cake balls, puppy dogs, and a Peruvian hat (but not in that order)

My love affair with weekends continues, in case anyone is interested.

On Saturday my friend Diana and I went to the most fabulous little salon in Uptown called Dear Clark Hair Studio for haircuts and complimentary makeovers. I love free stuff (sadly, the haircut was not free). Dear Clark somehow manages to be both chic and adorable, plus there's wine. I also love free booze. The girl who cut my hair, Chantel, is fantastic, so fantastic that not only is this the best haircut I've ever had in my life, but she also made me look so pretty (and, trust me, this is not an easy feat). My new Christmas wish is to be able to style my hair the way she did. Fingers crossed. Anyway, it was such a fun afternoon and I left with a spring in my step.

Last night was Kelsey's white elephant party and let me start off by saying I totally got what I deserved, as much as that sucks. Everyone brought such fun gifts (ie. Mitch walked away with a spaceship alarm clock that projects the time AND PICTURES OF PLANETS on the ceiling!) and it was a blast, except for the part where I ended up with my own stupid gift. That's what I get for buying a talking bobble head of Snooki.

I deserved to walk away with this. Best part? Every time her head moves she says, I'm not trashy...unless I drink too much. It's my new motto. Also, this looks nothing like Snooki.

To be fair, Diana is an excellent friend and gave me the gift she ended up with, the most adorable little Woodland Creatures cookie cutters from IKEA.

I can't wait to make moose cookies!

As the night came to a close, Kelsey gave us all these cute little canisters she made filled with delicious cake balls. Have y'all ever had cake balls? I can't even describe them except to say they're like little drops of heaven. Kelsey also gifted me a bottle of wine with a funny little label she made that says He's the Riesling for the season. Get it? Or are we the only ones who thinks that's funny? It's fine.

Kelsey is so adorable, but y'all've already figured that out.

I feel so blessed to have such sweet and wonderful friends. Sometimes I can't understand why God has been good to me, but I'm grateful all the same.

This morning Mitch and I joined my whole family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.) in attending our church's Christmas play. It was pretty amazing -- there were fireworks that went off inside the auditorium and, at one point, HUGE FLAMES OF FIRE. We felt the heat on our faces all the way in our seats and I'm relatively certain everyone in the first nineteen rows must have walked away sans eyebrows. Later Mitch and I went Christmas shopping for Clark (no, that's not sad; it's AWESOME) because we love her. Note: we frequently joke that we don't want to have kids because we'd really just like to have dogs and vacations, but after spending the afternoon with my cousin's cute (but diva-ish) baby, we may no longer be joking. While we were out, Mitch bought/gave me an early Christmas present: the cutest Peruvian-style winter hat. I'm obsessed. Thanks for being the sweetest boyfriend, Mitchell. :)

I'm gonna rock the shit outta this hat all winter long.

The only thing I can keep saying is how blessed I feel all of a sudden. And it's not that anything has drastically changed, it's just that...I look around me and I feel warm with love for the people in my life. The hat helps, too.

There are a lot of really exciting things that are going to happen this coming week, but for now, they must remain secret. :) All the same, I'll end on a list of things I'm looking forward to (because it's fun to remind myself):

• Mitch now lives in DFW and I can see him whenever I want
• Drinks with friends tomorrow night to celebrate the end of finals
• Couples dinner date night on Thursday (Kelsey and Harrison are seriously the cutest)
• Secrets :)

And now I'll for real end this post with two pictures of Clark because she's the best and I'm really trying to treasure every moment we have together.

You're a beaut.

Oh, Clark Kent, I love you. And I have excellent posture.