'Tis The Season - My Top 5 Holiday Movie Faves

Confession - I've had the Hallmark Channel on 24/7 for a week now. I'm completely addicted.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE cheesy holiday movies. There are obviously too many good ones to choose from, but I made a list of some of my favorites (in no particular order).  Happy watching!

1. Home Alone - So great for a million reasons, but I really love it for the music. Best soundtrack ever.

2. White Christmas - I decorate to this every year. My absolute favorite Christmas movie of all time.

  

3. 12 Dates of Christmas - So light and cute, and even though you know where it's going it also makes me wonder what the best version of myself is, instead of doing what's just "good" enough.

4. A Season For Miracles - Just the freaking cutest. It's been on Hallmark a bunch lately. It's full of Christmas Spirit and has little Mae Whitman in it.

5. The Polar Express - I was slow to like this one, but it's really so beautiful - both visually and emotionally.

What are your faves?

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 2 - Spouse/Significant Other

This one is gonna be a quick one, guys 😉

My ex and I have been apart for 10 months. I left for a lot of reasons, but mostly it was because I was disgusted with the person I was becoming. I could barely look at myself in the mirror. When I was with him, I felt weak and bitchy and just generally wanted to puke. I kept thinking that I already learned those relationship-y lessons in my 20s, and I knew better now. If I continued to repeat patterns that didn't serve me any longer, they weren't mistakes. They were just my life. I walked around with that idea every day until I couldn't take it anymore. He thought everything was fine, so...

I'm much happier without him, but it's a quiet happy. I feel like a different person most days. I haven't dated much this year, and sort of don't want to. I'm not ready to have someone else in my space yet. I want to do what I want all of the time, and it's way easier to do that single. I'm not quite sure that's the most healthy or balanced approach to life, but it's working for me. And for that, I'm very grateful.

                                   

Could this be more gorgeous?

via House of Turquoise

52 Weeks Of Gratitude - Week 1- Why Start This Challenge?

I assume people start this type of challenge on January 1st, another New Year's resolution to add to the pile... However, I've been struggling with gratitude a ton lately, and with Thanksgiving right around the corner it seemed fitting to start now.

Still, that rambling intro doesn't really answer the "why" part of the prompt. The short version is 2016 sucked. SO. VERY. VERY. VERY. MUCH. No joke, the entire year was just blow after blow of utter awfulness. Job suckiness, relationship suckiness, family suckiness. Truly terrible shit happened. 

I know, I know - that's life. I get that. But the thing is, I don't want to wake up miserable every day. The way I see it, I have two choices - stay in pajamas with my animals, coffee/wine, and my Netflix queue or actually try to figure out what's not working in my life and cut that shit out. I truly believe that we get more of of what we give attention to, so the plan is to be more mindful of my blessings and see what happens. At the very least, things can't get worse.

So... GRATEFUL! FOR A WHOLE YEAR! (I'm not really that excited, just a sarcastic mocker with good intentions.)

I love this!!!

http://thetaoofdana.com/post/153317012837/your-life-will-change-for-the-better-when-you

Putting My Stamp On Things...

This deal from Wedding Paper Divas is pretty spectacular. Until the 20th, they're offering 50% off their Signature Circle Custom Self Inking Stamp with the code AFFQ4STAMP50. I know a lot of you have tons of holiday cards to send, and I think the stamp lends a really nice touch to envelopes. There are loads of ways to personalize them, so def check them out!

This is giving me all kinds of Thanksgiving table inspo...

Current TV Obsessions

Because I'm really just counting the days until Netflix's Gilmore Girls reboot, and watching these in the meantime:

WESTWORLD (HBO)

OMFG. This show is totally different than anything else I've seen in years. I still have no idea what's happening, but I find myself rewatching past episodes for clues to unraveling the plot. Even if westerns or scifi aren't your thing, it's totally worth checking out. The opening is beautifully shot, the use of classical twist-rock anthems is perfection, and the characters are super mysterious and layered. It's brilliant. Watch.

LADIES OF LONDON (BRAVO)

Brexit, schmexit. This show is my guilty pleasure. Rewatching Season 2 in anticipation of Season 3. I <3 these ladies, the clothes, and - most of all - London. 

SECRETS AND LIES (ABC)

I didn't catch the first season of this anthology, but the Michael Ealy/Jordana Brewster combo (Seriously, could there be a hotter couple?) was enough to get me to tune in. I really like the pace of the series. It takes its time, which is refreshing. Not going to share, but I definitely have my suspicions about who the killer is. I'll miss this slow burn once it's through. 

THIS IS US (NBC)
Sigh. All of the tears, pretty much every episode. But, it's great. I love that this series holds onto the small moments & lets its characters take pause. You feel it. Aaannddd... it makes me cry. I'm a biased family dramedy junkie, though. Parenthood, the first season of Brothers & Sisters, etc. All of them make it to the DVR.

What are you guys watching? 

Home Goods Haul

First of many haul posts. I have a serious HomeGoods problem. Well, maybe not a problem per se, but lately HomeGoods has everything that I need when I need it, even if I happen to be not at home at the moment. Hence, a lot of money spent. Here's what I bought:

I'm visiting my mom, and she only has normal size coffee mugs. They're cute, but I need about three of them to get me through the morning. This is much better.

Glitter Kitten photobomb with their new toy basket (Mom also didn't have travel mugs).

Smells amazeballs and was $8.

Just thought the candlesticks were pretty.

Sorry if you can see the mess, but I hadn't fully unpacked when I took this one. The kittens needed a house and this one has ears. No further explanation necessary :) Glitter Puppy 2 needed a bed and this one was $30. She's so big it's tough to find beds for her that aren't $100+. I wish that she would use it more, but at least the kittens seem to like it a lot? (She's too sweet to kick them out.)

Sephora VIB Sale Mini-Haul

Needed new setting powder, came out with five things. I guess it could have been worse? 

I had originally purchased the new Bare Minerals side-by-side matte/glowy finish powders, but returned it this morning. I could never get any product onto a brush - and I tried it with all three of my powder brushes. It felt very dry, and seemed like a waste to keep. This Laura Mercier powder is very buttery and has a good amount of coverage, but I've only worn it for a day.

The polish is Formula X in Ignite. I've been searching for a not-too-brown, not-too-purple red for two weeks with no success until today. Sephora's website calls it a "smoking red" and that makes me immediately like it more.

This Smashbox lipstick is so so so so creamy AND LASTS FOR HOURS. AND FADES EVENLY. Can you tell I'm obsessed? I think I'm going to have to get another. Or two. Or maybe three? (No. Not three. That's excessive.)

The color reminds me of two of my fave discontinued lipsticks - Laura Mercier's Pink Grape (but this one is a softer, bluer tone) and Prescriptives Athena (The very first makeup I ever bought with my babysitting money. I couldn't wear it out of the house though, because it was, well, red and I was 12.) It's amazing, and I already took all other lip products out of my purse because I'm so confident that I'm only going to love it more.

Dream Kitchen

via Apartment Therapy