The New Me!

I am finally getting around to posting my new cut and color. I love it! I went with ash highlights and cut shorter in the back ~ slight stacking. It is so much fun and the brighter highlights were a wonderful pick me up for the cold snowy winter here on the East Coast. On a side note, please notice the fine photo skills I have (insert laugh and rolling eyes) self taught myself. I had big intentions of using the tripod to take my pictures but when you only have 15 minutes before you need to dash out the door, and you've never used a tripod, that's not the time to teach yourself. Ignoring my own advice (yes, I often have conversations with myself and sometimes even out loud) I tried to use it anyway. Quickly realizing I had no clue what I was doing, I reverted to my tried and true self photographing in the mirror!

The above photo is very slimming of me. When you put the camera in front of your nose, it takes off at least 10 pounds!

I truly love how well it lays ~ somewhat hard to see as my head was cocked in a funny way. The cut is a little sassy, but still professional, easy to take care of and style in the morning. I will need a few more scarves and high collared shirts and sweaters as I do find my neck gets a little chilly (did you notice how I was able to also work in a need to go shopping? My husband is almost as impressed with my talent, or not). :)

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Attention Getter

If you happen to be going to a gathering in the near future and want to quickly gain the attention of others in the room try this line out ~ I promise you heads will turn!

My morning started like this:

Bell rang, students entered my classroom, I was trying to quickly get attendance, lunch count, and reading logs check before we headed of to Art (which is only 10 minutes after the bell rings), child approached my desk says the following ....

Mrs. (insert my last name) I think I have Chicken Pox.

I'm really itchy all over and have bumps on my back

and arms!

Oh yeah, I immediately stop what I'm doing, look up only to see the look of horror on my aides face, and that of another teachers' that has just entered my classroom. As calmly as possible she is taken to the school nurse.

Thankfully, it was just a false alarm. Our school nurse assured us all that it is merely a bad case of dry skin ~ poor thing.

Let me know the reactions you get if you decide to try it out in a crowded room :)

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Thinking of a Change

After school tomorrow I'm going for my regularly (more on that in a moment) scheduled hair appointment. It's actually a real treat and something I look forward to each time I go. For the past 15 years, I've gone to an Aveda Concept Salon where ever I've lived. Depending on where you live, they may be difficult to find which was true for me when we moved to Connecticut. The woman who cuts and colors my hair is fabulous! I absolutely love her and the miracles she performs on my hair. She always knows just what I want even when I am not sure myself. One of the perks of going to an Aveda salon is the head, neck and shoulder massage ~ Aaahhhh .... It is just what I need and what I always look forward to. Once she was very behind schedule and after apologizing profusely, gave me an extra long massage ~ feel free to run behind any time!

As mentioned above, this is a regularly scheduled appointment because of my grandmother ~ yes, I'm blaming her! She is a lovely women and I've inherited many wonderful traits from her bright spirit. I am also the lucky recipient of a certain color of hair that is closely related to the color of white ~ I really don't like to talk about it. They started making an appearance a few years ago and seems to be growing in numbers. Since I'm only 29 (plus a few more ;) years of age, I am not ready to embrace these unwelcome visitors just yet. So, with that secret out, I now need to decide if I want to stay with more of my natural brown with lighter brown/golden highlights or go back to a blonder/soft white highlights to hide my little imperfections.

About a year and a half ago, I went back to brown but I'm thinking I might like a little "pick me up" color change. The picture above was taken just before Nicholas went back to school and shows my current color.

Opinions? I'm open to them.

Thanks,

Jo

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Ready, Set, ...

Go!

My week hasn't even started (we had Monday off) and I'm tired. We have something going on in our household every night this week. Just the thought makes me tired. I really can't complain as I am the one that scheduled most of the activities(after consulting with my husbands schedule). I can't even say that there something that I don't want to go to since I'm really looking forward to it all. My husband and I usually sit down sometime on Sunday to review our weekly schedules. This helps me as there are many times he'll have a late afternoon meeting so I automatically know to either plan a later dinner or feed the children first and, I'll have dinner with him when he gets home. He didn't even bat an eye when a friend invited us out to dinner on Saturday night. It was our only free night ~ not any more! It's actually going to be a lot of fun but, I'm tired just thinking about it all.

You know what I'm talking about ~ how am I going to squeeze in the laundry, cleaning, meal planning, market shopping, cooking, pop up errands, and attend my full time job, oh yea, and sleep when I'm not home much this week?

You also know what I'm about to say at this point

... I need to figure this out on my own because

I'll be doing it on my own. Apparently no one else in my home

is concerned about the lack of time or man power this week.

Do you think I could leave a "to do" list for our dog, Bozley?

Yea, I know the answer to that one too! I was just trying out

my creative thinking. :)

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Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It is freezing (literally) here on the east coast.

We awoke to -8 degrees this morning. I'm not complaining, really. The sun it out and it is gorgeous ~ the snow is glistening, the ice sickles are sparkling and the trees are standing tall in the background.

I'm originally from Michigan so I'm not afraid of the cold. In fact, we use to do snow prayers when my brother and I were little just so we would have enough snow all winter long to ski, snow mobile and ice skate at our cottage.

My son's philosophy is that if there is no snow on the ground, it's a waste of a perfectly good winter! He loves to ski and snow mobile.

~Please enjoy a giggle with me as he chose to attend college in North Carolina and not Vermont!~

My daughter on the other hand likes to point out that her wardrobe (and her father's credit card) require snow in order to wear her winter sweaters and not look ridiculous. Hmmm, I wonder where she gets this from? Must be someone on my husband's side of the family :)

Regardless, I'm enjoying the beautiful snow and chilly day!

It's girls night in our home tonight.

My husband is going out to an event with some of the guys he works with and my daughter and I are treating ourselves to spa treatments at home ~ manicures, facials and girly food. We are also watching some over the top girl movie that would send my husband running from the family room. We are taking full advantage of no males in our home for an entire evening!

Enjoy your weekend!

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Bottomless

How is it that after three meals, a few snacks in between, and walk by nibbles,

you can still be hungry at 9:30pm?

Nicholas and Shannon decided to make smoothies Saturday night.

I was thinking bed and they were planning their next concoction.

I guess I shouldn't complain as this was a

healthy choice.

Two growing teens is adding up to a very large

market bill!

Really guys, leave something in the refrigerator for the

rest of us :)

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Girls Night Out

I am so looking forward to this evening. It has been a crazy week that has run the spectrum of activities and illnesses. I'm happy to put it all behind me and relax.

We girls are going to a fun restaurant in Mystic for yummy food, wine, and as always, fabulous girl "chit chat" as my husband calls it.

I'm counting down to 6:00pm!

Had to include a picture of my new monogrammed wine glass.

They were one of the great Christmas gifts

I received this year.

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Thankful Thursday

As I was going about my normal routine this morning, it struck me how lucky I am.

In these times of uncertainty, I have so much to be thankful for. We have a lovely home, healthy food in our refrigerator and on our pantry shelves, clothes that keep us warm against the cold winter winds(and as fashionable as a "mom" can be in the eyes of her teenagers), our health, wonderful family and friends that go above and beyond, and jobs we enjoy. In my book, this constitutes being rich!

This is only a brief list as I'm only on my first cup of coffee. I don't know about you, but I often feel as though I'm rushing off to jump the next hurdle in life in order to get ahead. For me, I need to stop more often and realize just how fortunate I am and enjoy being where I am at the time.

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Unsettled return

Getting back into the school routine has been difficult.

Wouldn't you know, Sunday afternoon I started not feeling well.

By Sunday night I felt horrible. The stomach bug had been going around, but

I thought we were fine since no one showed any signs of being sick. Oh not so true!

My son was really sick most of Sunday, then I got a little of the bug and my daughter was

sick on Monday. What a fabulous way to start the new year!

I went to school Monday not feeling my best, but struggled through.

I was in bed for the night at 7pm. I felt so much better when I woke on Tuesday.

Off to school I went for my half day as I had to take the afternoon off for my son's root canal ~not a fun way to start his new year. He broke his front tooth a few years ago fooling around and just "being a boy." We knew this day was coming at some point. The dentist was hoping to make it until he had completed his final growth spurt (this child has just keeps getting taller and taller) before she did the procedure. However, his tooth had other plans. It's been causing him a little pain so during his annual teeth cleaning last month, she decided it was best to take care of the root canal now rather than have something happen in North Carolina (where he attends college) and need to see a dentist that had no prior knowledge of his mouth.

Everything went very well. We have an awesome dentist. She is absolutely fabulous! Her personality and mannerisms fit our family to a T. I went back to see how things were going and with a giggle, she said they had to pull out the powerful stuff because his front tooth is so big. He really does have large teeth and they are beautiful. I was crushed when he first broke his tooth. By choice, Nick watched most of the procedure (yuck, I think it's a boy thing) and feels confident that he could perform this procedure on family and friends if necessary ~ thanks Nick, but I think we'll keep our dental insurance just to be on the safe side! :)

Due to the weather this morning ~ ice and freezing rain ~ we have a delay.

What an unsettled week to start off our new year.

Maybe tomorrow will be a normal day!

This is just a random picture that I took with my new camera. I was rather impressed with the green of the tree in the forefront and the black and white of the bare branches and clock in the background.

I also didn't think you wanted to see any of the pictures that I took of Nick during his dental outing!

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Pizza on the Grill

My entire family loves pizza made on the grill.

We have tiles that we use on the grill to achieve this thin crispy on the

outside and just slightly chewy on the inside yummy crust.

When my son came home for the holidays, he requested that before his return,

he "needed" to have pizza on the grill.

Last night the children had some friends over so we decided it was the perfect night

for one of our family favorites.

Please note the look of excitement on my son's face.

I don't think you can take the kid out of the teenager.

Step 1

Choose your toppings.

Last night we made four pizzas for the crowd. We are not picky eaters and

over the years have tried many different combinations.

This is a family event so we all get in on the action.

Because of the grilling, you need to make sure any items that

require cooking are done so ahead of time.

It's actually very helpful to have more than one set

of hands when you're trying to beat

the melting cheese.

*the items on the table are from the boys trying

to build something out

of the remaining snow.

Step 2

Place your dough on the tiles. Once the bottom is just lightly golden,

flip the dough and spread on your sauce.

Then you can begin to pile on the toppings

of your choice.

Step 3

Keep an eye on the pizza. You want to make sure your

grill isn't too hot.

Step 4

The toppings are on, the family is hungry

and I'm getting cold standing out here

all by myself.

Hello, you guys could come back out and help!

Oooooh yummy! The buffalo chicken is done!






The portabella mushroom, garlic and sausage
looks very tasty!

Step 5
Enjoy!

We also had a white pizza with scallops and a pepperoni with jalapeno cheese.
They were all delicious and the time spent with my children made
the evening all that more special.

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