End of Movember

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Happy Last Day of Movember! 

First, I want to apologize for my lack of posts (not just the Movember ones). Apparently I missed the actual memo that after Thanksgiving is inventory week at my company. So my blog silence is due to having been buried under a hefty stack of spreadsheets cataloging every hammer, nut, and bolt in our possession. I want to cry a little.

Ok, I want to cry a lot. I am so. tired.

But enough of that. In lieu of the usual weekend links post, I wanted to give you a final update on George and his Movember campaign. As of this evening, he has raised over $1,000. I'm so proud of him! We are the generation of apathy and occasional armchair activism so it's refreshing to see someone actually get out there and DO something.

Even though I pulled a classic "Ellie" and didn't finish what I started (last week's moustache cupcakes never made it to the blog, though I did actually make them), I'm happy to have been a small part of the campaign. I would like to thank any of you who took the time to check out his page and consider the issue. A huge thanks to Sam, Eva, Bradly, and Mom who all donated.  You guys ROCK! And hey...there's still time to donate. It's not officially December for another couple of hours!

Here's a picture of George at work that his company posted on their Facebook page encouraging their followers to support him.

And here's the shot you've all been waiting for, my Movember beard in its full glory:

Whew. I think perhaps I was an old Jewish man in my past life.

It was a bit too mountain man for my tastes, so I trimmed it up, added some shoe polish moustache wax and got a nice "evil villian" 'stache going. 

Nice, eh?  I'm thinking of keeping it for my J Date profile, you know ALL the guys want a chick with facial hair. Gentlemen, please form an orderly line, no pushing. 

....hello?....guys?

Wordless Wednesday

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Scenes from Thanksgiving

Family gatherings in my household always include:

 + A pile of vegetables

+ (but also a roasting bird for the non-vegans)

+ Grandparents who don't like being photographed

+ A dramatic 9 year old who LOVES being photographed

+ Menfolk doing productive things in the garage (in matching coveralls no less)

+ Plenty of discussion about said productivity with new members to the clan

+ A brother participating in Movember

+ A sister who is way more of a morning person than me

+ Culturally insensitive headwear

+ A gratuitous picture around the table

 + iPhones 

+ A mini photo shoot with sister and her husband 

(like, really mini. It was 30°, way too cold for a pair of Texans)

+ A few self-taken pictures that I always find on my camera later

+ Stylish Pinterest-inspired outfits 

It also includes nonstop board games, four kinds of pie, gospel meeting, family stories, 800 cups of coffee, someone disappearing for 3 hours because of an accidental nap (sorry I'm not sorry), pancakes, ultimate frisbee, and lots of laughter.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Or cold on a bed of lettuce, depending on your cholesterol level.

Hey it's Monday

Baaaah. I don't know about you but Monday post-holiday is always a blue day. I loved being home and spending time with my family so to be up before the sun and back at work on this freezing grey day is not my favorite. But I’m working hard to keep a positive attitude.  Here are few things making my day better:

+ I’m wearing my favorite striped grandpa-style cardigan.

+ Over the weekend I won my very first blog giveaway! It’s a set of winter postcards from one of my favorite bloggers/illustrators: Dinara Mirtalipova. She does such lovely work, please check out her Etsy shop.

+ It’s Cyber Monday, huzzah consumerism! I’ve already scored an amazing deal at Aldo, getting a pair of boots for $41 that were originally $90 (and free shipping too!). There’s also free shipping at Anthropologie today...it’s taking a lot to resist that right now.

+ I have a small LED Christmas tree that plugs into my computer. It is absurd how cheerful it makes me just looking at it. I'm not even a huge Christmas person but it's just so darn cute. 

Shine on, you ridiculous tiny tree. 

+ A breakfast/lunch place has opened up right next door to my work place. This may seem unremarkable but I work in a village so small there are no stop lights. It consists of my office, a post office, a bunch of empty old buildings, a lumber yard and now this little café. I’m so excited because it means on the days I am too lazy to make my lunch, I can walk next door for a yummy sandwich, instead of nibbling on stale graham crackers from my desk drawer.  Today there’s a cheddar and Havarti grilled cheese over there with my name on it.  Did you know that true love is made of cheese & only costs $4.28? It's true.

+ Trip planning makes me happy: Texas in January and…Switzerland next summer! I can’t wait to go back!

Hope you are finding things to smile about today :)

Happy Weekend

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Happy day after Thanksgiving my dears! I enjoyed a quiet day at home with some family and friends.  So happy that my sister and her husband are visiting! We have absolutely zero plans for the rest of the weekend and I'm super excited about that. Too often the holidays are hectic and over-scheduled so it's nice to just relax and spend time with each other.

Anyway, here are some links for your weekend.

+ How I feel about Black Friday. Always.

+ Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers. Maybe I'm weird but I get more excited about the leftovers than I do the actual Thanksgiving meal. The turkey sandwich recipes sound delicious.

+ Dumb Ways to Die. A clever, cute, and slightly creepy train safety advert.

+ A collection of awesome shots of reflections in puddles

+ Glitter ALL THE THINGS!

+ "93 Million Miles" by Jason Mraz
  Jason Mraz- 93 Million Miles by MMMusic

Enjoy your weekend! Because yesterday was a holiday and I did nothing productive, the Movember post is postponed til tomorrow. :)