Happy New Years Eve!

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New Years Eve sure rolled around fast, didn't it? I personally am happy to welcome a new year ahead. We had many blessings in 2013 but we also had our share of some heart aches. I finally, finally am old enough to understand the promise of a new year and starting off with goals in mind. I've always done a few but they've never really meant much. So I'm excited about some things on the horizon! 

Let's get down to business- what are y'alls plans for the night? First things first, we will be opening up a bottle of Veuve. Can't wait! We decided to go out to dinner with Weeks and Stephen's parents, and then we are stopping by our good friends/neighbors house for an oyster roast. Stephen's parents will watch Weeks while we visit with our friends, but I want to be home to kiss my baby on the head before midnight! 

As for New Years Day, I would like to wake up sans hangover and lounge around, play with Weeks and munch on some good food. Last year we were travelling on New Years Day and I'm looking forward to relaxation and soaking up time with my two boys!

If you are looking for a last minute appetizer for the New Years festivities, this Roast Beef Crostini looks absolutely divine. We will be making it either today or tomorrow. And, I was cracking up reading this article on the 13 People You Always See on New Years Eve. Ok, I'm guilty of a few from time to time. I love putting on party hats. I can get carried away :) Which one are you....please share! The horn abuser? The time lord?! Haha!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let's make 2014 wonderful!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

One thing I am big on for our card- I want it to say Merry Christmas. Especially over the last few years and the more I think about it. That's the reason I am sending the card and I want it to say it! They have become increasingly harder to find! 

And also, I am sending out wishes for a wonderful year ahead full of love, joy, laughter and lightheartedness for your family, and wishing those same things for our own.

-Joy to the World!!-

Christmas Around the House

Can you believe it is the week of Christmas? I really cannot. I feel like I've been prepping for weeks and months but I still have a mile long list of things to do. I'm trying not to get too stressed out though, I just want to enjoy the next several days with my family. Anyway, today I'm so excited to share a few snapshots of Christmas at our home this year!

I planted an amaryllis for the first time and used the same process as I do for paperwhites. Read about that here.

My favorite ornament on the tree this year :)

I love this vignette in our hallway. It is full of Christmas figurines that I collected several years ago. I also used a piece of my Fenton to hold a variety of Christmas ornaments...

On the plain red ones I took a gold pen and wrote little sayings. 

And in our living room,

In the nursery...one of my favorite spots! The nursery really lends itself to looking great with Christmas decorations. Read more about them here.

I found the cutest little wooden nativity set at Target.

And used my pom pom garland from last year's bump updates on the bookshelves...

I'll be sharing some Christmas wishes for you all tomorrow and then I am taking a break until the New Year. The holidays are too important and I want to savor each minute with my loved ones! I hope you all have a blessed Christmas.

I'm Dreaming of a White Kitchen

Just popping in to tell y'all what I've really been up to this past week. Stephen and I decided to paint our kitchen a few weeks ago. As in, the few weeks before Christmas.

Go sell crazy somewhere else. We're all stocked up here!

Kidding. Maybe. It was quite a task to take on though. I might mention Weeks was cutting a tooth and chewing on all of his bottles, we made a last minute trip to see Santa, and all three of us were battling colds. Mine was three weeks long. Stephen and I are still married!

Stephen and I took the task of sanding/priming/sanding/painting/painting the frames and drawers of the cabinets and we hired a professional to spray the cabinet doors. We get them back this weekend- just in the nick of time for my sanity and Christmas! 

But just in case you want to see whats really hiding in our cabinets... here's one shot of a corner in our kitchen. Just imagine that with a pretty painted cabinet door with a shiny new knob on it. The little boxes on the right are where spice drawers hide all of our knick knacks, not spices oddly enough. I haven't decided on what pulls/knobs for those yet since there are so many of them. I'm thinking I will wait and decide after all of the other hardware is in place. Thoughts?

Anyway, I know y'all can't get the gist of my major love here, but it's true and it's real and I have a white kitchen. Something I've always wanted!

Stay tuned, I want to share some Christmas photos around the house, and also- I would love to hear your favorite Christmas Eve meal, dish or cocktail! We are hosting this year and I'm pulling something together at the last minute. As if there was another time for it!

XO.

Five on Friday: 12.13.13

Grilled Cheese Roll Ups

If you follow me on intsagram, you already saw this, but it's worth mentioning here too. I put these together on Tuesday night to pair with soup for a friend who just had her appendix out. All I did was cut the crusts off the bread and flatten each piece. I cut down a piece of cheese so the cheese was slightly smaller than the piece of bread. Roll up tightly and cook seam side down in a little bit of butter. They were amazing. 

Favorite Wine

Stephen and I snuck in a date night and had this wine. We loved it. We were even happier to find it at our local Harris Teeter and Lowes {ahem. for half the price} coming in at $12.99 on sale. If you like buttery chardonnay, this is your ticket.

SheInside

Has anyone shopped SheInside? I came across their site and found a ton of cute things at unreal prices. I've been wanting a chunky white sweater to pair with jeans. And I love, LOVE the grey cardigan with touches of leather. Anyone know of the quality?

chunky sweater

zip cardigan

Fitbit

Who has one? Should I ask for one for Christmas? Although I'm not too cracked up about a black band on my wrist all the time I think it would be interesting to see my activity level and steps to keep healthier. Find it here.

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

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And don't forget to link your Friday posts up! 

A Christmas So Ever Green

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I think my favorite element of Christmas decor this year is touches of fresh greenery. We get a big boxwood wreath for our front door every year and I love the classic look every time I pull in the driveway. Do you incorporate fresh greens into your decor?

Christmas Jammies

I found these jammies several months ago at Buy Buy Baby, I think the first day all of the Christmas merchandise hit the floors. I couldn't grab them fast enough. He is just as sweet as sugar in these little man plaid flannel pj's! I took these when he was lying in our bed one morning, nothing sweeter than to see this face next to your pillow. Truly. 

Make sure to join Darci, Natasha, Ashley, Jenny and Julie!

Thanksgiving, Birthday and Newspaper Love

Finally getting around to a little holiday recap...

Our Thanksgiving week started out a little unexpected. As in a tornado hit our town, with my in laws house in its path. A freaking tornado at the beach. Sounds absurd but it really happened. We live about a mile or so away from the path of the tornado. It had been a really nasty, windy night and when the lights started flickering Stephen called his Mom to see if their power had gone out. Little did we know a tornado was just making its way through their neighborhood at that moment. Sounds like a movie, but it happened so, so quick. I was convinced at that moment that the tornado was headed right for our house so we jumped in the bathtub and hunkered down until the warning was gone. It doesn't seem as scary retelling it but my heart was pounding thinking about how I would keep my baby (and sweet Dixie) safe if a tornado ripped through our house. I was counting on Stephen to hold down Tucker, although we need to work on his emergency drill skills- he wasn't fond of the bathroom scene! Luckily, the damage at Stephen's parents home was not terribly bad other than a ton of clean up, some roof repairs, fencing  and cars. It was bad but could have been so much worse.

So that changed our plans a bit and we stayed in town until Thanksgiving Day Lunch. Stephen was able to help his family a lot with clean up and getting things back in order. Such a mess a tornado can create! None the less, we still had a wonderful lunch at his parents home two days after a tornado. This was my contribution, my go-to sweet potato casserole. The bomb.

Loved getting my man dressed up for Turkey Day! He is barely squeezing in this 12 month shirt here. 

Little man had mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce for lunch. I think it was a hit with him.

That afternoon Weeks and I took a serious nap in the car and we made the trip to Raleigh in time for dinner, to eat again! We are so used to two Thanksgivings by now and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

The next day we had more celebrations, this one for my beautiful niece Lisi. I cannot believe she is 1 already! Time really does fly. She loved grabbing handfuls of birthday cake. Weeks helped her out a little bit too.

And was seriously a party pooper afterwards.

And then, to continue more celebrations it was my birthday on Saturday! I actually came down with a downright horrible cold/sickness after a night of no sleep {thanks to a tornado} and still have not completely recovered. But my sweet family made it so special and that is all that matters. We went out for an awesome lunch at Dos Taquitos {my fave!} and I took another long nap. Take out and birthday cake ended the night! 

One shot of the cousins over the weekend. Lisi just learned to kiss :)

And, a little birthday treat for me as well- Weeks' nursery was featured in the Raleigh newspaper. The link is here if you want to check it out :)

We are just so thankful this year. Hope you had a great weekend!

Three on Friday 12.6.13

Today I'm switching it up a bit and sharing three on Friday! Three lovies from Hobby Lobby that are decking our halls and babe this Christmas. I found these a few weeks ago, but when I checked last week I was still able to find them.

Paper Link Garland

Loving the old school paper link garland. It came as a kit and all of the links had a pre affixed piece of tape that made it super easy to assemble. It's swagged over the antlers in Weeks' room and it might be my favorite Christmas touch so far! 

Store Bought Framed Turned Personalized!

I bought the basic frame below and used a stencil kit I had in my craft supplies to personalize for a much more interesting frame.

I just stuck our birth announcment in there for now, even though some of the announcement writing can be seen on the left. It might just end up staying because I'm loving it.

Iron On Bow Tie

Last but not least, this sweet little iron on bow tie will have Weeks spiffed up even in a onesie. Never underestimate the power of a onesie!

Linking up with the ladies of Five on Friday!