Shopaholic in Alabama

It's Valentine's Day! I hope you are having a great day with your sweetie - whether it's your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, son, daughter, parents, pet or BFF.  The hubby and I usually go to eat and he usually brings home flowers for me. We really don't make it a big deal around here. It might sound silly to some, but I feel like every day we are together is a version of Valentine's Day. My husband is always doing sweet things for me (and I don't mean just buying presents). I mean the small things - opening doors, always considering me first in every decision, picking up something he knows I will love from the store. Those kinds of things.  Today he is out of town on business, and I am home with the flu. Needless to say, there will be no celebration here tonight. However - I am looking forward to recovering from this sickness very soon, the arrival of the weekend, DH will be home, and we can have our belated Valentine's date.  In the meantim...

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I updated the blog! The holiday season has been exceptionally busy this year with my crazy schedule. For those who are still reading, no worries - I will be back "full speed ahead" in January! Until then, I hope you are enjoying a beautiful holiday season with family and friends! 

Today we give thanks. Thanks for our family, thanks for our friends, thanks for our freedom. Thanks for our many blessings.  Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. I hope your blessings are many.  p.s. Who else thinks it's tacky that many retailers are opening late on Thanksgiving night? Shouldn't this day be reserved for family activities and not having to worry about going to work? Ugh...

Today, we celebrate our independence on the 4th of July.  It might sound silly, but the speech given by fictional President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) in the movie "Independence Day" always stirs my heartstrings. The address was given to United States Fighter Pilots before going into battle with the enemy, and is widely regarded as one of the best inspiration speeches in "disaster movie" history.  The speech transcript and video clip is below. Although we are not fighting a war against aliens right now (thank goodness!), there are many men and women protecting our freedoms and our way of life. July 4th is the celebration of our national independence. Please enjoy the day and celebrate safely!  Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in this history of mankind. Mankind -- that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by...

             Tuscaloosa, AL, Alabama vs. Tennessee, 10/22/11  Happy Father's Day! Today I hope you are enjoying a day of fun and festivities with those who are important to you! Whether it's your Father, your husband, your grandfather, uncle or adopted family - today is the day to pamper your favorite people.  As you all know, family is very important to me. Me and the hubby spend a lot of time with my parents, and we have a very close relationship. When something good happens, I call my parents. When something bad happens, I call my parents. I truly value every moment I spend with them, and have always been close with my father.  My father is the one who always tells me like it is. His advice is quite famous around these parts. Some of my favorite advice and general sayings over the years: "Lori, you need to dump that guy. He's a loser, and he can't even afford your hair products". (regarding an old boyfriend - needless to ...

Cheers to a long weekend! We plan to enjoy wonderful drinks, good food, sit in the sun, go fishing, and rest! Hope your holiday weekend is off to a great start! 

Don't be worried about me, I'm not sad! Ha! It just occurred to me, that during a 3-day stretch over the holidays - I somehow managed to wear the exact same "color scheme" every day! When did I realize this? Umm, well, I'm a little behind around here (you could say that...) and just got around to loading all my pictures from the holidays to my computer.  Here is the photographic evidence, enjoy!  Christmas Eve Eve (that would be December 23) with DH and my nephews: Christmas Eve with the DH (hey, at least we coordinated - now that was planned!) Christmas Day with fabulous gifts, and of course the DH... This begs the question - has turquoise replaced pink as my favorite color? Some days, even I'm not sure - but I know this, I did love all the turquoise offerings from the Lilly Pulitzer resort collection!  Have a Wonderful Wednesday! 

Are you getting ready for the New Year's holiday weekend? I am planning a post all about my Christmas goodies, but I couldn't wait to share this story with you - I have a feeling you'll get a kick out of it!  It's well documented that I love my Lilly - and so does my sister Amy! It was rather hilarious when we opened gifts on Christmas Day - somehow, we managed to buy each other the same.exact.Lilly Pulitzer top! The silk "Elsa" style top is a staple in both mine and Amy's wardrobes - and now we both have a new one, they just happen to be exactly alike.  We're just going to have to coordinate wardrobes when we go somewhere together for a little while - so we don't show up looking like twins! Hilarious, huh? p.s. Don't forget - today is the last day to enter the Diana E. Kelly giveaway HERE . Two lucky Shopaholic In Alabama readers will receive a Cork Clutch bag of their choice! These retail for $75 and are absolutely gorgeous! 

It's true - I've been experimenting a lot this holiday season. From new recipes (like the pretzel hugs I originally blogged here ), to the handcrafted and jeweled holiday ornaments (original post here ) - I haven't been scared to try anything! Just last week, I made these "Rolo Pretzels" so I wanted to share with you - just in case you're looking for a new treat for your next holiday gathering.  Like the pretzel hugs, this is ridiculously simple to make. Your guests, friends, family, co-workers, mail carrier - everyone will love them. All you need to purchase: Snyder's Pretzel Snaps, a bag of Rolo candies (trust me: make sure no one else is home when you get these, the DH opened mine and ate a bunch before I started making the pretzels, ha) and pecan halves. Three ingredients.  Instructions: (1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. (2) Line a cookie sheet with either waxed or parchment paper.  (3) Place your pretzels in "rows" across ...

If you like items that are candy cane laced flavored, and are lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's in your area - run , do not walk, and get yourself some Candy Cane Jo-Jo's. I have been hearing about Jo-Jo's for years, and since I don't live with a reasonable distance of Trader Joe's, I've always just missed out!  This year my sweet friend Caitlin (y'all will remember her from the guest post last week here ) was kind enough to ship us four boxes of Candy Cane Crack Jo-Jo's. I didn't expect to love them this much. I certainly didn't expect to see the DH eating one every time I turned around. But folks - it's true. They are totally addictive, and before the holiday season is over, you simply must have a box. (Think Oreo cookie, cream filling that is not only candy cane flavored, but has pieces of candy cane. Think yummy.) Are you a fan of the Jo-Jo's? Any other flavors I need to know about???

It's my first time, so please be nice to me. Today I'm linking up with my friend Daphne over at Flip Flops & Pearls for (Semi) Wordless Wednesday. In addition, I am sharing the fruits of my labor - the Coastal Holiday Tree!  After countless hours spent glittering, crystallizing (is that a word?), and hot gluing for the past few days - my tree is now up and decorated. Unfortunately, I didn't have a tree topper that went with the coastal theme. My solution? Take a roll of ribbon up to the florist and have them make me a pretty bow!  As you all know from my previous crafting, I started by just making starfish - then I made a few sand dollars. After finding a huge bag of sea shells that I'd forgotten about, I decided to experiment with making some of those into ornaments. What do you think? I must apologize in advance for the photo quality (or lack thereof), I could not get the lighting right to save my life. It probably didn't help that I was taking pictures ...

On this busy Saturday during the holiday season, thought I'd quickly share this deal from Uscoop. You can purchase a $30 voucher for only $18, good on Swell Caroline! For those not familiar, Swell Caroline carries a wonderful array of products from some of our favorite designers. Scout bags, Fornash jewelry, and Moon and Lola monogram necklaces are just a few of their offerings!  What am I ordering? I have long coveted an acrylic monogram necklace - in a color like hot pink, turquoise, or red - for quite some time. They're so preppy and so pretty - I already own a gold one (purchased from my friend at Caroline Grace Jewelry ). Every single time I wear my gold monogram necklace, I receive a ton of compliments and it goes with everything! I think an acrylic one will be a great addition to my jewelry wardrobe.  Your invitation to Uscoop is HERE - Happy Shopping and Happy Saturday! We're off to a Christmas Boat Parade tonight, it's cold but should be a lot of fun...