Christmas 2011

The night before Christmas we joined Cory's parents and grandparents for Chinese food in a local restaurant. We later headed back to his parents to open gifts.

On Christmas morning I had a stocking filled by Santa. We also opened our gifts to one another on Christmas morning.

We had a casual breakfast prepared by Cory of pancakes, maple bacon and coffee.

One of the gifts Cory got besides a wallet was a book I made on Shutterfly. It was titled 'Life Through The Lens' which showed the top 10 photos from 2011.

Here's Boo, curious about all the wrapping paper and boxes.

Here's Sophie, a happy dog on Christmas morning...

and during our stay at Cory's parents with his Papa.

I was dresses in a nautical dress, and was finally having a good hair day after 3 months of growing out a hacked hairstyle.

Group shot after dinner.

Here's to hoping you all had a Merry Christmas, and to a joyous New Year!

The Happiness Project

I recently can across some really informative websites. One of which has the 13 ingredients to happiness. Here they are;

1. Don’t compare yourself to others. Financially, physically, and socially, comparing yourself to others is a trap. You will always have friends who have more money than you do, who can run faster than you can, who are more successful in their careers. Focus on your own life, on your own goals.
2. Foster close relationships. People with five or more close friends are more apt to describe themselves as happy than those with fewer.
3. Have sex. Sex, especially with someone you love, is consistently ranked as a top source of happiness. A long-term loving partnership goes hand-in-hand with this.
4. Get regular exercise. There’s a strong tie between physical health and happiness. Anyone who has experienced a prolonged injury or illness knows just how emotionally devastating it can be. Eat right, exercise, and take care of our body. (And read Get Fit Slowly!)
5. Obtain adequate sleep. Good sleep is an essential component of good health. When you’re not well-rested, your body and your mind do not operate at peak capacity. Your mood suffers. (Read more in my brief guide to better sleep.)
6. Set and pursue goals. I believe that the road to wealth is paved with goals. More than that, the road to happiness is paved with goals. Continued self-improvement makes life more fulfilling.
7. Find meaningful work. There are some who argue a job is just a job. I believe that fulfilling work is more than that — it’s a vocation. It can take decades to find the work you were meant to do. But when you find it, it can bring added meaning to your life.
8. Join a group. Those who are members of a group, like a church congregation, experience greater happiness. But the group doesn’t have to be religious. Join a book group. Meet others for a Saturday morning bike ride. Sit in at the knitting circle down at the yarn shop.
9. Don’t dwell on the past. I know a guy who beats himself up over mistakes he’s made before. Rather than concentrate on the present (or, better yet, on the future), he lets the past eat away at his happiness. Focus on the now.
10. Embrace routine. Research shows that although we believe we want variety and choice, we’re actually happier with limited options. It’s not that we want no choice at all, just that we don’t want to be overwhelmed. Routines help limit choices. They’re comfortable and familiar and, used judiciously, they can make us happy.
11. Practice moderation. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. It’s okay to indulge yourself on occasion — just don’t let it get out of control. Addictions and compulsions can ruin lives.
12. Be grateful. It’s no accident that so many self-help books encourage readers to practice gratitude. When we regularly take time to be thankful for the things we have, we appreciate them more. We’re less likely to take them for granted, and less likely to become jealous of others.
13. Help others. Over and over again, studies have shown that altruism is one of the best ways to boost your happiness. Sure, volunteering at the local homeless shelter helps, but so too does just being nice in daily life.

Did you know

• About 50% of individual happiness comes from a genetic set point. That is, we’re each predisposed to a certain level of happiness. Some of us are just naturally more inclined to be cheery than others.
• About 10% of our happiness is due to our circumstances. Our age, race, gender, personal history, and, yes, wealth, only make up about one-tenth of our happiness.
• The remaining 40% of an individual’s happiness seems to be derived from intentional activity, from “discrete actions or practices that people can choose to do”.

Source

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We've decked the halls

and I've placed my favorite ornament on the tree, some porcelain ballet slippers.

Miss Boo Babinsky

Overseeing it all Mr. C

So we're officially decorated for Christmas at our residence. It wasn't as tedious as one would expect, actually getting the tree went off without as much as a hitch.

Luckily, we found a tree, of which we don't know what it's called that was hauled here from Oregon City, that has barely shed a needle, okay maybe two, but that's impressive,

right?

All my cards were written out in November, however mailing them is another ball game. Everyone except say us, has moved, so we had little in the term of addresses. This can be a frustrating task!

Wrapping was fun. I wrapped all our gifts in brown paper, and twine and embellished with miniature red ribbon bows, oh so adorable I must say so myself. The tags were free from the front of none other than a Trader Joe's brown bag.

So, from us to you,

Merry Christmas...or Happy Holidays!

Jane Fonda One Week Workout Program

Here's a 7 day easy workout program for the not so exercise enthused.

Inspiration:

Jane Fonda at 73 young years.

I know. I read a Daily Mail article, which showed Hoda and Kathie Lee learning some of Fonda's exercise techniques. So I did the first video, well hey it was only 7:12.

So for ONE week, I'll do a collection of Jane Fonda's workouts from You Tube.

Day 1 am:

7:12
Day 1 pm:

8:21
Day 2am:

4:30
Day 2 pm:

7:35
Day 3 am:

6:45
Day 3pm:

9:32
Day 4am:

8:26
Day 4 pm:

8:18
Day 5 am:

3:44
Day 5 pm:

8:05
Day 6 am:

10:31
Day 6pm:

9:32
Day 7 am:

11:48
Day 7 pm:

13:08

A Royal Christmas Card

Here are of a few of my favourite Christmas cards from the British Royals.

1986

1987

1996

1997

1998

Source: The Daily Mail

Winner, Spokane for a day and ETSY

Yes, I won!

I was at the Tri-Cities Business Expo late last week when I heard my name announced overhead...

"Kiki Nakita, of Kiki Nakita Lifestyle Design, you have won a years free membership to MedStar."

Huh, I won? Yippee! Here was me hoping for a gift basket, but instead I got a years free membership.

Well if ever I need a helicopter ride, or ambulance ride this year I'm covered.

Let's hope I don't.

In other all exciting news...we drove up to Spokane for the day.

Cory and I dropped the dogs off at his parents and we went to 'The Campbell House' for a photo shoot and tour.

Campbell House

The photos will be in our Home-made Holiday issue of http://www.my365mag.com/ around November 30th.

Also, while in Spokane Cory and I visited 'The Davenport Hotel' and World Market where I bought some crackers...not the type you eat, but the ones you pull at the dinner table around Christmas time.

Then we had a pleasant dinner with friends Lainey and Steve at Tomato Street. Highly recommended if your in the area. They have a new business called Liquid Transformations.

In other news, I have been working on packages to put in my ETSY account that has been sitting empty, hopefully it will be up and running here shortly.

Keep well,

The Nines Hotel, Portland OR

I've always wanted to stay at The Nines

The accent turquoise color prevents a monochromatic color scheme

Curtains along the whole wall

Geometric rug

Views of Portland

A place to contemplate

I lived in West Linn, OR about 20 minutes from Portland for three years while I finished my BFA in Interior Design. I used to frequent the hotel, mostly for a sneak peek, or for lunch at Urban Farmer an organic farm to table restaurant. If you're in the Portland area, I highly recommend staying here.

Back In The Swing Of Things

Good morning, ya'll. Imagine my British accent saying that with a twang!

So, not much has happened since my last post...I cannot even remember where that dinner was, I hope my memory is not fading me.

 

I took a break last week, as I was feeling low, and sluggish. I didn't get much done at all. Except our annual trip to The Country Mercantile. Where I bought some freshly picked red potatoes and mango salsa. The best part is all the ingredients are fresh, and all can easily be read and pronounced.

I dashed back home to quarter the potatoes, added the salsa and baked them for over an hour in the oven. I served the potatoes with sliced avocado and chicken, it was rather delicious, and fresh!

We also tried a new restaurant in town called Twigs. It is the trendiest spot in the Tri-Cities I think! We had happy hour BBQ chicken flat bread, Pork taquitos and creme brulee for dessert. All this talk of food is making me hungry!

We also had a guest puppy, Coco Roo come over for a few days. She was very relaxed compared to our little rebels, but they all got along very well...

...and Coco went home last night after Cory's friend Felicia's birthday dinner at 3 Margaritas! If only I had pictures.

Well I'm off to go make some lunch,

PS this was the last week of Kids Konnection this year. It is a group for children who know someone going through cancer at the Tri-Cities Cancer Center. My second time volunteering with the group.

Oldie humor and Darn it

Well, surprise surprise!

Guess who hasn't blogged on her blog in awhile? Well ahem...I'm not standing up any time soon.

Life has been interesting. Juggling to-do's seem to be a constant and decorating is an ever evolving project, balanced by effort and spare pennies we've found, you know...in the piggy bank.

This morning I couldn't get up at all, even with a cup of coffee, a slither of danish pastry and well buttered toast besided me. I'm seriously wondering if I'm getting old, or if my body has a do not disturb clock.

9:20am rolled around and finally I got ready for my day. We headed to one of Cory's friends parents house so her younger brother could fix the brakes...

...but life, being life Cory forgot some papers at home on his way. So, I had to park my car, hop into his and go back home to pick up the darned paperwork...and then we were back on track.

After dropping off the car, we headed in my car to Cory's accountant to scratch some numbers. I waited in the lobby, reading the paper inserts for Jo-Ann's wondering if I should sneak the coupons or not. I didn't.

Hush!

No, really I didn't.

Then we headed to Tuesday Morning's in search of something, nothing in particular. All we saw was aisle after aisle of Christmas decor. Oh, I had to get some damask paper napkins for the Fall, for special occasions of course {We use damask cloth napkins for day-to-day life}.

Then onto lunch at Azteca to share some delicious chicken fajitas...

After lunch, we headed to Pier 1 and home. I finally got Cory to put up our finial tie backs, found on sale at BB&B for $4 a pair...they look great, and our room is getting there, lot's still to do though.

Okay, off to dinner..and I'll leave you in suspense to find out where!

Oh, I almost forgot to share this funny website called 'The Problem With Young People Today Is'

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the races

Ministry of Gossip