Have yourself a merry little Christmas.

So who's up for a Christmas recap a week late? haha This week has been all about recouping-catching up on sleep, cleaning and laundry(!!!!), some more sleeping, and seeing some friends and family. Now I just need to find time to fit in the 30+ hours of DVR I'm behind on lol

Hannukah and Christmas were pretty good in my neck of the woods. My family spoiled me as always-nail polish, an Ipod hookup for my car, tea infuser, plus books, more nail stuff and a new bed-wahooo! No more sleeping on the floor for this girl!

We also got to see my Grandpa and his wife for lunch the Friday before Christmas and my mom and I were able to see my grandma one afternoon this past week.

Christmas day itself was pretty busy! I hadn't had a day off in about 2 weeks so I was really looking forward to some relaxing-which happened a little bit lol

We woke up early to Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls (seriously delicious-try them sometime. You won't be sorry!) and then headed out to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Yes, as a family-I have a history of watching awkward films with my parents. Zak and Miri Make a Porno, anyone? :-/

The movie itself was pretty good-though not as good as the book, in my opinion. Rooney Mara, however, was excellent-she played Lisbeth *exactly* how I envisioned in while reading. Really, really amazing performance.

After the movie, we got some sushi like any good Jewish family on Christmas lol Luckily, our favorite sushi resutrant was open so we grabbed a bite before heading home for a brief nap, after which I headed out to see a few friends.

All in all, a pretty lovely day. The holiday season felt super long this year, and while I'm glad it's over (mostly just as far as work in concerned) it was nice to be able to spend time with friends and family. It's been a crazy, amazing, stressful, wonderful year and the last month has been no exception-yet through it all, I can't help but feel exceedingly blessed to be living the life I am.

Did you guys have a good Chirstmas? Is anyone else still trying to play catchup or am I the only one who feels that way? haha

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

So Christmas seems to have calmed down a bit and I finally feel like I can breathe. I thought I'd give ya'll a peek into what a bakery looks like around the holidaze, i.e. what my life has looked like for the past two weeks.

In the past two weeks I haven't:

• done laundry
• cleaned my apartment
• adhered to my GF diet (and man, am I feeling it!)
• been to the gym
• cooked a meal at my apartment

But I have:

• watched a lot of movies (no energy to do much else when I wasn't working lol)
• worked 16 days straight
• ....and that's about it haha

And now, for some pictures!

Lots of coffeecakes and brownies (most of the stacks are about 2 feet taller than me)

Cakes, fondant decorations (see the mushrooms for buche de noel?), some moon pies and more brownies

We fill two full size semi freezer trucks with our pastries, here's one of them

We also use two full size portable storage containers to store racks...and usually run out and have to run around town collecting from our customers haha




We make breads as well, but I wasn't able to get any pictures in the department-they were too busy and I didn't want to interrupt.

I hope you guys had a good holiday!
Have ya'll recovered from the holidays yet?

It's Christmas eve, baby, in the drunk tank.

I've been a bad blogger.

I'm sorry, ya'll.

I'll be back soon with lots of stuff, including a sneak peek behind the scenes of a bakery during the holidays (there's a reason we say "holidaze").

Here's a few of my fave Christmas tunes....

Hope you all are having a Merry Christmas!

Those Christmas lights keep shinin' on.

I try to decorate my place for holidays, even if its not much.

I put up some stuff for Halloween and Thanksgiving and was able to find some wintery stuff to put up for the holidays. I even found a little holiday tree. It's the perfect size for my tiny place! I didn't want it to be too traditional

so I spray painted it silver...

Much more my style.

I also put up a menorah, a snowflake wreath and some Channukah window clings.

I love the way everything looks... And my apartment looks festive and cute!

Unfortunately, there's still no snow on the ground but its getting colder so hopefully there will be some soon. Although, it is Michigan, so who knows ha ha

How do you guys decorate for the holidays?

Take a bow and confess

Are ya'll ready for Confessions Part Deux? I know everyone is just itching to hear some more haha (You can read part one here)

11. The only fast food I eat is Taco Bell. I can't remember the last time I had fast food that wasn't from The Border. Having said that, I eat it more often than I should/care to admit lol

12. Living by myself is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I've had some real horror stories for roommates (roommates boyfriend breaking in? Check. Coming home one night to find my roommate moved out? Done. Being sued by a roommate? Yessir.) Needless to say, not having anyone in my space but me, has been nothing short of glorious.

13. Reality TV is my guilty pleasure-Project Runway, Top Chef, Teen Mom, Jersey Shore. I can't get enough of it. Even though I can feel my brain literally rotting as I watch, I'm a sucker for a reality TV marathon and will spend the entire day in front of the TV (and then hate myself for the rest of the night because I feel like a horrible person haha)

14. For most of my life, I've never been called by my given name. My parents call me Panda and in high school my friends picked it up so they stopped calling me Amanda. Before that, my coach in middle school gave me a nickname and I was called Doctor or Doc. Now, the people I work with call me Snooki. A few old roommates also nicknamed my different personalities: Mamus, Mamzor the Wicked, Manus and Manquifa.

15. Since I've been in school, I changed my major no less than 10 times. Communications, journalism, business, teaching, facilities management, culinary, neuroscience...and back to communications. I'm a tad indecisive :-)

16. I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance. I broke my ankle playing soccer when I was in middle school and during the exam, ie when the doctor was touching all the broken bones, I laughed. I told him I was ticklish, and he looked at me super confused and asked if my ankle hurt. I just kind of shrugged lol

17. I've had five concussions- 1. Fell down stairs in elementary school, 2. hit my head on the bottom of a pool, 3. got dropped on my head crowd surfing at a concert, 4. fell and hit my head on the bathtub, 5. got cloths-lined plating soccer.

18. I don't have many nerd obsessions, but Harry Potter is the biggest one. I've read the series a few times through and been to all the book and movie midnight releases. Last summer, I took a trip to Chicago by myself to see a Harry Potter exhibit at a museum. Love love love me some HP

19. I have a pretty filthy mouth. I know when to be quiet, but the f-bomb is in my daily vocabulary. I've been like that since I learned the words in fifth grade lol

20. Lil Wayne is one of my biggest celebrity crushes. I know he's like almost as short as me and has gold teeth, but I just find him irresistible.

Do you guys have any confessions?

How the wind did cry and the snow began to fall

The doorbell rang, and she stood waiting on the porch.

She looked over her shoulder at her car, "I could probably still make it down the stairs to my car and start it up before they got to the front door. I shouldn't have even come" She fantasized about leaving, but her feet stayed firmly in place.

She wasn't quite sure why she was here. It had been years since she had left, but the calm suburban neighborhood was unchanged. Houses lined either side of the street, perfectly groomed landscaping surrounding them. Christmas lights were covering all the trees and bushes, with a few strands hanging from the roofs like icicles. The houses were almost indistinguishable from each other-and she knew that was just how the people who lived in them wanted it.

It was a far cry from the cramped studio apartment she currently occupied. The outside of her graffiti covered building looked downright dirty next to the pristine landscape of the suburbs. She had become so accustomed to the constant noise, that the quiet, eerie rustling of the leaves sent shivers down her spine.

She had always felt out of place, but as soon as she left, she yearned to come back. She had finally gotten over her pride and made the long, trip home from the city. Her anxiety had risen as she passed each exit, all the time thinking what a mistake she was making.

The door opened, yanking her out of her thoughts and into the present. Her mother stood over the threshold, mouth gaping. Withing moments, her mother grabbed her, wrapping her tightly in a hug.

"I can't believe it..." she sobbed into the crock of her daughters neck. "I'm so happy you're here..."

"Me, too, Mom," she answered feebly, fighting back her own tears.

Her mother grabbed her hand and she took her first, hesitant steps into the house as the snow began to fall.

You've got a friend in me.

Source: Uploaded by user via Amanda on Pinterest

Sweet like candy to my soul.

"Why are you so big on sending us to camp?" I asked my rabbi one afternoon. Not that I minded-I religiously counted down the months, days and hours until could return to camp each summer, reuniting with other Jewish kids from around the country.

"Well," he said, "honestly, the goal is for little Jewish boys and little Jewish girls to meet and grow up and have little Jewish babies."

"Oh," I responded, taken aback by his honesty. "That makes sense."

His view was shared by most of the adults at camp. Nothing too risque went on-some holding of hands and maybe a little kissing. The adults often turned a blind eye, their passive acceptance enough for us. But the counselors, many only a few years older than the campers themselves, encouraged us.

The end of camp was always the worst-no one wanted to leave and we fought back tears for days at the mere though of saying goodbye. On one of the last nights, our counselrs led us to another one of the girls cabins for some late night bonding-we sat cross legged on the beds, reliving of favorite moments of the summer and discussing plans for next.

We were all absorbed in our conversations, but when the door open our heads whipped around, turning to face the door.

The boys cabin, led by their counselors, began filing in, soon filling up an entire half of the cabin. Some of us saw our "summer boyfriends"-we waved and smiled, maybe even blew a few kisses.

Our counselors gave them a knowing smile, as the boys, in unison, got down on one knee.

We were still confused, but soon we understood.

"You've got your ball, you've got your chain..."

The boys began to sing, their off-key voices forming into the most awkwardly sweet melody many of us had ever heard.

"In a boys dream..."

The tears were now streaming down our faces.

"Crash, into me."

The song ended and we rushed the other side of the cabin, holding on to not only them, but the last night of summer.

We carried that memory with us for the next year, eagerly anticipating the coming summer, and following the plan exactly as my rabbi had hoped.

This post is in response to a prompt at Write on Edge-Flash memoir based on the word "crash"

'Cause we're young, fell in from the stars.

"Are you sure you're ready?" he friend asked, laughing.

"What do you mean by that! Of course, I'm ready! Besides he's a great guy-super nice, my parents like him, he makes me laugh. And he's cute! Get off my back!"

"I'm not trying to be mean, honestly. I'm just saying you can barely take care of a plant, "she motioned across the living room, where tiny brown leaves from the various plants on the mantle dotted the floor. "How do you think you can nurture another person, and a relationship with that person, while still taking care of your own mental health, when you can't even remember to water your plants?"

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me," she said as she leapt to grab a pitcher of water. "And I do remember. Just not everyday. They aren't dead...they just have some dead leaves. They're fine."

"Ok..," her friend mumbled. "I'm just trying to look out for you."

She knew her friend was right, and she knew the entire time she should have taken the advice. But she had wanted him so badly she wasn't going to let a little thing like common sense stand in her way. The relationship was train wreck from the very beginning-neither of them knew how to be in a relationship and it was intense and exciting and awful. It fell apart within a matter of months.

And even though she knew it was doomed, she mourned the end of the relationship-laying helplessly on my couch, watching movies and eating ice cream. She cried more than she thought she should, but she couldn't help it. She looked around the room, the dead leaves had continued to fall from the plants. They now laid on the floor, serving as a reminder, taunting her.

This post is in response to a prompt at The Lightning and the Lightning Bug-Flicker of Inspiration #27-flash fiction! Pick one thing that you can see at this moment, in the room with you, and write something down somewhere

For the record, this was inspired by a plant I keep on my desk at work. I was once told I wouldn't be ready to have a relationship until I could keep a plant alive for one year. The plants been there for almost three :-)

I've been waiting all day for Sunday night.

On Friday, M and I went to see The Descendants. I'll admit, I didn't really know much about it. All I knew was that my Dad wanted to see it and that George Clooney is in it. In retrospect, it was probably a little too depressing for a date movie, but it was really good! We both enjoyed it a lot!

It was definitely sad, but there was also some pretty funny lines. The girl in the film is also on The Secret Life and it took me almost the entire movie for me to stop imagining her with a preggo belly haha All in all, I really liked it plus you get to see George Clooney so how can you go wrong?

Since I really wasn't feeling well after work on Saturday night I rented a movie (What would I do without RedBox?) and chilled out for the night. Unfortunately, they were out of Blue Valentine so I got 30 Minutes or Less.


Big mistake! I love Aziz Ansari so he was pretty funny, along with Danny McBride and Nick Swardson, but the entire movie I kept thinking "This all could've been avoided if he just called the cops!" Luckily, it was only $1.25 so it's not a huge loss.

Last night I went over to my parents to watch the Lions play and ended up spending the night. Unfortunately, they not only lost but looked horrible. And on top of that, it was again on a national stage. I still have faith, but c'mon guys! On the plus side, being able to crash at my parents is a nice perk of still living in the same city :-)

Did ya'll do anything exciting this weekend?
Happy Monday!

These are my confessions.

Karly over at Three in Three posted this last week and I thought it was kind of fun. Once a week for 10 weeks, you post ten confessions about yourself-so you end up with 100 confessions at the end. I'm not sure if I can come up with 100 "confessions" so it will probably be more along the lines of "100 confessions/random facts and things you probably didn't want to know about me" haha

Ready?
Here we go!

1. There are currently five pillows, two comforters and a top sheet on my bed. Even if they are all there when I go to bed, by the morning, most are usually halfway across the room. I guess I move a lot in my sleep.

2. I *love* UrbEx. Unfortunately, none of my friends do, so for now I settle for looking at pictures :-(

3. The titles of all my blog posts are lyrics. I thought it make it easier because I wouldn't have to think about catchy titles, but that's not always the case.

4. I don't drink/do drugs, quit smoking, don't drink coffee or pop and don't eat gluten. My aunt keeps asking me when I'm going vegetarian-I told her that's my last vice, and I'm hanging on to it!

5. Before I die, I want to see every major league ball park (and if there's time, most-if not all-the minor league parks).

6. If I won the lottery, I would: pay off my debt, then my parents; pay for school for me and my brother, buy Tigers season tickets, and finally, go shopping.

7. My latest obsession is nail polish-at last count I had 150 bottles. eek.

8. My old obsession was clothes. All of mine currently take up the closest in my room at my parents, thier guest room closest, and two closest at my apartment. I should probably do something about that haha

9. I love dancing. I dance in my car, at work, at home, in public. Seriously, I will dance anywhere.

10. Current thought: I have no idea how I'm going to come up with 90 more things!

Phew! Glad the first one is out of the way!
Do you guys have any confessions/random facts?
Let me know-I'd love to read them!

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?

"Seriously?" she exclaimed, exasperated. She had been standing in front of the mirror for what seemed like hours, making no progress what so ever.

Another spritz from the hairspray bottle left a fine mist covering everything in the bathroom. Everything, it seemed, except the flyaways that insisted on doing their own thing, refusing to fall in line with the rest of her mane.

For years, she envied the girls she grew up with-their long blond locks, falling pin straight down their backs. She used to roll her eyes when they complained how hard it was to style.

"They have no idea," she would think.

She had tried to iron out her curls, spending money she didn't have on expensive products and tools, only to watch her curls creep back in before the day was done.

Now, she tried to embrace her curls, if only because she finally realized they weren't going anywhere.

Her mother always told her they made her unique-her curly hair was different, she stood out from the crowd. The dark, deep brown was mysterious. But what if she didn't want to stand out? Couldn't she once just blend in, fit right in line with the rest? Between her hair, her height and her hips, she knew she would never look like them-but it didn't stop her from wishing.

She flipped her hair over and scrunched her curls some more-adding more product and hoping they would keep everything where it was supposed to be.

She flipped her head back and examined herself in the mirror.

"Hmm..." she thought, "not too bad."

She flipped the light and walked out of the bathroom, laughing to herself. "Let's see how long it lasts."

This post is in response to a prompt at Write on Edge-Hair-So many of us have a love-hate relationship with it. For some of us, it’s our defining feature. Whatever it means to you – or to your characters – we want to know about it. But we don’t want you to simply describe it. We want you to use it as a vehicle to tell us something about your character, a situation, you or your life

No, I'm not lucky. I'm blessed, yes.

Source: isleofview-facesoflove.tumblr.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Someday we'll find it,The Rainbow Connection.

By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, I'm pretty much dead. That week at work is so busy that when it comes time to eat dinner, I'm so exhausted I can barely form sentences. So my Thanksgiving usually involves me trying to hold it together and then sleeping, lots and lots of sleeping. Just one of the causalities of working in the bakery business, I suppose.

This year was no different, but it was nice to see family and then fall asleep at 9pm and sleep for nearly 12 hours. I definitely needed it!

Luckily, I was able to enjoy a little Black Friday shopping-nothing too exciting, but still fun :-) My mom and I woke up around 8 so we missed all the good sales and the crazies but we were able to get everything we wanted. After we did a little shopping, we met my brother and went to see The Muppet Movie.


It was adorable! I am too young to remember the original Muppets, but a few years ago, when they tried to bring it back, I can remember my whole family getting together to watch it. The music was great, I loved all the characters and Jason Segel looks like he's having such a good time. If you get the chance, you should definitely go see it!

This past weekend, my mom and I started to do some things in my apartment-even though I've been there a few months, we've both just been so busy that this was really the first opportunity to get any real work on it done.

So we hung some shelves...



and some wall stickers...



and started to work on the bathroom.
There's still a lot of work left to do, but here's a sneak peak of my new bathroom.

And now, I'm enjoying the quiet this week before the madness begins all over again for Christmas! Woo hoo!

But, I did have a nice distraction from the insanity-I went on a date and it actually wasn't a complete disaster! In fact, we even went out again! haha I was seriously starting to doubt it was possible! He's super nice and sweet and we've had a really great time together so far. We are hanging out again tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it-so yay!

I hope ya'll had a wonderful holiday!