix it with water or apple cider vinegar (ACV) and I went with the ACV. Does it smell like feet when you first put it on your face? Yes. Is the result worth it? Also yes.

5.) This facial spray 

This is also a trend I am late to, that I'm really regretting. It's a facial spray that you can use anywhere, anytime, and it's supposed to hydrate, calm, and refresh your skin all while giving you a dewey glow. Does it do all of those things? I think so? But more importantly this SMELLS like the most beautiful garden of flowers sent from above from the Lord himself, that you have ever smelled in real life and even perhaps in your dreams. It smells HEAVENLY and I spray it on my face three times a day for that very reason. I am gonna use this all summer long and now that I have experienced the Mario Badescu Facial Spray there is no going back. Bonus: a big 8 oz. bottle is only $12.

6.) This eyebrow and eyelash growth serum

Do I have any evidence yet of this actually working? No - it's only been three weeks. Do I care at this point? Also no because it makes me feel pretty and productive and like I am actually putting forth effort into my appearance and that I will emerge from this quarantine with full and lush brows and lashes. That's the hope. Also I can attest - this serum does not irritate my skin or eyes. I was worried based on some reviews of other serums that it would, but this one does not so I am pleased about that. 

7.) This self tanning lotion

Ok so this is not a new discovery but rather, a tried and true self tanning soldier that never lets me down. I don't usually break it out this early in the year however, but again - in these quarantimes when we haven't left our homes and we are feeling less than beautiful - a good tan can quickly remedy that. You don't have to do anything special with this one - just apply it as your everyday moisturizer and watch your beautiful faux tan flourish. You will emerge from The Q looking like the sun-kissed goddess we all should've been this spring. 

What things have been carrying you through these quarantimes?! Share with the class so we can all try them out! 😌

O.W.L's Magical Readathon 2020: TBR

Firstly, I just want to start this post off by letting you know, in case you don't, that "TBR" stands for To Be Read. It is a list of books that you intend to read. Thus, "To Be Read." It took me a good year of following various people/accounts/channels in the Bookish community on social media to realize this, so I'll save you the trouble and just come out and say that right now. You're welcome.

So anyway, if you are into books, reading, Harry Potter, or any combination thereof, this post is for you my friend!

Last year while perusing the inter webs I discovered G who runs Book Roast over on YouTube. With it, I learned about the the annual Magical Readathon she hosts that's based on the Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations (O.W.L) that students take in their fifth year at Hogwarts. This is a thing that happens in book 5 of the Harry Potter series but you don't have to be a Potterhead to follow along in this readathon. The purpose of this blog post is to share with you my TBR for this year's readathon! But before I do, here's how the readathon works: It's kind of hard to explain but I'm gonna do my best and include some links for you (that probably explain it way better than I do) in 3...2...1...

Hogwarts students take their OWL exams in order to determine what career path they'd like to pursue after they graduate. The career path you intend to pursue as a young witch or wizard, depends on how many/what OWL's you may need to take. So, in the fictional story of Harry Potter one subject = one OWL exam (e.g. Potions). For the purposes of this readathon in the real world, one book = one reading prompt (e.g. read a book with a white cover).

Check out the original OWL's announcement here:


Check out this year's OWL's announcement here:

Now, find the Wizarding Career Guide HERE
Next, find the OWL's letter and reading prompts HERE

You can follow along this readathon a couple different ways:
1.) Pick a Wizarding Career and you'll follow the prompts that are required for that career, or
2.) Don't use the Wizarding Career Guide at all and just look at the reading prompts, find some that sound like fun to you and go with those!

I've chose to go with the former and pick a career out of the guide - Wandmaker!

In order to become a Wandmaker I need to pass the following OWL's:

• Ancient Runes
• Arithmancy
• Care of Magical Creatures
• Charms
• Herbology

So for Ancient Runes the prompt is: heart rune - heart on the cover or in the title. I've chosen to read "Love and Other Words" by Christina Lauren

Y'all know I love a good love story (if you don't now you do), and I've read a couple other books by this author and I really enjoyed them both! I got this one for my birthday last month so thank you, past Rissa, for picking out a book that fits a Magical Readathon prompt. Present Rissa thanks you.

Arithmancy: read something outside your favorite genre. I've chosen "The Ten Thousand Doors of January" by Alix E. Harrow

I picked this book out with Christmas money back in December for a couple reasons: firstly, HOW PRETTY IS THIS COVER? And secondly, this book was getting good reviews on social media so I thought yolo let's give 'er a read. My favorite genre is typically a contemporary rom-com (you can judge me for that, it's fine) so this fantasy book is definitely outside of that!

Care of Magical Creatures: creature with a beak on the cover. Because this is a Harry Potter themed readathon (but mostly because I had a reeeaaaalllly hard time finding a book with a beak on the cover that sounded good to me), for this prompt I'm going to read "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling.

Beak on the cover. My favorite Harry Potter Book of them all. Boom. Done.

Charms: white cover. "One of Us is Lying" by Karen M. McManus

This is a YA (Young Adult) murder mystery that I keep hearing people talk about and that I really want to check out but does it have a completely all white cover? No. Does it have a mostly white cover - enough that I can fit it into this prompt? Yes. I checked with the overlords of the readathon rules and they said it's fine. Also Abigail's Cup of Tea is also using it for this prompt and I am nothing if not a follower so yay for that.

Herbology: title that starts with an M. I'm going with "Maybe in Another Life" by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I haven't yet read a book by this author but I have only ever heard raving reviews. Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote Daisy Jones and the Six, and also The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - two little ditties that were massively successful that you may or may not have heard of. Neither of those start with an M though, so this one had good reviews on GoodReads and I liked the synopsis so I'm gonna buckle up and board the Taylor Jenkins Reid train and hope I love it as much as everyone else!

So at the end of all this readathon do I win a prize or do I actually become a Wandmaker you might be asking? No. I don't. And neither do you should you participate. It's all just for fun. But that's the thing - it is freakin' fun and it's totally free and G spends SO. MUCH. TIME. and energy putting all of this together for us. The Career Guide, the prompts all the extra resources - she puts all of this together just for us at no cost.

There's a spreadsheet for buddy reading HERE, there's a spreadsheet for book recommendations if you're stuck on a prompt HERE, there's a form for giving book recommendations HERE, there's even a master spreadsheet (HERE) to log/view when you've finished a book so we can keep track of how many pages alllll of us have read at the end of it. I meeaaannnn, fun right?!

So anyway, if you made this far - you're a champ and I am long winded so sorry about that. This is the first time I've done a TBR post...or any bookish post really, so let me know if you liked it or wouldn't mind seeing more of them! The OWL's start April 1st and last the whole month long! See you at Hogwarts! 

Someday I Will: Part II

You'll notice the title of this post indicates this is a part II - you might be wondering where part I is? Well, let me direct you, many many moons ago in 2013 to when The Daily Tay hosted a little 'ol link party (remember those?), and we all wrote about the things we would accomplish someday. Find my list HERE.

Sometimes, when I can't think of anything to blog about, I cruise my old blog posts to try and find inspiration. This is a good and bad idea for two reasons: 1.) Sometimes it works and I do actually find inspiration, and 2.) Sometimes it doesn't and I walk away from my computer, sad and defeated, wondering to myself how I was EVER that creative and thought of THAT many things to write about.

This is what was happening this Sunday afternoon when lucky for me I stumbled upon this post from 2013. So, let's revisit the things I said would someday happen and see if I have made any of them come true, seven years later.

2013 Carissa, some day she would:

Finish a bottle of shampoo, or tube of mascara

I hate to make the effort to scrape out the last bits, so I always just move on to the next bottle.

Too much work.

Can confirm: still true in 2020

Stop using the word 'commercialing'

My mom tells me it's not a real word, but I just don't believe it quite yet.

Ok so I understand this is not a real word - like, I can't deny it anymore but have I stopped using it? No. 

Be able to swallow a pill without gagging.

I swear I'm 26.

'Bout to turn 33 and this is still a problem. I'm better if it's tablets but like, any type of herbal anything in a capsule is troublesome because they float to the roof of your mouth and then you can feel them and it's all downhill from there.

Tell the server my order is wrong

I hate confrontation, so in the meantime I'll just eat this hamburger with the mustard on it anyway.

In 2020 it totally depends on the situation and how confident I'm feeling that day. Dunkin Donuts has messed up my coffee order SO. MANY. TIMES. that I feel pretty comfortable returning it to the barista and kindly reminding them that what they handed me is literally not even remotely close to what I actually ordered. I'm lying actually, it's usually just me being like "umm hi yes actually I think umm maybe perhaps this might not be almond milk could you maybe just like, double check that for me I'm so sorry."

Quit biting my nails

Unlikely, but maybe.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never not bite my nails. 

Be right and my husband will be wrong.

It has to happen at some point in our lives right?

Nate tried telling me once that you cast a "PatronUM." I said no, you cast a "PatronUS" by using the spell "Expecto Patronum." And obviously I was right because I am always right about Harry Potter things. 

Remember how to spell 'definitely' without spell-check fixing it for me every time

"Definitely" is still problematic in 2020.

Find a pillow that doesn't hurt my neck or give me a pillow headache every morning

Ok I think I have finally succeeded. I HAVE THIS. I have a comfortable pillow, you guys. HOORAY for progress!

Take a selfie

I just can't get past the awkwardness yet.

I don't post selfies for the public because that still feels very awkward but I do however, send lots of selfies via snapchat or text messaging to friends and family. It's typically a selfie of me making an inquisitive face, asking the recipient if it's too early to drink wine.

Learn HTML

Nope

Have a clear vision and direction for my life plan

For now I'm still just trying to find the free food, and use my Student ID for as long as I can. 

I mean, I have a steady job and I'm very comfortable with the state of my life in my thirties but free food is always going to be a priority. Student ID still sitting comfortably in my wallet, on deck and ready for action when called upon.

I should've known back in 2013 that most of these things were part of my DNA and there would be no overcoming them. I set myself up for failure, really. But hey, at least now I don't wake up with pillow headaches. 

Currently: January Edition

I saw a meme on the internet once that said "please take your Apple Watch off if you are wearing a dress or formal attire. You look like a spy kid," and I think about that a lot. Is "spy kid chic" the look that I usually go for? No. But if I don't wear my watch then I don't get my steps counted and if my steps aren't counted then I can't watch my little spinny-activity-ring-thingy light up at the end of the day and if I can't see that then why have I bothered to get out bed at all today, right?

Anyway, January is nearing its end so let's talk about what we're currently into...and when I say "we" I really mean me since this is my blog post and these are the things I am currently doing, but sometimes at work I use "we" instead of "you" to make people feel like we're really in this together, you know? Like yes, YOU need to complete this report by noon but I'm gonna say "we" to show a united front kind of a thing, you know what I mean?

Wow I am off to a really rambley start today.

Currently, I am:

Watching: Cheer, on Netflix

No spoilers please, because I am not all the way through yet but OH MY GOSH this show is warming my ever loving former cheerleader little heart. I'm loving everything about this show so far - the storylines, the athletes (yes I said ATHLETES because Cheerleaders are athletes and we can fight if anyone wants to say otherwise), and the camera work and editing is just SO well done.

Drinking: Whipped Buttercream coffee creamer

Not like, by itself obvi, but with my coffee. I love the Natural Bliss creamers and the Hazelnut flavor has always been my go-to but I saw this in the store last week and decided to give it a try and it is *chef's kiss.* 

Reading: To All the Boys I've Loved Before series, by Jenny Han

I guess technically I am not currently reading them anymore because I tore through all three books in a matter of one week because I just could not put them down - but I'm putting them on this list anyway. (So Jennica if you're reading this, oops sorry I read way ahead and now I need you to finish books 2 and 3 stat so we can discuss k thx). These books were so fun to read and So. Damn. Charming. I swooned the whole way through. If you love young love, read these. "To All the Boys..." is now a Netflix Original movie and "PS I Still Love You" will be out on Netflix on February 12th and I CANNOT WAIT.

Trying: Goli apple cider vinegar gummies

You guys, I'm pretty sure I am corporate America's marketing dream because all it took for me to spend my money on apple cider vinegar gummies was one measley Instagram ad in my feed. I have never seen this brand or this item ever before but somehow, at six in the morning whilst drinking coffee and procrastinating my morning workout, I felt compelled to make this purchase. Note to self: quit scrolling through Instagram until you've finished all your coffee and won't make impulse buys. But nonetheless, they were promising me all the benefits of an apple cider vinegar shot plus super food infusions and other fancy nutritious things without the gross taste and smell of apple cider vinegar. So far I am enjoying them and can attest that they do in fact taste good, and fruity, and don't smell like a sour foot!

Loving: this meme

I saw this on Instagram and sent it to my coworkers because it seemed really appropriate for a lot of the shenz we deal with regularly. In fact, I loved it so much I printed it out and taped it up on the wall where we sit. That way, when folks come traipsing down to the Compliance department, happy as a clam tryna come at us with their same 'ol nonsense we can just point to the sign on the wall. Not today, Finance - get in the pond. Nope, not happening, Contracting - get in the pond. Go. Get in. 

K gotta go - gotta go watch another episode of Cheer before it's my bedtime! 

What are you currently into right now?!

New Year, New Brain Dump!

Hello friends and happy New Year! 2020 is upon us and my little Swiftie heart would be remiss if I didn't kindly remind you that "it was the end of a decade, but the start of an age." Actually I saw this on the internet the other day and I really feel like I missed an opportunity here:

But alas, here we are in 2020, a couple weeks late. I did not complete any 2019 wrap-ups, or favorites, or decade in review-type posts that any good blogger would have done, but I have the self awareness to realize I am not a good blogger and this is just a hobby so it's all ok. Also because I'm just bad at picking favorites. Although off the top of my head, easy, lightening round favorites of 2019 include:

Favorite book: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Read it, love it, cherish it, and then go watch the movie coming out this year. And then reread it again.

Favorite Album: Lover, by Taylor Swift (duh)

1st runner up: Hollywood's Bleeding by Post Malone

Never would I ever have thought I'd love a Post Malone album but this album is FYRE, as the kids say.

Favorite Show: New Girl

This show has been off the air for a while but I started re-watching it on Netflix this year and it is so damn funny. My favorite show, 2nd only to The Office. Watch it, love it, then watch it again and again and again.

So there we go, quick and dirty favorite things of 2019. I did it. I'm a good blogger now.

So anyway, usually I am one of those people that is like, raring to go at the prospect of a new year and a new start and making plans and planning goals and all that good stuff however, this year it has been kind of slow-go for me.

Firstly, I was really really sad to see Christmas go and I was a little mopey for a few days there feeling sorry for myself without a Christmas tree and twinkly lights. Then, I was too lazy to grocery shop last weekend thereby, leaving me still with holiday treats and leftovers to eat. THEN, due to my December habits of staying up until 2 in the morning to read books or watch Hallmark movies, I was physically unable to go to sleep at a decent hour this week and thus, subsequently unable to wake up early and work out. I didn't even get my planner set up for January until last week. Life is rough coming back from a blissful December, you guys.

But we're here, we're doing it, we're easing into 2020 and after re-establishing some normal sleep patterns this week I think I might be back to 100% ready to tackle 2020. I grocery shopped today and even met up with my old friend the produce section.

Actually wait before we get too far into 2020, can I show you how cute my dad and I were on Christmas Eve? Look, we matched:

On a scale of 1-10 for daddy/daughter preciousness this is a full on 10, am I right?

So yeah, if you haven't noticed by now this a brain dump of a post to try and get back into the blogging groove after a semi-successful Blogmas, so thank you for sticking with me through this mess of a post. I've missed sitting at my desk with my twinkle lights and my Christmas Harry Potter ASMR, and a candle to just blog it out you know? I especially miss this desk set-up that I tried to make cozy and Christmas-y to write all my Blogmas posts, see:

Frosted Cranberry candle still going strong, but RIP to my garland lights packed away in a tote in my garage until next year. 

One thing I love about brain dump posts is that I don't need to be concerned about making a transition when I want to change the subject - I just change the subject. So let's talk about how my GoodReads reading goal for 2019 was to read 20 books in the year and I finished the year with 22. BLADOW! I got a nice little book haul for Christmas, set my 2020 reading goal to 30 (!!) and so far I've read two books in January: Well Met by Jen Deluca, and the Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

 

Do I read too many romantic comedies? Yes, but I can't help it I just really love them. Is one of my goals for 2020 to read a more diverse array of books? Also yes. So hit me with your book recommendations, peeps!

Did anyone watch the Golden Globes? I did not because I don't care about them and also, I hate celebrity culture. However, I was on Twitter casually scrolling when I noticed Ricky Gervais was trending. My curiosity got the best of me and upon further research, my eyes and ears were blessed with the opening Monologue of said Ricky Gervais, and his dropping of the hammer on Hollywood Hypocrisy. Please watch and enjoy the self aggrandizing celebrities squirm in their seats.

"...So if you do win an award tonight, don't use it as a platform to make a political speech. You're in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your god, and f**k off OK?"

PSA: I don't know who needs to hear this but there is currently a Harry Potter movie marathon on the SYFY channel.

Also, to close the loop on this blog post - "it was the end of a decade, but the start of an age" is a lyric from a Taylor Swift song and I realize I also put this in my Christmas letter to family and friends (am I extra, for this? Maybe.) and people may not understand. So please enjoy, "Long Live" by Taylor Swift:

A Semi-Successful Blogmas + Shenanigans in Cabin #90

Hello friends! I last left you on Blogmas day 12 and you'll notice that's where Blogmas has seemingly ended. T'is true. I let the ball drop after 12 days. See what happened was, on Friday the 13th I had plans to go out of town with my family and I did not have a post prepared ahead of time for Friday, or that whole weekend. And so then by the time I got home on Sunday I was like it's cool I can totally catch up it's fine, this is fine. But I didn't catch up and so here lies Blogmas, 2019, after 12 days. It was fun while it lasted.

BUT the silver lining is, 12 is a very Christmas-y number (12 days of Christmas anyone?) and perhaps I MEANT to only write 12 posts - the 12 posts of Blogmas, if you will. We all know I didn't but we can pretend it was on purpose. And I mean, 12 days is 12 days and given my hot and cold streaks of blogging the last few years, I'm counting 12 days in a row of Blogmas a win. It's a win. It's a semi-successful Blogmas. We came, we saw, we sort of almost conquered.

Now that that's out of the way. Can I tell you about said trip on the Friday that ended Blogmas? Because it was freakin fun.

My family and I unintentionally started a tradition a few years back of taking a quick little weekend trip out of town to hang out and do Christmas-y things together. We started with Sedona, and would take the long way home through Flagstaff for a pit stop to play in the snow. When that ran its course we tried out Prescott for a few years which was equally as fun. We were ready for another change of scenery this year so we decided to make the trip up to Greer for a Christmas weekend in the White Mountains.

Nate and I left on Friday and took our time mosey'ing up there. We made a pit stop at a wood working store in Heber, and also the gas station wherein, a man standing behind us in line with a very Russian-looking fur hat told me that I had really good hair for braiding. "You have really good hair for braiding," he said. "The texture, the length - your hair just looks like it would hold braids really well." This at the same time the gentleman in front of us was chatting up Nate about friends he knows who work in law enforcement. Not gonna lie, I felt really popular at the gas station in Heber, you guys.

We made it to Greer by the early afternoon and upon check-in we realized the main lobby had corn hole boards for the taking. So take them we did. And corn hole we played. A best of three between Nate and I and my parents that it kills me to say we lost. We had a really good first round and then I just got overly excited and I let the win go to my head and I got distracted with the Christmas music on the bluetooth speaker and I probably spent too much time trying to floss to "Mele Kalikimaka" by Bing Crosby. Sorry Nate.

My sister and brother-in-law didn't leave town until after work on Friday so we ate dinner the four of us, and watched a Hallmark Christmas movie while we waited for Audrey and Lionel to arrive (Bless you, Greer Lodge for carrying the Hallmark Channel). And we waited. And we waited. 

My sister shared her location with us on her phone so we were able to keep an eye on how close they were getting. Except they were getting very close to the New Mexico border instead of Greer. For those of you good at geography, that is the WRONG WAY. We kept watching their location in anticipation as if it were a sports game: "Noooo that's the wrong way!" "Ok they're back in Globe hopefully they don't miss their turn." "They're approaching their turn...Yeeeeah the took the right turn!" The joke became, "they're back in Globe" and any time anyone asked a question, the answer was always, "back in Globe." Where is my flashlight? Oh it's back in Globe. Has anyone seen my slippers? Yeah I saw them back in Globe."

It was a wild ride but at about midnight we walked up to the main road in our jams and jackets to wave them down with our flashlights (heaven help us if they missed the last turn), and they finally made it to cabin #90. Nate had thought he'd be funny earlier in the day and switch the pillows on their bed from the head to the foot so that they'd lay down the wrong way, but after their long journey and too much time spent in Globe, we quickly switched it back knowing they'd probably not be in any mood for shenanigans. Wasn't about to take that risk.

After a good night's sleep we all took our time in the morning and eventually headed out to play in some snow!

My mom and dad found a nice snow play area that was not teeming with people earlier in the week and it was so nice. In fact, after about an hour, most people had left and we were one of the only families left on the hill. I was not mad about it. 

We took turns sliding down the hills in our tubes - feet first, face first, on your stomach, doubled up, backwards - you name it, we slid it. Queue the action shots:

Our proudest maneuver however, and surely the gold medal winner if this were the Layman's-Snow-Play-for-a-Bunch-of-Desert-Dwellers-who Barely-Even-Own-a-Pair-of-Snow-Pants Olympics, was when all six of us piled onto our three tubes and slid down the hill linked together like some sort of centipede of death. Oh yeah. 

Did anyone break any bones? No. Did we cause a bit of a scene? Yes. Were small children looking at us like we were having more fun than them? Also yes. 

Once we had our fill of tubing we headed out to check a thing off our bucket lists. 

That thing: a freakin real life sleigh ride

Am I making this up? No. Is this picture photo shopped? Also no. This happened. I don't have a lot else to say about it because...like...just...UGH 😍

You can't hear it but there were even sleigh bells jingling (ring ting-ting a-ling too) around the horse's harnesses. Outside the snow had fallen and family was calling, "yoo hoo!." It was lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

Sorry I'll stop. I had to.

You know that feeling you get when you have a really good day? Like, you can't stop smiling and your heart feels full and warm and you keep looking at all the pictures you took? These wonderful things are the things we remember all through our lives....ok FINE SORRY I said I'll stop. 

After our magical sleigh ride we headed back to the cabin, hung out for a bit, and then headed down the road to the Molly Butler Lodge for dinner. After we'd had our fill of steak and potatoes and bread and all the delicious things that fill you up after a long day of Christmas-ing so hard in the snow, we entered into a rousing game of Head's Up. The last time we played it we were in Sedona on a weekend Christmas trip, drunk-ish in the hotel lobby and it's a miracle we didn't get kicked out. Especially because my sister has a tendency to yell SO LOUD that you literally cannot hear anyone else. See look, she's standing up yelling louder than anyone, can't you hear her?

Of all of us, my dad is the worst at this game. Once people start shouting he gets a deer-in-the-headlight look and doesn't know who to listen to and doesn't know what to guess and so he just stares until his brain processes the six clues that have just been hurled at him. My mom finally had to be like, "GARY LOOK AT ME. GARY LOOK RIGHT HERE. GARY FOCUS HERE." It was funny. It was also funny when they were trying to get me to guess "Alamo" and my dad's hint was, "remember the...!" and I yelled "TITANS!" so sure I nailed it. It was a good movie ok, how could that not be the first thing that pops into your brain?

We went to bed late after yelling our hearts out at Head's Up, woke up Sunday and started to pack it up.

It was such a good and cozy and Christmas-y weekend and I'm not gonna lie, I felt a little bit like I was in a Hallmark movie all weekend which, I am totally ok with. Shenanigans in Cabin #90 coming to a Hallmark Channel near you 2020.