It's the Weekend

And I totally forgot to do my daily blogging. No real reason, I just didn't get to it.
Friday, my Advent calendars:

 The sassy + chic is from the pocket letter, the chocolate from the envelope countdown and the buttons from mine.
I'm a little annoyed with the sassy + chic, I don't use these, so they'll probably end up at work. I ate the chocolate promptly after this photo. I may have purposely picked the buttons, I know I have two bags in my calendar, so I had to pick one.
Here's what was in the bag:

I'll admit, these swaps are from Thursday, but I didn't take the pictures until Friday, so...
I got some winnings:

 I love die cuts, and that Santa is wicked cute!
I also got my j, k, l tags:

 I received another swap, but since it wasn't done to the specifications of the swap, I'm waiting to hear back from the hostess.
I worked on some swaps and not much else.
Saturday:

 The blind bag and washi from mine, the 'hello' cards from the envelope countdown, the essential oils from the pocket letter.
Again, I'm annoyed with the oils. I think beauty is stuff is also something you should ask your partner about. I was greatly amused at getting the cards. I bought some of these last fall and ended up giving them away and wishing I kept them.
Here's what was in the blind bag:

 It was $5 at Claire's, like other blind bags, I'm not sure it was worth the price but it is rather cute.
I basically worked on art stuff all day.
A retirement gift for a supervisor:

 Some mini wands:

 A winter pocket letter:

 A January Calendar tag:

The art posts will be up shortly on my other blog, here.

 I also received a file folder pocket letter in the mail:

 I also went to my supervisor's retirement party that night. While I do love the gift I made her, I was going to make it more 3D more like a shadow box, I just wanted to make it more mixed media.
Today's advent calendar:

The large sparkly shapes are from the pocket letter, the snowflakes and wooden pieces from the envelope countdown, and the owl and cupcake (pink round thing) were from mine.
I quickly put the sparkly things in a bag so as to not spread the glitter around. I was a little disappointed in the cupcake trinket holder. Basically, the top just sits on the bottom, I thought it would click or screw in, it's cute and I'm glad I spent around $1 for it and not more. The owl is a pot holder from a church sale, it's more than I would normally pay ($2.25), but I really wanted it.
Though I did thoroughly enjoy being crafty yesterday and it certainly helped my mood, but I still enjoy doing nothing some times.

December 14

Here's my Advent calendar for the day:

The Koala cookies and the donut squishie keychain are from mine. The penguin stickers from the pocket letter and the colored pieces from the envelope countdown.
The colored pieces are actually some boxes, I'm just not entirely sure how the top folds up.
I finished a pocket letter:

The swap was a snowman pocket letter.
And I went to work. The city holiday party was today, but I didn't feel like going, we got extra sandwiches at the library afterwards. I prided myself for only eating three of the mini veggie sandwiches on my break and none of the sugary stuff.
I don't have to work for the next three days, I kinda wish I had something exciting planned.

It's Wednesday

And a pretty boring one it was. Here's my Advent calendar for Day 13:

The acetate pieces and popsicle earrings are from mine, the Kleenex from the pocket letter and the clothespins from the envelope.
I haven't really gone through the acetate pieces yet, it's a travel theme. I totally wore the seafoam popsicles to work today. I'm leaning more toward studs lately, and whimsical.
Opened at the library, went to the post office, went grocery shopping.
The weather sucked today. It was wickedly windy. They predicted up to 45 mph wind. I was exhausted when I got home from walking against the wind, so I slacked off and watched movies and YouTube for the rest of the afternoon.

I got a giant jellyfish in the mail

So, Advent calendar for today:

 The journaling cards are from mine, the paper clips from the pocket letter, and the bling from the envelope countdown.
I also got a Hollar haul in the mail, hence the title of the post:

This guy measures 10" in diameter. I wish I had something to hang him on on the ceiling. I almost put the rest of my purchases in my Advent Calendar, but I decided to just enjoy it now, and for the rest of the week and future. If you're looking for that haul, check out this post.
I didn't do anything all day, watched a couple movies and YouTube. Got a few packages ready to mail:
A few secret Santa gifts, some stickers:

 socks:

 And a Winter Wonderland file folder pocket letter:

I'm so ready for Christmas, I'm ready to open presents and have good food. I'm not excited about the basketball game I'll be working on Sunday, or having a retirement gift for a supervisor for Saturday, or to go to a farewell party for an upper person in my organization on Friday. I am excited to go to lunch with a friend next Thursday. I'm ready for something new and different.

My last Hollar Haul

I put in one last Hollar order and got it today. Again, I realize I suck at reading the descriptions on things. One item I bought, is huge, and probably worth it's original price on the website, but I didn't pay attention. Most items were things I wanted for awhile and was watching for them to drop in price. Basically everything in this order is for me. But, then, when have I placed a Hollar order that wasn't?
Here's what I picked up:

 heart coin purse keychain, squishy narwal keychain, shotgun shell bottle opener, squishy macaroon keychain, Hello Kitty stickers, squishy popsicle keychain, puppets, sticky notes and heart keychain. I like keychains, so I picked up the green one for $1 (now $2) and the plush red heart for $0.50 (now $0.99).
The narwhal ($0.75), macaroon ($0.50, now $3) and popsicle ($0.50, now $2.25) are squishies, and I admit I want to jump on the bandwagon, but not pay the price for the larger ones. They are all scented, and while the macaroon smells more like rubber than anything and the narwhal fruity, the popsicle smells heavenly, like chocolate, and I just want to eat it. I picked up the bottle opener($2, now $3.50), just cause I wish I had someone to give it to, it would have been the perfect gift for my ex years ago. I love Hello Kitty stickers ($1.50, now $3), but again do not want to pay the prices for them. The popsicle puppets ($0.50) I may have picked up to just make the free shipping price. I've had my eye on the sticky notes ($2, now $3) for awhile, I love sticky notes but rarely actually use them.

 Stuffed dog, stuffed lamb, stuffed hedgehog. For some reason, I thought all the stuffed animals were smaller. Like I said, I suck at reading the descriptions. The dog ($2, now $5) is 11"Lx8.5"Wx7", he also came in blue. The lamb ($2, now $6.50) is a seafoam color, he measures 12"Lx10"Wx6"H. I saw someone else get the hedgehog ($1.50) in a YouTube video and thought it was smaller, it measureas 10"Lx4"Wx5.5"H, he's very hefty and filled with beans.

 Christmas sleep shirt, elf stocking, kraft paper bags, hot glue sticks. I like the sleep shirt and was looking for something different, it was $5, but I got it at $2.50 because it was Christmas. I needed glue sticks, and it's probably not a great price, 20 for $1, but it was convenient. I thought the elf stocking would be about 2", it measures 18"L, it was only $1, originally $3.50.

stuffed jellyfish. Now, this thing is huge, it measures 8.5"Hx13"D, I paid $3, it's now $10.50. Again, I thought it was smaller for some odd reason. The full price of my order was $23.25.

Hodgepodge Vol 333

It's Hodgepodge time, the questions sound interesting, so I thought I'd join in this time.

1. 'Hurry less, worry less'...what's your strategy for making that happen this holiday season? How's it going so far? I'm ready for Christmas, I have all my presents bought and wrapped, all my cards ready to go for co workers. I'm actually very impatient for the holiday to get here.

2. Do you have a list of to-dos that need accomplishing in order to prepare your home and/or property for the winter season? What are some of the jobs on your list? Are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you hire someone to accomplish these tasks? I live in an apartment, the only thing I have to do is to get my winter decorations out, and they are out.

3. According to dietitians surveyed, the most popular health foods for 2018 will be -turmeric, sprouted foods (bean sprouts, breads with sprouted grains, etc), veggies in place of grains, dairy free milk, and pulses (lentils, chickpeas, etc).  What's the first thought that ran through your head when you read this list? Of the foods listed which one might you add to your regular diet? Also, can milk really be dairy free? Is it still milk? I don't do health foods. None. I did think that dairy free milk is an oxymoron. I saw on a youtube video that Trader Joe's had people complaining about the term 'almond milk' so they changed it to 'almond beverage'.

4. The Pantone Color of the Year for 2018 is Ultra Violet. According to the Pantone site 'Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking pointing us to the future.' What say you? Do you like the color purple? Did you see the movie or read the book-ha!?  Is purple a color you wear often? Describe for us one purple item in your home without using the word purple.  If you were in charge of such things what color would you select for 2018? I do like purple, nothing too bright, I have a couple purple pieces in my wardrobe, but won't go out and buy more just cause it's purple.

5. Favorite book you read this year? Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford by Clint Hill. It's a memoir of a secret service agent's time working with five presidents. Very interesting.

6.  Insert your own random thought here. I was talking to my director the other day, and I'm just bored with my life, I don't know how to make it more interesting, and I'm not sure what I want to do with my life. I want to be somewhere that I can walk everywhere and that it's a little warmer. I think part of my issue is that I never went anywhere, I'm born and raised here, and I've never really been away except for vacations. I just don't know.

Why I am I so tired?

Day 11: Woke up feeling like I wanted to stay in bed all day, and then got up at 9. My Advent calendar goodies:

 The tiny book is from my pocket letter, the plaid cards and envelopes from the envelope countdown, and the rest from my advent calendar. I made those cute little snowflake wands. I love that tiny little book, it's got a lobster clasp on it.
I finished a book today, watched a movie and went to work.
I got two swaps in the mail today, a post it swap:

 and a personal swap:

There are two positions at my job that will be open soon, and both my direct boss and the one above that want me to apply. I was telling the upper boss today, that I was just bored with my life and didn't know what I wanted.
I want to live somewhere that's remotely warm all the time (not below 30), somewhere that I can walk everywhere. As to what I want to do in a job, I don't know. I'd really like to stay at home forever and just read books, pretty sure there's not a job that I can do just that. I want to move somewhere that's exciting, and that just isn't here right now. I also just want a girls day of shopping, chatting and eating, but apparently that's too much for anyone right now. I want co workers that care about the answer when they ask you 'how's it going'. I want a best friend that i can call up anytime and they will listen to me vent. I want friends that I can hang out with. I want the world to care about me.

It's Laundry Day

Nothing too exciting going on today. My Advent calendar:

 The tag from the envelope countdown, the lip balm from the pocket letter and the pokemon ball and peanuts from mine.
What was in the pokemon ball:

I'm thinking, I'll pass it on to a friend who likes Pokemon. I'm not a huge fan of Pokemon.
I did two loads of laundry today, my second load was in the dryer when I left for work. I had to work at the library today, too.
While I was on break at the library, I saw someone had sent an email about getting a sub for next Sunday's basketball game, I will be pissed if they get a sub, I've been trying to find one for a month.
I wore my new brown boots and my new khaki pants today. I put on the khakis and noticed they were too long, so I pinned up the legs. My co-worker said I could just do a simple running stitch to hem them. I'm thinking if I just pinned up double what the hem is at now, it should be good. I knew they were a bit long when I tried them on but I thought they'd be ok once I got my boots on. I feel I need to wash and dry them before I decide they are too long.
I've decided, it must just be me. I had my new boots on today, and my feet still hurt after work.
I just want to read my book and ignore the world for the rest of the night.

I got the shoes

On one of the youtube videos I watched yesterday, they said Target was having a buy one, get one 50% off on their shoes, so I went to Target today.
But, first, here's my Advent calendar:

 The striped paper clips from the envelope countdown, the Santa chocolate and other paper clips from the pocket letter and the donut keychain and earrings from mine.
Here's a close-up of the earrings:

 I was thinking at the end of the day yesterday, I wished I hadn't put everything fun in my Advent calendar. I put them in my ears right away. Part of the reason for buying all those cute earrings yesterday was because I don't really have a lot of whimsical earrings other than owls. I think I'll wear these for awhile.
So, like I said, I needed shoes and when I heard Target was having their sale, I knew I needed to go today. I really didn't want to because I had to work at 1, so I got up and left a little before 9.
My first stop was Dollar Tree, because I put all my cards together for co-workers and while everyone got a card, I wanted some more in case I missed someone.

 toys, cards, shadow box. I bought the toys just cause they were cute and a buck. I saw the shadow box in someone's video haul and wanted it, I didn't even mean to walk down the aisle I found it in. Why is it so hard to find holiday cards for cheap? I got this pack because it seemed to have the least amount of Christmas cards. Of course the ones I used this year were from a garage sale. I guess I'll just keep an eye out for more at garage sales this year.
Next up was Target:

My shoes for one of my jobs are not making it through a 4-hour shift anymore. Wednesday night, I was waiting close to the end of my shift and my feet were just throbbing. Now these do have a small heel on them, but they were comfortable and have a tiny lining in them. I would have just bought two of them if they had two in my size. Lately I've been buying combat style boots from Walmart, I compared them when I got home, the brown ones and my black ones look almost exactly alike, except the color, and that the Walmart ones were $20, and the Target ones were $30. I have three pairs of the black ones at home, I thought I'd just wear the brown ones to the library, and change into the flats I have at work on some days. I think I'll try them out with my new khakis tomorrow.
I also need some more duct tape and almost went to Walmart to see if they had any in their clearance aisle, but I knew if I did I'd walk out with more than duct tape, and I just didn't want to walk down there, plus I had a little time crunch. We have two Walmarts here, the one I went to yesterday is north, this shopping trip would have been to the south one.
Work was ok, except for people and things. I took a bath tonight, I'm not a fan of baths, I don't like sitting there and doing nothing. But, my skin gets really dry in the winter and I've used two of those bath bombs from Dollar Tree and have another two from other things, plus some bubble bath. I'm hoping soaking in the water with the bath bombs helps to moisturize my skin. I'm also hoping drinking at least two 16.9 bottles of water a day helps, too.

Pants are expensive

Decided to go shopping today, might have been a bad idea.
Here's my advent calendar stuff:

 The pegusus unicorn is from mine, it's from Target. The measuring tape from the pocket letter and the gems from the envelopes.
I have been wanting to go up to our mall and TJ Maxx for awhile, so since I have today off, I went. I stopped at Walmart, hoping they'd have some duct tape in their clearance section, they didn't.

 tape, candy bar, shampoo, stickers. I try to pick up a pack of double sided tape every time I go to Walmart. I love that these Oreo bars come in mint (I tossed it in my refrigerator, to save for later). You can't go wrong with $1 for this giant container of shampoo, it's a much better deal than Dollar Tree. I picked up these cute stickers last time I went to Walmart and had to pick them up again, they were 47 cents.
Next up was JCPenney, I need some new jeans for my job, I looked at Walmart, but they were either not in my size or mid rise, I'm not a fan of mid rise pants.

 My grand total was $75, my friend just informed me that's low for pants. Apparently I should have asked for pants for Christmas. The khakis are mid rise, but I need these (since the last pair my mom got me for Christmas two years ago were too long, she said she'd hem them, but hasn't done it yet). I'm not happy with the amount I spent. I was also going to look in to shoes/boots for one of my other jobs, but after this purchase, I didn't.
Next up was TJ Maxx, last time I went, I didn't find anything. I also remember last time about this year, there was a bunch of washi sets.

 Not so much this time. There were a lot of cool Christmas tags and bags, but I don't need those (not that I need most of these either). The chocolate rice crispie bar was $3 on clearance, the fast food stickers were also on clearance for $1. I picked up the chocolates and the note pad for friends. I thought the elephant magnetic bookmarks were a good deal at $2 for 4. I got distracted by the birthday cake flavored rice crispie treat bar and the panda snacks. I think the panda snacks are a great deal, it's got 10 packs in it, for $3.99. Normally, I can get one pack in the Target dollar spot for $1. I spent about $22 there.
Last up was Claire's. I always see people getting cute things there and I want to get cute things there, too, but can never convince myself to do it.

This time the deal was: buy three, get three free. The blind bag was not included. Everything is for me. I thought I'd pick up some cute earrings, I got a pack of ice cream treats for $11, the unicorn dangly earrings were $7, as were the stud unicorn/mermaid studs. Those were my 3 for full price, the blind bag was $5. The three I got for free were the Paris washi ($6), the owl keychain ($6) and the fluffy lip balm keychain ($6). The reason I never convince myself to buy the deals there, is because the total was $32. That's a lot of money to use on things I don't need. I put it all in my advent calendar, so you'll see them again.
As I've said before it seems my advent calendar is the most exciting of things I'm getting, so why not make it more exciting.
I came home, ate lunch, watched YouTube and packaged up some stuff.
I also got a Christmas paper clip swap in the mail:

December 7

I had a great night's sleep, I felt very refreshed when I got up. My advent goodies for the day:

 The tea from my pocket letter, the glasses from my envelope countdown and the fuzzy keychain from mine. I'm not too impressed with the goodies today.
I tried to read a book to recoup my sanity, but it didn't work. I wanted it to be a good book, but it was dry. It's called Darwin's backyard, it was just too dry for me. I also decided I couldn't read the history of whaling, but The Road to Jonestown was pretty good.
I dropped off a bunch of toys in the Toys for Tots donation bin on the way to work:

 I got all these in my mystery boxes from Hollar, check out this post if you wanna see that haul. Work was slow, I got a lot done.
I'm still in my grumpy mood, so I changed my profile picture on facebook to this:

Long Day

December 6th: Woke up from a dream and decided I was tired of being single. I wish I had someone to cuddle with and hang out with and to tell me they love me.
My Advent calendar:

The donut is from mine, the small sticky notes from the pocket letter and the larger set from the envelopes. I thought it must be sticky note day after opening the two swap packages.
Work was pretty busy, not sure why, seemed like a regular Wednesday. Lines at the post office are kinda long, I figured that with the holiday and all. I really wanted to spend some extra money on myself, but I didn't have time today, had to get home, eat lunch, and relax a little before going to work the basketball game.
Basketball game was fine, I was exhausted by the end. I'm not sure why. It's almost like I try to do too much on Wednesdays and working at two jobs is just too much. I don't know.
I'm gonna eat a little something and head off to bed.

December 5

Thought I'd combine my advent calendar posts and my daily posts. I don't do December Dailies or vlogging, but I thought I'd try to blog every day this month (it's getting a little more exciting).
Today was not very exciting. I have three Advent calendar things: mine, my Advent calendar pocket letter, and my Countdown to Christmas envelope swap. I had thought at the beginning of December, I could open one in the morning, one about noon, and one in the evening, and then that went out the window. But, maybe I should. I got really grumpy about 9 this morning and wanted to open all of my Advent pocket letter, but vacuumed instead (and may have temporarily injured my hand). I stopped and was still annoyed with the world, so I went to the grocery store and bought a pop, cooked a porkchop for lunch and sat down in front of the TV.
My advent calendar goodies:

 The Santa notepad is from the envelope swap. The robot bottle opener from mine. And the sequin mix from the pocket letter.
I wasn't that impressed with any of them, maybe that's why I was grumpy.
When I got back from the grocery store, I had a package:

 It's a chocolate mix:

I'm not a fan of all of them, which usually happens when I buy a mix of something. It helped my mood, but I'm still kinda grumpy.

Day 4

Advent Calendar 12/4/17:

The unicorn is from my Advent calendar. I bought it from the Dollar Section at Target.
The Santa chocolate and tag from my pocket letter.
My Countdown to Calendar envelope:

Some coffee sleeves.
I'm not entirely excited about these. Apparently there's a new fad to decorate these and make them up like loaded envelopes.

Great mail day

There were 4 large packages and an envelope waiting for me in the mail today.
First up, was my post it note swap:

 Second up, a Christmas pocket letter:

 Third, a Peachy Cheap grab bag that I bought on Black Friday:

 It's funny with every subsequent grab bag I get from Peachy Cheap, I like more. The paper is from Bella Blvd, it's the Holly Jolly Christmas collection and it's double sided, with the back side being solid color. Next up is some cork stickers from Coffee Break, by Prima. There's some fringe hearts from Maggie Holmes and 'hello banner bites' by jillibean soup as well as 'Life is sweet' soup labels by jillibean soup as well. There's also a Jen Hadfield self-inking stamp that looks like a name label that says "hello my name is". Next row has some mini file folders by Pink Paislee  and then some phrase stickers by 7 Paper as well as mini placemats by Jillibean soup. After that is a set of cling stamps by Heidi Swapp and underneath them are some wood veneers in the shape of arrows and hearts by Studio Calico. There's some geotag chipboard shapes by Studio Calico with a package of 10 glitter washi tapes and a box of Label stickers. Last in the row is October Afternoon Holiday Style Journal Cards. On the bottom is a burlap pencil case that says 'love'.
I don't like the glitter washi, the placemats, the geotags or the stamps. I'll either trade them out with someone in my facebook groups, or just send them out as RAKs.
Fourth was a Countdown to Christmas Advent calendar that was mailed over a week ago.

Last package was a bunch of holiday goodies from my aunt:

I opened my 4 days of Advent calendar goodies, first day:

 Second day:

 Third day:

 And Fourth day:

I will add them to my Advent calendar posts