carmex, coffee, caramel cheesecake and christmas

Have you ever heard of Carmex? Well, if not, it’s the grossest brand of chapstick ever. And to my dismay, it also happens to be Davey’s favorite. I can’t stand it. I won’t even kiss him if he’s wearing it. Carmex is like the Fisherman’s friend {nasty, strong cough drops} of chapstick. Yuk.

Well, the other day, I was in Walgreens and saw a possible compromise:

Flavored Carmex! So, I bought Davey the strawberry one and I actually don’t mind it! That is, until it was in his pocket when I did laundry. Have you ever put chapstick in the dryer? It melts and becomes liquid. Thank God it didn’t explode, however, some leaked out and now all of our clothes smell like strawberry Carmex. It’s like the chapstick is getting back at me for not liking it. Gross.

Something that is not gross is the new holiday coffee that I bought. I stumbled upon this brand when I was in Home Goods and it’s A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I usually strike out miserably when I buy cheap coffee at places like Home Goods. I’ve tried apple pie, hazelnut, pumpkin and a few others and they were undrinkable. I blame it on the cool packaging… I’m a sucker for a pretty label. Anyway, this coffee is so gooooood! And how cool is the packaging?! Andddd it’s Fair Trade. 

This morning, I had a steaming cup (or 3) of the Nice blend- sweet vanilla and heavenly nutmeg. If tastes like Christmas. Yum. So next time you’re in Home Goods or TJ Max, get your hands on this coffee!

This coffee is very delicious with this salted caramel cheesecake that I made for Thanksgiving and that I’ll probably make again for Christmas. Gingersnap cookie crust, creamy cheesecake topped with sweet caramel and a sprinkle of salt. Even my husband who only likes plain cheesecake, loved this!

That’s not a picture of mine, unfortunately. Mine didn’t turn out that pretty, but it tasted as good as that looks!  Salted caramel is all the rage these days… probably because it’s so delicious. It’s a beautiful contrast… salty and sweet. And worth every calorie.

We’ve had the Christmas tree up since Thanksgiving morning, but I waited until December to post a picture. Isn’t it beautiful?! I love my parent’s tree! It’s all decorated now, but I took this picture right before we took our picture for our Christmas card. It turned out pretty cool! I’ll post it next week 🙂

And it’s definitely Christmas time around here…tons of traffic, and the malls are PACKED! Even if you get there early, good luck finding a parking spot. The other day, my mom and I went shopping and there was the coolest thing in the parking garage!!! It is a new parking garage guidance system that is designed to direct shoppers to the nearest available parking space.

How it works
Follow the lights to an available parking space.

Green Light:
Parking space is available.

Red Light:
Parking space is not available.

Blue Light:
Disabled parking space is available.

It’s seriously the coolest thing ever! I wish I took a picture of it! It makes shopping a little less stressful.

It’s the little things 🙂 Happy December!