best friends

After a busy day at work, I attended the Nordstrom private holiday shopping event. I got to pick up a few things {including this gift for one of my besties}, shop with my one of my best friends, help her select her Christmas outfit and enjoyed some sweet treats {tray-passed hors d'oeuvres, wine and martinis!}.

While we were browsing, I stumbled upon these cute iPhone cases from Rebecca Minkoff. I absolutely love the new twist on the old best friend necklaces.

~it even comes in pink!~

And now I'm more obsessed than ever to upgrade to an iPhone...c'mon iPhone 5!

A side note: I have never seen so many Louis Vuitton handbags in one place before - except for an actual Louis Vuitton store. It was crazy!

frohe weihnachten

When I was in high school, I went on a whirlwind trip through Europe one summer and was lucky enough to visit seven countries in three weeks. One of my top spots was in Germany - Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

Rothenburg is this picture-perfect Medieval town full of history {and, consequently, tourists}. It's home to a beautiful church, a gorgeous city square, the Medieval Crime Museum {complete with torture devices and an impressive collection of chastity belts} and my personal favorite : the Kathe Wohlfahrt store. The store has the most amazing collection of Christmas treasures I've ever seen and it had me wishing of a Bavarian Christmas, especially since it was the middle of a hot and sticky summer.

The other day, my 1,000 Places to See Before you Die calendar surprised me with this:

Although it's not Rothenburg and the Kathie Wohlfahrt store, Nuremberg's Christkindlmarkt has me adding a trip to Germany to my Christmas list for next year. Anyone have an in with Santa? I've been a very good girl this year...

christmas in the office

This weekend's cookie-making madness was so that I would be able to share yummy treats with my coworkers for Christmas. I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, wrapped six cookies in cellophane and tied each with Christmas ribbon.

A little something extra : if your recipe calls for room-temperature butter and you forgot to pull it out of the fridge in time {like me}, cut the butter into small cubes and let it sit out at room temp for 10 to 15 minutes. While you wait, pre-measure the rest of your ingredients.

weekend update

I don't usually wait until the last minute to finish my Christmas shopping, let alone wait until the last minute to even start, but such is the case this year. From 8 a.m. Saturday to 10:30 Sunday night, I was going non-stop.

Saturday morning started with a hike up South Mountain's Telegraph Pass with two friends, then to America's Taco Shop with Mark. Neither he nor I had been there before, but I'd been dying to try it for a while now. It was so yummy that I didn't stop to take photos of all the carne asada goodness.

Then I was off to do some Christmas shopping...and in the middle of suburbia {San Tan Mall, for those of you who live in the Valley} were three deputies on horseback. Welcome to the Wild West!

Sunday morning had me up-and-at-'em early again. House chores mixed with some more shopping and a stop by Lux Coffee for a mid-morning pick-me-up.

~that's a non-fat iced caramel latte - delish!~

Mark and I headed out for a quick lunch at one of our fave fast-food burger joints - Five Guys. They just opened one near our house. And while they're delicious, you can't eat more than one every couple of months.

And then, cookie-making madness {photos to come tomorrow} followed by selecting our Christmas tree - told you we were pulling off a last-minute holiday.

~decorations to come soon~

~another great find from Trader Joe's. Only $5!~

And back to work today. I need a day off from my weekend! How did you spend your weekend?

a trader joe's holiday

I love Trader Joe's any time of the year, but I especially love Trader Joe's during the holidays.

I went there over the weekend and picked up a few things.

And my little Christmas tree inspired me to {finally} put away the fall pumpkins and start to bring out the Christmas decorations. I'm waiting for Mark to come home later this week before I bring out the big guns, but I thought this bowl of glass ornaments was a lovely start.

so this is christmas

I like to celebrate one holiday at a time, so now that we've successfully feted Thanksgiving, it's time to formally ring in Christmas time!

Retailers and radio stations are playing the sounds of the season, and I wanted to share a few of my favorites with you. 

One of my other all-time favorites is "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Judy Garland. The best video I found on YouTube had the embedding function disabled, but you can check it out here.