Christmas 'CHODE' style...

Saturday was our 1st Annual CHODE Christmas; it was at Brandon and Erinn's home. First of all, "CHODE" was established on our river trip, Labor Day weekend in 2009; not really sure HOW that word all came about, but that's what we call our group of friends. We all may be 30 and over, but we will always be forever young, and that's why I love them. To describe this group of friends is best said with some of my favorite quotes...

We started off with a gift exchange, but, of course, my husband would pick the most inappropriate gift... sex toys. You can see everyone’s face in the background of how amused they all were. All the guys took this gift apart during the night, so it didn’t make it home with us. Ha!

Photo op; ladies in red...



Then all the couples took a photo with a gold frame, under the mistletoe...

Hosts

It was also Robyn's b'day; she came a few hours late, so Elgin got a cake for her; it was a carrot cake, which is her favorite. She walked in with the house all dark and a million people singing "Happy Birthday" to her.

7 hours later Nick and I headed home... It was a great night. Thank you to Erinn and BD for hosting a great party! Love you guys! Can't wait till next year...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

My Christmas list

I'm asked, "what do you want for Christmas," every year and I always say, "oh, nothing, really..." THEN that sparks my brain and I start thinking of a million little things I want; here are the main ones on my list this year...

Michael Kors leopard infinity scarf; $50

Black, high waisted skirt (or dress); i'll be wearing this as a dress, though... my mind goes nuts when thinking about how I can dress this up... cardigans, blazers, thick belts, leopard/black tights, ankle boots, knee-high boots, pumps, etc... American Apparel $34

Camera lens strap holder! I NEED this; I lose this dang thing ALL the time...

Lens cap holder $18

I have MOUNDS of clothes; our housekeeper got tired of hanging up all of my clothes on the floor, so she now started piling them in one of my laundry baskets. My closet it just too small, so I need one of these...

2-rod garment rack $25.97

Crock pot: I've been collecting a ton of recipes and i'm excited to have one; I believe my mom already bought it for me. Yay! I don't cook, and I heard crock pot recipes are super easy...

I asked my sister to get me this coffee pot for Christmas, because I literally have drank a Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso in a can EVERY single morning, for the past few yrs. It gets expensive; if you add it all up that's about $1,000/year or more on those puppies. No thanks, I think i'll give myself a $1,000 raise and STOP buying those and just use this... p.s. we had a Keurig, but didn't like it, so we gave it away...

This is the Dyson DC35 Digital Slim Multi Floor Vacuum. It's WIRELESS, how awesome is THAT?!?! I would totally vacuum if I had this...

This was also on my Christmas list, the Michael Kors MK3131 watch, but I bought it a cpl months ago, because it's discontinued, and I searched and searched for 2 days online and found ONE!!!!! The band is amazing; it's like a bracelet, too.

Nick is giving me money for this, btw, so it's actually from him!

 Merry Christmas to ME!!!!!! :)

This is the last item on my list; I'm not getting my hopes up, but you never know... It's the Louis Vuitton "Artsy" handbag from 2010's collection... I heart it!

What's on YOUR Christmas list this year?!

Louis, Louis, Louis...

Ok, so, I'm NOT "materialistic," I'm really not, BUT, when it comes to Louis Vuitton... I AM, I AM, I AM!!! I'm proud to say it, because, to me, LV is classic, sophisticated, trendy, versatile and gorgeous; I won't carry any other bag!!! In 2002 my Mother bought me the Louis Vuitton "Pochette" she had purchased from Paris, for me for Christmas, and, from then on, I was hooked... Well, a few years ago, my Boxer, Charlie, ate half of it, so I no longer have this one! :( Needless to say, I was/am still devastated, but don't tell my Mom, please! Ha!

A few years went by and my mother bought me another bag for Christmas, the Louis Vuitton "Speedy 30..." I love this bag; it's not too big and it's not too small. I carry it, still, from time to time, depending on the occasion.

In 2008 when Nick and I got married, he bought me the Louis Vuitton "Galliera GM" as a wedding gift! I was ecstatic, it's such a gorgeous bag!!! Don't ask me why, but I sold this bag last year before Christmas to a woman whom was desperate to give this certain bag to her daughter that she had been wanting for so long. :)

2 yrs ago, again, for Christmas, my mom bought me the Louis Vuitton "Sobe clutch." I'm in LOVE with this clutch; it's GORGEOUS, black, and goes with pretty much every "going out" outfit...

For Christmas last year my mother bought my sister and I, the Louis Vuitton "Neverfull MM" handbag. Abby got the Damier Azur Canvas print bag...

 And I got the monogram canvas print bag, which is my favorite canvas... I'm still carrying this bag currently.

Last, but not least, when I was pregnant with Hadley, one of my gifts from my parents was the Louis Vuitton "Monogram Diaper Bag." It's amazing! And if I decide to have another Angel one day, and if it's a boy, the bag is brown, so I can carry it with him, too.

I bought Hadley the Louis Vuitton "Mini Pochette." Here she is with it, but I won't actually let her carry this around until she is a few years older. She loves it...

The new bag I am currently drooling over is from 2010's collection, the Louis Vuitton "Artsy." Not sure which size I want, yet, but I'm thinking the smaller one, the larger one is humongous!!! We'll see...

Here are all my babies together...

WHICH BAG DO YOU PREFER TO CARRY??? :)

Affordable Must-Haves

Every woman has their "must have" list; here is mine:

ONE is my "signature" scent, Brighton 'Laugh' perfume, that i've worn since December 2003... EIGHT yrs. and counting.

TWO are my Levi's skinny jeans; these go with EVERYTHING; I cannot live without these.... only $34.99 and they are THE best skinnies i've owned...

THREE is my mascara; up until just recently I had been purchasing Lancome and Dior mascara TILL I found Maybelline's Volum' Express Falsies 'Flared' in black, only $8 at any drug store... It's THE best mascara I have purchased.

FOUR is my Conair 1 1/2 inch barrel, curling iron; it was $15 and works wonders when I decide to torture myself and take an hour out of my life to curl my hair...

FIVE are my ankle length leggings (regular and faux leather material); every woman needs a pair of these. They are versatile... you can dress them up or down. I think I spent maybe $7 on mine... 

SIX are my ankle boots; I buy a new pair every year, but so far these are my FAVE! I just bought them last week. They were originally $100, but got them on sale for $50 from Bakers... Black ankle boots

SEVEN are my black, platform pumps; I have 4 pair and my last pair are from RAINBOW and I got them on sale for $10... SCORE! And they don't even look cheap, which is very shocking for that store. Ha! These aren't the exact ones, but very similar...

EIGHT are my sterling silver fake diamond stud earrings; I got these at JC Penney for about $10. One day I WILL have 'real' pair!!!

NINE are are my Skull Candy, mic'd ear buds Nick gave me; he knows I LOVE bass, so he bought me a pair of these puppies... they were around $29

TEN is my MAC 'Infinitely Likable' Pro Longwear Lipglass, $18.50. It stays on all day.... 

What are your MUST haves?

A Tacky "SURPRISE!"

This past Saturday my bestie and I decided to surprise our friend, Rachel, at her and her husband's annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. We had never been to theirs before and we thought it would be FUN! :) Danessa and I met up at The Down Under Pub for 2 drinks, then headed over to The Venn's home. Rachel was super surprised and excited!!! And her son, Caden, was awake; he is THE cutest!!!!! <3

She had gotten some cute ideas from Pinterest, so we took advantage and took a few pics of us being silly...

We also played this game called, Apples to Apples; i'm not really a game person, but it was fun...

All the girls...

The party was great, Rachel, we had a great time! So glad you were surprised!!! Love you! :)