Christmas and bargains!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!! Hard to believe it's already come and gone, isn't it?

We spent Christmas Eve at the Bueschers, then Christmas Day at grandma's and my parents' house. Mom made me open a gift from her in front of everyone at grandma's, and I almost cried...

"So what is it?", you ask. It is a Wizard of Oz quilt. The left picture is the front, the right picture is the back. These are just the pieces, it hasn't been quilted yet. But my mom MADE THIS for me. She's so incredibly talented and thoughtful - I couldn't believe it when I opened the box! I generally go to quilt shows with her, so she doesn't have to go by herself, and I always jokingly give her a hard time: "When are you going to make a quilt for your daughter? Aren't you ever going to make a quilt for me??" She's made quilts of varying sizes for one of my uncles, BOTH of my cousin's sons, and several other people. And now I have one. And I LOVE it.

So on to bargains. I went shopping today, gift cards & cash burning a hole in my pocket. Plus, I wanted to see what kinds of deals were actually out there. There were some pretty good ones, too. I mostly only took advantage of deals at stores where I had gift cards, but I didn't do too badly. After a return and gift card, I paid only $17 out of pocket at Borders for $50 worth of items. (Including some $2.99 books and a mini black Christmas tree.)

My favorite was Hallmark. I had two returns, which gave me a store credit. They didn't have what I was looking for on the shelves, but one of the employees was nice enough to search the back room and top bins. She found the 3 items I needed to complete a set, and I walked out of there with $75 worth of Jim Shore items...for ONLY $13 out of my own pocket!!!

I now have the complete set of Jim Shore...WIZARD OF OZ pieces!!! Well, except the Yellow Brick Road display stand. (It's safe to say it's a LITTLE bit of an addiction.)

Follow this link and check out his work. That's the link to just the Wizard of Oz pieces, but browse around his site and see everything he has to offer. I believe you can order directly from his website, but some of the items can also be found at Hallmark stores - though I've had the most luck at Jan's Hallmarks. They're so fun, and you can even search his website by price range.

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. And I'm not talking about the "stuff" we got - although it's all great. I enjoy spending time with family, and soon friends, around the holidays, and just in general. I hope everyone had as joyous a Christmas as we did. :-)

More movies

What Happens in Vegas
(Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz)
Two people discover they've gotten married following a night of debauchery. One of them wins a huge jackpot ($3 mil, to be exact) after playing the other's quarter. The unhappy pair try to undermine each other and get their hands on the money -- falling in love along the way.

Good:
--Chemistry between Diaz and Kutcher. They interact and have a natural chemistry on screen, as if they’ve been the best of friends for years off screen. Pair these two up more often.
--The whole movie is just silly, but in a good way. The two stars’ comedic timing and interaction is pretty impeccable.
--Really good romantic comedy. Because it HAS both elements, and a perfectly balanced amount of each that aren’t too “in your face”. Even though you know what’s coming (they fall in love, duh), it’s not overly sappy.

--Fave quotes:
“I’m the law, bitch!”
“If I could kill someone with my mind right now, it would be you.”
" I'd rather do nothing and be happy than do something I know I don't love.”

Bad:
--To be honest, I didn’t find much bad in the movie. There are “Kelso” moments in Kutcher’s performance – which I expected – but they weren’t out of place. His character in the film is pretty adolescent, so it fit.

Consensus: Much like my consensus of “Step Brothers”, I say rent it. I plan on buying it, but for those of you who are unsure, rent first. If you enjoy romantic comedies, I’m pretty sure you’ll dig it.

Mr. Woodcock
(Sean William Scott, Billy Bob Thornton, Susan Surandon, Ethan Suplee)
Taken aback by his mother's wedding announcement, a young man returns home in an effort to stop her from marrying his old high school gym teacher, a man who made high school hell for generations of students.

Good:
--Thornton. Billy Bob is nails as the stereotypical asshole gym teacher that SO many people can relate to having in school. (Mr. Laumann. Freshman year. Former drill sergeant. You can guess what kind of hell he put us through.) Billy Bob plays it straight. Some of the lines weren’t all that funny, but Thornton’s monotone delivery made them hysterical.
--An appearance by one particular comedienne from Saturday Night Live. She has a small role, but manages to steal every scene in which she appears.

--Fave quotes:
"Could I get a real bottle, please? I'm an alcoholic, not a Barbie doll."
"You must like getting spanked, Farley. I guess it runs in the family."
"Sorry is for criminals and screw-ups... and I'm neither one."

Bad:
--Sean William Scott. Normally I like him, but in this film I thought his performance was just kinda “eh”. I felt a different actor would have developed & played the character better than he did. He just didn’t seem a good “fit” for that particular role.
--Not as funny as I expected / anticipated.
--Ethan Suplee playing the same character he always does. The big dumb oaf. Watch the TV show “My Name is Earl” – the character he plays on the TV show is pretty much the character he plays in this movie.

Consensus: Rent and watch it only if you have nothing else to do.

Movie reviews

Step Brothers
(Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen, Richard Jenkins)
Two spoiled 40-year-old guys become competitive stepbrothers after their single parents get hitched. (And hilarity ensues.)

Good:
--Big fan of Will Ferrell, and any type of sophomoric humor in general, so this was right up my alley.
--I laughed my ass off.
--Will Ferrell sings, and to be honest, he’s actually pretty decent. Not fabulous by any means, but at least the guy can hold a note when he actually tries.

--Fave quotes:
“We’re here to fuck shit up.”
“You have the voice of an angel. I mean, it's like Fergie meets Jesus.”
"Stop being a fucking dinosaur and get a job.”

Bad:
--Overuse of the "F" word. I toss the “F” word around way more than I probably should, but this movie overdoes it. They use it as much as they possibly can, which got a bit annoying after a while. (HOWEVER, seeing Mary Steenburgen scream, “What the fucking fuck?!” was SUPER amusing.)
--Over-the-top acting. I know some pretty immature close-to-40’s, and they don’t act HALF as bad as Ferrell & Reilly portray them. They are dressed and act more like 12-year-olds. (For example, what 40-year-old, no matter HOW immature, does not know what sex is, or understand the concept??)

Consensus: Rent it. I plan on buying it, but for those of you who are unsure, rent first. If you have a twisted, juvenile sense of humor, I guarantee you'll like it.

Tropic Thunder
(Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Nick Nolte)
Through a series of freak occurrences, a group of actors shooting a big-budget war movie are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

Good:
--Um…not so much…
--Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of a black man. The makeup, wig, facial hair, voice, everything. Some of it was a bit stereotypical, and I believe the characters even reference that at one point in the movie, but I still think it was very well done.
--A cameo by a particular actor. I’m not going to give his name, but he’s nearly unrecognizable in the role.

--Fave quotes:
“I don't read the script. The script reads me.”
“A nutless monkey could do your job.”
" I know what dude I am. I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude!”

Bad:
--NOT funny. The previews, to me, made it look funny; however, the movie itself proved that appearances (and trailers) can, in fact, be deceiving.
--The whole. Damn. Movie.

Consensus: Don’t rent it. Don’t buy it. I enjoyed Downey Jr.'s performance in the film, but even he couldn’t save it. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.

Sweeney Todd
(Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman)
The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, a.k.a Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical.

Good:
--Cinematography. Dark, eerie, dingy. Lower, destitute London back in that time period is captured and portrayed very well. The entire film is this way – cold and dark - and it really lends to the mood and story.
--Depp’s singing. Surprisingly enough. There were a couple instances in which I found myself going, “Ehh…”, but on the whole I found him to be really good. (Not to mention, he’s one of my favorite actors. I enjoy his performances & movies because he picks odd characters. He gives them dimension, and can make you feel sorry for the oddest of the odd. This is no exception.)
--Alan Rickman, as always. I love this actor. I find him superb in whatever he does. Bravo.

--Fave quotes:
"Well, if not, he'd certainly done something to warrant a hanging." "What man has not?"
“Trust me, dearie, it's gonna take a lot more than ale to wash that taste out. Come with me; we'll get you a nice tumbler of gin, eh?”

Bad:
--Make up on Depp & Bonham Carter. I know they’re poor, dingy, down in the dumps, etc. etc. But why do they have to look like corpses?
--Dialogue. Some of the dialogue was near whisper, inaudible. I had to constantly adjust the volume on the TV as we watched.

Consensus: Rent it. Then buy it. You may have to watch it a couple times to catch everything. But totally worth it.

the. BEST. cookies. EVER.

https://www.christiecookies.com/StoreFront/IAFDispatcher?iafAction=showMain

Expensive, yes, but OHHHH so worth it. We just received some as a gift here in the office, and I feel like I have never eaten cookies until now.

M m m. Someone better get them OUT of the kitchen and hide them in a desk drawer somewhere far, FAR away from me!!!

Internet, meet Gidget.

Gidget is grandma's new puppy, a Shitzu / Poodle mix. Right now she only weighs about 6 pounds - if even that - and will only get up to about 10, tops. She's cute as a button, and as you can see, looks like a little ball of fluff. Gidget's as soft as a stuffed animal, and incredibly sweet. She's kind of ornery, and has taken a liking to shoes and toes. What a sweetheart. :-)

For sale at Borders:

Pink / purple statues of Mary. Covered in glitter. Does this seem totally inappropriate to anyone else???

"Bible"

This cute little find (on clearance at Target for $1.50!) has become my holiday "Bible" this year:You would not BELIEVE the amount of stuff I have already managed to jot down in there...

--various recipes - funny story on this end, below...

--Holiday shopping list - who's getting what, the budget, how we're doing in the budget (i.e., one person's has "15+19=34...15-ish to go..."

--Christmas card list - which has been budgeted down this year, unfortunately

--grocery shopping list for Christmas party

--decoration shopping list (you can never have too many Christmas decorations!)

So on the recipes. I found a recipe for microwave fudge - you basically melt everything in a big glass bowl in the microwave, duh. That way, you don't have to worry about the long "bring these ingredients to a boil" stovetop process of old. I decided to do a test run the other night, and make some peanut butter fudge. For some reason, it was a sticky, taffy-ish, un-fudgelike substance MESS. I could NOT for the life of me, figure out what had gone wrong. I knew I'd followed the directions perfectly.

Then, last night while grocery shopping, I grabbed a jar of Marshmallow Creme, resigning myself to making fudge the old-fashioned way. Lo and behold, the recipe on the Marshmallow Creme jar calls for one can of Evaporated milk. I pulled out my aforementioned "Bible" and realized I had written the recipe down incorrectly: "one can (12 oz) Condensed milk". OOPS. No wonder my trial fudge turned out more like taffy. WRONG kind of canned milk product. Don't make the same mistake I did. Use EVAPORATED milk for your fudge!!!

Three days

is how long it took Dustin & I to almost completely finish our Christmas gift shopping list.

We were smart Thursday and split up tasks for Friday: "You take this person, I'll take that person". We also budgeted and wrote ON our lists how much was allotted for each. Throughout the day we kept up via text messages: "Thnk he'd like it?" "Wat sz for her?" "Few $ ovr...that ok?"

There are a few gifts that I'm trying to figure out how to prepare homemade...3 people we haven't even started on yet...and a couple we have small things left to buy.

The best part about it? We stayed within our alloted budget for each person!!!