NYC 2011

Well, I did it again.  Made an escape to my favorite city.  This time, it was a little different.  It was a "business trip".  I try to say that without giggling because it WAS for business, and I still have to pinch myself sometimes that I'm in this "party world".  I love it each and every day.

The trip started out with a little bit of adventure!  And I'm not talking about the 5:30 am arrival to the airport.  No, I'm talking about the FULL BODY PAT DOWN that I received at the airport!  Yep, that's right folks.  Our lovely TSA workers singled me out to go through the full body scanner.  And then after determining that I had to many "anomalies", they requested a female to give me a full body pat down.  Let me tell you, I have not been touched like that by anyone other than my hubby in 18 years!  LOL  It was quite an experience....

Our flight was quick, and before we knew it we were landing in NYC!  A quick and crazy taxi ride later, and we arrived at the Doubletree Chelsea hotel.  We headed out to Time Square, to see the lights, and got a quick bite of NYC pizza - nothing better.  We stayed up a little too late that night as some of the other "party girls" arrived, and were staying on our floor.  We stayed up chatting like school girls.  One of the girls dubbed us the 7th Floor Cheer Camp. 

Kim & I in Time Square

We ended up sleeping in a little later than we should have Monday morning, but eventually Andrea & I headed out to see some of the city.  (Kim stayed back to do some work and had an impromptu photo shoot of our swag bags in the hotel room!)  Andrea and I walked around Rockefeller Center & then up to Central Park.  I took some pictures of areas of the park that I had just visited in April with Wendy, except this time it was covered in snow!  Cold, but stunning.

Skating at Rockefeller Center

Bridge in January

Same bridge in April

The Mall in Central Park in January

Same spot in April

And again, my favorite fountain.....OFF!  I've been to this fountain 4 times and have never seen water flowing from it.  Maybe my next trip.....in October! 

That's all for now.....more to come later in the week!

Year in Review

So, I had these grand ideas to do a Year in Review post, but yea, it's already the 4th, and I haven't had the time. So, to make it simple, I'm using this.

This is from Facebook and it's a collection of my statuses from 2010.  I thought it was pretty hilarious.

But a quick recap of my 2010.............

My New Job (which has caused my lack of blog posting, but I'm really going to try to change that!!), my 40th birthday and awesome party to celebrate it, my trip to NYC, our family vacation to San Diego, Girls' Camp, watching my kids become young adults, Hugh's remodel of the girls' room (need to post pictures soon!), birth of my newest niece, Claire, having Emmi say my name clear as a bell "TONI!!" (love it!), lots of love and fun times with family and friends.  Ok!  I guess that's it!!! 

Love you all, and I hope to make a weekly appearance here.  I promise.

Family Pictures 2010, among other things....

I know...don't have a heart attack.  I'm actually writing on my blog.  I should be sending out my Christmas cards, and wrapping presents, and baking....but I keep having this nagging feeling to update some things around here!  And by "here", I mean my poor, neglected blog. 

For an update....things are busy, busy, busy.  We've spent the first two days of break at one appointment or another.  Then running kids all over the place.  What kind of "break" is that???  I want to sleep in and do things around the house!  Geez!! 

The girls' room is 90% finished and it looks incredible.  I have 5 boxes of junk that needs to be gone through, and I'll hopefully get it down to one box of semi-junk.  I'll post before/after pics once it's totally finished.  Hugh did an amazing job.

Work is great.  How can it NOT be great when I'm getting a trip to NYC for Christmas from my fabulous boss??  TomKat Studio has some big projects in the works, and they will all be revealed in due time.  Kim, Andrea & I leave for NYC on January 16 and I can't wait!!! 

Speaking of Andrea, she took our family photos this year and did such a fantastic job!  Here are some of my favorites.

TomKat Studio Holiday Gift Guide (with a special note to Heidi)

My sweet Heidi...I'm sorry you miss me so.  My life is a little topsy turvy at the moment.  I'm a working woman, you know.  But, I promise to be more faithful to my blog so you can keep up with me and the fam. I do miss you to pieces. 

Ok....so, this is a little project that I got to help work on.  Kim (my uber fabulous boss lady) created this beautiful gift guide and I was asked to create a page of gift ideas for Tween & Teens. I, of course, enlisted the help of my kiddos, and they were excited to be a part of it.  So, take a peek at this awesome gift guide.  Who knows, you may find something in there that you can't live without!!

 

I will be back to blogging soon.  I promise.

I'm Thankful....

As I was driving around today, I was thinking of all of the things I have to be grateful for and my list is long and I love that!!!  So, I decided to share what I'm grateful for.....

...First and foremost, my family.  Hugh, Courtney, Connor, Caitlin - the best family a girl could ask for.
...My dogs - Griffin & Zoey - they make me laugh everyday.  Love them to pieces.
...My parents.  All five of them.  They are the best.
...And, of course, the rest of my family - Scott, Kim, Wayde, Ashley, Elby, Jordan, Kacey, Kailey, Taylor,  Chase, Kolby, Lynette, Cooper, Karlie, Kammy, Mo, Demetrius, Malachi, Robert, Rocko, Matini, Kort, Amy, Emmi, & Claire.  I love each of them.
...My ward family.  I go to church with the best group of people.  They are truly family. 
...My girlfriends - you know who you are!!! 
...My JOB!  The best, most fantasic job a party girl could ever hope for! I heart TomKat Studio.
...Kim & Andrea...the best two ladies to work with.
...Facebook. I'm seriously so thankful for Facebook!  I love being in touch with my friends and family on a daily basis!
...Modern Family - greatest show on tv
...My blackberry
...NYC
...Chick-fil-a sauce - yum!
...Red Velvet Cake
...80's on 8 on Sirius Radio
...that my jeans still fit
...that it is Thanksgiving time and I get to spend the day with my very large extended family
...that it is almost Christmas!  And that brings on a whole other list of things I'm grateful for.  :)

Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you!  I truly love you all!!

What are you thankful for?

Who wants to Hula?

Caitlin started taking Hula lessons about 2 months ago, and last weekend was her first performance!  It was so fun to watch.  My little girl can shake her hips!  She is now gearing up for her next performance in December.  Now, we need to go to Hawaii....

Kid #2 in Braces

Well, actually, it's Kid #3, but #2 for braces.  Follow me??

Caitlin before.............

 And after!!!!

Halloween 2010

I'm so behind!!!  Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!  Anyway, we had a fun Halloween, as always.  The ward Trunk or Treat is always a blast. 

This year, Courtney was.....

Her own (completely created by her) version of the Mad Hatter.  Here she is with her friend Madi.

Caitlin was.....

A Cupcake!!  Isn't this adorable??  And she MADE it!  Well, I made the bottom part.  You know, the part that looks like it was made by a 4 year old?  Ya, I made that part.  But she sewed the "frosting" and picked out the other elements of her costume.  Totally adorable.

And Connor, and his two buds, Ben & DJ were.....

The Three Amigos!!!  Ole`!  Connor has his costume off 15 minutes after we got there. 

On Halloween night, it is tradition in Hugh's family that we serve Potato Soup for dinner.  This is a tradition started years ago by our late Grandma Lope.  Yum!

Nice hat babe.

Then we settled in and awaited the Trick or Treaters.  And waited, and waited, and waited.  And then they came....all FOUR of them!  Wha???  I guess all of the kids moved out of the neighborhood!!

NYC 2011

Well, I wanted this....

 But, I guess I'm going to have to settle for this.  **Deep Sigh**

Because I am going with the other fabulous ladies from The TomKat Studio to the Martha Stewart Dreamers into Doers Conference in New York City!!!  Dreamers into Doers is an online community that celebrates the success of women who have turned their dreams into careers that they love!!!  Kim is the dreamer, and I'm just lucky enough to have joined her in her journey.  Seriously, I can't say it enough.....the BEST most FUN and FASCINATING job I have EVER HAD!!!  We'll have two days of workshops focusing on growing our business, marketing techniques, Etsy tips, and a bunch more.  And we get to attend a taping of the Martha Stewart Show.  Fun stuff!!! 

So, my Christmas list has change.  I now need sweaters and a winter coat.  Oh, and an Ipad.  Yes, I NEED an Ipad.  Can someone tell Hugh???

High Maintenance Pumpkin Cookies

On Sunday, the girls and I put on our aprons and set out to make these festive cookies.

I love anything pumpkin during the holidays, and I knew I would LOVE these!!  Let me just say that putting the batter together wasn't so bad, but they were a little high maintenance to bake.

First, you have to cut 3 inch square pieces of parchment paper.  The recipe says 24, but we ended up needing 48!!  (The recipe made far more than it said it would.  Good for us!!!)

Then, you have to fill a piping bag with the batter and pipe it onto the squares of parchment paper?  Wha???  I'm used to spoonfuls of dough onto the pan....not batter in a bag!  But, we did it anyway.

Lo and behold....they came out in perfect little circle cookies. 

We let them cool, made the delicious filling, and YUMMO!!  Awesome Pumpkin Cream Pies. 

I may make these again during this holiday season, but they definitely won't be ones I whip up on a Sunday afternoon because I have a sweet tooth.

And just to clarify, these are NOT my pictures.  (But I promise, my cookies looked just like them!)  I got them from Pioneer Woman's cooking blog, A Tasty Kitchen.  Wonderful, wonderful recipes over there.  And that's where you can find this recipe.  Gotta love Pioneer Woman!!!