friday favorites: the kinda Christmas related edition

Writing Friday Favorites during the month of December is just...hard. I want only to do Christmas related posts, you don't only want to read Christmas related posts, and blah blah blah here we are. 

So welcome to a Semi-Christmas Related Friday Favorites. 

Favorite Christmas Song

I lied. This is in no way my favorite Christmas song, but dagnabbit! Why can't I stop singing it all the time?! Kelly! Just stop! 

Favorite Food

My father is way into cast iron skillets. When I say way into, I don't mean it in the way you are thinking. You're thinking, Wow, Emily's dad must be really obsessed with cast iron skillets! No, that's wrong. My dad is a whole, new, way higher level of obsessed with cast iron skillets. I am 100% okay with this obsession because he made cast iron pizza for dinner last night. The most perfect food to eat after a full day of Pilates training. Thank you, tranversus abdomimus, for working hard so I can eat pizza. 

Favorite Pilates Move

messy hair, and so do not care

Climb A Tree.

Take my advice and don't try this at home when you don't have proper Pilates equipment. But when it's 10 pm on Thursday night, and you don't have a picture for your Favorite Pilates Move section on your blog for Friday morning, you improvise by letting your mom hold down your leg and the couch arm be your short box.

Now, let's go climb a Christmas tree!

Favorite Thing You Should For Realsies Know About

One word, five million happy faces: Swagbucks. 

If you don't know about Swagbucks, then...well that's probably not that weird. It's a website where you can take surveys, watch videos, and so on and so forth all while earning these magical things called Swagbucks. Your Swagbucks transfer into gift cards which transfer into buying lots of Christmas presents! Yay, Swagbucks. Can't wait to gift all the cool swag I've gotten all thanks to your bucks. 

Favorite Christmas Tree

My parent's house, a.k.a. the Brady Bunch look alike home, is a strange house with very tall ceilings. The tall ceilings come in handy during the month of December when the 12-ft. Christmas trees are calling our names. Growing up we always wanted the biggest tree ever, but I think this year's officially wins at the vertical challenge. It is tall and beautiful and majestic and amazing and I'm so happy a Pilates weekend brought me to Georgia just so I could stare at this tree for a few days. 

Happy Two Weeks Until Christmas Friday!

Linking up with Karli and Amanda. 

fake life vs. real life

Today we are going to talk about marriage and Fake Life. You know, the life where your expectations are alive and reign freely. The life that doesn't have to be covered with three Instagram filters + 6x more brightness and 18x more contrast.

We're also going to talk about marriage and Real Life. The life where Come on! You're close to 30! Don't you know by now not to have any expectations?! The life that is covered with three Instagram filters + 6x more brightness and 18x more contrast because LAWD, doesn't that make everything way prettier? Where's the app that can make my face and life look like that permanently?

To make this post easier to write (and much harder to read/comprehend), let's refer to our life choices today as FL and RL. Bc u no, abbrv r + fun. 

Example #1
FL:

It's bed time (so it's 9pm. I'm embracing my grandma-ness). As always, you and your hubby wubby love of your life are tired at the same exact time, so off to bed holding hands it is! Even though you're both so tired with hearts so full, you stay up late pillow talking into the wee hours of the morning. Pillow talk is the best! Remember that one night you stayed up talking about all your hopes and dreams for the next five years?! Man, the next five years are going to rock.

RL:
It's bed time. Well, for you. You've tried staying up to spend more time with your night owl husband, but he is still going strong, and the clock reads 10:45 which is exactly one hour and forty five minutes after your witching hour. And you know what rhymes with witch...yes, you are correct: twitch. Which is exactly what your eyes are doing because they are so tired. You steal a quick kiss before literally leaping into bed. Your wide-awake biffle reluctantly agrees to go to bed and says he will be there in ten.

Two minutes later you are passed the heck out. What's pillow talk? Does it have anything to do with drool being on your pillow? No?

And if you're lucky maybe your husband will snap a pic of your drooling, sleepy face. 

End scene.

Example #2
FL:
Babies. One little word for one big change. But man, when you see those baby pictures of your spouse you know you need/want at least ten of those running around your house. Think of how many mini-chefs you'd have in the kitchen! They'd be the perfect mix of your sense of planning and organization, and your spouse's sense of adventure and spontaneity. Because duh, children get all the good traits from both parents and none of the bad traits. Back to family planning...you and husband lay down for your nightly performance of Pillow Talk and have a serious, heart-to-heart conversation about when you both want children. Bonus! You are both on the exact same page! Even down to the month of the year when you think those future children should be born. Not surprising though, giggle giggle, you and your man are always on the same page.

RL:
Babies. You want a handful of them, and you want them to be 100% as cute as Baby Freddie, but Dear God, please let them get neither of our hair and/or cow licks. In Jesus' name, Amen. When it comes time to discuss future children you wait until both of you have had AT LEAST two drinks. At least, people. The more the better. You then proceed to leave the dance floor at one of your best friend's wedding and try to convince your future baby daddy to shake on it and be in agreement with what you want.

Ten minutes later and no shaking agreement has occurred. Now your several years plan has expanded to several more years, and you don't even remember what point you were trying to make ten minutes earlier.

^^^My Real Freaking Life. 

There you have it. Welcome to my unfiltered real life of going to bed early and trying to get my husband to shake it out when it comes to family planning. Also, all I want in life is pillow talk. Is that too much to ask?

What's your unfiltered life like? Please don't tell me pillow talk is all fake. 

a catch-up

Important item number one.

We've decide that Lupe is Max from How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Notice I didn't say that we've decided that Lupe looks like Max, because he doesn't just look like Max. He straight up is Max so I suppose that means we need to rig up an antler for him for Christmas Day. These are my holiday priorities and they are important.

Sorry for the graininess. Freddie made this collage, and he is so obviously not a blogger. 

Speaking of priorities...

I've been going a tad crazy when it comes to wrapping presents. There have only been so many presents that have already arrived via USPS so I'm kinda at the point where I'm beyond ready to wrap, have no more presents to wrap at the moment, and am about to start wrapping random household items just so I can wrap all. day. long.

Who wants a super cute picture frame with a picture of me and my siblings in it for Christmas?! Or a hair brush? Oh listen now, I can legitimately wrap up about 12 bobbi pins that I've found laying around recently. 

Speaking of which, I feel like I should also be rapping all day long. But that's for another post. 

Item two. Go buy this at your local Trader Joe's right now. I mean, you could probably wait until your lunch break to get it, but it definitely cannot no-way-no-how wait until after you get off work. You need it now. 

Next on the list, guess what? Remember this post when I talked about my friend doing the one second video every day and her end of the year compilation video being the cutest thing ever? Yes? Good. 

Well we're only 24 days away from the end of the year, and ICANTWAITTOWATCHMYVIDEO. Get ready for a handful of missed days, a plethora of nighttime oops-I-almost-forgot-to-take-a-video-so-here's-me-doing-something-in-the-dark-before-I-hit-the-hay video, and then a few real videos that I remembered to take. It's going to be EPIC. 

One more thing. We went out for drinks on Thursday night, and might I suggest everyone go out for drinks on Thursday nights? It makes the week feel shorter and more doable/achievable. It also makes Thursday feel kind of like Friday, and who could hate that? #ihavefoundthesecrettoagoodweek

p.s.--went to HomeGoods yesterday and didn't buy a single thing. Currently waiting for a pig to fly by our balcony. 

friday favorites: the flair f-edition

We're going to spice things up a bit today for our alliteration today. 

Five Freakin' Fantastic and Fun Flair that I think is cool for Christmas and am telling you about on a Friday.

I guess I could add in another F by adding a sidebar of: ...that I think Freddie should get me. Hint hint. Or should I say fint fint for today? Or is adding the letter f in front of every word just going to annoying?

Anyways, in a non-annoying way that will make much more sense, let's just say that this is a list of cool things I think would make good gifts. Why didn't I start with that? 

Favorite Gift for the Music Lovers

Personalized Guitar pick -- Because anything with a pun makes for the best gift. <<study shows that or something. Just believe it. 

Favorite Gift for the fake Chef, a.k.a. my husband.
Meat grinder attachment for KitchenAid Mixer and/or a KitchenAid mixer.
Listen, I know you don't think you would use a meat/food grinder a lot, but trust me on this one. It's awesome. It's also awesome getting it as a gift because that means you have to write a thank you note for said gift, and lemme tell ya...there are no ways to write a thank you note for a meat grinder and not have it sound 100% dirty. Think about it.

Pro-tip: in getting a gift for a chef, make sure it is also something you, the professional taste tester for said chef, will also benefit from. 

Favorite Gift for People Who Can Pull Off Trends

Tassel earrings. But especially these, these, and these. I just don't think I'm at a point in my life where I am confident enough to wear tassels on my ears, but I want you to do it so I can try to get more brave and do it as well. Thanks. 

Favorite Gift for the Pilates guru

Zella Live Free Tee -- Because even when the AC in the studio is blasting and you have cold sweat, you still gots ta look cute. 

Favorite Funny Must-Have Gift for everyone

Pie Kelly -- I can add no commentary to this. It is everything on its own. 

Happy First Friday of December!

Linking up with Karli and Amanda.

currently: the christmas not overload edition

Welcome to the last month of the year. 

What

The

...

I'll give you a second to silently curse to yourself in amazement at how fast this year has gone, and then we'll get started with the last 2015 Currently linkup.

wishing // 
Time needs to slow down this month! I 100% like to go cliche Christmastime crazy (just like everyone and their mom...) and it's hard to soak in every Christmas-y second when the month goes by in what feels like a week. December, please spread out into what feels like three months. Four months! Five! Although...that might get old. I'll stick with three months. Thanks.

remembering //
Growing up we got a new ornament every year. My mom did this because she said she wanted us to have our own ornament collections for when we grew up and lived on our own. Well, shucks and a half, I have definitely got a collection going on. From Aladdin and Jasmine to 100 assorted ballerinas to a giant mirrored disco ball, I've got the ornament part of Christmas down. I love unpacking them and trying to remember what in the world was going through my head in the year 1999 when I just had to have that Queen Amidala ornament (I also try to remember what in the world was going through my head in 1999 when my friends and I used to constantly do Queen Amidala makeup on each other).

wrapping //
Does stuffing presents into bags count as wrapping? Because if so then I am rocking this whole wrapping thing. But come on, when Target's dollar section has bags this cute you can't really wrap stuff, right? Right.

baking //
I'm not sure if you've picked up on the fact that I don't cook (because I only mention it every other post or so), but that always includes baking. Baking stresses me out even more than cooking does. So instead of use my 15% off Christmas M&M's coupon and eat all the peanut butter M&M's. I love baking eating M&M's!

decorating //
We got our tree and got it decorated which means the ribbon cutting has happened and the grand opening of Christmastime can begin. The apartment is also decorated and it feels like Christmas straight up vomited in here which means it feels perfect.

Linking up with Anne and Jenna!