Winter in Missouri


We moved from the central coast of California to SW Missouri about 10 years ago. One thing that we have a love/hate relationship with is the winter. We do enjoy having distinct 4 seasons but sometimes the extreme cold winters wear us out! It is fun waking up to a few inches of fresh snow on the ground but when the snow and cold linger from mid-November until late March we begin to wish for the central coast of Cali!


We woke to snow flurries this morning. Here are some pictures!

Oklahoma City Thanksgiving Weekend


This last weekend we went to OKC. We met my family. We had a wonderful time in Bricktown... We went shopping at a wonderful mall... We visited the Memorial for the bombed Federal building. We went down to the Stockyards and looked through all the western wear! We ate at the Bricktown Brewery, the Cimarron Steak House and breakfast at Mimi's! We stayed at the Waterford Marriott. My only complaint about the hotel was the WIFI was not free! In this day and age... that is just crazy!!

OKC is quite an impressive city. We really enjoyed ourselves!

Tootsie


Well... I have had a couple of requests to see our Tootsie at 5 months old... the last slide she was only 8 weeks... These pictures were taken Thanksgiving Day 2008...

Grand-Dogs... OMG!

Well... both of our daughters are married and what do I have.... grand-dogs...

The top slide is of our younger daughter's dog... Tootsie. She is an Australian Terrier. She will be under 15lbs full grown. She is adorable. Our daughter works and goes to college full time and so during the day I dog sit. I began dog sitting when they first brought her home so I have been doing most of the puppy training. She is almost fully house-broken or potty trained and she is extremely intelligent.


The bottom slide is of our oldest daughter's motley crue... on the couch from left to right is Asa, Kai and Punk... fun dogs... and extreme house full but our daughter and son in law love them a lot!!

Maybe someday I will be fortunate enough to have grandkids but for now... my 4 grand-dogs are going to have to be the apple of grandma's eye...

HAHAHAHAH!!!

ZUMBA


For those of you wonder what Zumba is... here is a video.

I do 30 minutes of Zumba 4-5 nights a week.
I have a 4 DVD pack that I watch to do my Zumba...

When I am done with Zumba I jump on my elliptical trainer and work out another 20-30 minutes.

While I am on the elliptical trainer my dog walks on the treadmill!!
(thanks to Cesar Milan)....

Ballroom dancing
Almost 5 years ago my husband and I decided we would try taking ballroom dancing. I fell in love immediately but my husband was not so sure.... He is 6'5" and about 240lbs and is more of a football, rough and tough, type guy. He is like a bull in a china shop... We started off taking a 2 hour class every Sunday afternoon. After 6 months he began to pick up the steps faster and more complicated moves began to come easier.


Latin dances quickly became my favorite style but one Sunday our instructor decided to teach West Coast Swing. Instantly I was hooked. We decided to add a once a week class on Tuesday nights that taught exclusively West Coast Swing. The instructor taught a more modern WCS and both my husband and I really liked our instructor. Taking WCS also helped us become more coordinated and we began to excel at other dance styles.


August 2007 I was diagnosed with cancer. I was so sick that from July 2007 until Dec 2007 I was not able to dance. 1 time prior to treatments I almost died and 1 time during treatments I almost died (seriously). During my treatments one of our dance instructors became a close friend. Her mother had died from cancer and she was really effected by my diagnosis. She would come to the hospital or to my house and massage my feet with cremes. She would come over and just watch me so my husband could go to work. Around mid-December we began to talk about trying to dance again. She begged me to come to one of her evening classes just to hang out and try dancing again. We started back dancing and even though the cancer had left one of my lower legs with severe nerve damage.. I pushed myself to work and work at dancing again.


Here it is only 1 year after my treatments have been completed and I am still NEG and NED.. (cancer free still)... and my husband and I are dancing regularly...


Here is a video of my husband and myself dancing at a latin dance party that is held about 1x a month at a local Brazilian restaurant. We are not the couple that are being interviewed. We are the couple actually dancing and I have on a turquoise blue and black dress... my dress swirls quite a bit and my husband is wearing black pants and a black camp shirt with brightly colored inserts ...



Both my husband and I highly recommend ballroom dancing.. we have been married almost 30 years (July 7th it will be 30) and ballroom dancing has definitely brought a spark back to our marriage!

Fun Recipes for Thanksgiving...

I might be a fashionista... but we fashionistas still need to eat! LOL!!

With Thanksgiving only a few days away... here are 2 amazing recipes:



Cranberry Relish... (from my mom)

1-3oz pkg Lemon Jello
2 cups sugar
(Dissolve in boiling water)
1 pound cranberries
1-orange
1-tsp salt
3-TBS lemon juice
2-apples

In food processor:
start with 1/2 orange then add cranberries
(watch carefully. do not get too fine)
Pour out.

In food processor:
1/2 orange. 2 apples until it turns to relish.

Put all ingredients together including sweetner.
Stir together and let sit for 2 days.


Another great recipe is:

Broccoli Delight: in a 9x13 dish...

1/3 cup chopped onions
9 T butter. (coot 6 T with onions)
3 T flour
1 C water
12-16oz jare cheese whiz
3 pkgs (10 oz) chopped broccoli
5 eggs beaten well
3/4 cup bread crumbs

Cook onions (medium heat) in the 6 T butter. Stir in flour.
Add water and cook until thick. Add cheese whiz.
Then add cooked and drained broccoli.
Add beaten eggs and put in 9x13 buttered dish.
Cover with buttered bread crumbs.
Bake 325 degrees for 30 minutes...

2 recipes I highly recommend!!

eBay Live 2006 was a big turning point for One-Chic-Boutique. The turning point was not what I learned at eBay Live but the people I met. I became great friends with many sellers who were taking the next step in becoming internet selling giants. Their changes inspired me to begin changing my goals.

I was also on a panel
that dealt with being
a part of eBay's
community.

I also met several journalist. Here is an article that was a direct result of attending eBay Live 2006 in Las Vegas...

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m08/abu0172/s03

Be a Fashionista on a Beer Budget...




www.one-chic-boutique.com

Last year Entrepreneur Magazine did an EBAY Featured Edition. They did an article about Social Networking. They interviewed me for the article and I ended up being the CENTERFOLD...

Here is a link to the article:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/gettingtraffic/article183878.html

The online archive did not include pictures. Here is the picture of me that made it into the magazine....

Frame Yourself with Chan Luu by OneChicBoutique


What a Frame...

Create your own frame... by framing yourself with style!

Chan Luu designer jewelry is the perfect frame with style!

Frame yourself.
Frame with Style.
Chan Luu is quite a stylish frame!

France by reales



Paris is always a good idea... and be totally in style wearing these Coach Sheela Signature loafers paired up with a GORGEOUS Coach Heritage Stripe Zip Satchel...

Awesome location..
Gorgeous Bag....

Comfy stylish shoes....

Always a good idea!

Leaves are Falling by OneChicBoutique



The leaves are falling. It's time to stay warm...
Stay warm in style with Coach Ellyce Ballet Flats paired up with a Kate Spade Belmont Logan Shoulder Bag...

What a day... what a season.... WHAT STYLE!

dangerous. by **faded**{(jonas luver)&(pink)}


Living Dangerously! Well... not so dangerous when caring a Coach Heritage Stripe Tote...

Kate Spade on a Rainy Day by OneChicBoutique


Kate Spade for a Rainy Day...

Kate Spade's Rainy Rubber Boots paired with a Kate Spade Mercado Coal Tote Bag...
What a nice way to keep dry!
FM83194-61

Winter Wonderland by OneChicBoutique



Baby... it's getting COOOOOOLD outside...

Coach Heritage Stripe Tote, Coach Ergo Wallet and Coach Beale Patchwork SlipOn Sneakers... will warm you up fast!

Oilily Voyage V-Bags by OneChicBoutique


Living la vida Loca..... Oilily is amazing. Their V-Bags are totally hot and original...

Coach Sneakers... all the rage! by OneChicBoutique

Coach Sneakers for ANY occasion!

Coach Varsity Stripe Tote and Audrina Sneakers by OneChicBoutique


Can't you just see yourself walking down Rodeo Dr or sipping a cooler on the patio of a restaurant in Miami Beach in this set... Coach really did this one right. The Coach Legacy Varsity Stripe Tote and the Audrina matching sneakers... Totally Cute and Totally right!

Brighton Crazy by OneChicBoutique

Brighton Up your Day or ANYONE's DAY! With Brighton Jewelry!