i guess dreams really do come true

i kid you not,

no more than 5 mins after i posted this, husband came up to me and said, "lets go, were going to get your birthday surprise early"

you see i knew he was planning something, but i had no idea what

two hours later this cutie was sitting in my lap on the way home:

i. kid. you. not.

meet my new fur child lulu

i. ♥. her.

...oh and

best. present. ever.

so my birthday is in exactly 20 days...

and i would like...

1. one of these adorable puggies 2. this camera (and some lenses, and a flash) 3. a chanel purse 4. a trip to paris 5. a new bmw to replace this one...oh! and an unlimited j crew gift card :)

(i would make a real list, but i really cant think of anything so i made a dream list instead :)

wedding: bridesmaids gifts

i got glass paint and painted some dollar tree wine glasses

on one side is their name and the other has bridesmaid (or maid of honor) and the date of the wedding (i also made one for myself, but it just says bride and the date

i got initial charms from things remembered that had a little pearl attached (they dont seem to have them anymore) and strung them on a chain

i put them in little drawstring chiffon bags from the dollar tree that i put in the glasses

you can see mine here (though its backward because this is a picture of a mirror)

i got myself a k for my new last name and got all the girls their first initial

i didnt by them intending for them to be worn at the wedding though we all ended up wearing them, even me! (i wasnt sure what jewelry i was going to wear until i put the dress on that day)

but it worked out perfectly cause i told the girls if they wanted to wear any jewelry to wear some combination of pearls (i.e. earrings, necklace, bracelet)

so its new years day...

and im putting away my christmas tree...

its twinkly lights make me happy and im a little sad to see it go for the year but its time

but first a look at all my pretty packages wrapped under this tree...

i used wrapping and packing paper and ribbon and twine from the dollar tree

i also use these tags found via

my favorite gift i gave this year (and probably may favorite gift i ever gave) was to my husband

getting him presents is tricky because he doesnt really want or need anything and he doesnt want you to get him something just to get him something...i had to get creative

i saw this post a while back and thought it was super cute

but instead of rootbeer i used beer because hubbers loves beer

originally i was going to go here to get single beers but they dont have a huge selection and i wanted to get ones that he had never had

then a coworker told me about this place and they have a whole giant aisle, both sides, of make your own 6 pack!!! they probably have every beer in the world its crazy!

they also had little descriptions of each beer so i stealthily took pictures of each (thank g for camera phones) and made up a little taste chart

anyway i think hubby really liked it because he is "saving them" because they are "special" and alcohol doesnt usually last very long in this house...

lets start with waffles

so i have a LOT to catch up on... the wedding, honeymoon, bridal shower, shopping, crafting, cooking, and everything else from the summer

...but im starting with waffles! yum!

hubbers and i LOVE waffles and we've been using this baby almost everyday... seriously

we received the waffle maker from one of my best friends and old room mate. it was actually a little surprise because it had com in the mail while we were on our honeymoon and when my mother-in-law brought it inside a cabinet got put on top of it (more on that later) and it took me about a week or so after we were back to notice it was there!

and i haven't stopped making waffles since