What I'm Listening To: What Are You Doing New Years Eve? by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I thought that this cute little song raised a very pertinent question. What are you doing new years eve?

New Years marks the anniversary of when The Boy and I first got together. This year New Year's will mark our 5th year together. As for my plans, this year, like every year, The Boy and I will be playing the holiday by ear. We probably won't make it out of town, and we'll definably not be spending the day in NYC, but check back later and I'll let you know what went down.

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Christmas Presents 2011

I got some pretty great gifts this Christmas! Here's what I picked up:

Christmas Presents 2011 by chickface featuring gold jewelry

1. Zumba Fitness 2- Earlier this year, my residential club house offered free weekly Zumba classes, where me and my neighbors could work out to Zumba fitness DVDs and they totally kicked my butt. Now I'll be able to work out on my own when my crazy work schedule allows.
2. Kirby's Return to Dreamland- Kirby is one of my favorite video game characters. I loved Kirby's Epic Yarn and I am sure I am going to love Kirby's latest video game too.
3. Lucy & Laurel icicle necklace- My necklace is similar to the one pictured above. My grandma picked it out for me and it was one of the most beautiful necklaces I have ever seen.
4. House of Harlow 1960 Sunburst Earrings- I've been drooling over the sunburst design for a very long time. I already wore these out on Christmas Day and got tons of complements.
5. Pajamas- I got two sets of pajamas this year. A Tommy Hilfiger set similar to those pictured on the left, and a Nautica sleep shirt, and Croft and Barrow sleep pants. I may double up one sleep outfit as a winter work out outfit.

Not pictured: Victoria Secret Leather Buckle Sweater and red scarf, "coffee time" socks, Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris, and Vinegar and Oil bottles.

Were you on Santa's nice list this year? What did you get for Christmas? Let me know in the comment's below.

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Holiday Movies

After Thanksgiving, the Boy and I decided to try and watch as many Christmas movies as possible between 11/24/11 and 12/25/11. Considering that we both have full-time jobs and conflicting work schedules, here's a list of the Christmas movies we watched in 2011:

• Heidi
• Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas
• DreamWorks Holiday Classics
• The Christmas Toy (1986)
• Show Around the Corner
• Prep and Landing
• Prep and Landing 2
• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• Yes, Virginia
• Ollie, The Chrsitmas Dog
• A Christmas Carol (Jim Carrey)
• He-man and She-Ra's Christmas Special
• Elf
• Bad Santa
• The Dead
• Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
• Holiday Inn
• Love Actually
• Die Hard
• The Bishop's Wife (1947)

 We also watched several television Christmas specials:

• "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Mary, Joseph and Larry (season 3)
• "Twilight Zone" Night of the Meek (season 2)
• "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" Santa Clause and the 10th Avenue Kid (season 1)
• "Frasier" Perspectives on Christmas (season 5)
• "3rd Rock from the Sun" Jolly Old St. Dick (season 2)
• "Glee" (season 2 and 3)
• "The New Girl" The 23rd (season 1)
• "Community" Regional Holiday Music (season 3)
• "SNL" Jimmy Fallon (2011)
• "SNL" Christmas Past (season 16)
• "Married with Children" The Worst Noel (season 8)

Did you watch tons of holiday movies to get yourself in the Christmas spirit? Have any recommendations? Let me know in the comments below.

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What I'm Listening To: Christmas Music

Merry Christmas eve everyone (or happy holidays, whatever you prefer). I've been trying to get into the holiday spirit this weekend by listening to some holiday tunes. Here are my top 3 favorite new holiday tunes that I'm listening to this year.

1.

She and Him- Baby, It's Cold Outside

2.

Michael Buble- Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

3. 

Glee- (Rachel and Finn) Last Christmas

What songs are you listening to to get yourself in the holiday spirit? Let me know in the comments below.

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What I Wore: 12/17/11

Fox hat: Target

T-shirt: Threadless

Watch: Target

In case you were wondering what I typically wear on weekends, here you go. I love cute/funny t-shirts! I am a jeans and a t-shirt kind of girl at heart, but my workplace doesn't allow printed t-shirts to be visibly worn on the job, so I have to reserve most of my t-shirts for the weekend.

Do you have "weekend only" clothes in your closet? Let me know in the comments below.

Note: If you click the Threadless link and order a t-shirt, you will earn me Threadless Street team points (store credit) towards my future purchases.

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Quick Knitted Gifts

I'm still knitting away on my Cambridge shawl and hoping to get it finished in time for Christmas. Knitting the same pattern over and over again can get a bit monotonous and boring, so over the weekend I decided to take a break from the shawl and whip up 2 quick knit Christmas presents for some other very special relatives this year.

First, I knit up a Ribbed Watchman's Hat for a special soldier that I know who returned home from combat in one piece in 2010. I used about half of a skein of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid's and Heathers in Navy and cranked this baby out in just over a day (with frequent breaks). I tried to take a picture of me modeling the hat, but I found it difficult to take a good photograph of me and the hat while it was on my head. I can testify that it is very warm and cozy.

Next, I knit the Lyndhurst Cowl with 2 skeins of Lion Brand Amazing in Mesa for a "lady of the desert." The colors remind me of a desert sunset and the yarn is very soft and fluffy. I'm sure this lady will love it when the temperatures start to drop.

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What I'm Listening To: Kina Grannis- In Your Arms

Do you like jelly beans? Sure, we all do. Well, if you like jelly beans, you're going to like this music video that I stumbled on to because of it's brilliant use of jelly beans. Check it out!

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What I Wore: 12/1/11

Aka. The Power of the Scarf

hat: made by me

pink scarf: TJ Maxx

leopard shirt: Old Navy

black cardigan: JC Penny

olive cargo pants: Old Navy

black t-shirt: (unseen) Gap

I can't believe it's already December! 2011 has really flown by! Today, the Fab Find's Under $50 outfit inspiration calender called for a fun and flashy scarf, so I decided to pull out my pink pashmina scarf and pair it with a little leopard print.

By the way, if you follow the outfit inspiration calender, you might recognize someone in the outfit post for 12/14/11. It's me! You can check out my outfit post from 10/26/11 here for the details on that look.

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11 Christmas Ales Ranked

You may recall that I recently shared that Paste Magazine had compiled a list of the Top 10 Winter Ales Ranked. Although to date, my experiences with Winter Ales had been less than favorable.

Well, shortly thereafter, Paste Magazine shared their picks for the top 11 Christmas Ales ranked. Here are Paste Magazine's picks for the top 11 Christmas Ales:

1. St. Bernardus Christmas
2. Corsendonk Christmas
3. Scaldis Noël
4. Mikkeller Santa’s Little Helper
5. Port Santa’s Little Helper (Bourbon-Barrel Aged)
6. Anchor Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
7. Bell’s Christmas Ale
8. Sweetwater Festive
9. Sierra Nevada Celebration
10. Lagunitas Sucks Holiday Ale Brown Shugga Substitute
11. Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve

Now, I'm not quite sure what the difference between a Winter Ale and a Christmas Ale is, after all, Christmas falls in the Winter time. I also don't know why Christmas and Halloween seem to be the only two holidays that exclusively get their own beers (Valentines, 4th of July or Kwanzaa beer anyone?). But I guess if beer suppliers are going to make a Christmas Ale, then I'm willing to try it.
          

This weekend a friend stopped by for a little beer sampling party/ Resident Evil deck building card game party (not my idea), and I had the opportunity to sample 2 Christmas Ale's, Shiner Holiday Cheer and Breckenridge Christmas Ale. The Shiner Holiday Cheer smelled like stinky old feet, but once I got past the smell I kind of enjoyed it's peachy flavor with subtle hints of pecan. The Breckenridge Christmas Ale was the better Christmas Ale, with pleasant hints of nutmeg.

We sampled other beer's too this weekend. Some highlights were the Gordon Biersch Czech Pilsner which was very light, Samuel Adam's The Vixen chili chocolate beer, and we sampled my final Schlafly Pumpkin Ale. I'm really going to miss that Schlafly Pumpkin Ale.

R.I.P Schlafly Pumpkin Ale

(until next fall)

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Guest Post on Crafty Christmas Club

Good Morning, everyone! I just wanted to let you know that I have a guest post today on Crafty Christmas Club where I am sharing what's on my knitting to-do list this Christmas. Check it out and let me know what you think.

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What I'm Listening To: Gotye "Eyes Wide Open"

Hey! I've still got Gotye playing in heavy rotation. So here's another song by Gotye that I think you should listen to, "Eyes Wide Open". Check it out!

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Ten Winter Ales Ranked/ A Night of Bad Beers

Just before Thanksgiving, Paste Magazine online posted a List of the Day of their picks for the top ten Winter Ales. Before this list was published I had not really had any encournters or recollections about Winter Ales, but their list made me want to give them a try. Here is Paste Magazine's list of the top 10 Winter Ales:

1. Great Divide Hibernation
2. Samuel Smith Winter Welcome
3. Bell's Hell Hath No Fury 
4. Nøgne Ø Winter Ale
5. Heavy Seas Winter Storm Category 5 Ale
6. Ommegang Adoration Special Winter Ale
7. Brooklyn Winter Ale
8. Red Brick Old Stock
9. New Belgium Snow Day Winter Ale
10.  Harpoon Winter Warmer       

So, the weekend before Thanksgiving, I had some friends visiting from out of town that wanted to have a night on the town and while we were out I decided to sample some Winter Ales. First, I tried Boulevard's Nutcracker Ale and Free State Brewing Company's Winter Ale. The two beers were very similar. Both were amber in color, hoppy and bitter with a little extra something that I couldn't put my finger on (some sort of spice) that I wasn't into. Needless to say, these were not my favorites. Next, my friends decided to check in to their nearby hotel where I ordered a regular Fat Tire beer from the hotel bar to wash the bitter winter beer taste out of my mouth. But, instead of good ol' reliable Fat Tire I was given a Fat Tire beer, minus the carbonation, which I thus named Flat Tire. Finally, my friends and I made our way to a local brewery, where I made one last attempt at sampling the local brewery's Winter beer, but was again disappointed by it's exceptional hoppiness, bitterness and all around ickiness. So after this night I concluded that maybe Winter Ales just aren't for me. But, the Paste Magazine description of the Harpoon Winter Warmer (comparing it to the Pumpkin Ales from the fall) makes me wonder if I have room to sample just one more Winter Ale this season....I wonder if they have any in town?

Do you enjoy Winter Ales? Do you have a beer recommendation for me? Let me know in the comments below.

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