All Good Things Must Come to an End.

It's about that time!

I'm wrappin' up 2010 in a big way today.  My husband and I dug out the predictions we made for 2010 on New Year's Eve last year; he was 8 for 10, i sucked big time scoring 4/10 (I guess I'm no Sylvia Browne - but apparently, he is.) One big thing I did predict correctly has had quite the impact our lives and my blog!  You see, we had an agreement when making our annual predictions that neither of us would try to predict if he found a teaching job, where it would be, how far along in his dissertation he would be, etc.  Basically, we completely strayed away from making any predictions that might "jinx" him/us.  We are so superstitous.  Well, I did it anyway:

As you can see, I wrote my prediction, breaking our rules - but then, I decided to draw a line through it, as if that would some how prevent my rule breaking from jinxing our entire lives.  Weirdo. Like, "I did it but didn't do it", right?  Well, I did.  And I completely forgot about writing it.  So you can imagine my surprise when we took our little pieces of paper out of the safe and started reviewing them.  I think i made that prediction in a sort of desperate, hopeful way; I honestly didn't believe that we would actually know where my husband was going to teach and where we were going to live prior to New Year's.  Here we are, on New Year's Eve, getting ready to make our predictions for 2011... most of which will have anything and everything to do with New York. We're living proof that in the end, things always work out and everything will be o.k.

All of this leads me to this blog: my 'baby', my gateway to creative expression and newfound love of social media, my little project that's become a big (and fun) part of my life.  I've discovered some crazy talented writers and graphic designers, read about the lives of amazing mothers, wives, and loyal girlfriends, found new recipes and a ton of much-needed cooking tips, and spent a little too much $$$ at etsy shops owned by my favorite bloggers. I've even met some of my favorite bloggers in person, which helped me realize that the time and effort I put into blogging is well worth it.  Most of all, I am constantly inspired to continue growing and building my blog as all the little pieces of my life grow and change.

Today, I'm saying good-bye to the Life of a Grad Student's Wife. Tomorrow, I'm saying hello to A Day in the Life of a Professor's Wife, and I look forward to you joining me! I will start the new year off by describing exactly what you can expect from PW (which of course will include your favorite Grad Student Wife material, in addition to some new "stuff"!) I can't wait!

To the loyal readers who have inspired me and have highlighted the past 9 months with blog comments, facebook messages, and tweets:

I will not be deleting this blog, so it'll always be here if you'd like to revisit some of your favorite posts or want to recommend something to a friend.  I can't throw my baby in the Blogger trash bin, that just wouldn't be right!

With all of that said, I want to wish you a safe & happy New Year!

See you in 2011 at:

http://www.aprofessorswife.com



Christmas Clearancing

So, have you had a chance to... you know...

Well, have you?  'Cuz I have! I love this time of year at Bath & Body Works. The post-Christmas and June "Hello, Yellow!" sales are awesome because the savings is bananas and shelves are stocked with the Signature Collection Classic fragrances.  I believe the sales associate gals at my local store keep all of the Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin for themselves, but there's always plenty of Exotic Coconut and Brown Sugar & Fig on display!

This time around, I had our move to New York and a new home in mind as I stocked up on my favorites.  I'm happy to say I've added a tremendous amount of Twilight Woods self-foaming hand soap, Brown Sugar & Fig shower gel, and loofah sponges to my BBW stockpile.  I want to make sure I have my favorites on hand the very first night I spend in my NY home! It's comforting to have 6 bottles of your favorite hand soap on hand when you're living in a brand new place, you know...  Anyway, the best part of my BBW shopping spree is that I purchased all of my goods with a gift card courtesy of my husband's grandma! 3 bottles of Classics shower gel, 1 bottle of I Need a Margarita shower gel, 1 large candle, 3 loofah sponges, and 6 bottles of hand soap for less than $50 - I saved nearly 60% off the original price! I'm one happy (soapy) girl.



Crate & Barrel "Joy" Coffee Mugs
$2.95

  There's another sale this time of year... and it's my absolute #1 favorite sale ever. The Crate & Barrel Winter Clearance totally rocks my socks, and I scoop up all of the cutest Christmas decor and entertaining items at 50-75% off the day after Christmas.  GOOD TIMES! It kind of feels weird, buying a bunch of new Christmas pretties the day after Christmas, but I love it when it's time to put the tree up each year! Especially next year - once again, I shopped my new NY home in mind.  Snowmen pot holders, snowflake-shaped soap and handtowels for the guest bathroom, Glittery red and green mixing bowls, and a red glass "kissing ball" to hang from the ceiling - I think I'm all ready for Christmas 2011!

I know I missed out on a ton of other great sales, but I had my priorities set long before this week - this girl knew long ago that she wanted a surplus of Twilight Woods foaming hand soap in her bathroom and Cute Coffee Cups to sip from next Christmas!  

Did you find any great deals this week? What are your favorite items to stock up on?

*  *  * 

 Aprofessorswife.com officially launches Saturday!  Head over now to follow via Google Friend Connect, Twitter, Facebook, and email! 

 

Post-Christmas CHAOS

Before I get into whining and complaining about how long it took for my husband and I to get settled back in and organized after the long Christmas weekend in WV, I must continue promoting the new blog:



http://www.aprofessorswife.com/


Don't forget to visit my new blog, aprofessorswife.com, and follow via Google Friend Connect, Twitter, Facebook, and/or email subscription - Saturday is the big day!

Thanks to all that have already started following - I need you to hold my hand through this big change! On Friday, I'll be giving you a little preview of what to expect from A Professor's Wife during the month of January.  It's going to be a very special month, and you're going to get to know me and my little life story very well. I want to open with a bang - you will not regret subscribing! You should stock up on coffee and blog reading treats, like, yesterday.

And now, it's time for me to moan and groan a little.  I haven't stopped moving, thinking, anything, since last week! Of course, we were all busy during the holidays. Just hear me out:
The hubs and I got lots of fun gadgets for Christmas.  We also got some of our yearly favorites, like new clothes, Fiestaware, gift cards, etc.  We barely escaped the WV Christmas snow storm from a not-so-Christmasy place on Sunday, and returned to Athens late in the evening.  After opening our presents to each other and the cat, it was time to play with all of our new things.  Except, I had work the next day! CRAP!  I set up my husband's Keurig coffee brewer and rearranged the kitchen a bit.  Before I knew it, it was time to go to bed. 

I think Monday and Tuesday were the hardest days at work ever!  It was so hard for me to get motivated - I so could not get it together.  Thankfully, my supervisor gave me the thumbs up for taking Thursday off (in addition to Friday, a regularly scheduled work holiday), so I was motivated to focus and work hard today. All of the major projects that have been hanging over my head at work the entire month of December are now finished, the monstrous amount of laundry my husband and I managed to dirty over one weekend is now washed and ironed, and all of our new Christmas gifts are now organized/set up/ready to go. Whew... it feels so good to just relax and blog! I have a ton of blogs I can't wait to catch up on - Google Reader is going to be my best friend for the next few hours; I've missed my blogging buds!  Did anyone else have a hard time getting going this week? 

Tomorrow, I'm blogging about my post-Christmas shopping (gee, somehow I had no problem finding time for that this week!)  I should totally be ashamed for spending $$$ after having such a wonderful Christmas, but what the heck - I can't say "no" to the Crate & Barrel Christmas Clearance, or the Bath & Body Works Semi-Annual Sale! 

Tonight, I'm going to start visiting all of my followers and leaving them a little message, begging them to follow me at my new blog.  If I leave you a "please please please visit my new blog" comment and you've already joined up, just ignore me. :)

I really do appreciate those who've already jumped on the Professor's Wife train - you all make blogging so worthwhile, and I am very grateful for your readership!

aprofessorswife.com (It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life...)

It's time for me to begin my shameless, week-long plugging of my new blog, Aprofessorswife.com!
 
Things are nearly 100% set for the big day; the last "Grad Student's Wife" post will be on New Year's Eve. I will post the "official" welcome message @PW this Saturday, January 1st. The good news is, you can check it out ahead of time and subscribe so you don't miss a single thing! 

• Google Friend Connect is available for my regular readers who keep up with their favorite blogs via Google Reader
• "Like" A Professor's Wife on Facebook to keep up with all of the hot gossip 
• Follow me on Twitter for blogging updates in addition to random tweeting (ok - so, you're not on Twitter yet? You totally need to do something about that!)
• Subscribe via RSS Feed and receive A Professor's Wife updates, delivered straight to your personal email inbox (I'm a huge fan of this - it's so easy to keep up with my #1 fave blogs!)

You're probably wondering, "What's different about A Professor's Wife blog?" or, "Why is she switching over to a whole new blog?" First of all, there won't be a whole lot of content difference between 'A Day in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife' and 'A Professor's Wife'.  The only thing that will be different will be the quality of content - better writing, better pictures, and more chocolate.  Secondly, I'm switching over to a whole new blog because it's a new year, my husband has a new job, and we will be packing it to upstate in NY as soon as he graduates with his Ph.D in June.  There, he will begin his career as a college professor (and I'll adapt to the life of a Giants, Knicks, and Yankees fan! I need some training!)

Now, it's time to share some sneak peeks!



Screenshot of www.Aprofessorswife.com



A Professor's Wife Facebook Fanpage

A Professor's Wife on Twitter

Now you know what you're getting yourself into!  If it looks good to you, please head over to A Professor's Wife and let me know by following.  I'll try to keep you entertained as I have here, at a Grad Student's Wife. We'll have some fun, I promise!

Have a great week! Where the heck did December go, exactly?  

White West Virginia Christmas

I hope you had a very merry weekend!

I will be heading back to Athens on Sunday afternoon.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a safe trip out of the WV mountains!

Just a brief Christmas Recap:

~My husband celebrated his 29th birthday and the new job with the fam. When we arrived at his parents' house, "Happy Birthday" and "Congratulations" balloons and banners were hung all over the walls, and he received his official collegiate hoodie and his first NY Yankees hat as b-day gifts!

~Christmas Eve was spent doing a little bit of everything a little bit of everywhere.  Hubs received the Keurig Coffee Brewer from my parents, and mom helped me add to my Fiestaware collection - I can never get enough! We spent the evening visiting and being entertained by the cutest 16 month old baby girl ever, as we hung out with my hubs' fam. Santa even stopped by!

~On Christmas morning, I found a Dell Netbook waiting for me under my in-laws' Christmas Tree.  Blogger-on-the-go heaven!  I'm in love. :) I also received my first official New York Yankees tee.  I loved it so much, I wore it to my mom's house for dinner.  I swear, I put the shirt on, and something happened... suddenly, moving to New York became very, very real. (EEP!)  I must say, I sported the blue quite nicely! I spent the day lounging at my mom and step dad's house, eating dinner, and visiting with my brother and his wife.  I ended the day by watching Rocky IV - it's totally one of my faves, like, evah. Seriously.

And now, some gorgeous pics from the super snowy, wild and wonderful mountains of central West Virginia (taken from my parents' back yard):

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have safe trips if you're traveling, and a great last week of December!

3 Days of Celebration in the Mountain State

Image via Charleston Gazette;
http://www.wvgazette.com

I hope everyone's last minute Christmas related errands, preparations, and plans are coming together! My husband and I are packed and ready to head to the snowy West Virginia mountains for Christmas; we will be hittin' I-77 and I-79 bright and early tomorrow morning.  This evening, he and I are having dinner and watching Black Swan as a little way to celebrate his 29th birthday (which is tomorrow! Thisclose to being a Christmas baby!) 

My husband's Birthday kicks off Christmas festivities with our families in a big way. His family and my mom and step-dad will gather together tomorrow evening at my in-laws' house, where we will all officially celebrate his birthday and the big new J-O-B!  We are so excited to head to WV and see everyone - the past couple of months have been a whirlwind with the job market thing going on, so it's going to be so nice to celebrate the present and the future, and of course, breathe a collective sigh of relief!

I'll be busy with family gatherings at various houses on Christmas Eve, opening gifts at my in-laws on Christmas morning, and spending Christmas day at my mom's house (dinner! And she made those thumbprint cookies, HOLLA!!!) I'm planning to head to church w/my mom on Sunday before heading back to Athens.  When the hubs and I return to our Ohio home on Sunday, we'll exchange gifts - it's a great way to end the weekend!  We've had the same Christmas routine for the past five years, and it seems to work out really well for us.  I'm sure our routine will change a bit next year, since we will be living in NY (YAY!) so I'm going to try to enjoy this year as much as I possibly can.

Next week, I'll begin shamelessly plugging my new blog.  I will be posting here until New Year's Eve, but then the Days in the Life of a Grad Student's Wife will come to an end.  A Day in the Life of a Professor's Wife will begin, and I hope you will join me!  If you like, head on over now to follow via Google Friend Connect, email, Facebook, and Twitter.  All is ready to go on January 1st, 2011!  I can't wait to share my new journey with you all!

[via]

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! I'm going to give blogging a break for a few days, as I'm sure most of you are, too. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your families, and I look forward to reading your Christmas recap posts on Monday!

Oreo Truffle Tease

On Sunday night, I turned my little kitchen into a sugary chocolate zone and made the always fun, always easy, always sticky and slimy Oreo Truffles.  You know 'em - the little round treats made of three ingredients that will make just about anyone's day: cream cheese, oreos, and Baker's chocolate squares.  I got artsy, my husband got a little worried, but in the end my truffle photo shoot turned out well.  

You might need a nice cup of coffee to go with this post - get ready to eat your computer screen!

Oreo Truffles:

1 8 oz. package of softened Philadelphia Cream Cheese

2 pkgs Baker's semi-sweet chocolate squares (16 squares total)

1 pkg  Oreo cookies

assorted sprinkles and fun things :)

Toss all cookies but 9 into blender; chop into a fine oreo "dust".

Pour into large mixing bowl, mix together with softened cream cheese.

Continue to stir/fold/mix until oreo and cream cheese are throughly blended.

Melt chocolate squares in microwave, a few seconds at a time - take out between intervals, stir, replace in microwave.  Continue doing this until chocolate is completely smooth, but be careful not to "cook" it!

Roll oreo/cream cheese mixture into 1" balls and coat with melted chocolate.  Place on wax paper. Do a few at a time, decorate.

Refridgerate.  (Makes 3-4 dozen.)

*Try to wait at least a couple of hours before devouring all of them - they're way better cold.

Oh, and don't forget to clean up (why do i enjoy running soapy water through my blender?):

Ok, you got me.  I just wanted to show off my awesome blender and lime green toaster!

Stuff my Stocking!

It's time to hop back onto the "25 Days of Christmas" train with Jmo and Star!  There are only a few days left, and the topics that remain are aimed at the last minute tasks we have to tend to before Ol' Santy shows up.  Today we're bloggin' about stocking stuffers under $10 - and boy, do I have plenty.  The only problem is, when doing a little online browsing for this post, I ended up picking items out for myself more so than others. Ah, well - I'm so awesome, these stocking stuffers will obviously be winners with just about everyone on the list.  And by everyone, I mean females.  I kinda left the dudes out (unless guys like snowman spatulas - and they could, I guess...) - sorry, guys!
Remember, all of these fabulous finds are under ten bucks, and can totally and completely fit into the average stocking. First off, my personal must-haves:




SMENCILS, The original "Gourmet Scented Pencil" (6.99.)
During Thanksgiving, one of my relatives was peddling Holiday scented Smencils for her school's fundraiser activity.  I had to have 'em, but had no cash on me - so mother-in-law came to the rescue.  I'm sure she thought it was kind of strange for her 27 year old daughter-in-law to want Smencils so badly, but she did the right thing.  And I've been using them at the office every single day since! They are made of recycled paper, are non-toxic, and will stay smelly-good for 2 years even if they're left out of the protective plastic tubes. Each pack contains five scented pencils in Christmasy scents like Gingerbread, Cinnamon, and Sugar Plum. Find 'em at Michaels Arts & Crafts and Perpetualkid.com.

JVC Gumy earbuds (9.99)
When I'm at the gym, I sweat like Sylvester Stallone in a Rocky movie montage.  The white Apple iPod earbuds will not stay in my ears (I know, I'm gross but how I can recommend something without providing a tried-and true review of it?) I rely on JVC Gumy earbuds as a means to keep my music in my ears.  The jelly-like covering helps earbuds stay in your ears like glue! Gumy earbuds are available in every color of the rainbow, and are updated each year to match the new generation of  Apple iPod colors.  A perfect stocking stuffer for all of those sweaty gym rats!

A baking-themed stocking? Yes, please. Crate & Barrel makes it easy with the above kitchen gadgets, which are all under $10: silicone spoon and jumbo cookie spatula (7.95 ea.); snowmen spatula (9.95); HOHO cookie cutter (3.95); silicone measuring spoons (8.95); holiday sparkle mini-bowl set (8.95); rolling pin (9.95). 

What would a Christmas stocking for your favorite gal be without a little Bath & Body Works action?  My personal stocking-stuffing favorites this season include: cat shaped massager (4.50), travel size body butter and Shea hand cream in Twilight Woods ($6 ea.), chrome tree-shaped wallflower plug-in and winter-scented bulb (4 for $20/6 for $24 mix & match), 4 oz. Slatkin & Co candle in Vanilla Bean Noel (9.50), Ready.Set.Jet travel-size set with tta-approved clear zip-up plastic bag for liquid items ($10).

C.O. Bigelow Lip Tints and Glosses (buy 2 get 1 free)   These three lip products get the official "Stephanie Stamp of Approval", (if that means anything at all to you!) C.O. Bigelow's Mentha Lip Shine in Spiced Latte, Glossy Lip Balm in Green Tea, and Mentha Lip Tint in Ginger Mint have kept my lips shiny, soft, and sweet all season long.  All three have a menthol ingredient that keeps your lips cool and your breath fresh.  The Mentha Lip Shine and Lip Tint both have some sparkle, which looks great layered over your favorite lipstick.  Find 'em at C.O. Bigelow and Bath & Body Works stores.

So there you have it - my favorite stocking stuffers, $10 and under! When all else fails, iTunes music cards, and gift cards are great - I don't believe in the whole "gift cards are so impersonal" thing - I'll take one any day!

Merry early Christmas, ya'll - only a few more days!  Have fun preparing this week!