#3 Maggie Moo's

I love me some Maggie Moo's! If you've haven't had anything from here before then you most certainly need to try it. It's a lot like Marble Slab and Cold Stone Creamery but in my opinion it is much better! They opened up one here in Northwest Arkansas a couple months ago and I've been a frequent weekend visitor ever since. They have so many good flavor combinations of ice cream and mix ins. I can't seem to tear myself away from the Chocolate Better Batter! It's chocoalte cake batter ice cream! I love cake, I love chocolate, and I love ice cream. I'm not sure it gets much better than that!! I like to have them add a little brownie and pile it in a homemade (made every day) waffle cone. It's delicious! Or "del-ee" as my roommate, Holly (and now Josh...copying Holly) says. They have lots of other items on their menu too. One of my new found favorites is their ice cream CUPCAKES!

As you know, cupcakes are one my favorite desserts and this just takes them to a whole new level. For Thanksgiving I took some for my family to try. They were chocolate cake with Red Velvet Ice Cream. Del-ee!!!!!! If you call ahead you can order them in multple flavor combinations. I'm not sure which ones I want to try next. And if you go to their website and sign up to receive e-mails you'll get some coupons for these little pieces of sunshine! If you're looking to feed more than just a few anxious guests and need something more than cupcakes they have all kinds of different ice cream cakes and pies. I haven't tried those yet but it's only a matter of time. Visit Cake Town to learn more.

Perrilloux

This past week I finished decorating the tree, Holcombe-Faye, but I wanted to wait to photograph it until I wrapped presents to put underneath it.

Josh also decided to get into the holiday spirit so he bought a tree for his apartment. His apartment has limited space so a big tree was out of the question. After he bought it he told me I needed to come up with a name for it. I assured him I would but I needed to be inspired first. Since the names of my other trees have come about while watching sports I felt that was the only way to be inspired.

This is me being inspired while watching the SEC Championship game with Josh. The TV is above the fire place so that's why my neck looks like a turtle. And if you'll notice the Folgers can on the sofa table behind us. No, Josh and I were not jazzed on coffee. That is actually what my mother uses to store her "feed." She has a slew of ducks she feeds and a chipmunk named Alvin. Anyway, so as we were watching the game it became obvious that the name of Josh's tree would have to be Perrilloux. He was LSU's quarterback for the game. And despite some injuries and other inconveniences he still managed to lead his team to a victory. Which we were glad about because that means the HOGS are going to the Cotton Bowl.

#2 Scented Oils

Like most of my friends I like to burn candles in my house. There are few things better than a great, not too powerful, candle. It's quite cozy! However, I have found something I like even better. I'm a big fan of scented oils and the cute decorative burners that go with them. All you have to do is light a tea light candle, put a few drops of the scented oil in the dish on your burner, and you're good to go. They have all kinds of different oil burners. The one I have is very plain but you can get one for almost any decorative style.

They also have TONS of different scented oils. I only have ones from Bath & Body Works and from The Body Shop although I'm sure you can get them at different places. A few of my favorites are:

Tobacco Flower------Gingerbread

Fresh Apple Pie--------Fresh Linen

I hope to try a few new scents soon. I have my eye on Egg Nog, Peppermint, and Fresh Baked Cookie. I might even try one for stress relief or energy! Who knows if it works but it might be worth a try. Some of the oils are on sale at Bath and Body Works right now for $4.00 (regular $7.50) so I might have to splurge!

#1 Sprinkles

Over the next few weeks I've decided to share with you "A few of my favorite things!"

#1 Sprinkles Cupcakes

I guess I should start by mentioning that my favorite dessert is cake. I really like it in the form of cupcakes because I get one all to myself and don't have to share! My first experience at Sprinkles was a few years ago. The Hogs were playing USC in California so my friends, Shannon, Kelly, Scott and I decided we needed to go show our support (it was an embarrassing loss but we won't talk about that). As we were picking out what we wanted to do for that Friday afternoon I mentioned wanting to check out this cupcake bakery I had heard about along the way. I didn't receive any opposition with my suggestion so we mapped it out and headed that way. Let me just say we were NOT disappointed! Not only did we indulge ourselves that day but we went back the next as well!

I'm a huge fan! Since then the only other one I've eaten at is in Dallas. They were indeed delicious but still need some work to turn out like the originals. They have several locations around the country so I encourage you to stop in and try one. They have different flavors on different days so I suggest doing your research first. I've e-mailed multiple times asking if they would ship the cupcakes but they don't. You CAN, however, buy the cupcake mixes and prepare them at home! My friend Laura bought me some for my birthday this year! What a great gift! They only have select flavors in the pre-packaged mixes but I'm sure you can find one you like! They even have a few special ones for the holidays!

Holcombe-Faye

Holcombe-Faye is the name of my Christmas tree. Yes, I realize that naming a tree is a little strange not to mention the name I picked out. It all started with my old roommate Megan. It was the first year in our apartment and we wanted to put up a tree. Neither of us had any money to spend on a nice one so we went to Target and got the cheapest one we could find. It was a beauty! We were watching a football game while decorating it and we kept hearing the name Ray-Ray mentioned over and over. We decided it was the appropriate name to call our tree. Ray-Ray brought much joy to our Christmas celebrations for years to come. Then the time came for Megan to get married and me to buy a house and get my own tree. As I was decorating it, instead of watching a football game I was watching a basketball game. The name Holcombe-Faye was announced multiple times and I just knew it had to be the name of my tree. It was more of a tribute to Megan and Ray-Ray than anything. But each year Holcombe-Faye brings new Christmas joy to my house. Yesterday it was time to get him out of his box and let him stretch. Josh helped me get him into the house but after that it was all me.

Josh read most of the afternoon...

...while I worked on the decorating.

I tuckered out before it was all finished so I still have more to work on later today.

Battle of the Boot

***Updated***

Today at 1:30 pm CST the Arkansas Razorbacks take on the LSU Tigers. This match up always happens the Friday after Thanksgiving and is aired on CBS. The meeting between the two teams has been labled The Battle of the Boot. Being the Hog fan that I am I would love for us to beat up on the Tigers. We are definitely the underdog going into this game but to be honest anything can happen. I think that's probably the motto behind this entire season of NCAA football. It's certainly been a weird one! I'm not going to have unrealistic expecations going into the game but I'm going to hope for the best! Unfortunately I have to work today so I'll be cheering at my desk while listening to it on the radio. If you are bored today and don't want to fight the shopping maddness you can tune in at 1:30...but only if you know how to "call the Hogs!"

***HOGS BEAT LSU!!!!!!!!! I hope you all were able to watch or listen to the game b/c it was awesome! Most of us Razorback fans are still a little shocked! It's been a wild season and what a way to end conference play. And now the Golden Boot gets to come back home!***

Baby Zach

Today at 7:41 am Baby Zach was welcomed into the world. His proud parents are one of my very best friends Katie and her husband Jason. I have been anxiously awaiting his arrival for a while now, 9 months to be exact! Well, that's a lie! I've been awaiting his arrival much longer than that! I'm just thrilled he's finally here. I was privileged enough to get to see him today at the hospital. He's quite a looker! Ok, that's not really a fair statement since he didn't even open his eyes once while I was there. I'm giving him some slack since he was only about 5 hours old when I went to visit. Regardless though he's precious and I already love him!