Most Excellent

I am sorry to say that 1 of my favorite shops of all "High Wire Girl's" in B'ham, Michigan is closing. Curse you economy!!! She should have called & I would have Facebooked everyone to go buy something. I also feel horrible because she was selling off all of her old chests and furniture that held all of her wares. I wanted one and felt badly that I did. Luckily, most of them were sold & the one left did not appeal to me. So I had to start my Most Excellent with a Most Horrible but High Wire Girls deserves a good send off.

I have been following the Nie Nie blog for sometime. I have also started to follow her sister's blog called C Jane Run. It is nice to see such a strong, cool, creative family. Keep up the good work & writing. C Jane Run's blogs are always so colorful which is what we need in this dreary part of the world. It is cold & stormy in Michigan. Bleary Christmas!

I am close to the end of my Christmas shopping and wouldn't you know it, the kids grew out of their winter stuff. It took a storm to show me that they were busting through their heavy coats & snow pants. So I took my 13 year old daughter to Target to buy a $17 pair of boy's black snowpants. You go Target because even at Marshall's & TJMaxx the snowpants were at least $50!!! My daughter is a pro at finding a bargain in the boys & girl's section size XL or XXL.

I also love REI. I found a great down coat there for my son for $70 bucks and we could use our annual member discount of 20% off! I have not been to REI in awhile & I forgotten how much it feeds my quasi-outdoor-but-rather-be-indoor-soul. I mean after all, I do have to run outdoors! I also found him the the face mask that will let him be outside for a few hours in this crazy winter weather. Plus right now their North Face boy's coats are marked way down.

www.rei.com

How excellent is most excellent? Does it seem like I love to shop? Yes, I do. You caught me. But I also love a deal and that is the most excellent of all!

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So I have to start with the Playmobil nativity scene that we bought years ago. It only comes out at holiday time. My kids who are 10 and 13 by the way, still love to set it up and play with it. I believe there should be a few toys in kid's life that only come out once in awhile. They are special and cherished like our nativity scene. The only question becomes who will get it when they are older for their own kids?

My friend had a box of toys that she could only play with when she was sick. She said it actually made her feel better. This can be created for rainy days and bored days too. I also made sure that nothing that was at either grandparents house was duplicated. Those toys were special because they were only there.

My husband & I did our annual Christmas shopping & dinner date last night. First stop was the mall. Yikes! We have older kids & it is now a necessity to go there. Urban Outfitters was a great store to buy kitschy presents for all of the teenagers. I especially liked the long photo display for the 16 year old that I need to buy for. Plus the table ping pong set might be good for my 14 year old nephew who has everything! Oh these kids today!

Ping pong: http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&navAction=jump&id=15212475&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS&color=00

I also can't wait for my sister to get here today to enter this contest for $$.
It is a wildest holiday card contest. I think between Sue & myself that we can do something cool.

http://wileydesignchallenge.smugmug.com/

I am thinking of a silhouette of Rudolph drinking out a martini wit a red nose. Shine on into the new year!


Everybody likes Christmas cookies but I am always in the mood for hot chocolate this time of year. I like to experiment too. I am big on cinnamon & vanilla right now but I am willing to try anyone of these:

http://coffeetea.about.com/od/chocolate/tp/tophotchocolate.htm

I am seriously nervous about two whole weeks off with my kids. I have a list of things to do but I also found this web site. I know we can find 1 or 2 things that they may want to do or create.

http://crafts.kaboose.com/crafts-for-teens.html

The countdown to Christmas begins....enjoy!

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O.k. I am not a Black Friday shopper. It is too much work. But I am also looking for a deal, any easy deals. I love the Freebies 4 Mom web site. It is a great place to peruse any deals on the internet. I wish she would expand into vacations!

So this web site led me to Ebates.com. Right now for Black Friday, they have boosted their normal instant $5 rebate to $10 rebate - woo-hoo. I have to buy my soon-to-be niece some stuff so I will definately be placing an order at Babygap & getting the 9% rebate back! Gotta love giving a little & getting a little back.

Most excellent are the patterns I have been researching & trying out for my blog online like at CitrusMoon.com. I like the blue but it is a little intense. This website helps you understand how to apply them to your blog: http://www.splitdecisionz.com/2008/02/how-to-change-background-image-in.html

I will be adding a poll to my blog soon once I decide which 3 patterns I will use. I can assure you, it will not be kitschy or holiday specific.


I am in love with Lisa Leonard's jewelry designs especially the double ring with my kid's names on them. I gave my husband a BIG hint about wanting these for Christmas. We'll see what is on my finger after the Dec. 25th. I am not a huge fan of the bird jewelry but the other necklaces are so cool. She also has a great blog to read once you are there. (Thanks Soule Mama for the link)

http://lisaleonardonline.com/

I am looking for a peaceful & calm holiday season after this hectic fall & I enjoy this zen web site. I have always been faithful to the color black when choosing my clothes & they strongly suggest choosing a few colors to wear. However, lately, I have been searching for some other colors to add to my sweater collection.

http://zenhabits.net/2008/09/21-easy-hacks-to-simplify-your-life/

Hope your T-day was as good as mine! Enjoy the weekend, meet up with a friend, smile at a stranger and kiss your kids at least 10 times.

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Another tame weekend at our house. Right now it is snowing! Crazy. My son is at his football banquet & my lucky husband got to go. Which brings up another point.

We had to make a Kohl's run for some dress shoes for my son yesterday. I did not have one of my Kohl's coupons but I asked the cashier what he could give me. He gave 15% off! I have never tried that but I love it. I also picked up a 30% off Gap & Old Navy coupon at work this week(somebody left them there). I took my daughter for bottoms - being on the swim team, she needs lots of comfy clothes! She picked out a pair of day-glo green sweatpants at Old Navy. They were 30% off so we paid $9. Cha-ching. I then took her to the Gap. We bought a sweater which was 25% off but with the coupon that added another 30% off. We got 55% off the sweater. That was a huge cha-ching.

We went to the new Toast restaurant in Birmingham this morning for brunch. This is where we spent all of our savings from the weekend. It is a cute place and very aesthically pleasing inside. I can't wait to go back sans kids and have their Bloody Mary. The food was great. My son had the pumpkin pancakes which were a special and especially yummy. My daughter had a Greek omelette and loved the potatoes on the side. A definite visit should be planned by all.

We are on our way to a special furniture store in Clawson called Leon & Lulu's. The web site was cool and I am hoping the actual store lives up to it.

http://www.leonandlulu.com/

My daughter is into old movies lately. Friday we watched "Rear Window". It was fun to watch for like the 5th time. I love that the fact that my teen-ager likes all of these great old films. Remember some of the oldies are goodies.

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Here we are again Sunday night. A whole weekend is gone and a whole week ahead. It was a weekend of cold and quiet but full of excellent things.

#1 My husband. There is no web site for him but right now I love hims lots. He cleaned the gutters, took the kids to a State game and helped my dad with his trees. All the while he is keeping me going through this hectic year & a busy weekend. I hate this anxiety over the economy & life in general.

#2 The Baldwin Public Library in B'ham, MI. My city has a new & pretty library but I love Baldwin. It has nooks and crannies to hide out and read in and an everlasting beauty all over the place. This Saturday as I was studying at my normal table in the main room, I looked up. The ceiling was breathtaking and divine with an ornately carved molding that could only be done in the past - craftsmanship. So if you have a few moments then I encourage you to go there & look up. If you do not then just look up & see if you can see anything new.

http://www.metronet.lib.mi.us/BALD/

#3 "The Family at Home" by Anita Kaushal. I read about this in someone's blog but I picked it up at the library. What a great book of captivating pics full of color & love of home & family.

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Home-Love-Life-Style/dp/030739445X

#4 Microfinance: In this world of crazy stock markets, one can be unsure about where to put money. I read an article about providing finance backing to the poor. Love this!

www.kiva.org or www.microplace.com


#5 Popcorn is a great treat & economical. I was just interrupted by my husband who is up at the local high school with my son & some friends. They are playing football. I am going to make them popcorn & hot cocoa. I'll make it my dad's way with a little olive oil & lots of salt.

#6 My new Lands' End coat is awesome. I originally bought it in ivory but ended up disliking the color on me. I returned it for a dark, dark brown with a shaggy collar. Yum! Plus it was on sale & had free shipping.