ADD Christmas Recap: Snow, California & Secret Santa

Before I dive into my AWESOME trip back home, let me introduce tonight's post with the CRAZY news that it's been snowing in Arizona today... I'm not talking about Flagstaff or the Grand Canyon. I mean the PHOENIX VALLEY (link to a news segment on today's weather)!!!! For the first time in the near six months I've lived here, I turned on the heater this afternoon. Currently it's under 40° -- much colder than Iowa, Northern California, Washington D.C., you name it! With that, I'm enjoying my first mug of coffee and Baileys of the season :)

Now about the presents....

Going into the holiday, I was most excited for the blogger Secret Santa exchange put on by Tina! How awesome that idea was. Needless to say I was pretty stoked about what I got for Jamie. I'm such a French nerd and love reliving my time abroad, I knew she must feel the same about studying in Italy! So you know what's ironic about this gift exchange that I'm pretty sure included 50+ members? I was Jamie's Secret Santa and Jamie was Poppy's Secret Santa, and you guessed it, Poppy was MY Secret Santa! Our circle is complete :)

Anyways, I ended up driving back to California on Dec. 20. It was a long drive, was supposed to snow on the Grapevine (pretty much the only way out of LA), and I knew I couldn't make a 13+ hour drive solo. Well, I had Woodstock, so I had to stop even more frequently than normal to ensure he didn't ruin my seats! :) I made two days out of the trip there and back, stopping at friends' houses in Los Angeles/Orange County both ways. That meant my Secret Santa gift was going to arrive without me! Luckily J.D. was home to receive it and send me some pictures of all the lovely goodies Poppy sent me!

The card was adorable!

And I love everything in the gift! Chocolate, puppy treats, a notebook (she must know I LOVE to write), pomegranate fruit strips (my fav flavor), Pop Chips and a dog costume....

...Which Woody hated, but I LOOOOOOVED haha. He's so darn presh. In other news, we celebrated acknowledged his first birthday on Tuesday! Of course I didn't throw a party or get him any presents, he's a dog hahaha!!! But I do plan on baking some dog treats someday soon for the little guy.

I don't know if you noticed from the picture above, but I also went a little crazy and dyed my hair black! I think I love it. It's such a big change for me. My hair is usually light brown, I've streaked it blonde and have darkened it to a reddish brown color in the past. That's about it.

Not gonna lie, the black was inspired by my current celebrity crush:

(Source)

I downloaded Katy Perry's new album and have been playing it nonstop. I freakin' love her!!!! She had a Christmas special on last week and it's waiting to be watched on my DVR and you know I recorded her biography special on E! last night. And then watched it as soon as I drove in from California at about 9 p.m. And I've been watching her videos on YouTube. So obsessed... I think everyone knows about my infatuation, I keep getting texts from friends and family whenever she's on TV ha, thanks guys. You get me :)

Speaking of California, Woodstock and I really did make the Tour de Cali. I stayed in Santa Monica and ate at the most amazing restaurants. It's been my dream for years to live in LA, I'm going to see that it happens sooner rather than later. Then I stayed at my parents' house in the Bay Area for eight days, seeing old friends from high school and college, and enjoying amazing French food made with my mom and sister! We had a soufflé on Christmas Eve, Aimée made peppermint ice cream and candy cane-dipped waffle cones and I attempted to make pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants), but something was off because they basically turned into chocolate bagels ha. Oh well. Then I went to Sacramento, Stockton and Huntington Beach where my friend and I took his boat out around Huntington Harbour (in the rain) and ate sushi at a restaurant off the boat dock!

It really has been amazing and I can't wait to go back again! I don't know when my next trip home will be, but I am heading out to Washington D.C. next week!!!! I'm milking my unemployment for all I can get, because my job begins in February!

Finally, the presents! I made off with some amazing gifts. I love my friends and family! The past 11 days were a total blast -- I miss them already.

Work clothes from Macy*s

My dream recently has been to become a pastry chef (it's so expensive, I'm going to become self-taught haha)... I also received an array of cookbooks!

Jeopardy on Wii and Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray/DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soon it'll be time to take down the tree J.D. and I have here... but before that, a celebration to end 2010 and kick off a new decade is in order! Happy New Year everyone :)

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!

Yeah, it's weird and random (I ♥ Family Guy for just that reason!!), but this actually inspired a twist on my breakfast this morning!

Almond butter berry toast, almond butter berry toast!!!

Ok, not quite the same thing but it did kind of remind me of eating a PB&J sandwich. Things started off with the egg coating that included: a splash of skim milk, vanilla extract and lots and lots of cinnamon. Then I grilled up two pieces of whole wheat toast and topped them with nature's three berries (blackberries, blueberries and raspberries). I actually have little frozen packets of these berries that I like to thaw out and use the juice in lieu of syrup. It's naturally sweet! Finally on top went drizzles of the AB, some crushed up walnuts and more cinnamon.

A great start to a day. Especially since yesterday ended so horribly. I was up all night coughing again. This time, I felt like I ripped my abs from it. Seriously, I woke up this morning and had a six-pack. I've never had a sick-pack hahaha.

So let's catch up with where I left you all yesterday then. After lunch I dicked around online for a bit and then actually did roll up my sleeves and set to work. Remember this before shot?

Come on out, after!!! (I feel like a trashy talk show host, this is so fun!)

I went nuts!! I swept all the floors in my house (no mopping yet, that's for another day) and did three weeks of laundry. I even washed the bed sheets on our bed (not pictured). The one above is the guest room, so I guess we can finally have people over again haha. I also cleaned out and replaced my Brita filter. That's a gross chore. And did I mention I did laundry?! I felt like that went on forever. If you can't tell, laundry's my least fav chore.

When J.D. came back from work, we were not in game hen mode for dinner -- again. I swear we're going to eat that thing someday! So instead we finally gave into my week-long craving for Mexican!!!! All inspired by this new purchase:

They were really interesting as a nacho base! Inside my nachos went lean ground turkey, reduced fat refried beans, spinach, carrots, broccoli slaw, tomatoes, avocado and salsa.

And on the side I had a very pink strawberry-pomegranate margarita (or two)!

I may have been a little buzzed after 1.5 shots worth of Patrón in my drinks. Such a light weight!!! In fact, I think I do BETTER at Jeopardy! when I'm "drunk"! If I ever make it on the show, I hope to be about three drinks in during my debut. (Only half kidding).

Nerd alert!!

Since I'm still bronchi girl (as J.D. likes to call me, he's a sweet bf isn't he??), I can't really run yet. I think my lungs would explode. So after dinner/two episodes of the greatest show on the Earth -- no, not Barnum & Bailey -- we went for nearly an hour walk. That's the same distance it takes me to run 22 minutes, haha. It was a nice end to the evening.

After coughing and turning all night, I woke up at 9:30 and took the dog out to do his business and eat his breakfast. Before I set out to make my own food, I had a little more cleaning to do.

Yep, another before and after:

And like magic, the after:

I'm thinking about lounging by the pool for a bit to manage my pastiness. Maybe some day I'll have a summer tan ;) Then after the three of us are packing up and heading to the Bay Area to hang out with my fam for our three-day weekend! Woohoo!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND, everyone!!! I loooooooove summer. Please don't rub in the fact that I'm unable to participate in my 5K tomorrow :( I'm still super bummed about that.

Since you've been good and made it through this entire post, I'll leave you with a special treat. Cone and all.

Woodstock wanted to show you his new tricks he's been learning in puppy class! Please excuse his cone :) He's sad he can't run in the Weenie Nationals this year because of his cone. Just like his momma, he can't quite run this weekend. But next year, he'll be trying out!!!!

What's your least favorite chore??? Besides cleaning toilets, mine has to be doing the laundry. It's never-ending.