New Year's Eve Tag!

My girl, Nancy-Lee over at FashionCHICsta, created this New Year's Eve tag this week. If you read my Holiday Tag, then you might know I LOVE doing tags!

I copy/pasted her lovely tag, so if you are interested in doing this tag as well, please be sure to link/credit it back to FashionCHICsta.

Plus, I'm sure she'd love to read your answers, so head over to her New Year's Eve Tag post and leave a link/URL to your tag post so she can check it out.

Check out her answers here: http://fashionchicsta.blogspot.com/2011/12/new-years-eve-tag.html

When it comes to NYE do you makes plans / reservations or do you just wing it?

If I go out NYE, I'll plan on going to a party or meeting friends at a bar/club. But, once those original plans start to get old or boring (which they tend to do), we begin calling/texting other people to see where they're at and what's going done on their end. NYE can take me to multiple parties and spots, but they are always full of friends and fun!

What are your plans for this New Years Eve?

Well, being 30weeks pregnant aka 7 1/2 months pregnant, I'm not in the partying mood... we're planning on lounging around at home, maybe have some wine, snack on popcorn and cookies and watch the New Year's festivities on TV.

Whether it's a night on the town or a night in, do you get glam?

Going out - I always have to glam it up - NYE or not! haha, I'm a makeup addict, of course I glam up every chance I get!

But, staying in, I probably will be sporting my go-to nighttime moisturizer, Eucerin Dry Skin Therapy Original Moisturizing Creme (I might just curl my lashes and rock some Wild Rose Korres Lip Butter too)

Found a makeup photo from NYE 2009 (I always forget to photograph myself on NYE, haha)

Shimmer shadows are from my MAC Fafi palette, lashes were most likely Mod Lash, brow highlight was MAC Brule, foundation was probably Neutrogena Healthy Skin liquid foundation in something Honey (might be Toasted Honey) with Neutrogena Healthy Skin Loose Powder in Medium (my go-to powder!)

Do you have any New Years Eve traditions?

Um... lol, drink? Haha! I'm not a lush, but usually my NYE's are for letting loose and enjoying my time out with my friends. I don't really have any traditions though... OH! I guess, one would be getting ready with my BFF - doing our hair and makeup while listening to music and getting pumped up for the night's festivities.

Did you make a resolution entering 2011 and did you stick to it?

2011 was the first year I made any type of new year's resolution, and it wasn't all that serious either... just an idea I had that I ended up sticking to all year long. You might have seen this on my Twitter already, but my 2011 resolution was to start up my beauty blog and keep up with it all year long. This was a huge deal to me because I had no idea how to blog or where to blog. It was a brand new thing to me, and I found my way through the web to create my own blog and how to become a part of this amazing online beauty community. I never would have foreseen myself as a blogger - or even sharing my beauty obsession with the world, but I'm glad I did it.

Are you making a resolution(s) for 2012?

I wasn't planning on it, but a few of my blog related goals for next year include finding new ways to be a part of the online beauty community. I have a few personal goals for next year; learning to parent two children, completing little DIY projects in our new home to upgrade it a bit, finding a way to use my crafty skills to make money while being a stay at home mother, and a few more goals I can't think of at the moment (I should probably write these down).

A few of my crafts (DIY baby room decorations - these were made in 2010)

How do you plan on being successful with your 2012 resolutions?

I think so. I usually set realistic goals for myself, and I discuss it with BF so that he can give me his opinions on how attainable my goals really are. When there's someone supporting you the whole way, your confidence sky rockets and it's so much easier to accomplish things - plus when you get proud of yourself, they are proud of you too.

All the accomplishments I've made with my blog and websites, I share them with BF and he's always so happy and proud of all the work I put into my project(s). Even when I hit a new level of subscribers, he's right there to say good job and feel just as excited and grateful as I do!

Do you get 'healthy' with the New Year?

Haha, nope! I'm anti-diet. I believe in being conscious of what you eat, make good choices, stay active (even if you're just going on walks, or putting in some time on your Wii Fit), don't overdue your indulgences and have fun with your flavors. The more flavorful your food is - most likely it's healthier than the bland/beige foods you get from drive-thrus.

What was your greatest success of 2011?

Aside from learning to be a parent (and excelling at it! LOL), I think my main success of 2011 is my online life. I started 2011 with a personal Facebook page (that I rarely even visited) and I'm ending 2011 with a couple of blogs that people actually read, a YouTube channel that people actual watch, a Facebook fan page that I'm addicted to, a Twitter account that I drown with randomness, and a handful of beauty websites that I have become a loyal member to. I've built new relationships, new friendships, and met people from all over the world that share the same interests and loves as I do! My greatest success of 2011 is being brave enough to put myself out here.

Madilyn - February 2011

Did you learn from a challenge that will make you stronger for the coming year?

This year was actually the first year of my entire life that I wasn't struggling with drama or hardships. I wasn't sad about my life or situation. I wasn't pep-talking myself everyday to be strong and stick it out, hoping for good Karma to come my way sooner than later. 2011 was the best year in full - from start to finish it has been all blessings for me and my family. I'm beyond grateful for everything because I have literally dealt with more than one person should have to in their first 25yrs of life.

What are you hoping 2012 brings?

I'm hoping to stay on this good path, maintain the positiveness that is surrounding our family.

Do you kiss at midnight, even if it's a stranger?

YES! Haha, I always have to have a New Year's kiss! Even if I'm single, I'm grabbing a friend and puckering up - no strangers though, that's just a little awkward to me, lol ;)

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!

haha, that's my kissy face!

Thank you to Nancy-Lee over at FashionCHICsta!

Our New Home

Michael & Madilyn in their new home!

Michael and I have been talking about moving out of our apartment and into a house (rental) ever since we found out we were going to have another baby in our family. We started looking at houses for rent online in November, found a few that looked interesting but never went to view any of them. Then, early this month we found a house for rent in Castro Valley, which is one of the areas we were looking into. The rent is perfect for us, it's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house with a large backyard, washer and dryer included, single car garage, kitchen appliances included and it has a fireplace. We immediately called to view the house, went to see it that weekend, submitted an application and by the next week we were approved and got the house!

It's a cute house built in '47, so it has a lot of personality to it. I love this house, and I am already envisioning how to modernize it and make it our own home.

Here's a few photos of the house that I snapped yesterday while we got the keys and met with the landlord (who, by the way, is super sweet and even offered us a crib mattress that she was planning on tossing - in great condition, isn't that sweet of her?)

This is the view when you first walk in

Dining room

Built in hutch in dining room

Looking into the hallway from the front room

Hall/family bathroom

This will be the kid's room, we're most likely going to remove the shelves though

The other end of the hall, with a DEEP linen closet!

This will be mine and Michael's room

Kitchen

This is the 3rd room which we're talking about using as a guest room/office for my blogging and filming

This is the second bathroom which is attached to the 3rd room

View outside from the slider in the 3rd room - it's a LARGE backyard!

Shopping - JCpenney

I recently bought Madilyn some shoes from JCpenney online - they were on sale for $11.99 each ($3-$5 cheaper than at Target - go figure JCpenney would ever be cheaper than Target) plus I got 9% cash back through ShopAtHome.com.

Madilyn had a spontaneous growth spurt and jumped up a size in everything, of course I wasn't prepared and had no clothes, socks or shoes in the next size so the poor girl had to go around in clothes that were too small for a couple weeks. I bought her one pair of size 5 shoes (the dark denim w/pink laces), one pair of size 6 shoes (another pair of the dark denim w/pink laces), and another pair of size 6 shoes (the pink slipper-like shoes). Hopefully she'll wear size 5 for a while, but if she sprouts up again, I'm a little more prepared :)

Beginner Christmas Ornaments

Michael and I have been together for many Christmases now, but we've only had two trees so far - and this year is our first "full size" tree. We don't have many ornaments (yet), but I think our first set of ornaments is a great way to begin your personal family ornament collection. We started our collection last year; I gifted an "M" ornament to Michael, an "L" ornament to our dog Lexi and a "K" ornament to myself. This year we added another "M" ornament for Madilyn and a "J" ornament for Jamison (even though he isn't here yet, he's still family and loved dearly!).

I've been buying these monogram ornaments from Target. They are about $5-$7 each. Last year they offered colored rhinestones, which I had purchased the red for Michael and Lexi and a blue one for my brother. This year they aren't offering colored rhinestones, but the clear rhinestones are just as pretty. These are pretty hefty ornaments, so I would advise hanging them on the branch parts of the tree, otherwise they'd weigh down the thinner branches and look droopy.

DIY Holiday Gift Bags

I finished my Christmas gift bags a couple weeks ago (posting this after I've handed them out so I didn't spoil the surprises!), and I'm oh-so proud of them! I'm so excited that this whole process only cost me just under $75 (includes all the gift items, wrapping, bags, bows, gift tags, etc.), that's about $6 per person! :)

I bought all the gift items at Bath and Body Works, which I posted on my Beauty Blog (CLICK HERE to see that post). I bought all the wrapping supplies at the dollar store - super scored there because they had packs of tissue paper for $1 each, packs of mini bows $1 each, and the bags were a 2 pack at $1 each.

Pretty much I wrapped every item with tissue paper, in a spring-roll-type-folding-job (can you tell I never explain how to fold things?). Then I used one sheet of tissue paper to line the interior of the gift bags. I stuck a mini bow on the outside of each bag, along with a gift tag so I remember which bag goes to which lady. And that's it, took me about an hour to put them all together (rushed through it while Madilyn was napping).

Christmas Gifts: early gift from Michael

Last Friday evening, Michael was debating on giving me one of my Christmas gifts early. Without telling me what it was, he said that it's something that I can only use for Christmas, and if he gave it to me on Christmas morning, I wouldn't be able to use it for very long. After a while, he caved and gave me one of my Christmas gifts early! :D

I was SOOO excited!

I grew up without Christmas and have only been celebrating it for the past few years, so I still have that child-like anxiety to see all my gifts ASAP! So when he said he was going to give me one of my gifts early, I literally got all giddy inside!

Michael got me my very first real Christmas ornament! (yes, I do some cheapy ornaments I bought to decorate the tree with - but this truly is MY ornament and the first ornament I have ever received!)

It's a heavy, white orb ornament from Pandora Jewelry. I'm in love with it! I'm a long time admirer of Pandora Jewelry, and I LOVE things that come in white - looks so clean and classy to me.