Mandii's Muse

Well, we are creeping closer and closer to Christmas. Way back at the beginning of the month I gave you my Christmas shopping update. Part one is here ! Here is part two of this mini series. So, my Christmas cards are out! Granted, I didn't have a lot to send out. The ones to my close friends are written, stamped, and in the mail. The only gifts I need to shop for are my Aunt, and Uncle. I still have no clue what to get them. I have ordered my mom and grandma's gifts. I have even begun to wrap some gifts! I'd like to be completely done by the 23. I don't want to be baking, and wrapping and be completely stressed out on Christmas Eve. I might be putting in some later nights, but it will be worth it. Now cooking is a different story. I make a quiche, bread, Italian butter, and Christmas Eve dessert. I'm glad that I can make some things ahead. The Italian butter, quiche, and bread can be made ahead. So I plan to make some of these after I get home from work o

Maybe you are hosting Christmas breakfast. Perhaps you don't want to look like you just rolled out of bed in those wonderful Christmas morning photos. Today's post is all about looking presentable, in a short amount of time. Picture this scenario. You just rolled out of bed. You are looking like a hot mess. Your guests will be at your house for Christmas breakfast in 2 hours. You want to spend 30 minutes tops on getting ready. Here are some suggestions! Face: I personally would skip foundation, but if you need something in a pinch, powder foundation is a quick way to get coverage. I've been loving Laura Geller's Baked foundation. To save time, I don't do a complete eye look. I definitely fill in my eyebrows!! Black liner on the waterline, and tightline give the effect of full lashes. I curl my lashes, and apply two coats of mascara. To make you look more awake, highlight the inner corners of your eyes with a matte eyeshadow (like Brulee from Wet N Wild!) L

Image It is no secret that Christmas is approaching very fast. Christmas is a time to spend with family and friends, not our phones. I've found that a lot of people today don't know how to spend time with one another. So I've come to give you some suggestions! Instead of having people segregate to one area of the house here are some things you can do as a family that will get you laughing and spending time with one another as a family. I love to gather my family around and watch home movies! There is nothing like gathering around the television commenting on how much everyone has changed . If you don't have home movies, pull out some old photos! Younger kids would love seeing their parents as youngsters. My family and I also love to play board games! Some of our favorites are Uno, and Dominoes (also known as Mexican trains) Password, Catchphrase, and Yahtzee. This gets everyone together and engaged with one another. If nothing else, turn off the TV, place a

I was looking for something fun to add to my room to brighten it up a bit. I found this tutorial on Pinterest, and finally decided to try it. The best part? It was so simple! All you need is an 8x10 picture frame, scrapbook paper, and a vis a vis marker. All I did was use the template in the frame to cut the size of my scrapbook paper. I placed it inside the frame, applied the back, and flipped it over. I took the vis a vis marker and wrote a message on the glass. I like that marker because it lasts, and I can just wash it off with some Windex. I had this green paper in mine frame for a while, but now that the holidays are here, I swapped it out for some gold sparkly paper. This is simple right? If you are looking for some last minute gifts, this is a great idea!

I'm such a simple person to shop for. I like most anything that people buy for me. I have a wide range of interests, so you could get me anything from something sports related, a cookbook, a wide range of CD's and DVD's, and clothing. So here are a few things on my Christmas list this year. Image Bon Jovi came out with a new CD! I have almost all of their CD's so I could add this to my collection! I love the Pioneer Woman's cookbooks ! Her cookbooks show you step by step photos, and are so easy to understand. I like that she makes real food, and uses real readily available ingredients. I have her Year of Holiday's cookbook and it is fabulous! Her new book Dinnertime is on my list! Image A new planner is definitely on my list. I loved my old one, and use it to keep track of my work days, TV shows, and appointments in it! Plus, no Christmas list of mine would be complete without some lipstick and nail polish wants. (Let's face it, I don't n

Alright, I took a total of two pictures for Thanksgiving. #badblogger My aunt hosted dinner this year and she set an absolutely beautiful table. I wish we both would have gotten a picture of it, because it was so pretty! My family was in charge of two sides: green bean casserole, and cranberry applesauce. I made a chocolate pecan pie, since I don't like pumpkin pie. Our plate looked something like this:  This was last year's plate, but this year looked very similar! There were eight of us, but we probably could have fed 38 people! Our family knows how to cook, and cook for many VERY WELL!  After dinner and dessert, we kind of became entranced with the 5 hour train ride to Healy, Alaska on Destination America. I mean, we could blame the food coma we were in, but we were all loving it!  It was a rainy, foggy day, but I promise that's Pittsburgh! Saturday after Thanksgiving, my family headed to Pittsburgh to meet up with my aunts and uncles, and cousins on

Well, it is no secret that I have totally slacked on the blog front. I honestly have no excuses. I got so wrapped up in working, family life, and other activities that I just didn't blog. So with that, I'm sorry. Lucky for you though, I have December's posts already planned out, so you better get ready for some fun posts! So let's try to catch you up on what I've been up to since my last blog! So I celebrated my Grandma's 90th birthday with a dinner at her favorite restaurant with some of my aunts and uncles, and cousins. I played my instruments in church a for a few Sunday's, and also baked some food for the church's Thanksgiving dinner. Duke basketball started back up, and I have been busy rooting for them! It is a completely different team then last year, but once we get a few more games under our belt I think we will be really good! I met one of my best friends for dinner at a fun restaurant. We both love Mexican food, so it was perfect! I

Well, we are only a few weeks away from Christmas!! I am so excited!! It is one of my favorite times of the year! My birthday is coming up, Christmas, and time spent with family cannot be beat! With that being said, how is your Christmas shopping going? Image Last year, and this year I have done most of my shopping online. I've placed orders with Amazon, LTD Commodities, and QVC. I have a few online orders to place, then I will need to head into some brick and mortar stores to complete the shopping. Left on my list to buy for is my Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and Great Grandpa. I have NO CLUE what to buy them! Do you have any suggestions for me? Let me know if you do! I tried to set goals for myself this year. I would like my Christmas cards to go in the mail somewhere in the December 11-13 range. I want to have all of my Christmas shopping done and wrapped by December 20 at the LATEST! This way when the busyness of the season is here, I don't have to be wrapping presents o