Talkin' about it Tuesday

Linking up with these 3 ladies...

Ten on Tuesday

1. Where are you from? Have you lived there your whole life?
I am from California and I have lived here all my life. I grew up in Gilroy (the garlic capitol of the world). I have lived in pretty much a 100 mile radius of that town for most of my adult life. I currently live in the strangest part of California I have ever lived in, seriously it may as well be another planet.

2. How would you classify your clothing style?
I basically have a Summer and Winter uniform. Not kidding. In the summer I am all about short skirts, tee shirts and flip flops. In the winter is is long sweaters and tunics with leggings and Ugg boots. I have fantastic legs, I like to show them off.

3. What kind of car do you drive?
A Dodge Durango, Big daddy bought it for me for my birthday a couple years ago, and i luuuuuuurve it!

4. What would your dream home look like if you could have it (or already do!)?
It would have walls, windows and a roof and be filled with lots of kids, friends and L-O-V-E. I have lived in a lot of homes a DREAM home is one where you are happy, no matter what it looks like or how big it is...it's the people who fill it!

5. Do you have kids, and if so, how many and how old were you when you had them?
I have one daughter, Jordan. She came when I married Big Daddy. We ARE a match made in heaven though, she needed a mom like me and I needed a kid like her.

6. What is your favorite hobby?
Crafting. I use to be a big time crafter, now you can buy it just as cheap as you can make it, so I don't craft that often anymore.

7. Are you going to have any New Year’s resolutions for 2011?
Nah, I never keep them if they are called a resolution, it's the rebel in me.

8. What is something, if anything, that you’d want to change about yourself?
I wish I didn't take things so personally, since I am already my biggest critic.

9. What is something that you love about yourself?
I am kinda funny. But Big Daddy is funnier so together we are awesomely funny.

10. Pick one of the following: Someone to cook for you, someone to do your laundry, or someone to do your dishes.
Dishes. I don't mind cooking and I prefer to do my own laundry.



1. Do you like to listen to Christmas music?
LOVE...I start listening mid November.

2. Are you one of those people who get all their shopping done early,
or do you do most of it in December?
I prefer to buy things through out the year, but this year we are still shopping and will probably will be until the day before Christmas.

3. Do you set a budget on how much you spend on each person?
YES and we are REALLY good about staying in the budget.

4. Do you send out Christmas cards?
I didn't last year but THIS year we have already ordered them and WILL be sending them out!

5. Do you enjoy this holiday season or does it stress you out?
Last year it stressed me out and I did not enjoy Christmas AT ALL. This year I am making it about my own personal enjoyment.

Top 2 Cleaning and Organization tips or tricks

{one} I like to ORGANIZE my snacks. My snack jars make me happy. As you can see Goldfish are always a staple. Unless Costco is out of them, then the big jar remains unloaded. Because it is reserved for JUST Goldfish. It's the law.

{two} Best way to CLEAN my glass stove top is with a little fume free oven cleaner. Spray on and wipe off after it sits for a little while. Looks new. CLEAN a microwave by boiling a bowl of equal parts vinegar and water in the microwave. The steam releases gunk, wipe clean. Awesome.

Prizes! Prizes! Prizes!

GOOD NEWS!
I made it through the first round of votes for Top Blog 2010! Thank you all so much for voting.

GOOD NEWS!
Round two of voting has begun!

BAD NEWS?
I need your votes...again.

GOOD NEWS!
I really super love you for voting...again...and totally appreciate you!

BAD NEWS?
I am going to be begging for your votes for a while...each round they eliminate the bottom 5 bloggers!

GOOD NEWS!
I have some super awesome prizes to give away at the end of all of this!!

So can I have your votes again?

I have a super awesome spreadsheet that I created to keep track of each vote...but you have to report HERE or on Facebook to let me know you voted EACH ROUND.

You can even earn EXTRA entries for doing the following...

5 Entries Tweet@HolleeAnnCFG Help Mamarazzi win Top Blog 2010 by voting for Dandelion Wishes on http://www.blogguidebook.com/ votes are entries for prizes!

5 Entries Blog about it and link back to Dandelion Wishes

5 Entries Facebook about it and link back to @Mamarazzi Dandelion Wishes (make sure you "like" our fan page)

Remember you can enter for these FABULOUS prizes EACH round... don't worry I will remind you...tee hee!

Shop Brydferth

Open Heart Creations

Keep Calm Shop

Pieces Of Me Pendants

Belle Michelle Crochet

Jeri's Custom Originals

Beautiful Blossoms

Frosted Willow

Presents from Alex

A HUGE thank you to all of our WONDERFUL and GENEROUS Etsy Shop Sponsors. Please visit their shops and do a little Holiday shopping.

I am keeping track of all entries with a spread sheet and random.org will select the winners

BUT I need you to let me know you voted in order to be entered.

My Happy List

Well my Happy List, this week, is all about quality family time!

SOOO HAPPY my folks came and spent a few days at our house last weekend and my mom and I had a lot of fun making more hair pretties. I do have a few tutorials to share once I get my act together and eek out a little time to edit pictures and type up the steps.

Last Sunday 6 of my 7 nephews came over the hill for a mini Winter Camp Vasquez. It was of course a blast. We are always HAPPY to have a house filled with kids.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving adventure to Jackson Ca. where my brother Mark has a cabin.

The adventure began Wednesday night at our house where everyone gathered to pick up their boys and we caravanned to the mountains.

When we got there around 8pm we discovered that the big storm that brought a ton of snow had knocked out the power. PG&E said there were estimated about 100 breaks in the lines caused by fallen trees.

So we unloaded the cars and trekked from the neighbors house, where we were able to park, down an unplowed driveway in the dark. I was very HAPPY there was a gorgeous and full Harvest moon to light our way.

It took a while to get fire going in the house to heat the cabin and we all figured out quickly that the well was powered by electricity and that we were not going to have showers or any running water for that matter.

We decided we could tough it out and melted snow on the wood burning stove to fill the toilet tanks so we could at least use the potty. I was very HAPPY not to have to pee out in the snow.

The boys were very HAPPY that they GOT to go and pee in the snow. Boys are funny like that.

The next morning we sorted through the piles we had brought in and got busy bringing in the rest of the stuff.

We learned that we could heat pop tarts on the wood burning stove and heat up water for hot cocoa and made a plan for Thanksgiving dinner. We BBQ'd the Turkey, it was delicious. I will never use the oven to cook my turkey again, ever. All of the trimmings were prepared on the wood burning stove. Super YUM!

The rest of the time was spent playing in the snow.

The boys had so much fun digging out forts for snowball fights.

Big Daddy and Coco brought in a few loads of wood.

YES, that is Big Daddy wearing my pink boots, his feet were oragamied in there,but they were also dry and warm...the cuffed jeans are just a bonus to the ensemble.

I love that he is secure enough in his manhood to allow the boys to point and laugh and respond with, "you're just jealous I look this good in these." I love him.

PLUS I thought the picture of Coco following him was truly adorable. No?

Coco really loved the snow. She shook like she was fixin' to fall apart but she loved it.

There was also a lot of game playing going on...that's my brother Mark covering his face. He wasn't loving my Mamarazzi way of following everyone with the camera.

Plus he always looks drunk in every picture I take of him...and he doesn't drink.

See?

There is a PERFECT hill to sled down behind the cabin and the boys built up

jumps and ramps for HOURS. We hardly saw them unless they came in for food

or to ask someone to come watch a rad trick they were doing.

getting some air here...

We really enjoyed our stay and wished the lack of power and running water hadn't made it almost impossible to continue our weekend there. It was the most fun we have had as a family in a while. We really missed my brother Scott and his wife Kristie and my sister Meg and her family. It would have been triple rad had they all been there too!

I am also HAPPY to report that I made it through the first round of voting for Top Blog 2010 over on The Blog Guidebook. I am pretty excited and I am thinking of some fun giveaways for cool prizes for the upcoming rounds of voting.

I truly do not want y'all to get tired of my begging for votes so I figured I should probably make it worth your while. Stay tuned...I THINK you will be HAPPY to help me out...tee hee!

Sooooooo...what is on YOUR Happy List this week?

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Friday Confessional

I Confess...

There is NOTHING quite like an episode of Hoarders that will scare me enough to deep clean my house. Truly, IF motivation is needed one episode is all it takes. Ew!

I Confess...

I haven't gotten my nails done in about 4 years. I use to get my nails done every other week for about 12 years. Thats at least 24 times a year. At at least $25 a visit. $25 x 24= $600. So over 12 years I spent at least $7,200 on getting my nails done. I now have nothing to show for it. That sucks. I wish I hadn't blown the cash like that. P.S. the girl who did my nails all those years drives a Mercedes.

I Confess...

I keep looking at the math in that last confession wondering if I got that right. If you are not math impaired, like I am, can you please tell me so I can stop thinking about it? Thanks.

I Confess...

I let my dog Coco sleep in my bed between Big Daddy and me. She sleeps between the top sheet and the duvet. Sometimes she wakes up before I am ready to and she will come up out of the covers and stare me down. If I don't open my eyes and make eye contact she will do a heavy sigh and go back under the covers until I am ready to get up. I know it's kind of mean to make her hold her bladder like that, but I also think she is very sweet to let me sleep....and I don't feel terribly guilty about it.

I Confess...

I need to find a home for our cats Pete and Bella. Until I find one they have gone from being 100% indoor cats to living outside. We made a warm house for them under out covered patio and feed them AND all of the friends they have made since I kicked them out. It is still a better alternative than the pound right? And it was looking like that was going to be our only choice for a while there. I DO feel a little guilty about leaving them out in the cold, since as far as cats go these guys are the coolest.

I Confess...

I still haven't decorated my newly remodeled bathroom. It feels funny to spend money on something that will make ME happy when I know I need to buy Christmas gifts for other people.

I Confess...

I really couldn't afford to play in the 2 Christmas Swaps I signed up for. But I HAD to do it, not only because I wanted to support my bloggy friends but because Christmas has very few surprises for ME. I mean as the mom I know what everyone is getting. Being surprised on Christmas morning is part of what makes it so magical. Sooooo getting a cool package filled with SURPRISES really kind of thrills me. Not to mention putting together a package for someone else so they can have a few surprises Christmas morning too is RAD!

I Confess...

I have been listening to Christmas music since November 13. I am not sick of it, yet.

I Confess...

I really want to buy one of those BIG popcorn filled tins and just eat the caramel corn from it and leave my family to eat the other flavors...blech...cheese and plain...puhleeeese gimme the caramel!!!

I Confess...

One time, a long time ago, we told Jordan that "ants" ate her candy. The ants have names, Big Daddy and Mamarazzi.

Phew I feel better. I can't wait for J to read that, she is going to die laughing!

Confession is good for the soul...so spill it and link up. Click the button below for details

Queen for the Day...Susie

Introducing her Royal Highness...
I am really excited to feature this week's Queen Susie, the author of the blog Susie's Homemade. Susie is a wonderful and loyal reader of Dandelion Wishes and you would be hard pressed to find a post that I made that she hasn't commented on. She also has never missed a featured Queen for the Day and has been very loving and supportive to all of the featured Queens. For these reasons and more I am so pleased to feature this wonderful woman.

Susie's is a STAH of two girls and she also cares full time for her mother who lives with her family. Her blog Susie's Homemade is where she shares her adventures in baking, cooking, gardening homemaking and entertaining.

In Susie's 500th post she shares an amazing accomplishment, her FIRST cookbook and you can purchase a copy from her blog for only $5. After poking around her blog and seeing some of her amazing food creations I would say that is quite a deal.

For her one year Blogiversary she shares a slide show of all of the amazing cakes she has made. Truly fantastic...don't miss this, you will be inspired.

As if the cakes and cookbook were not impressive enough in this post Susie shares the Pergola she built.

I know you are dying to go and check out all of the awesomeness that is Susie and her blog Susie's Homemade, but before you go check out her answers to a few of Mamarazzi's questions.

What made you decide to start blogging?
"With everything that I have going on in my busy life, I needed a creative outlet. I found so much more out here in the blogosphere."

What is your motto in life?
"Slow down! You actually get more done when you slow down. You are more present and make less mistakes if you savor the moment."

What are you best at?
"Baking"

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?
"I would love to be trapped in The Martha Stewart Show. The organization alone does it for me! Then, add the cooking and the crafts and the baking and gardening! Shut up! I am done!"

Which of the four seasons do you most anticipate? Why?
"I love the promise of spring."

You can be Queen for the Day on Dandelion Wishes. Have your blog features and get the Royal recognition you deserve! Just fill out the Queen for the Day form found under my Contact Me tab....AND be sure to go and visit today's Queen and leave a thoughtful comment.

Also...today is the FINAL day to VOTE...click The Blog Guidebook button

on my sidebar if you want to help Dandelion Wishes win Top Blog 2010...pretty please.

Wee Bit of Me Wednesday

{one} what kind of camera do you have?

We just have a little craptastic Kodak point and shoot. I would love a new camera. I have been wanting a new one for a long time, a Canon Rebel would rock my world. Right now the money goes to stupid things like living expenses. Lame.

{two} you just won $1000 and you have to spend it on yourself on one item. what do you buy?

Awesome. I would buy myself a camera.

{three} if you had to choose, would you rather live with your parents in the same house forever or 5000 miles away?

In the same house forever. They were both here for a few days just this week and I could see sharing a house with them. I know I would rather not live 5000 miles away!

{four} is your Christmas tree up yet?

We plan to set it up this weekend. I am really looking forward to getting a little Christmas going.

{five} do you bring reusable bags to the grocery store?

Yes, they are always in my car and sometimes I forget, but I do always try to remember.

{six} which would be worse: listening to the same song on replay for the rest of your life or having to eat the same meal everyday for the rest of your life?

The song over and over would be horrible. So I would pick the same meal. I would choose Sushi.

{seven} name 3 things you are thankful for this season.

My Family, My Heath, My husbands job.

{eight} do you dye/highlight your hair? if so, do you do it yourself or have it done at the salon?

Oh yes, I started going grey in my early 20's. I went to a salon for a few months not that long ago and went back to doing it myself at home. I loved the girl who did it, I would love to go back, but I won't until I can afford to keep going every month.

{nine} would you rather watch a movie at home or at the theater?

Big Daddy and I try to go the movies every week or so, we love the theater.

{ten} would you rather win $1000/week for life or $5 million all at once?

Good question. I actually stopped and thought about this like it is actually going to happen. Silly me. I would take the $5 Million, We can manage our money well enough to make a few major investments, put the rest away and live off of the interest.

Talkin' about it Tuesday

I decided to link up with some Tuesday Linky parties...you should too.

Top 2 Things on your Christmas Wish List.
A baby Girl
A baby Boy

Google Image photo credits girl and boy

They are welcome to come together or separately, in no particular order, in ANY amount of multiples, starting ANYTIME. We are MORE than ready for them. This has also been J's Christmas wish for the last 5 years. I think it is about time it comes true.

AND if I may add a little something that my FABULOUS readers can give me...

VOTES!!

Pretty please click the little birdie button on my side bar.

There are only a few days left of the FIRST round of voting for TOP BLOG 2010 over on The Blog Guidebook...and Dandelion Wishes was nominated.

Help me at least make the Top 5 cut...please.

Is my begging not enough?

Do I need to bribe you with prizes?

Cuz, I am seriously NOT above that, no matter how pathetic it makes me look. *sigh*

1. Name 5 things you are grateful for!(not in any particular order)

*My Heavenly Father.

*My amazing husband, who is my best friend & loves me like I have never been loved before. There is seriously no one I would rather spend time with than him.

*My beautiful daughter Jordan. We are for sure a match made in heaven. She needed a mom like me and I needed a kid like her.

*My sisters. There is nothing like the bond that sisters have and I was blessed with some great ones by birth and two more who married my brothers.

*My Family. I love my folks and enjoy any time I have with them. My siblings all ROCK. My nieces and nephews make being their Auntie a pure JOY. My mother and father in law are fantastic and have truly welcomed me into their family and I am so grateful for them.

2. What is you favorite dish at Thanksgiving dinner?

I love the Turkey, dark meat please!

3. Do you have any family traditions for Thanksgiving?

We usually go around the table and say what we are thankful for.

4. Are you staying home or traveling for Thanksgiving?

This year we are all going to my brother Mark's cabin in Jackson. It is gorgeous up there, no cell phone service or internet, just family and nature. Perfection!

5. What else do you do on Thanksgiving day besides eat?

The day is spent playing games, crafting, visiting, laughing and grazing on leftovers.

~*~Ten on Tuesday~*~

1. What are your plans for the holidays? Do you travel at Thanksgiving? If you celebrate Christmas, do you travel then, too?
Thanksgiving we are going to My brother's cabin in Jackson. Christmas eve and morning will be spent with my family. Christmas day we will meet up with Big Daddy's folks and spend 2 glorious days in Monterey in one of our favorite hotels on the beach. Even in the dead of Winter Monterey is amazing! THEN Our wedding anniversary is Dec 27 and Big Daddy has something special planned, I cannot wait to see what it is!!!

2. How do you make the plans for the holiday? If you have a significant other, how do you decide which family to visit?
We usually spend every other Christmas at home and Big Daddy's family comes over and the other with my family usually at my folk's house or at my sister Amy's house.

3. Do you have your Thanksgiving meal at lunch or later in the day?
We normally have it around 2:00 or 3:00.

4. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
Just gathering with family is enough for me, we could eat chicken from a bucket and I would be happy.

5. After a big meal do you lounge around or get up and take a walk?
If I can walk I will. We will be in the mountains this year so I plan on a little hike.

6. Do you shop on “Black Friday” or do you avoid it?
Nope. I HAVE been known to get up at 5am and go, but it is rare, not a yearly thing.

7. When do you usually finish your Christmas shopping?
I am usually still picking up things on Christmas Eve, mostly stocking stuff etc.

8. Do you and your significant other exchange gifts? Is there a budget?
No, not really. The first year we were married we started our "love journals" where we wrote to each other everyday. This year we will replace the old with new and start fresh. We also do stockings for each other. We believe Christmas gifts are for the kids, so that is where the money goes.

9. When do you decorate for the holidays?
We will decorate THIS weekend. J is really looking forward to it!!

10. Do you go “all out” with the decor or do you keep it simple?
It's pretty simple here. 2 trees, one for the front window and one for J in the gameroom. Oh, and J also has a little one in her bedroom. White lights on the outside of the house with some little white snowflake lights that line the walkway to the house. And little touches of decor here and there.

When I was a kid our house was seeeeriously all our decorated. Like 7 trees, each with a different theme, yard decor complete with singing lights and poinsettias along the walkway. She takes pictures off of her walls and things off of shelves and replaces it all with Christmas goodness. She also has a huge nativity collection and she sets up all of them. I like that my mom's house is the one where, as my brother puts it, "Christmas threw up", so I keep mine simple so Grandma's house is the MOST magical! And it really is magical, all that stuff and still perfectly classy and beautiful.