The Twelfth Day of Christmas

I just realized as I was finishing up my holiday cards this weekend that I need a new address book. I really like this one, because it has pages that can be moved around (since we have a huge number of L and S entries...), and the little check boxes for sent and received holiday cards. I've used up all those boxes in my existing book. Since I've had it for five years, it's also just time to update the records, you know? A pack of refill pages wouldn't hurt either - I ran out of space in my old one, which I think was by the same company.

The Eleventh Day of Christmas

I've actually got another item that I think was on my list last year, and I received it, but I need more! I am perpetually cold, so I love layering my shirts. I have a few long-sleeved t-shirts, but I need some more in brown, since that's the color of the print on most of my chocolate t-shirts.

I've also pointed out some t-shirts that are chocolate themed. Those can be kind of tricky though, because I don't want anything too specific or any specific brand or product on it. I'm also not too big on cheez (unless I win it in a sales contest!). I went looking for a good example of what I do want, and I've learned - please be careful when googling for chocolate t-shirts. No, really. I found many stellar examples of what I don't want.

When in doubt, I can definitely use the long-sleeved t-shirts in brown without any message at all ;)

The Tenth Day of Christmas

I've been eyeballing a few candy and chocolate recipes lately, and a fellow chocolatier shared that at least one of them tends to turn out less than perfect if you're not using a candy thermometer. How can I be in my line of work and not even own a candy thermometer?? So as much as I've tried not to ask for work things for my holiday wish list, the candy thermometer is really for me to try out some yummy recipes!

The Ninth Day of Christmas

Is it possible that I'm actually finding it difficult to list stuff I want for each day? Huh. I think part of my problem is that I'm currently so focused on meeting my goals with my chocolate business that I keep thinking of work things, but I really don't want to ask for work stuff for the holidays, you know?

Anyway, for my wish list today I'm asking for dinner out. At the Melting Pot - which I've never been to! I hear lots of people say how much they love it, but we've never been. I think part of the reason is because we actually prefer to take Maggie with us most places, and this looks like the sort of experience which would be seriously compromised if I were dealing with a pre-schooler at the same time ;)

So maybe my wish is a tad more complicated. I want a night out, including dinner at the Melting Pot, and I don't want to have to plan it. :)

The Eighth Day of Christmas

As I start building up the motivation to bake cookies for the cookie exchange I'm attending this weekend, I finally thought of something for my wish list.

More cooling racks. The one I have so far is from Pampered Chef, but I'm really not all that picky. It isn't something I'll use super often, but it takes no room to store when folded up, so it would be nice to have another one or two around :)

The cookies I'm making (probably in the middle of the night, since that's when things tend to finally get accomplished by me!) are simple spritz cookies, but then I'm going to spread tempered chocolate on the bottoms of half of them and set them on Dove's fancy cocoa-butter transfer sheets, so they'll have nice pictures on them. And you can never go wrong by adding chocolate to something, right?

The Seventh Day of Christmas

Some days you don't even know what you're looking for until you find it. At least in my world ;)

I was feeling moderately creative tonight, and while searching for my wish list post for today, I added several books to my Amazon wish list, but nothing really struck me as important enough to warrant its own post.

Until the Build-a-Zombie calendar from thinkgeek.com. I'm a zombie fan (no, I'm not really sure how that happened) and this calendar looks like quite the coolest thing I've seen all day.

I hope Santa sees fit to bring me one of my very own. :)

The Sixth Day of Christmas

I know I've mentioned several times that I want a decent pair of tall boots, and a new dress to wear for the holidays. I have yet to find the right dress, but these boots just might work. Luckily, they're not very expensive! Even more luckily, I'm out of time to look at more boots and have more to do with my life than expand my wish list every day ;) Translation: I want tall black boots, that don't look like moon boots, and that definitely don't have much (if any) of a heel. These fit the bill, but some other ones might too.

Do you have a tall boot that you just love and would recommend to me? I really like my Docs, but it takes me forever to tie them up. I am, admittedly, a very slow shoe tie-er. Who knew?

The Fifth Day of Christmas

About a year ago, I had a party for a home party plan company called Jewel Kade. With my show, I used my free spending and hostess credits to get a cool necklace just available to hostesses, and a holiday charm that said something about 'Santa stop here.' I loved it and wore it a lot between the time I received it and the end of the holiday season. A friend of mine was planning to have a party after the first of the year and I figured I'd get another charm then.

Unfortunately, the show wasn't at the top of my friend's priority list (not that I would expect it to be!), and the consultant never called my friend to follow-up! In conversation, my friend said she would book a show, but she didn't feel like looking up the consultant's information. Totally fair, and I don't know that I'd want to keep working with someone who didn't follow up when they said they would. I called the consultant about her order with my company, and she asked if my friend wanted to have a party. I told her I didn't know why she wouldn't, and suggest she call my friend. But she never did.

That gets us around to the point that I still only have a holiday charm for my necklace! I'm too busy now to have another show, but I'd love to receive the charm pictured to go with my necklace year round. On their website, it's called the 'American Heart Association Glitter Charm.' It looks like you can order straight through their site without contacting a consultant. Bad news for consultants who don't follow up with potential hostesses and customers, but good news for me!

Hear that, Santa? I'd love to receive the 'American Heart Association Glitter Charm' from Jewel Kade.

The Fourth Day of Christmas

Today I'm listing another item that shows up on my holiday wish list, and would probably show up again even if I received it. I would love to go see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform. This year they're at The Palace of Auburn Hills on December 30, but when I do a search for the best available tickets it shows me some that are nearly behind the stage. Are all the decent seats already gone? Hmm...

I'm a fan of performances. I like plays, and fashion shows, and concerts. I like to be entertained. Maggie and I went and saw Cinderella on stage last month. I'm hoping she'll inherit my appreciation for these things. She seemed to like it, but I had to laugh when every time the lights went down for a scene change or whatever, she asked, "Is it done?" Every. Time.

The Third Day of Christmas

I think you'll laugh at this one. But I really miss my old orange handled Fiskar nice scissors. Apparently I'm not the only one who likes them, as they're called 'The Original Orange-Handled Scissors' on their website :) I'm almost inclined to ask for a couple pairs, so I don't find myself without them for so long again.

These were the scissors that my mom kept from us so many years ago, because they were her good 'sewing scissors.' Sometimes I snuck them for important projects anyway, because they cut so much better than the other ones in the drawer for our use. Lately I've been reduced to using our scissors in our knife block for everything, since my favorite Fiskars walked away. Although I'm sure as soon as I finally get a new pair, they'll come back again. Doesn't it always go that way?

The Second Day of Christmas

Easy peasy. I still want another pair of diamond studs for my second hole. Well, technically, smaller than the ones I have, so the bigger ones will go in my second holes and the new ones will go in my third holes, but whatever. And I definitely want them screwback again since I leave them in all the time.

I'm honestly not all that much of a jewelry girl (although I can think of at least one more piece of jewelry to include on my list). My diamond earrings really just stay in all the time. I like wearing big hoops for my main holes (especially with my short haircut), but for the rest of the piercings (four total in my left ear and three total in my right), the only way I wear anything is to just leave the pretty little studs in all the time.

The First Day of Christmas

I've developed a thing this year for zombies. I love Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Planet Terror, even Zombie Strippers! So the first item on my wish list this year (not necessarily the most wanted, just the first one I'm mentioning) is a Shaun of the Dead t-shirt. It says, "We're Going to the Winchester!" If you don't know what this means - Stop Reading and go get the movie!!!

According to their size chart, the shirts run a little small, so I'd have to ask for a large if I trust them. And why shouldn't I trust them, right?