Festive Movies and Cozy Winter Evenings - Kathleen

Hola!!! I took a quick break over Thanksgiving and it was much needed. School starts again tomorrow, and it's time to get back to work. What better way than to write a blog post?

So the past week it was REALLY warm. I found myself imagining Spring decorations, but considering that it is December second, I need to get myself solidly into the Christmas spirit. The easiest way to do that is get cozy and watch a Christmas movie. Basically have a junk food-y movie night. I have a few top movies for festive feelings, lets get started.

Elf is one of those Christmas movies that a list of Christmas movies would be incomplete without. Will Ferrell is just amazing.

It's a Wonderful Life should really be at the top of this list. It is the coziest Christmas movie I know of and always puts me in a good mood.

A Christmas Story reminds me of Christmas at my Grandma's house. We are going up there for Christmas this year and I can't wait to watch it there.

Muppet Christmas Carol is a classic. Miss Piggy is my favorite; when she and Kermit broke up I got so sad...

Those are my top four Christmas movies. Along with these movies, I really love to do a mix of snacks. Popcorn is an obvious must, but recently, I have also been loving Cara Cara Oranges as a snack. They are super similar to regular oranges, except they are juicier and sweeter. Other than that, a hot cocoa and a Dark Chocolate Noni's Coffee Cookie are absolutely delicious.

Lighting candles just makes things cozier, so I usually light Twisted Peppermint from Bath and Body Works which Emma bought for me, but if I'm REALLY feeling festive, I will light Balsam and Cedar from Yankee Candle.

I have a pair of Peanuts Christmas jammies which I love wearing around this time of year because they are so warm and cozy. I normally slip on a pair of fuzzy socks as well because something about having soft feet makes me so happy. I also don't really like slippers because they always fall off, or they don't cover all of my foot, so I really prefer wearing socks.

That is all for this week! I'm so excited for all the posts I have planned for this month and I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!!

Kathleen

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

Blogmas Day #31 - Kathleen and Emma

Hey guys! So this post could be a bit long, so I'm just going to get to it.

For the last few weeks Emma and I have been taking questions for a Q and A today. We only got one...

Awkward...

So I looked up some questions for bloggers, so we are going to do it! Lets go!

dint427 asked, "What is your favorite part about blogging?"

Kathleen:
I think my favorite part is the a) community, b) the freedom, and c) the ability to express yourself. This is kind of my creative outlet, I don't really paint that well, I can't write books, but I looove designing things... Which I haven't really done, but I have posted a few décor thingies. I might do more of those... I also find it hard to express myself through talking. Writing it out is easier for me. That's probably another reason I love music so much...

Emma:
I really love blogging because it gives me a "safe space" to express myself. Kind of like Kathleen said, a creative outlet. I love that I can write about literally anything and everything, and just share my thoughts with the world. Sometimes I feel like it's hard to have your voice heard in such a noisy world, and blogging helps me feel more... visable.

What's a nickname only your family calls you?

Kathleen:
My family calls me Beans. Because it rhymes with Kathleen. Like Kathleen Bean. Sometimes its Beanster, Beanerinies, and on the rare occasion, Beanster-ramavitch.

Yeah, it's a bit awkward.

Emma:
I actually don't have any nicknames. Yeah.. boring, I know. But some of friends call me Em.

What is one of your biggest pet peeves?

Kathleen:
Okay I have two really big ones. You know when it snows and you haven't raked, and so then there are leaves underneath the snow? I HATE THAT. It just looks so ugly and awful. Being a person with 4 huge oak trees in my front and backyard, its usually a yearly thing now. We will be raking this whole week just to get rid of them before winter REALLY starts. Yeah, it's the week after Christmas, this shouldn't be happening. I also go nuts when I'm loading the dishwasher, and I put something in the little place for the utensils, and it falls out. Then I have to move the whole thing, get my hands dirty, move the thing back and put the utensil away... Not a big deal, but I HATE IT.

Emma:
I have so many pet peeves. But the first one that comes to mind is fake people. I really CANT STAND fake people! I want to see the honest and true version of someone. Not the person they want everyone to think they are.. if that makes sense. I also can't stand when people walk horribly slow in front of you, like at the store or in the hallway at school. And they literally just won't let you around them. I'm a bit of a speed-walker, so it's awful.

Which way do you face in the shower?

Kathleen:
I move around a little, but for the majority of the time, my back is facing the shower head

Emma:
Normally facing the wall, with my back facing the shower head.

What is your favorite comfort food?

Kathleen:
Orange Chicken with fried rice, mixed together from this Chinese place down the street, or American Chop Suey. (I don't think I spelled that right)  It's a lot like Chili Mac, but more mac with cheese and peppers.

Emma:
Macaroni and cheese, FRIES, burgers, fast food in general. I know it's unhealthy but I just really love fast food.

That's all for today! I hope you have a wonderful New Years Eve!! Let us know what you are doing for New Years

Have a lovely day!

Kathleen

internationalbffs.blogspot.com

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

Blogmas Day #29 - Kathleen

Guys it's my last post by myself for Blogmas!!!! I'm a little bummed, but also a little relieved because you have no idea how many nights I have stayed up until 11 writing because I'm to lazy to do it when I should.

Hey guys! How are you? Getting ready for New Years? This time of year always REALLY excites me, because I love trying to make myself a better, healthier person. Half the time I always wind up eating ice cream, but I just love the feeling I get when I know I'm trying to be healthier. So today, to play with that feeling a little bit, I'm going to talk about New Years resolutions and how to make a good one for you. I'm also going to share my resolution and give you some inspiration if you don't have a resolution yet.

So first of all, you need to make it something that you don't really want to do. If you don't want to do it, it's probably something you need to do. Trust me, half the things I am doing in the New Year are things I don't really want to do. Usually you want the end result, but you don't want to go through the process of doing it... When I started playing piano, I hated it. I didn't like to practice, I just wanted to play the Beethoven and Mozart RIGHT AWAY. Now eight years later, I have this crazy huge passion for it, and end up staying at my teachers house for like and hour and a half when I should be staying for thirty minutes. So yeah. You will be SOOO glad you did it in the end.

Second, it needs to be possible. If you KNOW that you can't get to the gym every single morning because you have classes or work or whatever happens, DON'T SET A RESOLUTION LIKE THAT. You are pretty much setting yourself up for failure and stress. Promise yourself to go to the gym three times a week. If you do this, you a) won't be sore, b) won't fail, and c) won't be under stress because of that failure.

Now my favorite way to find some inspiration for New Years and changing my life in small little ways is to look on Pinterest for things like this:

Sorry they are really small so you might have to click on the actual picture to see it bigger. I honestly think that the 10 Tips for a Mindful Home are actually some really good ways to internalize your mind and really keep yourself happy and calm. I love these little things because they really do help.

This is my list of resolutions. I have realized that time seems to fly by in a really sad, annoying way and I never get time to look back at things and really pay attention to my surroundings. I also had to have a little bit of a healthy thing in their, so I will be eating lots and lots of fruit and veg for snacks...

I really hope you liked this post! Comment down below what your resolution is! Actually, if you are still reading, comment 'Sup in the box. I just wanna see. This will be really awkward if no one does it....

Kathleen

internationalbffs.blogspot.com

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

#28 What I Got For Christmas -Emma

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas! I'm sorry about forgetting to post on Monday, it just sort of slipped my mind with all of the Christmas festivities going on.

In this post I will be showing you all what I got for Christmas! Before I start, I want to say that I'm not bragging at all, I just really love doing hauls and I know other people love seeing hauls. So let's get started!

First, I got this Harry Potter poster from one of my
best friends, Carly. I have it hanging above my bed, it's super cool.

From Kathleen, I got this candle from Bath and 

Body Works. I love it so much, it smells so good.

Now I will be showing everything my mom got for me.

The first thing is this iHome bluetooth speaker that 

I've been wanting for a really long time. It changes colors

to the beat of the music. I've been using it constantly.

Next, I got an otterbox iPhone case. I've been

needing one of these forever so I was super happy about getting

one this year.

She also got me these super cute (and soft)

slippers from Pink. One of my best friends got the

exact same pair from her parents so that's pretty cool.

I got this super cute shirt from Pink. I'm IN LOVE with

it. She also got me some bras from Pink but I'm obviously not going

to show them just because that would be...awkward.

Lastly, she got me this awesome Stranger Things

poster. I have it on the back of my bedroom door and it

looks great. Sorry about the flash messing the photo

up a bit. xD

From my Grandpa, I got the Sims 4 City Living expansion pack.

I am soooo happy about this. I started playing it last night, and it's

so much fun.

Last but not least, he gave me some clothes! The tanks are

for when I start tennis again and for when I go to Florida for my birthday.

It's a little too cold to wear them here yet LOL.

I'm so thankful for everything I got this year! Be sure to check out Kathleen's post from yesterday showing what she got.

See you all soon!

Emma

twodorkswithablog.blogspot,com

lifeaccordingtoemma.weebly.com

Blogmas #27 - Kathleen

Merry Christmas!!!! Today's post is going up a tad late because yesterday, neither Emma or I were "working." So I think Emma's post from yesterday is going up today as well. And then she will post tomorrow and I will post on Thursday and so on.

So today I am doing my mostest favoritest (bad grammar, I know) post of this month: What I Got for Christmas!!!! Now, I'm not trying to brag, I just genuinely like watching people unwrap presents, so for those of you out there who are like me, here we go!

So my Aunt gave me a gift card to Bath and Body Works, which I'm super excited about because I LOVE BATH AND BODY WORKS!

Sorry for the caps.

My grandma gave me a Target giftcard, which is AWESOME because target sells a lot of my favorite nail polish.

My other aunt gave me an Ulta gift card. I think I'm going to get some makeup brushes there.... I really like gift cards because then you can see, and touch, and feel, and smell whatever you want to get.

 I got this candle from Noelle over on International Bffs...

 This candle from Olivia, my sister...

and this candle from Emma! As you can see, I have already burned half of it.

My parents gave me this super cute backpack. It has a pocket in the front that could fit a tablet, but I don't think I would put one in there, just for safety. There are two smaller pockets on the sides for  little things like chap stick/makeup and/or snacks. The middle is a bucket pocket with a little zipper pocket on the inside for a wallet.

My sisters friend (who is kind of my friend now too) gave me this lemon sugar scrub she made. It has coconut oil in it, and it is AMAZING. It's like it scrubs and then moisturizes. I love it.

My parents then got me this super fuzzy North Face jacket, and oh my gosh, it keeps my soo toasty warm! I love it because I don't have to lug a hug jacket around if I'm just getting in and out of the car, and it's light and easy to carry on my arm.

The last thing I got, and probably my favorite, are these Peanuts pajamas. My Grandma got them for me, because I have been asking for Christmas Pajamas for awhile. They are really thick, nice flannel, and I just LOVE THEM. The only thing is, they are too small. So we had to get a size bigger. They literally had ZERO butt space. And I'm not necessarily curvy, so I don't really know what to think about the sizing... but they are super soft, so we can deal.

So that is what I got for Christmas! Comment down below what you got for Christmas, and also, any questions you have for us to answer on the 31st!!! We have to write that soon, so If I don't get any more, I'm going to have to take some from pinterest or something!

Kathleen

internationalbffs.blogspot.com

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

Blogmas Day #23

I put lights on my Christmas tree yesterday!!!! It looks amazing and we haven't even put ornaments on it!

Hello readers! Guess what!!!! Two days until Christmas!! If you count today because it is the morning... or we could say 2 more sleeps until Christmas...

Anyways!

I come to you today with Christmas Traditions around the world! Some of these are pretty well known (at least to me) and others aren't, so lets get started!

1. In Japan, the common dinner is not a glazed ham... it's KFC!

2. In England, and some of Europe, Boxing Day is a tradition. It falls on Dec 26th, and is much like Black Friday.

3. In Russia, Christmas is such a huge Holiday, they celebrate it twice! The first is on December 26th and the second is on January 7th.

4. In Australia, families often spend Christmas at the beach! It is so warm, why not?

5. In the Philippines, decoration start going up in September and are usually taken down in January.

That is all for today! Enjoy Emma's Christmas Eve post and I will be back on Christmas Day!!!

Also, keep those questions rolling for the 31st! And also, if you want to stay anonymous, just either tell us, or you can post the comment outside of your account.

Have a lovely Christmas Eve!

Kathleen

internationalbffs.blogspot.com

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

Blogmas Day #21 - Kathleen

Guess what I did today! I got my Christmas treeee!!!!!!

Hi guys! How are you! Christmas is 4 days away!!!! I'm so excited!!! Comment down below what you all love about Christmas! I think I really like the Christmas decorations. Except for the wooden ones. I don't really like those because they just look very... dull.

Anyways!

I got my Christmas tree today! So I thought I would take you along with me, because Christmas tree shopping is fun!

So first we went to Eckert's. Eckert's is a farm near us that does pick your own strawberries, pumpkins, apples, peaches, and blackberries. I think they are trying to start a pick your own garden vegetable section too. Anyways, they were started by the Eckert family a long time ago. It is a great family place to go in all the seasons. They have live bands and custard in the summer. They might sell hot cocoa in the winter.

We were looking at the trees, and as you can tell, they were really nice. But, they were very expensive. I think there was one that was 100 dollars. It was too much. Plus they were all pretty short. So we went to Lowes. You all should know what Lowes is. Basically, its a hardware store and a garden center. There trees were WAY cheaper.

Don't mind the blurred faces. My mom was really worried about our "cyber safety." I found this little tree and it was so cute!!! I didn't want to let it go because it was just as tall as I am! Which is pretty short, considering I'm like 5'4". But Olivia is in the picture with our tree. It is pretty tall, but short enough to fit in a house with 8' ceilings. It looks awfully warped in the front, but it isn't that bad. We just turn it in the corner. I'm pretty sure every one does that.

We don't have a rack on top of our car, so we had to put it in the back. One problem. It didn't fit in the back. So we had to leave the back open. It was a little scary, but it was only a 5 minute drive, and we held the tree so it wouldn't slip out.

We are just letting it fall overnight, and then I think we are going to put lights on it tomorrow. We wait to decorate it on Christmas Eve though, which I think is fun. Sometimes we put a train around the bottom, but I don't know if that will happen this year. I might do another post like this for when we decorate it. Maybe I will take pictures of my favorite ornaments.

I hope you enjoyed this post! I will be back on Friday with another post!

Kathleen

internationalbffs.blogspot.com

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

Blogmas Day #19 - Kathleen

Good morning to you all!

I come to you with a favorite post of mine. Expectation vs. Reality! These are so fun to write and collect pictures for! Lets get to it because I can't wait!

1. OK, so we all know that presents are fun and all, but sometimes you feel like you shouldn't accept it. But you want it, so you know that you will end up caving I and taking it. Then you are left with this awkward scenario:

2. Getting parents presents. So every year, I always think to myself, I'm going to get them something really creative this year! Maybe I'll get my mom, like a DIY kit or something. No. This ALWAYS happens:

3. Pajamas are an amazing thing. So comfy. So baggy. So stylish. (Sarcasm) I know, that over Christmas break, I always tell myself, that I WILL get dressed the day after Christmas. Doesn't happen. Usually I wear them that do too. But if you wear them four days in a row, things get a little bit sweaty...

4. Now there is a big difference between giving gifts and receiving gifts. When I'm giving someone something, I'm always super excited to see their reaction. But when I'm opening gifts, I have little mini panic attacks. Once my parents got a present mixed up between my sister and I. My sister is three years younger than me. It was one of those little DIY Weaved Bag things, and I had to feign excitement... It was really awkward.

5. Last but not least, the weight gain. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who says they are going to be healthy throughout the holidays. Sometimes I even think about trying to convince Mom to do a vegan Christmas Dinner! Never happens. But this does.

That is all today! I am so excited, because my Christmas break starts tomorrow!

Also, on the 31st, Emma and I are going to do a joint post Q and A thing. So I need you to comment questions down below. I think we will do like 10 or 15 questions. So yeah do that! Have a lovely day!

*By the way, this was not supported or anything by Sarah Anderson, I just found her comics soo relatable.

Kathleen

internationalbffs.blogpspot.com

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

#18 Christmas Decorations -Emma

There's only one week left until Christmas! Can you believe it?! I'm super excited.

Today, I will be showing you all my Christmas decorations in my living room! I might do another post soon showing the decorations in my bedroom too. Let me know if you'd want to see that in the comment section below :).

Here is my Christmas tree. (Sorry about the TV being on)
As you can probably tell, it's pretty small and isn't real.
I'd love to have a real tree next year.

On our fireplace, we just have some stockings hanging,
a garland type of thing on the mantle, and some other decorations
that I will show closer next.

First, we have this little mason jar snow globe that
I made last year. It was one of those Pinterest DIYs that actually
worked out! I love it.

Next is this golfer Santa decoration and a candle.

Here is a photo of the fireplace up close. If you couldn't 

tell, it's a fake fireplace insert that gives off heat. It's super

cool and looks pretty real!

On the coffee table, we have a Christmas runner going down

the center, and a little basket type of thing. We're going to 

fill it with candy pretty soon.

Lastly, a photo of the Christmas tree from a different

angle.

I hope you all enjoyed this post! Be sure to check out Kathleen's post tomorrow!

Emma

twodorkswithablog.blogspot.com

lifeaccording2emma.weebly.com