Christmas Moments

Posted by Yvette

Christmas is over! Hooray!

The tree is down and everything is packed away and ready to go back into the garage.

I’m not really this grinchy, as I’ve mentioned I’m usually pretty fond of the holidays, I really am. It’s just, this year just went by so quickly and Christmas snuck up on me. I was not ready at all! I felt like I was taking down Halloween decorations and suddenly, it’s Christmas?

Note to self – Next year will be a nightmare before Christmas theme.

All in all, the kids had a great Christmas. I didn’t get to decorate our first Christmas in our new home the way I had imagined I would. I didn’t send Christmas cards out like I wanted to. We were shopping up until Christmas Eve, even though this year, we swore we wouldn’t…. Of course, it was all worth it, when we saw the kids faces light up as they unwrapped their gifts. The little monster even unwrapped gifts we had for other people, meaning I would have to re wrap them all.

A few memorable Christmas moments in no particular order:

• The little monster opening gifts and squealing before he even knew what was inside the box.
• Little monster opening gifts that didn’t belong to him and when we would stop him, he stared us down with absolutely no expression on his face.
• My 11 year old son telling me “I hope I get skinny jeans” in an oh so obvious voice that confirmed to me that his sister told him what we bought at the mall a few days before.
• Watching our 7 year old and the little monster throw celery sticks on the lawn for the reindeer.
• Seeing the cup of milk the kids left out for Santa - a black goblet with the words TOXIC written on it from Halloween.
• Hearing our little monster say “happy Chrismis!”
• Seeing my 11-year-old son fast asleep on the couch at 9am, tired from waking up before 6am Christmas morning.
• Spending time with family
• Knowing it was finally over!

Anyone else have any great memorable Christmas moments? Please comment, we’d love to hear them!

Sweetfully,

Yvette

To do list:

Posted by Tabitha 

It is time to get back to my regularly rescheduled program, and I can feel it.

Christmas is just 2 days away and I'm sure like every other procrastinator, I still have a slew of things to get done.  This year however; I am a bit ahead of the game. I'm actually done with half of my Christmas shopping, which is a huge milestone for this professional procrastinator. Cheers to that!


I keep wondering-what will I do after Christmas and I no longer have 8-12 Pumpkin Rolls to bake per day? Will I sloth in front of the television and catch up on all my garbage DVR shows? Will I finally make an appearance at the place called a gym? Will I have a bit more time to chat and see Master Gemini and allow his sense of humor and charisma to further envelope my deprived love life? How about those salsa classes I've been thinking about? Hmmm, and pastry classes? Oh wait, I also need to start preparing for sky diving in March and I'm thinking a marathon of some sort would be a good idea. Oh, and an updated vision board is on the horizon too. What about Sweetfully Ever After's January treat? Before all of this I really should work on the decorations for the New Year's Eve party. Geesh...where to start.

I'll start with a list. T.V. was first on the list, so I'll start there.

Sweetfully yours,
Tabitha

Naughty or Nice TALKING TUESDAY

Tis the season to give and receive. What if the gift you receive is not really to your liking and the giver asks if you like it. Are you naughty or nice? What do you say?

Comment away!

Speaking of the Truth...

posted by Tabitha

Sweetfully Ever After has been productive and busy. Tis' the season, right?

Between baking Pumpkin Rolls (me), wireless being down (Yvette), craft fair shopping (both), packaging for Pumpkin Rolls, (Yvette), 5 children (Yvette), blind dates, (Yvette...kidding!! Me!), being sick (me) and basically having a full load, Sweetfully Ever After has also kept a happy little secret.

Well, perhaps not a secret to our close friends and family, but certainly from the blogmosphere. OK! Maybe not a secret, but more like good news. (Good dramatics work, you know.)
 
Sweetfully Ever After will be hosting a Holiday Cupcake Party for the children at Children's Hospital this month.

Before I gush and gush, you ask, what is a cupcake party? It means that we will be taking 60 homemade cupcakes to Children's Hospital along with all the supplies for the kids to decorate the cupcakes however they'd like. Pretty cool, huh?

You know, when we decided to start this blog I said I'd go about this in the most honorable way, in a honest way.  Well,  the truth is that I don't know how to explain how honored I feel today or felt the day we received the email inquiring about our interest in doing something at Children's Hospital.

The truth also is, things are overwhelming today and I feel like I have a lot on my plate. I have a full-time career in marketing, a full-time job baking Pumpkin Rolls, no time to go to spin classes, haven't seen my family since Thanksgiving, my room is a mess, my car needs an oil-change, my back hurts, I'm PMS'ing, I need to finish my Christmas shopping, help plan a NYE party at my house and somehow have a dating life.

However...

The BIGGER truth is that my heart is pumping stronger than it ever has. The truth is, for the past 2 weeks I've closed my eyes every night and can imagine seeing those little faces at Children's Hospital and a rush of peace enters my heart. The truth is, when I open my eyes the next morning and feel like I didn't get enough sleep the night before, I imagine those faces again and I do the mental countdown for the day that we'll see those faces.

I know it's just a cupcake, but if a cupcake can make one child smile for one moment...the truth is, I'd say that I've fulfilled my purpose here on this crazy planet.

Sweetfully,
Tabitha

TALKING TUESDAY

Sweetfully Ever After wants to know:


If you were able to wake up tomorrow in the body of someone else, would you do so? Whom would you pick and why?

Best response will receive a FREE Pumpkin Roll before they are out of season at the end of December 2010, so get creative!  *Answers must be in by midnight PST on 12/14/10

The Taste of Sarcasm

Posted by Tabitha 

Last Saturday night I was invited to the Taste of Mexico by my cousin, Carlos. The Taste of Mexico was to be a spectacular event with four of the top Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles serving dinner to their guests at a Downtown Los Angeles venue. Oh, and free Tequila tasting. Sign me up…

The venue was beautiful. It was a renovated cathedral, so how could it not? As a recovering Catholic,  I still have immense appreciation for beautiful churches and cathedrals, so I was in awe. The place was crammed with people, a live mariachi band filled the air, food aroma’s permeated my nostrils with each inhale and there were plenty of opportunities to indulge. 

We indulged straight to the tequila. 

After tasting a responsible amount of tequila, Dawna arrived. I was glad. Carlos is a social butterfly and can chat it up with a mannequin if need be. He’s actually the perfect person to take anywhere if you’re looking to indirectly connect with everybody at a party, but not talk to them for too long. His social graces are much more admirable than mine when it comes to meeting new people. We are related, so luckily I still have some wit that make my social ineptness almost unnoticeable to most people. Oh well…back to the story. I was glad Dawna arrived. I would be able to hang out with her while Carlos did his social thing, but most importantly it was time to eat!

We chose what seemed to be the most popular restaurant to eat at since the line was horrendously long. The line looped right past a well-known bakery where I devoured a Mexican wedding cookie. Oh, no, that was earlier. I think I stayed clear this time around. It took us nearly 20 minutes before we arrived to the actual food. I decided to eat a little bit of everything they had. The portions were appetizer sized and it all looked delicious. 

I walked down the line of food and finally arrived to the last person serving food. He had mini tostadas with chicken and beef. Perfect! I took the chicken tostada one first, but hesitated for a moment on the beef. My plate was already overflowing with food, but I was hungry. I went for it. As the chef served it onto my plate he casually said, “that’s grasshopper.” My quick sarcastic infused response was, “oh…ok.”

Carlos, Dawna and I found a table to enjoy our Mexican feasts. I took a bite of the mini chicken tostada, yum. Next was the mini beef tostada.

I took a bite. Instantly I was appalled by the taste of the seasoning on my tongue, but bit down anyways. What is that? It’s crunchy. I continued to chew. What IS that? It’s too crunchy…

“EW! I’m eating grasshopper.”

In the same second that I so cleverly and instinctually ensured that grasshopper would not enter my body, Carlos managed to take a picture of me, take the grasshopper from me for a picture AND ate it. You see, he really is the life of the party. 

Please enjoy some before and after pictures: 

Before-I was so happy and unaware of what my palette was about to experience

After the insult...

 Here's the little guy captured by Carlos's camera-you can see it's leg

 

Side note-I am more than willing to try new food. I went to the Philippines in 2004 and virtually ate everything put in front of me, so it’s not for lack of trying on my end. I just wasn’t expecting grasshopper. 

I thought the chef was being sarcastic and maybe even witty when he said “that’s grasshopper” because that is something I would say.

Let’s see how long the taste of sarcasm lesson sticks.

“oh…ok!” 

Sweetfully yours, 

Tabitha

Calling out Sick

posted by Yvette

The little monster was sick! Poor little guy had a stomach bug of some sort. 

last Thursday evening at about 7:30pm, I get a text from my daughter –

(spelling as it was in text message)

Daughter: Can I go to Isbel’s party, remember it’s this Sunday ;) :p

Me: As long as your room is clean, your art poster is done and we work on your book cover. Deal?

Daughter: Yeah jude threw up and someone cloged the toilet and didn’t un clog it and so its leaking through the ceiling

I don’t think I can do the poster and the book cover all by Saturday her party is on sunday ;) :p

Me: What!?!

What toilet is leaking?

Is Jude sick?

Daughter: yup dad wants u to call or pick up ur phone ;) :p

So call my husband to find out what is going on and why I am finding out via text from my daughter who seems more worried about going to a party on Sunday.  My poor husband sounds exasperated as he tries to explain to me that our little monster had thrown up in the car on the drive home. He is not sure if he’s sick, or ate something that his tummy didn’t agree with. Then my husband proceeds to tell me that the toilet upstairs had been overflowing out of the tank (clean water thank goodness!) for who knows how long because the boys had been next door at a friends house. The water had saturated the carpet upstairs and managed to leak down into the living room! 

Lovely.

I hang up the phone and sit at my desk for another second before I run out the door.

I get home to a pile of wet towels on the living room wood floor and a rosy-cheeked little monster.

Friday morning comes and I start my weekday routine; 6am wake up, make the kids lunches: mustard only, turkey, jalapeño jack cheese on toasted bread for my 13 year old, mayo, mustard, turkey and munster cheese for my 11 year old boy, white rice and rosemary chicken leftovers in a bento box for my 11 year old daughter and finally mayo only, turkey on toasted bread for my 7 year old. I wake up the kids about 6:15 and head back down to pack the lunches.

Here come the arguments of “I’m not hungry” or “I don’t want to eat” and of course “why don’t you ever buy what I like?.

By 6:50, I am counting down to 7am which is when the first set of kids are supposed to be headed out the door and off to school and Ita’s house (my mother-in-law).

This time, my little monster tells me “my stomuk hurt” I check him for a fever and thankfully he doesn’t have one.  I tell him, “your going to be with Ita today, okay?” he say’s “no. stay at mama’s house” He’s looking at me with his giant eyes and I say “oh baby I wish I could, but I have to go to work”

“no work, I want to stay with mama”

How do I say no to that?

I don’t.

I stay home with my sick little monster….

Welcome to TALKING TUESDAY

Sweetfully Ever After is introducing Talking Tuesday.

It is fun and easy-simply comment below with you answer. 

The holiday season is upon us, which means LOTS of festivities and planning is upon us. So tell us your favorite pre-season ritual or tradition that takes place in your home today or in your childhood.

No answer is too big or too short, so have fun! 

Truly,
Sweetfully Ever After

Costco is my Disneyland

Posted by Tabitha 

I think angels might cry when I announce this, but…I don’t like Disneyland. I actually kind of loathe it.

Please don’t feel sorry for me and think I had some sort of deprived childhood. I didn’t like Disneyland as a child either. Wait, there was this one time I took my nephew to Disneyland with an Ex-boyfriend and somewhat enjoyed it. I think I was mentally playing “house” though, so that shouldn’t count.

Anyhow, my form of Disneyland is Costco. I love, I mean LOVE Costco. As soon as I know of an impending Costco visit I instantly start mentally planning.

What will I wear? This is important because I plan to track the entire Costco store and need to ensure I have the proper shoes. Also, is a sweater necessary? I plan to do a lot of walking and since my body temperature rises when excited, do I really want to lug a sweater around? And now for a purse. Hmm, a backpack would really be ideal, but that might look suspicious. I am slightly paranoid and tend to leave my cart alone for a few moments at a time, so I usually settle on a purse I can easily swing over a shoulder or a side satchel like purse.

So what do I love about Costco? Besides the obvious fact that buying in bulk is smart and cost effective for a household on a budget, that is only my cherry on top reason for loving Costco.

I love the people watching. You’d be amazed at how many interesting and awkward moments I’ve encountered at Costco. I sometimes wish I were the “cool girl” who could walk around with sunglasses. If I did, I think I’d stare even more.

Food Samples.  YES! Yes, I am that person that tries every food sample. Where else can you get a low calorie taste of something that you KNOW is bad for you? Hello, deep fried jalapeño cheese poppers! On top of that, I have the ability to work those calories off by walking aisle after aisle aimlessly and happily. Fabulous!

Lines.  I understand people do not like Costco because of the long lines, but here’s something to think about. Disneyland has ONE long long line for everybody. Costco has multiple lines, so we have the ability to analyze which line is the shortest and who has fewer products to buy. If I’m lucky, I have another person with me so we get to both stand in different lines and race to see who gets to the front first, then we both end up in that line.

Ok, I know Disneyland has a FAST PASS, but I know of a quick way to enter the Costco parking lot and park that most people do not know about. So, I have a Costco FAST PASS.

Window Shopping. Costco has the best ideas for making crafts for the Holiday season. I was inspired by something I saw yesterday and have already started researching how I can manufacture the same gift idea with a touch of Tabitha and less of a price. Thanks, Costco!

Hidden Gems.  Since October I have been searching for a green jacket to match the new brown boots I bought. (I’m more of a black and white kind of dresser; so adding some color into my wardrobe has been part of turning a new leaf.) The search for a green jacket had led me to Ebay, Nordroms Rack, Macy’s and even Ross. Instead, I found a great black jacket and bought it. (Right, because I need another black jacket.) In any case, yesterdays Costco visit provided me with the ever so difficult to find green jacket I have been searching for. Reason 500 why I love Costco.

Now, there is one area in which Disneyland and Costco certainly match up. I cannot walk out of Costco without a bill of at least $200. Just like Costco is worth the $200 bill to me, I am most certain that same $200 bill is worth it to parents taking their children to Disneyland.

Lastly to all my friends with children, don’t worry. Should I be blessed with little ones at some point in my life, I WILL take them to Disneyland and I WILL love it.

I’ll just secretly love Costco more.

Sweetfully yours,

Tabitha

Surviving the Fire

Posted by Tabitha 

True Friends.

These are the people you count on to pick you up and celebrate when you announce enthusiastically that you’ve been promoted, paid off your car, are engaged, etc. We also count on them to pick us up, literally from the ground, when we’ve managed to successfully dig a hole in our lives and burrow in it. That’s a whole other kind of success, unfortunately.

If you are blessed, then you have a handful of these friends and you treasure them more than you treasure (insert your ungodly possession here).

So what happens when you see a true friend running into a building engulfed in flames, with no fire protection and the simple “hope” that something good will come out of it?

Well, I have a true friend who has done just that.

My first inclination was to yell “Stop, you fool! You’re smarter than this! Why are you doing this?” However; in all my so-called brilliance (I’m using this term loosely), I once ran into that same exact building engulfed with flames and realize that nobody, not even a 10- ton gorilla or my best friend Romina, who can be much scarier than a 10-ton gorilla when trying to protect a friend, could have stopped me. I have the figurative burn marks as a reminder; yet, I felt like I’d be a hypocrite if I stopped my true friend. Instead, I let her run and didn’t even call her a fool.

I didn’t even give her a fire retardant jacket to survive the burns...

So now what? She’s in the fire and is suffering 10 degree burns at every turn. As a friend, I can only watch miserably offering my words of encouragement- when asked. Why don’t I push? Why don’t I offer the “tough love” that nurturing women so cleverly offer at times? Well, experience I guess. Friends around me know how quickly I was to pull away when anything more than distant encouragement was offered. It came to the point where I decided to suffer my burns quietly in solace.

Yesterday my true friend said, “Why did this happen? How did I get here?” I realized something. While I wanted to scream and yell, “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE….don’t question it!” There was nothing I could say that would make sense to her. The fire is too intense for her. I mean, do firefighters stop to investigate the cause of the fire while the fire is blaring around them? Of course not. It is not until the smoldering building is a heap of nothing and any surviving evidence is pulled from the wreckage that the investigation begins. 

Instead I said, “That’s the thing, honey. While you are in it, you’ll never know. You’re too close.”

It breaks my heart to pieces, but yesterday for this true friend, it’s what I had to offer. The truth. The truth is, you just need to get out alive. When she does get out alive, because she will, I will be there with the fire First Aid kit, just as my person (my best friend Romina) was there for me. There are no questions asked. No I told told you’s. Just love. Just love…

True Friends. What every gal needs to survive the proverbial fire.

Sweetfully yours,

Tabitha

Monkey’s have invaded my life and I think I love it

Posted by Tabitha

Sweetfully Ever After has idea. Tons of ideas.

Where do we start? Oh wait, we already started. Are we taking on too much? Too ambitious?

Are the monkeys in my brain taking control of my life?  Like Elizabeth Gilbert referenced in her book “Eat, Pray, Love”, the monkeys are like thoughts in my brain jumping from limb to limb and never stop. Of course my life has to be more interesting, so the monkeys are addicted to every idea and inspiration that pops into my brain. 

Monkeys on crack-Fabulous.   

Is it possible to be complete and happy when passion and inspiration is driving my life, I don’t really have a moment to stop and dilly-dally, I’ve already made it clear to Mr. Interested that chatting on the phone is impossible at 9pm because hello…I have a business meeting, and all my thoughts are about what we have the opportunity to create?

Is it possible to believe that the idea conceived by a simple Facebook posting could become something I never knew existed for me but now breathe, sleep and eat the idea?    

I’m a Scorpio. I’m too cynical to believe in this kind of stuff right?

Right?

No time to wait for an answer. Spin class will surely knock the monkeys into place. 

Sweetfully yours,

Tabitha

"Bah! Humbug!"

Posted by Yvette

 Is it January yet?

As a child I didn’t celebrate the holidays, so when I became a mother I always went as big as I could (or my wallet would let me) for every holiday. I’m usually a sucker for decorations and handmade projects that are themed around whatever holiday it happens to be.

When we bought the house, I thought of all the ways I would decorate for each holiday. I told myself I would plan ahead and enjoy hosting holiday dinners.  I imagined the kids running down the stairs to find presents under the tree…

So why is it December 1^st and all I can do is beg for January to be here? Halloween decorations came down November 1^st this year, I’m dreading going into our garage to pull out Christmas decorations and I just want it to all be over!

Maybe it’s because as the kids get older they get more expensive. Letters to “Santa” went from G.I. Joes, blocks, legos, dolls and easy bake oven to lists that now include BMX bikes, laptops and TV’s for their rooms…

The kids no longer get excited to make handmade ornaments for our tree…

As cute as it will be to watch my husband put up Christmas lights on our very own house, I can’t help but wonder if a trip to the emergency room will be part of the process or if our circuit breaker will go out…

Maybe it’s because I have a million things to do and less than a month to do it…

no, really? Is it January yet?

Scroogefully yours,

Yvette

Peaches and Cream

Posted by Tabitha 

“Good Morning Sunshine! Thought I’d wish you a great day. With a name like Tabitha, I would imagine all your days are like peaches and cream. Talk to you later.”

And so it begins…

After a week of Pumpkin Rolls and what seemed like a constant buzz of the electric mixer in my head I was ready for a short vacation. I mean, who wouldn't be after baking over 50 Pumpkin Rolls (THANK YOU!!) in 5 days. No complaints though! 

Arizona was my destination. I was invited to a birthday/going away celebration, and since Susan Miller, my online astrologer, told me to "circulate" I decided that meant all the way to Arizona.

Here goes Full Disclose out to the blogmisphere. Yes, I just decided that was a word.

I realized right before my trip that in all the Sweetfully Ever After excitement, pumpkin roll baking and blogging away that I hadn't been out on a legitimate date in well, I don't remember how long. Furthermore, I realized that I hadn't even stopped to think about a man (real or imaginary) or even logged into Plentyoffish.com just to window shop or check on who had viewed me my profile. (Oh yeah, that's my favorite part.) I wasn't upset about this realization at all, just surprised. Typically, there’s someone lurking in the corners of my dating life. Whether it’s a man I’m interested in and he’s "just not that into me” or he’s interested in me and I just can’t get into it. However, with all the new adventures in my life I just hadn’t had the time for Mr. Right Now’s so I was riding solo. Not a bad thing at all, so I just embraced it and jumped on a plane to Arizona.

On one of our nights out on the town we walked passed a man who gave me the complete “I’m interested look” in a way I had not received in quite a while. Ok, I don’t really go to bars anymore and definitely do not go to clubs and since men can’t LOOK at me online, it had been a while.

We continued to walk passed him and his eyes stayed on me. As we were about to exit the bar his friend, Wing Man, approaches us. Sergeant Gonzales, my future housemate, was with us and there was no way Wing Man was going to make it passed him. Sergeant Gonzales was nice enough to humor Wing Man who finally walked away. We continued out the door and here comes Wing Man again. Sergeant Gonzales and my other roommate now begin drilling him. I completely lost interest and realized I was insulted. Why did Mr. Interested send his Wing Man to do his work? Was I not worthy of being swept off my feet by Mr. Interested himself? So, I did the most natural thing I could think of-I confronted Mr. Interested. I believe it went something like, “Why did you send your friend to talk to me?” The look of bewilderment on his face was priceless. He sputtered a bit and perhaps it was a ploy…but it worked. Mr. Interested landed a California cellular phone number and it was actually the right number. Not a common occurrence in this woman’s life.

“Good Morning Sunshine! Thought I’d wish you a great day. With a name like Tabitha, I would imagine all your days are like peaches and cream. Talk to you later.”

Peaches and cream? How’d he guess?

Sweetfully,

Tabitha