Hello Blog. It’s been 20 days since my last confession.

Oh wait! Wrong audience. *embarrassed blush*

I don’t know about you but this holiday wiped me out! I can barely remember what day it is much less who I’m talking to anymore. But now that I’ve had a few days after Christmas to recover I figure it’s about time to celebrate 2010 with a … wait for it… G-I-V-E-A-W-A-Y! *readers cheer*

Now I admit I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions. It always seems like every year making a New Year’s Resolution is like setting myself up for failure. I think my problem is that I make these crazy resolutions that are way too specific. For example: By 2011 you will lose 50lbs. See what I mean? I can’t even remember the last time I lost 5 lbs much less 50 lbs. But it’s not *MY* fault. I blame Tuesdays with Dorie. Yeah I said it! Whatcha gonna do about it? *getting into my Karate Kid crane stance* Don’t mess with me. I aint afraid to use it.

So this year. I say PHOOEY on da man! (I’m eating a 3 day old red velvet cupcake as I type this to prove my point!) I decided to set my New Year’s Resolution BEFORE New Year’s. I figure it would take away the stigma and maybe I’d actually accomplish it. I decided to call it my Un-New Year’s Resolution. Ta da! The Mad Hatter would be so proud. And furthermore. I decided to ban any kind of weight loss, diet, South Beach, Atkins, low carb terminology in my Un-Year’s Resolutions too. Instead I want to focus on something that’s been on my to-do list for a long time: organize my kitchen!

Remember my recent tweet about these vinyl stickers?

It would be an understatement to say how much I LOVE.LOVE.LOVE these stickers. Talk about organization meets kitchen chic! Forget the Ikea shelves and wall racks that my husband installed for me. My favorite part of my kitchen are these glass jars and vinyl stickers. They make me smile every time I scoop out a cup of flour/sugar/brown sugar.

To celebrate my Un-New Year’s Resolution 2010, Jamie of Studio JK is sponsoring a set of 6 vinyl labels to one lucky reader. *golf clap

You can even customize it to your kitchen with the color and “words” of your choice. I went with the traditional black b/c I like how it matches with my stainless steel appliances but you could be more adventurous with red or blue or green or yellow to match your Kitchen Aid. How fun is that?

Here’s the fine print.

Rules:
(1) Only one entry per person please.
(2) Only those who live within the US eligible to win prizes. (Sorry my international peeps!)
(3) Please make sure you have a valid email address so I can contact you if you win.

To enter leave a comment:
What is your Un-New Year’s Resolution? (Remember ixnay on the ietday alktay please!)

Want an extra entry?
Just copy, paste and retweet about my giveaway! Leave me a separate comment with the link to your tweet.

RT @IHCuppycakes Happy Un-New Year’s Resolution **GIVEAWAY** with @studiojkvinyl’s vinyls! http://bit.ly/5JK1l2

Deadline: Monday, January 4th @ 11:59pm EST

Winners will be chosen by Mr. Random Generator.

A very merry Un-New Year’s to you! and you and you and youuuuuuu…

What was the WORST Christmas food related gift you’ve ever received?

This happened about 6 Christmases ago.

My ex-SIL (you can already tell there’s some bad history from her prefix) was the QUEEN of gifts. She had that creative flair that made every gift perfectly wrapped with bows and matching To and From tags. You know those types right? *cough April cough* I kid you not. Ex-SIL was the Debbie Homemaker of gifts. I would try to aspire to wrap gifts like her but I am WAY too lazy to make a bow look that perky.

So imagine my surprise when the last Christmas that she was part of our family, Hubs and I received our gift as an unwrapped box of Sees candy. Now we’re not gift greedy or anything. I’m all about the food and candy gifts for Christmas being a foodie myself but this gift was so uncharacteristic of her. That’s what made it so surprising. But wait there’s more…

Upon opening the box of Sees candy, we realized right away that it was a regift. How did we know… you ask?

Candy had mold. It was straight up fuzzy.

It’s not right what she did to that chocolate. Damn shame.

Alternative Title: Dear Santa, I’ve been a good girl (more than 50% of the time). Here’s what I want this year.

1. Digital Measuring Cup and Scale $34.95
How many times have you read in your baking books that measuring ingredients by weight is much better for baking? I am almost ashamed to admit that I still do the old school scoop-and-level technique. But now this little gadget combines a measuring cup and a digital scale. It’s the best of both worlds. If Santa doesn’t bring me one, I might have to buy it myself.

2. Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Pasta Attachment $179.95
I love pasta so this attachment makes me giddy. Check out the link for a video too. I think the thing that pushes me over the edge is all the different pasta cutters that come with it in a nice little compartment. I’m a sucker for packaging.

3. Kitchenaid Glass Bowl $69.99
I don’t need the Kitchenaid Mixer. I already have my beautiful Artisan red that I fondly named Ginger Spice. I just want the glass bowl. Think about it. You can microwave it. Can you imagine the possibilities if you could microwave and go straight to beating/whipping in your mixer? It also has measuring lines and a spout to pour. I’m sold.

4. The Magic Mouse $69.00
This isn’t “quite” foodie but it’s foodie related esp if you are a foodie that blogs. I love my iPhone and my Mac so I’m excited to try out the touch mouse esp since I hate the ball scrolling mouse I have right now. The ball is on it’s last “roll”. Right now I can scroll “up” but “down” aint happening anymore. I think it’s a design flaw for the mac mouse so the touch mouse would eliminate that issue. And it doesn’t hurt that the mouse is damn sexy.

5. Le Creuset French Oven, Red $225-$260 (depending on size)
Talk about lusting. I’ve been LUSTING after a Le Creuset french oven for a LONG time. But check out that price tag. All foodies swear by it regardless of price. That’s how I feel about my KitchenAid mixer but I have yet to break down and buy a Le Creuset. The price always deters me. But I’m a little hopeful after reading Michelle of Brown-Eyed Baker’s post about “Buying Le Creuset on a Budget“. Next stop. Marshalls.

6. Temecula Olive Oil Sampler Pack $23.99
I am obsessed with Temecula Olive Oil. I went to their store for an olive oil tasting a couple months ago and it’s better than a wine tasting! Although many of my wino friends may disagree. HA! I use it so much that my 4 bottles are almost gone! I have tried their Citrus Olive Oil (made cupcakes with it!), Lemon Olive Oil, Basil Olive Oil (it’s amazing on pizza and pasta!) and Vanilla&Fig Balsamic Vinegar (pour a little on some brie and instant appetizer!)

7. Pizza Peel $18.71
I already have a pizza stone from William Sonoma but I feel like I’m not using it to it’s full potential without a pizza peel. Trust me. Trying to get an uncooked pizza onto a HOT pizza stone is impossible in one try. Unless you don’t mind ghetto looking pizza and/or burned fingers. Nothing wrong with ghetto but I’m OCD about my pizza being round and pretty.

8. The Steamy Kitchen by Jaden Hair $18.45
I’m Asian (specifically Vietnamese) so I have a thing about wanting Asians to succeed. You can ask my bff, Nikki, about my Asian obsession. When we watch our 2 fav shows, Project Runway and Top Chef, I always want the token Asian to win. (Chef Hung rules!) What can I say? I’ve got the Asian pride. So of all the new cookbooks out right now I definitely wanna get a copy of The Steamy Kitchen. My mom would be so excited to see me learn how to cook Vietnamese food. And I can tell my mom that I kinda sorta know Jaden. Ok not really. But I follow her on twitter so I feel like I do. (Is that stalker-ish?)

9. Lowell Ego Light $88.99 ($177.98 for 2)
My old apartment use to face in the wrong direction to get any natural light. My new house is better but in the natural light department but not as good as it could be. Many foodie friends that live in a cave like me swear by these Lowell lights. I think it’s about time to take my food photography to the next level and get myself some decent lighting. My camera will thank me.

10. Sony Under-Counter LCD TV/CD Clock Radio $399.99
My friend has an under the counter LCD tv/radio combo in her kitchen and I LOVE it. Wouldn’t it be fun to watch your favorite foodie shows (Top Chef, Ace of Cakes, Cake Challenge, Giada DeLaurentiis, Barefoot Contessa etc) while actually in your kitchen cooking? I think so! That way my Hubs can watch what he wants and I can be in the kitchen watching what I want. I wonder how hard it would be to run cable to my kitchen? Ah details details.

Footnote:
I stole borrowed this fabulous list idea from my foodie friend, Maria of Two Peas and a Pod after reading about her favorite foodie things via her blog. I added a few things from her list to my Dear Santa letter along with other gadgets I’ve been lusting after for a while. Hope my list (and hers) gives you some ideas for the foodies in your life. Hopefully one of the foodies is me! *wink

I can’t believe it’s been 30 days.

So much has happened.

I don’t even know where to begin to recap.

Let’s just end my NaBloPoMo journey by saying… There’s no place like home.

Hallelujah!

My kitchen is almost unpacked. I’m ready to get my bake on again soon. What should I bake to christen my new kitchen? So many choices… Not enough calories in a day. I tell ya. It’s a hard knock life. *wink*

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I can’t believe I’ve been in my new home for almost a week. There are still boxes everywhere. But we can almost fit one car in the garage now though. HA!

It’s still kinda surreal for me.

Remember when I blogged about being unsure if it was all worth it?

Two words.

It is.

Readers,

I’m running on 4 hours of sleep and credit card adrenaline to write this post so bare with me.

My friends and family that know I wake up at 4am to get the early bird after Thanksgiving shopping deals think I’m crazy since a lot of the deals are online too but to them I ask one question… Can you make money shopping online? Answer: No you can’t! Whereas since I let someone cut in front of me in line at Best Buy, they paid me $20.

Booyahhhhh!

That’s what I’m talking about.

I save money *AND* I make money.

(And the new Blu-ray player and 32″ LCD for the bedroom doesn’t hurt either. *wink*)

I L.O.V.E Black Friday.

How did all you bargain shoppers make out?

Now I’m off to bed. (Yes, I realize it’s only 730pm. Stop laughing.)

*gobble gobble*

But more importantly…

HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY’S EVE!

After I eat my weight in turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie, I’ve got my eye on a tool set from Sears for Hubs, a Dyson vacuum from Target, a blu ray player from Best Buy for Hubs, a dutch oven from Macys and …

*happy sigh*

I love the holidays.

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This will be the first year that I won’t be baking anything for Hubs’ family Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m usually in charge of dessert but considering I can’t find my springform pans and my glass pie pan broke during the move, I’m not in any position to bake. Looks like good ‘ol reliable Marie Calendar will be filling in this year instead. *sad face*

But here’s what I was planning to make. It’s the thought that counts right?

Cheesecake with Cranberry-Maple Topping from Cooking Light Magazine

Sorry Family. I’ll make it up to you for Christmas.

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I can’t believe I’ve been a first time (town)homeowner for 2 days now. Let me tell you. I have learned a few things in that short amount of time.

Get ready for a list. Remember I’m a listmaker. It was bound to happen (again).

1. I guess marking a box “fragile” doesn’t mean much at the end of a long moving day. I lost a few “glass” items during the move. I found the box at the bottom of a tower of boxes. The box on top was marked “books”. *smacks head*
2. You *CAN* have too much packing tape on a box. (My husband loves the packing tape.)
3. Set aside some band-aids b/c you will need them before, during and after. Last count was 13 box related cuts. Oh wait. There’s number 14 and 15 too.
4. Don’t be surprised if you are using a beach towel as a bathroom rug b/c you can’t find your “real” rugs. I mean. So I’ve heard.
5. Call the utilities ASAP. The builders will only foot the bill for so long. My neighbor learned that the hard way. Can you say… Light’s out!? They even padlocked her meter. Dayum.
6. The boxes start to multiple like rabbits.
7. You will have TONS of trash on your first trash pick up day. I think my trashman hates me right now.
8. You won’t be able to park in your garage for several weeks. (See #6)
9. You won’t know how you ever lived without your own washer and dryer before.
10. Acknowledge and appreciate all your friends and family. Without them this would not be possible.

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