I was going to make cookies but...

Well today I was planning on baking some Christmas cookies on my day off and sharing the finished product with all of you! But alas I got called in to work this afternoon :-( The joys of being a floater pharmacist.
I have a day off tomorrow and I WILL be baking Christmas cookies no matter what!

I hope you all are having a great week.
Here's a verse to remind us the reason for the season during this busy week!
 "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:21 

Yours Truly,
 Amanda

Shopping and De-Stressing

Hey everyone!
 I had a very successful day of Christmas shopping with my sisters! I only have a few little things to get and then I'll be done! I think I went a little overboard this year...I just love shopping and I like giving gifts too. Here is a just a portion of the gifts I've wrapped so far.

How is your Christmas shopping going?

Now during this busy time of year it is common to get overwhelmed. I particularly am not really stressed out this season because it's the first time I don't have finals or have to travel or anything. A few weeks ago however I was really stressed at work and decided that I needed to rediscover the relaxing power of a nice hot bath. Until a few weeks ago I hadn't taken a bath since I was a kid. I went to Ulta and picked up some Ahava bath salts. I couldn't decide on a scent so I got a three pack. Also, I got a cooling face mask thing.

So I made a cup of green tea and soaked in the tub with the salts and mask on, while listening to some John Mayer. Goodbye stress!! 

That's all I have for you today!

Have a great evening!

Yours Truly,

 Amanda

First Etsy Purchase!

Hey everyone!
 It's the middle of the week and the middle of my vacation! I've been doing plenty of relaxing. I ran a few errands today and tomorrow will be a big Christmas shopping day! Anyway, as the for the title of my post, I made my first purchase on Etsy today! For those of you who haven't checked out this website, you have to go! I really needed a new mousepad to go with my new computer and I wanted to find something cute. I came across this one at the LoveyDoveyCreations store.

I got it in a grey and coral color...aned it will say Amanda not Mrs. Anderson, lol. I can't wait to see it!

Switching gears, I've been thinking for the past few weeks about what kind of charitable donation I wanted to make this holiday season. My parents have always adopted a less fortunate family and bought all kinds of gifts and food for them to donate. This year I wanted to do something on my own. Today I went to Walgreens to buy some toys and donate them to Toys for Tots which I was able to do right in the store. I still feel like this isn't enough. What other ideas do you all have?

Hope you're having a great week!
 Yours Truly,
 Amanda

Book Review

Hey everyone!
 I just finished reading Sarah's Key today.

I had been recommended this book by several people. I'm still processing it as I just finished literally minutes ago! I liked the book. The author does a great job developing the main characters Julia and Zoe. The book is sad however, not only because it is about the Holocaust but in general Julia's life is sad to me.  She does have redeeming moments however and I respect her independent spirit. I know I couldn't do some of the things this character does in the novel.
Something else I liked about the book is that it explains a part of the history of the Holocaust that I was previously unaware of.
In summary, this book is sad, inspiring, well-written and quick to read. I would recommend it. Now I have to pick the next book to read!

Hope you are all having a great week.
 Yours Truly,
 Amanda

Vacation So Far

Hey everyone!
 My week long vacation started Friday afternoon. After work I headed to the salon for my usual shellac manicure. Great way to start off vacation! A few hours later I went to pick up John from the airport. Now the fun could begin!
We had quite an action packed weekend. On Friday night we headed to a little sushi place for dinner and then went to World of Beer to meet up with some friends. This place has hundreds of beers from all over the world (hence the name) and has a fun outdoor atmosphere.
On Saturday we woke up and after adequate amounts of coffee decided to go to Sanibel Island for the day. I love Sanibel. It has great beaches, restaurants, shopping and a huge wildlife refuge. Its very quaint with very little chain reaturants and shops. Pretty much everything is "mom and pop." Anyway, we went to the wildlife refuge for some hiking and kayaking. We saw tons of gators and some really cool birds....also there was a snake we saw. I try to forget that part of the day.

We had lunch at a resturant called The Island Cow.

This place was super cute and had a great menu with all kinds of seafood. Instead of bringing bread or chips out when you sit down they bring funfetti cupcakes to the table! Yum!
After all that activity we went home to relax a bit before a yummy steak dinner cooked by my parents. John and I had tickets to see the musical RAIN that night.

 This was a great show! It was like being at a Beatles concert!

After the show we headed to Bar Louie for a couple drinks. 

On Sunday we went to church with my family and then hit up the golf course for a quick 18 holes. After golf we relaxed a bit and stopped by my grandparents house to say hi before going out the dinner. We went to a fun Italian place where they had a singer who was from Italy and was really talented! Today we went back to Sanibel for some biking and some ice cream. Saw more of these!

Sadly the day ended with me dropping off John at the airport :-( 

Now I'll just be relaxing the rest of my vacation and hopefully finishing my Christmas shopping!

Hope you all had a great Monday!

Yours Truly,

 Amanda

Real Quick

Hey everyone!
Sorry for being a bit MIA, it's been a busy week! I am waiting for my new computer to arrive to continue posting because my laptop is officially useless. I'm super excited for the weekend because John is coming! By next week I will have plenty to write about and a new computer to do so, stay tuned! Have a great weekend!

Yours Truly,
Amanda

Merry Christmas to Me!

Hey everyone!
 Happy December! Can you believe it's already the last month of 2011?? Well as I explained in an earlier post I decided to take advantage of Cyber Monday deals to start my Christmas shopping! I got my brother's gifts done. I also decided to get myself a gift on Monday. I've been needing a new computer for awhile but haven't gotten around to buying a new one. This laptop I'm writing this post on was a mandatory buy from pharmacy school where we all had to have the same computer. Anyway now it's about 4.5 years old and the memory is full! I had a hard time deciding what to get! I have an IPad 2 which I use all the time, I'm pretty much always attached to it, but it's hard to use when you need a bigger screen to read things or to create word or excel documents. So anyway I was trying to decide between laptop or desktop and between Apple or PC. I decided on this!

I didn't get a laptop since I have the IPad and I decided on the HP instead of Apple because it was a huge price difference for a similar product. I'm super excited for this to arrive!!! Finally a big screen! and it's all-in-one so everything is is in the screen and is wireless, there is no big tower like the older desktops. I will let you know how I like it! Are you treating yourself to anything this holiday season?

Yours Truly,
 Amanda