Holidaze

I'm really looking forward to slowing down this weekend before the holidays are officially here in 3 days (we celebrate with family on Christmas Eve as well). As always, we end up running all over for the holidays and this year is no exception sadly. With the windy weather today, I'm hoping to get some grocery shopping done today so we can relax and really enjoy our weekend before the business begins.

Right now i's time to settle down and really focus on those around you and be grateful that you have them [and that the world didn't end - wink]. My happiness will be cozying up by the glow of the Christmas tree with some hot chocolate, my boys, and the "Dexter" series. We'll finish up the gift wrapping, make more garland for the tree, and prep the breakfast casserole for Christmas morning. 

 Happy holidays to you and yours.

May your days be merry + bright!

♥

Star Wars: Wes Anderson Edition

I don't know about everyone, but the work week is finally slowing down in preparation for the holidays.

For anyone trying to pass time in the office, this short clip from Conan showing Wes Anderson's version of "Star Wars  Episode VII."

It is amazing and will surely make your day!

Enjoy! 

xo

Thursday Tunes: Holidays Rule

It's so nice finding some new holiday albums to compliment the current rotation!

Although you can't beat the classics like Bing Crosby, Vince Guaraldi, Frank Sinatra, etc., it is nice to find new versions of your favorite songs! 

Enjoy this new album "Holidays Rule" with some great artists!

♥

Happy Birthday: Husband Edition

Today is such a special day: my dear, sweet husband turns 30 - or better known as the "dirty thirty" around our household. I feel so honored to be able to share this day - and each and every day - with him!

It's amazing to me that we've been together over 7 years and how much my J has grown in these past years. This new decade is a huge milestone and I'm so excited to see all of the great things in store for him.

 Jason - you are truly my better half: with your brilliant mind, beautiful humanity, fuzzy face, dancing feet, unyielding dreams, and desire to travel. It's true that I am not nearly as good as you with words, but you inspire me to try. You are able to make me laugh and smile like no one else can. I am your biggest fan and cherish each minute with you. I look forward to growing old with you and all of our adventures. 

I will always choose you - you are home.

Happy birthday baby - I love you x infinity + 1. 

Thirty looks damn good on you.

♥

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?" - Satchel Paige

Festivus

We've been really enjoying these last few weeks leading up to Christmas. We kept our niece a few weekends ago. We drove by all the lighted houses and made yummy sugar cookies. Her elf, Lily, even surprised her at our house.

Our home is finally decorated and it feels so cozy at night with the lights off in the house except for the tree and our little houses!

The stockings are hug [on the hutch] with care. I can't wait to fill these for J + Townes!

 

My mother-in-law is always so great at celebrating the holiday so the other night we tried a new holiday tradition at Atlantic Station. We ate a yummy dinner at Yard House (they have 120 beers on tap and an awesome vegetarian menu) and then we walked around into different shops. 

We even got our photo taken with Santa!

 

We ended the night with some cheesecake! It was such a nice new tradition!

 It's so wonderful being able to enjoy this time of the year with our family and friends. 

What are your favorite parts of the holiday season?

xo

Thursday Tunes: Christmas Time is Here

Like most folks, J + I have a holiday tradition of watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I think we especially love the Peanut characters now that we have our own Snoopy (Beagle)! 

The Earl hosts 2 nights of Jeffrey Butzer and T.T. Mahony playing Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to the classic holiday film.

J + I are hoping to go sometime this weekend! Hope to see you there!

xo

P.S. If you're looking for another amazing Charlie Brown Christmas song - this one is still a funny favorite! Haha!

DIY: Personalized Stockings

We finally put up all of our Christmas decorations last week (pictures to follow soon) before our niece, Natalie, came to visit. So this past weekend, she noticed our stockings and asked how we could tell which stocking belonged to which person. Good question! Townes has the vintage Snoopy stocking, but the stockings I handmade for J + I were both just generic. 

I decided to use some simple pipe cleaners that I had around the house to make some letter initials to put on our stockings. I used some baker's twine to attach the letters to the stockings.

 The whole project took about 5 minutes and was so easy!

 The stockings still look plain, but at least it adds a personal touch and some more color!

Happy 12.12.12 y'all!

xo

happy birthday!

Looking back, I always think it's so funny how much my path was aligned to meet my J - like it was destiny. Truth be told, I feel the exact same way about my best friend, Beth. We knew so many of the same people growing up, then managed to apply at the same restaurant in college (after she transferred to UGA from Auburn), got the same position at the hostess stand so we could spend hours getting to know each other, took a road trip to Nashville together, and she was even there when J + I started dating. 

Even after we lost touch for a bit after I left Athens and while she was away up north in grad school, we have always been kindred spirits. 

Now that she lives in the same city as I do, I couldn't feel more grateful. She is my inspiration, my outdoors adventurer, my always honest therapist, and my absolute favorite. We both may have sisters, but I consider her blood.

Happy birthday to my dearest xoleh! 

I love you to pieces!

♥

Freaks + Geeks Reunion

Freaks + Geeks will always be one of my favorite TV shows ever made. Not only did I love all of the characters, but it also reminds me of such a magical time. J + I had just started dating and I lived with my best friend in a house in the woods our senior year of college and we didn't have cable or internet. We would watch the episodes all of the time - sadly it wasn't a longer series!

Vanity Fair just did a reunion photo shoot. Hard to believe that it's been over 10 years ago that the show was on the air and to see all of the actors that are still so relevant and big today!

P.S. Bill was always my favorite character!

Happy Friday!

♥

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Featured Artist: Izziyana Suhaimi

 I am crushing on these embroidered pieces by artist, Izziyana Suhaimi. Her pencil sketches alone are beautiful, but the colored embroidery really makes these pieces magical. 

Is it just me or would the below embroidery be amazing on a plain white t-shirt? 

♥

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Double Dipped

After I updated a vase for my office (see here), I decided to update a vase in our bathroom. The vase holds some dried craspedia from our wedding and was a bit boring.

Using some basic black + white acrylic paint and some painter's tape, I decided to give the vase a dipped look too.

I taped off the line that I wanted and put on the first coat of paint.

I ended up doing 2 coats and after it dried completely, I removed the tape. 

The lines weren't perfect so I ended up free-handing the edge a bit to make it look more even (it is hard to get a straight line with painter's tape when the object is round)!

Voila! I love how the grey ties the vase in to the wall color!

Hope y'all are having a great week!

♥