That time it was all about me....

And here lies my completely shallow & selfish post, because when it's your birthday, you're completely allowed to do that, right???


It's finally September which means….my birthday month is over! And a great birthday month it was. Do my friends/family know me or what?! Throughout the month I kept receiving box after box. Eventually I opened up all these gems.

What kind of treasure trove is this? A mix of Disney, Once Upon  a Time & The Walking Dead? It’s hard to get better than this.

And not only did I get a mix of all my shows and Disney, I got my coffee mugs! While I don’t drink coffee at home, most of you know I AM obsessed with tea. (And yes, I drink wine out of them too!) So my twin cousin sent me these gems for the new Inside Out movie! (If you haven’t seen it, you HAVE to,  it’s not only a great Disney movie, it’s an AMAZING message about emotions - and probably something kids really need to learn.)

(They are adorable, and yes, they are all my faves but we pretty much determined after the movie I’m a mix of Joy & Disgust ;) 

After all this,  I rearranged my cabinets, and….I’m pretty sure I’ve got my tv show, and Disney covered with my coffee mug collection?

I spent my actual birthday having lunch with my mom and niece, and hitting Jurassic World in theaters again. Yes, it was the third time, but...it was in the IMAX? Who would skip that chance??

Saturday I went to celebrate at Dolphie’s with the sis, our friend Kim & my best friend.  The Denny’s next to the bar is long gone, but this was the first time we’d gone in a few months….so sadly the Denny’s before and after our night tradition has ended. We grabbed dinner at O’Charley’s beforehand, and ended up going to bed after karaoke was over. Bummer. But still a great, great night.

My sister totally wins on the cake front. HOW ADORABLE is my Snow White dress cupcake cake? Seriously? This is adorable. Because yes, I'm the 32 year old with a 12 year old heart. This is what happens when you're an artist that loves the creative stuff.

 

My sister found it online, so she was so proud she got the bakery to do it exactly like she saw it!

Slight picspam, because there really aren’t a ton of pics to post for once:

And with that....it's off to get my nerdy brain back in photoshop!

Christmas 2015

Finally! I'm baaaaack.

And probably no better time to come back than to recap Christmas! (And as I draft my best of 2014 post, I swear I'll post it Wednesday, and it WILL be filled with tons of pics I neglected to post the past few months :) ) I haven't even pulled photos  off my camera yet, so....here's some iPhone documentary.

As usual, I spent Christmas with the kiddos, Sis & my Mom. Sam was sick, Paige was getting over being sick, so it was a little more low key than usual, but it was a really really great day. Even with the sicklings, we were able to still go out for our annual Christmas Day movie, and Sam was able to stay away for a little while!

The kids had a pretty awesome haul present-wise. We are past the "Santa" phase now, but of course still put stockings together. As usual, Mom and John were out early - but Samantha was too, trying to get some sleep. Even without Santa - I struggled to get Short Stuff to bed! :) He was so excited, he couldn't stand it!

The kids loaded all the presents under, around, and behind the tree. Every few minutes, Short Stuff would remind me IT WAS ALMOST CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve antics with the babes. 

The babes ended up waking Mom & I up around 6:45, so it was the usual "you can open your stockings until we eat breakfast and everyone else is awake, then you can open presents" - but Kadin got lucky & Samantha ended up waking around 7 anyway!

The kids got a great haul this year...I swore I was cutting back this year, but....I legit did not. And neither did Mom or Sam really, so they made out pretty well! 

Some of Kadin's loot!

With his Guardians of the Galaxy dvd -- which ended up being some of our Christmas Day viewing! (And yes, we WERE watching Frozen Christmas Morning. No shame, Paige and I were loudly singing along before present opening started)

This was an "almost all eyes were on Short Stuff!" moment. 

Mom made out pretty great too -- it was a super Olaf Christmas for her :) 

I was pretty excited about two of the gifts I got my sis: the Fiona Goode Funko Pop (AHS FTW!) & a Kate Spade mug. I'm a good sis!)

Every year we have to put gifts to the side that are breakables because otherwise...Kadin would have them all over the place Christmas morning when trying to pass them out! This year the breakables pile was also pretty much the "this is a special thing, you need to open last!" gift, which had one for me, Mom, Sam and Paige. I missed getting a pic of Mom on the phone, but hers was this singing Olaf that Paige was SO INSANE PROUD OF. 

And then Paige....

She got this gorgeous music box that Mom had ordered for her MONTHS ago. It had some pretty great wording on it about Granddaughters and Grandmother bonds & it made Paige cry, so it was a pretty successful gift.

And Samantha....

got an iPad mini! Successful Christmas all around! Paige was going to get her this, but she and John ended up going in on it together :) 

And I made out pretty fabulously, I must say. I suppose my family and friends know me a little too well, because the number of incredible Disney, Star Wars, Clark Griswold, stuff from my show gifts I got was pretty amazing. 

My "must open last" gift was from my sister, who made my day with these:

I know everyone knows my massive love for not only Disney, but Disney villains, and I REALLY wanted these ornaments -- since I planned on a Nightmare Before Christmas mixed with other villains on the tree next year. And I was off to a great start with it this year with a couple of my Evil Queen ornaments. But these....these I was A) surprised my sister spent so much and B) did not expect! 

My mom majorly upped the game this year (she even got me the Queen wine glass I wanted?! And went to the Cash Museum to get me the Johnny Cash calendar I wanted? Best Mom ever?) 

BECAUSE NOTHING IN THE WORLD IS BETTER THAN CLARK PAJAMAS! Thanks Mom! Clearly, mom knew that Christmas Day pajamas are pretty important to my sister & I - (hence why she wore her Christmas Story shirt & I my moose ear shirt. We actually only wore these because we forgot to buy matching footie pajamas - yes we really wanted to do that!), SOOO she got my sister Elf.  Oh  yeah - Christmas Day PJ game just got upped a notch. 

So the twin cousin sent me the most AMAZING Disney Princess shirt & a Macy's Gift Card. In my day after Christmas shopping, I spotted this tea infuser pot at Macy's and lost my mind. I was SO EXCITED! I make tea every night, so I was SO stoked to use this the night I bought it  - and paired it with this new mug Paige got me! 

No, guys....you know how much I love Edward Scissorhands (still one of the top 5 movies ever made, don't EVEN try to tell me otherwise), so I completely geeked out over this makeup bag. And not only did my sister buy me this, she put a Jack and Sally mirror in it!/ What!? Best Christmas Ever?

For our Christmas Movie this year, we chose Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Mainly because we love that line of movies, it's a good family choice, and we've seen them all in the theater so far. But the fact that it's one of Robin Williams very last movies made it a little more bittersweet. It wasn't as great as the first two, but it was a good movie, gave us a lot of laughs, had us repeating lines the whole way home -- and certainly had us in tears at some of Robin's last lines. They did a beautiful tribute line to Robin & Mickey Rooney at the end with "The Magic Never Ends" afterwards, and that also made us cry. 

Merry Christmas everyone!


PS: Paige and I both got so much Disney stuff - me a mix of Villains, Snow White & Ariel, Paige with Ariel and Ursula and I can't even begin to say how much more excited this made us for Disney in March! 

A tale of two cousins....

It was partially a gross weekend in Nashville. While we had one beautiful day, we had rain & mud another which = Nicole being as lazy as humanly possible. So, over the weekend some, I've done a little work on something special I've been putting together for the Twin Cousin (also, no, Emily you do NOT get to see this until you get married, so....I get to be a total tease until August-ish!). What happens when you mix a creative mind with a design degree? A ton of freaking ideas.

And in working on this, "Something Borrowed" came on - one of the ultimate favorite movies. I suppose it's because I was working on this specific project, but the moment in the movie prior to the wedding, girls had their obnoxious dance off & curled up on the floor together in a Strawberry Shortcake blanket & discussed how they'd always been there for each other, my mind immediately went to us while watching.

Everyone that doesn't know us laughs when I use the phrase twin cousins, but...if they really knew us, they'd realize just how fitting the title is.

I'm completely rocking Fievel pajamas and Em is rocking pearls & pajamas. Don't hate how adorable this is. Also, fabulous hair has apparently always been a trait. 

As kids, we were always the two cousins that were always together. At a family reunion trying to hunt one of us down? Just ask where the other one was.....(although chances are we were found in the coat area hanging out, talking shit about people. We learned that pretty early on! Or maybe we were catching our siblings giving underage cousins liquor & telling our parents on them. God we were awesome together, even if our siblings wanted to kill us!) 

Or maybe we were on stage knocking down some tunes at karaoke, in our best party dresses with Emily's crimped hair? (Can we talk about how my mom didn't know how to do my hair as a child? If i needed it crimped or braided, one of my aunts had to do it!) 

no one has ever sang material girl quite like two small children at a family reunion. 

I've often said we were more like sisters than cousins - we knew how to fight with each other, we knew how to argue, we knew how to have the best time together, and we knew how to be ridiculous. And at the end of the day, we knew the other always had the others back. (Read: I can totally call her a bitch, but I will cut you if you attempt this!) 

this was a pretty infamous night. "we're running low on cranberry juice already?!'

It's funny that we're states away from each other, but it never feels that way because we spend so much of our time talking/texting/tweeting/fb-ing and have basic twin cousin telepathy brain sharing. 

I mean, who else can I send fabulous gems to like this?

don't hate on our love for Frozen. 

Who else can I be this dramatic with when my flat iron dies?

The answer to that is no one! Love this girl more than life. And I'm so excited to finish up what I'm working on for her! 

Family Tradition...

Merry Christmas Eve! I love Christmas Eve --- or I guess the eve of any holiday, since the kids make it so much fun. Kadin is ready for Santa -and I suppose we are too!

Before I forget, though....a little recap from the rest of my Ohio Trip, since I know some of the fam has been looking for some photos. I've not even finished going through everything I took on my camera - so time consuming! I'm so glad to have an entire free week next week (minus New Years Eve of course! ;) ) to get a few things done! Anyway, I can't think of a better night than Christmas Eve to recap!

Naturally, it was a priority to visit the cemetery to stop at the grandparents graves while I was there, so we decided to do that before the reunion.  I picked up the Daisy Duck for Granny before heading over because it was so "her".... I know I've said this before, but it's really never going to feel right having to go here to see her. I think I expected this trip to be easier, and it was not even remotely easier. It was hard to visit her here, and it was hard to go by her apartment. Maybe one day it really will be easier.

Have you seen enough of us yet?! 

We ended up going late to our reunion -- mainly because we stopped back at the house to get ready & got tied up catching up with the Aunt & Uncle --- who were both too sick to come with us. But after we got ready & were about to walk out the door, we had a total prom moment when Aunt Faye went "Wait, let me take a picture of you before you girls leave!!"

said picture

Going to my reunion was deja vu to my childhood. Lord have mercy, some things never change -- this reunion & venue included. It was so fabulous to see so many aunts, uncles, cousins that I don't get the chance to see quite as often as my twin cousin & that fam!

A little picspam from the reunion...

Straight up brag here, folks - my aunt is better than yours and makes better buckeyes than you ever will. I almost begged for these & this gem of a bag was sitting on the table waiting for me when we arrived! 

I was so amused my Uncle John was handling our Chinese Auction -- because he was the person doing it at my LAST reunion, 16 years ago! He hasn't done it in awhile, so how funny he was doing it the year I showed up!

a blurry shot with my Uncle Larry, who I not only had not seen in 16 years, but really haven't talked to!

the photo nerd in me of course loved scoping out all the old pics. we loved this one of my grandfather with his twin sister!

my fave of the night....4 of the cousins all together finally! 

cousins!

with my Uncle John

the candy scramble for the elderly is probably one of the cutest things you'll ever see in your life. (i haven't pulled off photos from my camera from the kid candy scramble, but....major deja vu to childhood right there!)

Another great pic that had my Grandfather (and some siblings) in it!

And not from my reunion, but the following day, I flew home. It was a lounge around day until we went to get some margaritas before hitting the airport. As we got ready, we turned around....and we were wearing practically the same thing. Totally, completely unplanned.

seriously. we read each others minds and it's scary sometimes.

Such a great trip, and I miss the fam -- especially the twin cousin -- already! Em & I have four trips planned next year, including another epic Disney adventure on Thanksgiving, and we truly do not go a day without talking -- but I still miss her face! I know I've said it a million times, but everyone should be so lucky to have a cousin that is one of their best friends and has been there throughout their entire life. 

And with that....Merry Christmas to all! 

Reunited & it feels so good!

How on earth is it already almost Christmas?! I had to finish my shopping today. I'm actually usually done WAY sooner than now, but a couple broken packages awaited me when I returned from Ohio! It was a rush to the store today to find something to replace the gifts with...bummer! I am super excited -- as is my nephew, who text me every single day I was gone to find out when I was coming home. Clearly, I will never ever be able to be away for Christmas Eve/Morning, because this child nearly had a heart attack just at me not being home until December 22nd!

Anyway - I just got home from a fabulous trip to Ohio to see the twin cousin & hit my family reunion. One of Em's tweets Friday morning was "Had the best night ever with @paintedclouds . The shenanigans continue!!!" - which is obviously an indication of a pretty epic installment in the Emily & Nicole adventures.

First off though -- I amused everyone on my plane that DID live in Cleveland when we were landing as I loudly shouted, "IS THAT SNOW?!?" I was informed this was nothing compared to what they had, and this was all just the very last that was melting -- but I promise it was more than I've seen since probably the last time I was in Ohio in the winter! This is what happens when you take a girl away from the North & raise her in Florida & Tennessee. "You definitely aren't a Cleveland girl, are you?!" was what the guy behind me asked. When I answered "No sir, I'm a Tennessean", he laughed and said "You ARE from Tennessee, you even just called me sir!" (And just so everyone knows, I DID go out and play in the snow. Kind of. I made a snow man & then ran away yelling it was gross and cold. A for effort!)

Moving on --- Em and I had another amazing airport reunion.  You know, the jerks that you want to shout at for holding up the pick-up lane because we're too busy squealing, screaming & hugging. (OKAY and maybe taking selfies!)

this was the "we look terrible, we haven't gotten ready yet, but WE'RE AT THE AIRPORT AND REUNITED!!!" selfie.

Because Emily is the best cousin ever, we headed straight to Billy's so I could have a Cherry Kiss Martini. (Okay, after we ran to the apartment to put on makeup and all that good stuff) See, I knew I loved that girl! And it made for some great time with Kathy and Laura!

"hashtag....twin cousins!"

Love these girls!!

the "OMG we haven't taken enough pictures together tonight yet!"

so happy I got to meet Lou!!

We also filled our Thursday night with Christmas presents (my twin cousin wine glass is cooler than yours), fisher price Disney Princess figurines (Doesn't everyone give their 28 year old cousin Ariel toys for Christmas?!), and a fall down the stairs. Yeah, two guesses who the one that fell down the stairs was. On the plus, Emily got blamed for it the next day...."Hold her hand or SOMETHING Emily!" At least Aunt Faye was looking out for me!

This trip was also pretty monumental in the aspect of....Tattoos! We got new tats! We wanted the infinity logo -- but we wanted to change what a lot of families seem to do and instead of getting "family" intertwined in our logo, we wanted "Ohana". (I know, I know...we're Disney nerds!) Hanging out with Aunt Faye before we left for our tats, she asked what Ohana meant....as we explained it meant family in Hawaiian, we were met with a perplexed look and this:

"Why are you getting that, you guys aren't.....Hawaiian!"

Em: "I thought you were going to say you guys aren't even family!!"

Aunt Faye: "No, it is quite obvious you two are family!"

Hahaha, indeed we are.

We decided to head out to the Winking Lizard to grab lunch, and not only did I have the best Strawberry Margarita ever, I was massively in love with their Christmas lighting. Can every restaurant just decorate with lights indoors? Because is incredible festive & fun. Also, they have photography all over the place. 

"Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten." 

We went winery hopping after getting our tattoos, attempting to hit a few we may not have hit last time I was there! We didn't hit seven this time, but we did hit three! Two new ones, and one that I went to last time -- because it was our favorite & the iced wine is insane amazing! 

The winery owner took the pic above of us after he saw us taking a selfie. And after he took our wine & food order, he brought over a little plate of chocolate. Seriously, a plate of like Reese's. "Is this heaven??" was Emily's question. (Which was then followed by "Don't give me wine and a plate of Reese's and tell me this isn't heaven!")

And since most of you know I have to capture where I stand....here's one that doesn't happen often!

What the fresh hell is this!? Nicole is seriously in the snow!

Just another selfie in another winery. 

So much more to catch up on from my trip -- in my next post. This girl  has to get presents wrapped!!