Monday, October 29, 2012

Swiss bliss, grilled cheese and new toys

Howdy do all.

Didn't I say I wanted to relax this weekend?  Apparently I lied to myself.

Friday was a good day when our annual holiday goodness arrived...


Every year when I was a kid, we'd get The Swiss Colony catalog and that was the signal that the holidays were on their way and it would ignite my inner squee.  (Like I need any help in that department)  I always wanted a Chris Mouse chocolate thingy, maybe one year I'll actually get one for myself.  He's just so dang cute!  One year we ordered their butter toffee and fell head over heels in love with it.  I mean I'm not a big toffee person but this stuff is the shiznit.  I also ordered these gingerbread petit fours and then they send you free truffles and mini petit fours.  So the truffles will go to work with the Mr, the gingers are in the freezer along with the other petit fours for any surprise visits by people.  (Though people know by now NOT to swing by unannounced.  I have a reputation for making people wait outside.  It happened once.  But it's not a bad rep to have to deter people!)  We dug into a few pieces of toffee Saturday and it's yummy.  Time to put it in the back of the fridge and forget about it until next high cal day.

I got the itch to go window shopping at this mall that's not too far away.  If you'd told me I would've spent all day there walking until my hips and feet hurt, I wouldn't have believed you.  It was nice, we got an ornament, picked out a down comforter my friend is going to pick up with her discount, walked all over the place and basically determined that it won't be prime shopping season for about 2 weeks when all of the Halloween stuff is purged and it's a full on Christmas explosion.  At that point it'll be hard to keep me from rolling on Christmas things on the floor with a big smile on my face and security escorting me out.  I already grabbed this pillow from Pottery Barn and jingled it until it looked weird to the store associates.

I also MIGHT have bought something for one lucky reader that will win an upcoming giveaway before the 12 Days of Treats!  It was rainy all weekend and Sunday was no exception so of course this was the perfect combo!


That would be Campbell's Healthy Request Tomato Soup with some reduced sodium oyster crappers (as my great grandpa used to call them) and a grilled cheese panini.  (A slice of Light Jarlsburg Swiss and a slice of TJ's Lacey Marbled Colby Jack on TJ's Asiago Peppercorn bread.)  It was heaven with a side of TJ's spiced apple cider.  The perfect Fall meal even if a little heavy on the sodium.  I cut back where I could and enjoyed every bite.

We did a kick ass workout last night consisting of 30 minutes of Turbo Fire's HIIT 25 and 30 minutes on the Total Trainer.  I was pretty bummed out to find after 4 years one of the rails on my trainer is rusting.  :-(  I don't know how or why since it is in a basement but it's not humid or anything.  So we'll have to contact Bayou Fitness and see if anything can be done about it.

I ordered a new point and shoot camera last night.  It was $50 off.  I won't tell you which one just yet in case it sucks.  HA!  But it gets awesome reviews and I'm looking forward to testing it out.  The idea of having the same power as a big ol' DSLR in a P&S with good HD video too is worth the money for this cheapskate if it works out well.

What did you do this weekend?

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20 comments:

  1. sounds like it was definitely a busy weekend. I'm all about Halloween the way you're all about Christmas so I really wish they would wait until Halloween is actually over before they clear out the pumpkins and skeletons and put up wreaths and reindeer. I went to a discount place over the weekend and their Halloween stuff was squeezed down to one little section of shelving and had been replaced by 2 full rows of Christmas stuff (except the candy of course, that's still front an center. For both holidays).

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    1. Hey girl, you've had your 6 weeks to enjoy all of that Halloween stuff, time to give the Christmas freaks some shelf space! ;)

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  2. I love that pillow!! I'm going to listen to Christmas music today. Thanks for the inspiration. :)

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    1. It is the cutest pillow EVER!! I am watching for a good sale so I can hopefully pick it up closer to the holidays because mama ain't paying $60 for it!

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  3. thats fun:) I always wanted to celebrate christmas...Maybe this year as I have so many reasons to celebrate life!!! I want to get a cute chrismas tree and start a tradition!!


    Manasa

    PS: i wud love a panini right now:)

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    1. Start small and watch it snowball baby! I'm making a bbq turkey panini later this week, come on over! :)

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  4. My weekend of just.doing.nothing didn't really materialize. Friday morning, which is my day off work, I substitute taught in a kindergarten classroom. I was glad when the morning was over! I had errands to run on Saturday, including going to my son's house to deliver a jacket grandson had forgotten at our house last weekend (but I missed seeing my little loves, they were all gone at swimming lessons), and picking up groceries. I found a few Christmas pretties (50% off) at Shopko too. I always try to buy one or two new ornaments or other decorations each year. Thus, I have box up on box UPON box of decorations. Like you, I am a fan of everything Christmas! We watched our Huskers defeat Michigan in football Saturday night (YEA!), and on Sunday attended the Nebraska Volleyball game here in Lincoln. They were playing #1 Penn State and the Husker girls scratched and clawed their way back (from way behind, like one game it was 18-10), to win 3 games to 2 games! That was one of the thrills of my life, the crowd was electric and loud and I love those girls like they are my daughters, even though I don't know any of them personally at all. I was so happy for them and for ME! I know I will never forget that game!

    That panini looks mighty delicious! I'm going to have to buy a panini pan. Maybe I'll put that on my Christmas list!

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  5. What a cute pillow!!! Eek, Christmas is looming!!

    My weekend was spent outdoors while there was sunshine and the wind was nowhere to be found (that's all going to change this evening!) I washed windows, mowed the lawn and worked on leaf removal. I reminded myself that since it needs to be done anyway (I really hate dirty windows in the winter!) it would probably be a more pleasant task on a sunny October day then some miserable November one. And when it was done, I patted myself on the back and said, "Well Done!!"

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  6. Oh that sandwich and panini look AMAZING! I've been on a soup and grilled sandwich kick! My favourite sandwich has been grilled cheese with mushrooms and garlic butter (very sparingly) SO delicious! (I think I know what I'm having for supper!)

    My weekend was great! I worked Saturday, and Sunday I finally had a whole day off to myself. I tried Yoga for the first time, ran 3.5km and then just lazed around. (And I really did just laze around because I didn't even move my butt to wash dishes!)

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  7. I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy ready your blog.

    I am temporarily handicapped - foot surgery -- and was delight to find out that TJ's has an electric cart for people like me. Shopping there was the most exciting thing I did all weekend.

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  8. I had to LOL b/c I was looking for the jingle bells on the pillow, and I finally got it. Don't worry, it didn't take too long before reality hit.

    This year I have been so ready to put up my Christmas tree. My mom always said we had to wait until after Thanksgiving, so that's what I tell myself. When I left home, I had been living in apartments. That was for 5 years. Finally I bought a house and I have been putting up my tree for the past 2 years. This year will make it 3, but I feel like I want to do something besides just a tree. I just feel like I'm not creative enough. I am going to look around at things to make my house more festive for the holidays.

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  9. Full weekend for me, too. Half marathon on Saturday that I wasn't really ready for, but it was fine--other than the rain. Started out just a light mist and turned into full on rain by the end, we were soaked by the end. Oy, I should know better than to sign up for races in the fall and winter in the Northwest, but too many are just plain fun to do and/or have great medals at the end. We did shopping and prepping for the week yesterday.

    We had to get a shed to put our outdoor Christmas decorations in, if that tells you anything. We look at new stuff that comes out and say no way, we have NO MORE ROOM, outdoors or indoors, but some things just can't be passed up and we find room (and no, we don't have one of those houses that is covered in cheap Christmas decorations, we have little vignettes set up front and back since our house backs up to a major street). Love, love, LOVE to see the Christmas decos in the stores.

    Tomato soup and grilled cheese panini = heaven in the fall.

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  10. Let's see, what did I do this weekend? Hubby took me out to breakfast Saturday morning and I had yummy pumpkin pancakes. Now planning to look for/develop a recipe that I can make myself. Then packing, more packing, window washing, a disappointing Redskins game on TV, naps, reading, made banana bread. Wow, where did all that time come from? Oh, I know--NO EXERCISE!

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  11. oh if i have an amazing treat like that in the house i tend to have no will power. I say I'll jsut eat a piece a day, but usually it's gone in two and then i just have to get back to not having it around!

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  12. I collect snowmen and they were out in full force this past weekend! Um, I may have 400 or so at home, so I am not sure I could sneak another one in the house, but then again, my husband probably wouldn't notice!

    I got to hang out with my daughter for a few hours - I miss her face!

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  13. Wow, you blasted me back to the past! My grandmother used to get the Swiss Colony and Fiji Christmas catalogs. I always wanted to get a "Yule Log" for some reason. :)

    I'm going to try my hand at making my own toffee this year. Who knows, maybe I'll be good at it and can have my own Christmas catalog next year. LOL

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  14. Ahhh, I want that lunch! I'm going to have to look for that bread at Trader Joe's. I love peppercorns! I hope the camera works out well for you--exciting! :D

    I always ogled over the Swiss Colony catalog when I was a kid, but I don't think my family ever got anything from it. I want petit fours too!

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  15. "At that point it'll be hard to keep me from rolling on Christmas things on the floor with a big smile on my face and security escorting me out."

    It was entirely too easy to picture that. :)

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  16. Ha! I love that you adore Christmas like I do! It's November 1st which means it's officially the holidays! Squeeeeee!!! Also, that bread used for the panini made me drool. Yum!

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  17. Oh, that pillow is just darling! The stores around here are really starting to step it up and a few have "welcome winter" sales going on this weekend. We picked out our annual ornament a couple weekends ago, but now I'm on the lookout for one for the two dogs.

    For all the times I've bought things for people through Swiss Colony, I've never actually gotten anything for myself! Those petit fours look SO good, but I just never bought them. I've wanted to try the chocolate covered cherries and the turtle-type carmel-y chews. I haven't gotten my Swiss Colony catalog yet, but now you've given me an idea. After the year I've had, I'd say I deserve a little somethin' somethin' for meself. =o)

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