Movin and Shakin

So its Monday again... but its the Monday before Christmas and I'm off of work!!!

I am already enjoying this break, but I had a pretty chaotic week leading up to it.

But when it comes to my weekend. It was pretty busy as well.

one//I went to my first Hockey game on Thursday (that still counts as sort of the weekend) and I had a blast. Charlotte Checkers had Teacher Appreciation night so of course I went with my BFF who is an amazing 4th grade teacher, BJ!! A whole crew of us went and to top it off it was $1 beer night. It was such a win! I definitely will be going to another one!
two//Always a good time hanging out with one of my besties. Hockey games are colder than I thought, so I found it interesting that I had to stay bundled up like I was outside.
three//Friday night was party time! The warm weather was upon us so it was a great night to not freeze and put on something cute! Uptown Charlotte was busy and it was such a good time!
four//Such a fun Friday night meant Saturday was strictly recovery. Chipotle is my recovery food. Yes I had it 2 days in a row and no I don't feel bad about it. My addiction is real. But it helped and by Saturday night I could function normally.
five//I woke up Sunday morning doing some last minute packing and cleaning before I headed to D.C. This is the first time in awhile flying to visit my parents. Usually I drive so I can pack as much as I want and bring back a large amount of shopping. But I had to be strategic about my bag. If I wear all my bulky stuff that saves room!
six//My flight was so empty. Since it was 2 days before Christmas I thought it was going to be a animal house. But it was very quick, easy going, and stress free. I guess Monday and Tuesday will be the days of chaos. Glad I'm already home!!!

So the next couple of days will be spent hanging out with the folks and enjoying the Holidays. I will be preparing posts, but probably not posting anything until this weekend.

Hope everyone has an amazing holiday!

XOXO

linking up with Monday Morning Gossip, Weekend Recap

Freedom!!!!

So today marks the start of my Winter break from work. This means that I have 14 days to really enjoy the holiday season. 2 whole weeks no dress code, no early rising, and most of all, NO MORE children (I love them all I promise I do). Its been a long week filled with sugar and chaos. Glad to be done. I head to Virginia on Sunday to visit the parentals. I'm really excited because its a whole week with them and holidays are always interesting. But I'm not that ecstatic because its a whole week with them. I can't be the only one that loves to spend time with their family but on day 3-4 you are like "Help me!" Well this may be due to the fact that I'm an only child so there is no one else to focus on. My parents read my blog now (its relly quite crazy) so they know I'm just speaking the truth joking!!! They need to get a dog. Maybe that should be my Christmas present to them. Time for some wine, Christmas movies with my mom, and shopping to my hearts content. I don't know how things are making it home since I am flying and I would rather listen to One Direction on loop than pay a suitcase fee. #firstworldproblems I know. But no seriously, I'm just going to wear everything at once and then pack all my shoes. That just might work.

Tonight to celebrate, me and my fellow teacher friends will be heading downtown to get a little "Spicy". The weather is supposed to be in the 50s and I hope it stays that way. Can you believe it? This weekend the high is planned to be 72! In December!!!!! Hows that 5 feet of snow New York? I know a lot of people that will traveling to be with their families this week so I am praying they make it safe. Anyone else out in blog land making there way into the abyss that is the North please take precautions. Make sure you have lots of music and snacks to prevent getting "the zone" and be on the lookout for "crazies" from the South who don't know how to drive in the wintery white! I recommend Beyonce' or Bruno Mars and White Cheddar Popcorn. My favorite.

To treat myself I am headed to Chipotle for the first 3rd time this week. Nice weather, a burrito bowl, and some Patron. Sounds like a good Friday to me! So to keep the party going I will #backthatazzup with Whitney. It's Beyonce'. Enough said.

What is everyone doing this weekend?

XOXO

Guess what day it is...

ONE: I really want my nose pierced. I think I like the way I look with it. What do you think? I'm 99.9 percent sure that my parents would freak out. Plus I tough my nose wayyy too much (the lovely perks of allergies) and it would hurt and possibly get ripped out.

                           

TWO: I take photos of myself in outfits because i don't trust the mirror. Its a problem. I have a perfectly good full length mirror in my room. But I choose to use the huge one in my bathroom. I think the lighting is better in there too.

THREE: Beyonce' addicted right now. That new album. Fire. I am not even a hard core Beyonce fan. I have a couple of friends who do anything to go to her concerts. But this visual album makes me want to stand in line and head to her next concert. Some of my favorites include "Haunted", "Blow", "Drunk In Love". Partition is the BEST!!! Such a great vibing album.

FOUR: These braids have reached the end. I wanted to have them last until the New Year, but I hate when my hair is not up to par; I feel some type of way. Time for something different. It may be time to bring the bangs back. I've missed them.

FIVE: I have dropped the ball with my TV shows this season. I did not watch a single episode of Glee, The Mindy Project, and New Girl and I'm so sad for it. But that's what DVR is for. I guess that's what the winter break is for.

Hope everyone has a great week!

XOXO

You like me....you really like me!

I got really excited last night because I received an email saying "Congrats you now have 100 followers on BlogLovin". I was so excited that I literally got up and twerked did my celebratory booty dance.

Its kinda cool to think that over the last year that I have been doing this blog, there are at least 100 people who even for one day decided that my blog was interesting enough to read. I don't post all the time so I know I don't have anyone running to their computer to see what I have posted daily, but hey its still nice to feel the love.
I won't take away from the GFC followers either. Even though it is basically obsolete, bloggers are still using the follow counter and I know that giveways are still asking bloggers to follow on GFC. Strange but whatevs.

Thank you to all who read at all and see the progression that I have made in my blog. I do it all for fun. And I read other blogs for fun because its nice to know that if I'm not going on adventure I can always read about it in blogland. For the record I am not trying to become a household name; I just want to make some friends. The ladies that are in the blog world are pretty freakin cool. So who wants to be my blog friend?

Shameless plug time; If you haven't already done so you can find me all the time!

Follow me on BlogLovin

Look at my lovely face on Instagram

Read my random thought on Twitter

Stalk my favorite things on Pinterest

Or even email me straight up at bourgiechronicles@gmail.com

Enjoy and have a great Thursday!

XOXO

Hump Day

It's Wednesday!!! 

Today I joining in on a new Link-up with Bella over at Dateless in Dallas. 

Her blog is so great I am excited to be a new follower!

So I present to you my first week of Hump Day Confessions.

1. I am doing link-ups all week on my blog.
It's a rough week...don't judge me. But its been so long since I have posted everyday so that's a plus. I have started reading a lot of new blogs lately so I am excited to jump in on their link-ups. My creative button is broken this week for post ideas. Stay tuned next week for some different stuff...hopefully.

2. Weekend Shenanigans is ending...for now and I'm devastated.
Sami who is an amazing blogger has ended one of my first and favorite link-ups ever....Weekend Shenanigans. I was never religious with the Monday posts. But I really did enjoy the diversity of all the people who participated. Not to mention I'm sure a lot of my new readers/commentors have been from that link-up. So sad its ending but I'm excited to see what new stuff with be popping up on there. If you haven't checked out her blog....you should!

3. I am unhappy with some of the Grammy nominations this year.

So on Friday the list of Grammy nominations were put out and I was very shocked. Justin Timberlake was only nominated for like 2 awards (which wasn't album of the year or even song of the year) and J. Cole wasn't nominated AT ALL! His album was awesome and I think some of the categories were a little off. Even though I love Macklemore I really was confused as to why they had so many nominitions. But I'm really rooting for Katy Perry to win something. So many years and not one Grammy??? Doesn't make sense since her songs blow up charts all the time. Oh well. We shall see how things pan out next month. My house is already planning the Viewing Party! Did anyone else see any other nominations that were just crazy?

4. My Secret Santa gifts this year rock!
So I have 2 major SS gifts to get. One for my job and the other for my "Team" and I have to say both are going to be pretty awesome. I love giving gifts that aren't generic and are catered to the person. No gift cards from me! I just hope that both of my gifts are just as awesome.

5. The Sing Off is back and I love it!
Yes I am a music geek and I love this show dare I say it more than Glee. It was cancelled 2 years ago but they brought it back! Acapella groups always take me back to my high school/middle school show choir days.

XOXO

Me and Santa

When I think of Christmas as a child I think of doing 2 things; putting up the Christmas Tree and meeting Santa. I would get so excited about the idea of pulling out the tree (we had a fake tree) and going through all the ornaments to figure out which ornaments are worthy of being viewed by all for a whole month. My handmade ornaments from school always made the cut...until about the age of 10 and then they started to be replaced by embarrassing awkward school picture ornaments. I also always got to put the star on the top. My father would lift me up and it would be such a signature moment that to me as a kid and it wasn't really the holidays until I did that.

5 year old Nikki!

Since I am an only child I was really close to my parents. I still am really close with them, but most of our Christmases were spent with just the 3 of us. To me it was awesome. Throw in a couple of puppies to join in on the action and my memories are complete. But then it was time to meet the man in charge. Old Saint Nick himself. And for some reason I was never really down to do it. I refused to do it because he was creepy and I guess I didn't like the idea of sitting on a strange man's lap. Go figure lol. But I did it. Because I knew that this was my only chance to talk to him about my list. LOL So I took one for the team so to speak. I would have rather just written a letter and called it a day. But year after year I did it. And there was a picture to capture it. Don't let the smile fool you. I loathed it.

1987 I had to sit on my moms lap because I refused to sit on his.

I was only 2, but I knew what was up.

Over it. But mom wanted a picture. And I had a cute outfit on so....cheese!

Despite dreading meeting mall Santa, all of my Christmas' as a child were awesome and magical. Exactly how they should be. As I got older I definitely took them for granted, especially when we started visiting family and travelling to see them. Being in college the holidays to me were more of a time off from school going home because that was supposed to happen. Instead of enjoying my time with my family since I rarely saw them anyway. I feel like now I am at an age where I look forward again to being around people I love and enjoying giving gifts instead of giving them. Well that's not entirely true....I mean who doesn't love presents?!?! And this year will be no different.

What are some things you looked forward to as a kid during the holidays?

XOXO

New Life

Hope everyone had a great Sunday. 

My weekend was pretty low key, but with one big event!

I'm ready for this week to get started because everyday that passes means I'm closer to Winter Break and a full 2 weeks off of work!!! Woot woot!

 I brought out the new shoes Friday and Saturday. The weather last week was crazy! It was in the 70s on Thursday and Friday so Friday night was spent letting my feet out and showing off some cute flats I picked up at Old Navy during Black Friday. I'm in love. I'm already making plans to order more around Christmas. Hopefully there is a nice after Christmas sale that I can take advantage of! I had also been looking for Cognac riding boots forever. I've probably mentioned it once or twice. But I finally got them! Avenue is a plus size website that caters to my lovely calves. They are super comfy and I'm so glad they go with most of my wardrobe. I think I may have to get another pair in black.

Excuse my grainy pictures lol. I spent most of my Saturday in the hospital. I was supposed to go to the ACC Championship game (Florida State vs Duke) but I found out very early that my friend Sabrina was giving birth! 10 days early!! The last time I had been to the hospital in Charlotte was when my other niece was born 6 years ago. So trying to find the right place was quite a journey. The 8th floor was so elusive that only 2 elevators could get you to it, and we pretty much found every single one that didn't. It was such an accomplishment when we were able to click the elevator button and make it to the maternity floor!

Welcome Sebastian Joel to the world! He is so cute and has a head full of dark black curly hair. At 21 inches long he is all legs and I already can tell he is going to be tall like his dad. I was so proud of my friend Sabrina. It's so crazy to see her as a mother. Now she is always going to be a 2 person deal whenever I want to hang out. But I'm so excited for her journey. The hospital was beautifully decorated for the holidays and even Santa made an appearance that night. I thought the Christmas trees in all the waiting rooms were gorgeous. I wish I could get my tree to look like that. Blue and green actually looks really nice together. A mental note for my mother. She changes her color scheme for the tree every year and I think this one would be nice.

Sunday was really lazy. It was cold and a bit rainy. I prepped food for the work week and made a delicious dinner. If you haven't tried the Kraft Seasoning Packets you really should. I made some Southwest Chipotle Chicken that was tasty. I'm looking forward to leftovers! Football was pretty crazy. A huge storm hit the north and it was snowing almost everywhere north of Virginia. You could barely see the players or the field during the Eagles game. Constant flow of snow the whole game. I felt so bad for the players. I makes me think how crazy it is for the Super Bowl to be played in NJ. There is definitely a possibility for it to be like that during the game. It's New Jersey after all.

Happy Monday!

XOXO

Linking up with Weekend Shenanigans, Monday Gossip, Funday Monday, 

Black Friday Madness

This is pretty random but I wanted to post about it.

Black Friday.

Yeah it was a week ago but it just keeps on popping back up.

In the last couple years of shopping with my family, 

I have been lucky during this chaotic time.

No issues. No fights. No fuss. 

The biggest drama we have had is not getting coffee at Starbucks for the wait time in line.

I love the thrill of a sale, but nothing is going to make me fight or act crazy over some $100 TVs, 

or some 5 dollar headphones. (Even though I kind of wanted that TV)

So when my mother asked me about if I had heard about the fights that broke out over the country during this popular shopping time I wasn't surprised.

What I was surprised about was where.

Victoria's Secret.

A freaking Victoria's Secret.

I read the news report and there really wasn't even a real reason for it. Just too many people in such a small space. But this isn't even that bad compared to what happened in a mall in Philly. A stun gun was used. For real.

As funny and mind blowing these videos are I couldn't help but also be annoyed that these videos were all women and that they were acting bat shit cray Its not that serious. I don't know what the stun gun fight was about, but clearly it was in a mall,  so shopping had to be involved somehow. Bottom Line: Chill out and shop on Cyber Monday. Unless they are giving out $100 TVs again. Because that's just crazy for a 32"!!!! lol (jk)
Linking up with Random Wednesday

Holiday Cheer

It's December so that means...

 time to spread all that holiday cheer!

Secret Santas are sprouting up all over the place.

I have one for my job, one with my group of friends, and another one with my roommates.

Whew!

So I will be spending these next couple weeks on the hunt for some really great gifts.

Now usually Secret Santa gifts usually have a limit like 20 bucks or so, but I created my wishlist as if there was no limit! Wouldn't that be great if we were all rolling in the dough?

So here are a couple things that I think would be great to get from my "Santa".

one Naked Palette 3. 

I've never tried any of the other ones but there is no better time to start than now! 

I love the variety of colors and guaranteed I would wear this palette all the time!

two Kardashian Kollection. I cant believe their collection is at Sears! 

This cutout dress is definitely not made for the winter but could be a possibility for New Years.

three Michael Kors Watch. Everyone has one. I don't care. I want one. I think I saw a really cute one in gunmetal too. But they are so classic its pretty much a staple piece of jewelry.

four Ipad Air. This thing is so cool. 

So light and perfect for my giant purses and trips on the plane.

five Ray Ban Eyeglasses. I need some new specs and the bigger frames are in right now so I thought these were super cute! Now I just need to try them on and see how they look...

six Infinity Scarf. Old Navy has amazing scarves! 

I love Royal Blue and Grey so those will be the two I plan to get! *When I made this post I hadn't been shopping yet. I wasn't able to get the Royal Blue, only grey*

XOXO

Where's Thanksgiving?

Hope everyone had a great 5 day weekend (or however long).

I really needed the breather from the children. 

But I'm refreshed and ready to handle the cray cray before Christmas.

There are only 24 days left until Christmas, and 15 of them are school days, so those days are going to be filled with lack of focus, talks of toys, and teachers counting down until the next vacation.

I noticed as I was writing this post that I really didn't take too many pictures. When I am around family I really forget to take pictures and I am kind of just wrapped up in spending time with my aunt. I wish I did get a chance to take more pictures, since I am a blogger it should be expected. This weekend I nervously let my family in on my blogging venture and they all thought it was pretty cool *whew*. I didn't want anyone to think I was trying to pry into their lives, I just like to talk about mine.

This post doesn't all the wondrous pics I would like. I really didn't need to take pics of my food though (we all mostly eat the same stuff), and I left my phone in the car during Black Friday (or Grey Thursday as I've heard it be called). So no pics from those adventures.

But enjoy the ones I have.

one// Charlotte Uptown is so pretty at night with all the lights in the trees. They were up before Thanksgiving even hit. They couldn't wait! But I like it. Makes going out more festive!

two// My outfits for Thanksgiving dinner and Black Friday Shopping. I wanted to stay warm and I think I made good choices.

three// Randomly my Grandmother wanted a Red wall so my Dad got to painting and the end result is pretty nice! I love that my Grandmother knows about accent walls!

four// Out for drinks with friends. I am so happy about scarf weather. This express one if my favorite for obvious reasons.

five// The turkey my Aunt cooked had a serious tan. It looks deep fried, but it definitely wasn't. So yummy!

six// Fox socks at Old Navy $1!!! I hate that Fox song but that was all I could think about when I bought these socks. I also got some polka dot and bird socks. Ah I love Old Navy sales!

seven// Tree shopping is a pain for me. I can't have a real tree because of my asthma but I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on a fake tree. Luckily Wal-Mart had some decent priced nice looking ones. Tree trimming with the roomies soon!
eight// Holiday donuts on the road trip with the parents to Atlanta. There was a major sugar high mixing in coffee and milkshakes too.

nine// Ahhhhh! I went ham in Old Navy and sadly even though I didn't get my Royal Blue Infinity scarf I did get a grey and black one. They are so soft and awesome.


XOXO


Linking up with Weekend Shenanigans, Monday Gossip, Funday Monday,