Paris recap, Christmas Day!

Starbucks was the right start to our holiday. From there we made the long climb up to Montemarte. All the restaurants were open and we had plans for a good big meal. 

First is the wine and bread. 

Then we split the French onion soup!

There was a leg of lamb on this plate. I ate it before photographing it. #oops #bloggerfail

Double espresso rounded out the feast. 

Nice little sunset. 

On our way back, we stopped for a beer and facilities. 

I was looking for bread at the time and a lot of places were closed. 

Before heading back to the room, we made another pit stop at Hard Rock Cafe. 

We had a good time! I'm not sure how I managed to takes selfie with my eyes closed. 

We were successful in finding croissants and we enjoyed our Christmas present. This is top notch champagne. We had a fabulous Christmas! We walked 17,500 steps. 

Free wine and an award

Red Coyote is a local running store in Oklahoma City and they were hosting a customer appreciation Christmas party. 

As usual, I can be bribed to attend and free wine was offered. I'd like to mention that Red Coyote does have a special place in my heart. 

They give back to the community in so many ways, besides the free wine. They host a weekly run with beer provided by Coop Ale Works, also from Oklahoma City. 

They collect all sorts of donations for a variety of nonprofits. And they host classes on running (those aren't free but people make lifelong friendships so that's a community service in my opinion.)

The store has only been around for 5 years and it has made quite the impact. This year the store can also boast store of the year for best running store in the country. What an accomplishment! Congrats Red Coyote! I love you for pack pint runs and great gear. 

Disclaimer, I was bribed by the free flowing wine but all of this blog post is my opinion the day after the buzz has worn off. Red Coyote is a great store. 

Silly Saturday

Welcome to Silly Saturday.

Who could take that face seriously?

Not me!

I had this ridiculous post all written up and Silly Blogger decided to eat it.

There's no way I can reproduce that gold, instead I'm sharing on of my Christmas presents.

I can't get enough of this Kleen Kanteen. for the record mugs, water bottles and cups with cute designs and great utility make me happy and gives me smiles. And I think to myself,"that's pretty crazy to be smiling over something so trivial." I guess it's the little things in life that need to be appreciated. I'll go with that so I don't feel too silly. 

Top Twenty in 2012 Tuesday

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Thanks to Shanna at Because Shanna Said So, for giving me such a fun idea! Thanks Shanna! Esther's Top Twenty in 2012 20: Good food and kitchen success. I've had good times and bad times in the kitchen. I try to focus on the good. 19: Sweet kitties, Chomps and Kirby (even though they are super annoying too.) 18: Biking, such a fun activity! I hate it when its over and I love to pair biking with pub crawls. 17: Photography, I love to take photos of everything! 16: Boat rides and hanging out in the lake. I didn't get enough of it in 2012 but I got a good taste. 15: Walking around downtown and urban living. Its great to not have to drive and deal with traffic or parking. 14: Face Time on iPhones. I can see my family whenever they have time and I do too. 13: Blogging has been a blast and encouraging! 12: Live music, whether I'm playing or going to a show. Its all fantastic! 11: Cupcakes were a big feature this year until my teeth gave out on me. 10: Girls Night! Woohoo! 9: Good friends to hang out with and visit with. We've had some good times this year. 8: Christmas season! I love the holidays every year. 7: July! My birthday and our anniversary and his birthday. Its always a good time. 6: Races, I am getting faster. Then slower. Then faster again. 5: Vacation...this year was epic! 4: Piano. 3: Getting a new job! 2: Loving on my husband! 1: God. Its a miracle I survive the trials and tribulations. I attribute it all to God. Whew! Long list! Now for some fun foody pics.  

Merry Christmas!

Please stay tuned for Weight Loss Wednesday.

Make A Difference Monday

Welcome to Make A Difference Monday. Happy Christmas Eve to all my friends!  

Caution: you will get to know me a bit more today. We usually go to church and tithe but for a period of months, we were in between churches. We decided to donate to my favorite band, Jars of Clay sponsored non-profit: Blood: Water Mission. It was nice to give to a good cause and help get clean drinking water to needy people in Africa. Since then, we have found a good home church and our tithes are staying at home. Every Christmas, Jars of Clay sends me a lovely CD for donating that one year.  

Its a nice present but I shouldn't take advantage of it.  There is a lot of need in Africa and sending a little goes a long way. If you are looking to help Africa, consider Blood: Water Mission. I am looking for guest posters for Make a Difference Monday. If you have a non-profit or a story about giving back you'd like to share, please comment below or email me at estherdavison@gmail.com. Please stay tuned for Top Twenty in 2012 on Christmas Day!

Silly Saturday

 

Thank you for joining me for Silly Saturday.

Silly geologist, asked to open presents Christmas Eve.

Sorry, that's not how presents work.

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

Please stay tuned for Serious Sunday: Vent Edition. Or maybe don't stay tuned.

High Five for Friday: Fly on the Wall edition

Welcome to High Five for Friday, where I love to link up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk. Today, I am also linking up with Karen at Baking in a Tornado for Fly on the Wall. This is a writing challenge (for me its a challenge. I have no idea if I did this correctly.) Snippets that could not be a post are being strung together into one post.  

Scene 1: {A string of meows from Chomps} Me: Why are you meowing? What do you want? Geologist: Sometimes he just likes to talk. Chomps loves to talk...all...the...time. Too bad there's no mute button for a cat.  

Scene 2: {A chorus of meows from Chomps and Kirby} Me: They've been fed, I don't know why they're meowing. Geologist: It doesn't seem like they've been fed.

Have you ever thought about what people might think if they saw what goes on behind-the-scenes at your house? Do you ever wonder what it would be like to catch a glimpse of someone else’s daily life? Here’s your chance. Today 12 bloggers are inviting you into their homes to be a fly on the wall.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

www.BakingInATornado.com                      

http://hypnoticbard.blogspot.com/                            

http://stacysewsandschools.wordpress.com/

http://raising-reagan.com/    

http://mybrainonkids.net/                                                                            

http://sadderbutwiser.wordpress.com

http://mooreorganizedmayhem.blogspot.com/

http://followmehome.shellybean.com  

http://www.justalittlenutty.com/

http://www.esthernorinedesigns.blogspot.com

http://imjustsayindamn.blogspot.com/

http://www.chewylicious.com

 HIGH FIVE FOR FRIDAY LIST EDITION 1: I have a new job! 2: Starbucks invited me to a race for stars with a reward of $5! 3: I made short bread cookies, yum! 4: Christmas party with cool people! Playing piano for the cool peeps too! 5: Can't wait for my first Influenster box to arrive! Woohoo!

Thankful Thursday: Cookie Edition

Welcome to Thankful Thursday! This post is set aside as a special space to be grateful for the good things in life, such as cookies. This week, I am thankful for my mom who helped me decide the changes to the recipe was ok and I am thankful that the cookies turned out. I received the recipe from Thaleia at Something 2 Offer. I changed the recipe quite a bit. I did half regular flour and half wheat flour. Plus I added cumin and nutmeg instead of the cloves and cardamom. The final product was edible. I called it "Mexican Christmas Tree Cookies". Thanks to Julie at White Lights on Wednesday for hosting this fun cookie exchange!

High Five For Friday!

Welcome to High Five For Friday! Thanks Lauren at From My Grey Desk for hosting! I feel like I should be accepting an award for making it to the end of the week. Where to begin and who to thank first? I would like to thank my blogger friends for the encouraging comments. Thank you Subway for fueling me and a huge thank you to God for miraculously getting me through a challenging week. Whew! Dinner Sunday night was Dungeness Crab, a west coast treat. I love you West Coast!

This is the banana bread from Sunday, which had questionable bananas from the freezer but still worked out.

 McNellies $3 burger deal and turns out there was a $3 beer deal too! Score on Wednesday!

 Hilton Skirvin Christmas tree. This photo was taken last week and I'm finally sharing some Christmas love with you wonderful readers.

Thank you iPhone for taking these lovely photos. Please stay tuned for Silly Saturday.