So I am wanting new stockings this Christmas! I am in love with the look of this vintage stocking, but I can’t really justify the cost of $120 for three stockings. Any ideas on where to get some similar to this?
I am also open to other stocking ideas. Where did you get yours?
So many cute things on the web this week, friends! Here’s what I am loving!
I came across this on a gift guide for great gifts under $10 – it’s a Tiny Book of your instagram photos. LOVE! And you know how I feel about tiny things. You can get three books (each of different pics) for $10. What an awesome stocking stuffer! See the details at Printstagram.
Okay, so this is only for people with extreme amounts of patience, cooking ability and creativity, but is this not the most awesome pie you have ever seen? I so want to be invited to anyone’s house if you make this. Featured on A Subtle Revelry.
I can’t really say that black cakes are something I have seen much of outside of an “over the hill” party, but isn’t this amazing? I mean if you were going to do a black cake, this would be the way to do it! Featured on The Cake Blog and created by Wild Orchid Baking Co.
I love this wood wreath created by Finding Home. She did it herself and had great instructions. (Truthfully, I would be in the market to buy this, but either way it is really cute!)
Love, love, love this multi purposed play stand featured at That’s My Letter. I would have loved this as a kid. It has instructions on how to do it yourself (if you can do that sort of thing). Is it too early to get one of these for Emmy?
Here’s to hoping I find more fun things next week!
I have just a few things on my Christmas list this year. I love reading what everyone else is wishing for! I always love great gift ideas.
My top want is a new lens for my camera. This one is only $100 and hopefully will up my picture game. (High hopes.)
Also for my camera, I would love this camera remote for a stocking stuffer! You know for all of my selfies. Ha!
I am in need of some new gym shoes (and workout pants, but short sizes are so hard to find), and truth be told, I need as much help as I can get to go to the gym, so maybe some new shoes would help. I think these polka dot Nikes are so cute!
These purple ones are super cute too, but they don’t have my size. Sigh.
I am also in the market for a new red coat. This one is more of a wine color. I have one that I got at the kids section of Target about 6 years ago that I LOVE. I still wear it, but the inside liner is all ripped out and I guess the world is telling me it is time to upgrade.
I am pretty simple, so I think that is about it. I would love to know what you all are asking for! Let me know if you have blogged your list!
About a week before Emmy was born I went out and bought a “fancy” mom camera. Clearly since the camera was expensive that meant the quality of my pictures would be amazing and a photographer I would be. Um, yeah. Not so much. I basically have resorted to using my iPhone and snapping a couple of “okay” pictures here and there in automatic.
I have wanted to learn to use it, but truth be told, I thought it would be way too complicated and over my head. Also, with a new baby, who has the time to take a photography class?
Note to anyone who buys a fancy camera: Take a class before the baby gets here or you will be so disappointed when you finally take the class and your baby is one and you realize you missed out on some amazing photo opps. (Oh wait, is that just me?)
This weekend I was invited to take the Mamarazzi class offered by Ashley Thompson and Jenny Collier. If you read nothing else in this post, I highly recommend you take this class! Even if you aren’t a mom (maybe you are an aunt, a cat/dog mom or just like to take pictures of things that move), you will get so much out of this class.
I haven’t really “learned” anything new in forever and it felt so good to actually be stretched and learn a new skill. Also, the camera is not nearly as complicated as I thought. As an auditory and hands-on learner, I would never have been able to look up the correct way to use my camera and teach myself (clearly)!
In the class you not only learn how to use your camera outside of automatic, but you learn about what makes a great picture, how to use light to your advantage and what to do to take pictures if you live in a dungeon (ahem).
While I am by no means a professional (and I hope I don’t embarrass you, Ashley and Jenny), I am really impressed with my rapid improvement in both composition of a good photo and the ability to shoot without the camera doing all the work for me.
And, I have had way more fun taking pictures than I ever thought I would. Here are some snapshots I have taken of little girl in the past two days. As we learned in the class, your pictures should tell a story and speak for themselves. Hopefully these do that!
Okay, this one doesn’t really tell a story except for a story of cuteness!
Most importantly, I now have the skill to take some amazing (well, for me) shots of my sweet little girl.
Thanks again, Ashley and Jenny for offering me this opportunity to take your class and if you are in the area (Oklahoma), I would highly recommend putting this class on your Christmas list for next year! If you are outside of the area, look into their ebook here.
I obviously have food on my mind, but I am eating breakfast right now and was thinking how delicious it was, so I thought I would share with you all.
I love, love, love this Noosa brand yogurt. It has such a unique taste and is just beyond delicious. My favorite flavors are blueberry, peach and mango. They sell them at Target and locally at Reasors. The yogurt is a recipe from Australia and made in Colorado. I promise you won’t be disappointed if you even remotely like yogurt.
It is even better when you pair it with Milk and Honey brand granola. You can read the description below, but it is really tasty. I liked the packaging and thought I would try it. I bought the cinnamon raisin at Reasors.
They also have a really delicious looking granola pancake recipe on their website.
I wish I was being paid for these endorsements, but alas I am not. I just am always on the lookout for something quick and delicious in the morning! Let me know if you try it and what you think!
Believe it or not, some of my friends in real life actually made some of my meals that I posted a few weeks ago, so I thought I would share a few more.
I try to make my week night cooking as simple as possible so that I don’t spend what little time I have after work in the kitchen, so these should be super easy.
Sunday:
Real Simple’s Chicken Enchiladas Verde – I have never actually made this, but it is in the new cookbook I mentioned in my last post. My modifications to this will be that I will use my trusty rotisserie chicken because I have no interest in boiling and shredding one and I have a preference for corn tortillas over flour.
Monday:
I am going to be making this Easy Chicken and Couscous Skillet Dinner from Kevin & Amanda. This is another one I am trying for the first time, but it looks simple enough (and calls for rotisserie chicken). Also, if you haven’t had Israeli Couscous, it is really good and has a fun texture, so you should give it a try! Oh, I also buy my carrots pre-chopped (like the kind you would find in slivers in salads to save a few minutes – clearly I am the ultimate in lazy when it comes to cooking).
Tuesday:
There is no image for this one, but I am making a favorite of mine – Rachael Ray’s Buffalo Chicken Chili. It is supposed to get cold later this week and this is perfect for cold weather. It is really pretty simple and I can use the extra onions, carrots and celery from the above meal in this one as well. As a note, I don’t use nearly the amount of buffalo sauce since we serve it to the baby, so you may want to start small and add a little to taste.
Wednesday:
Club House Turkey Burgers from Iowa Girl Eats with fries and a caprese salad. My sister made these this summer and they were delicious! I have been having a hankering for bbq, so I think this will hit the spot! (Not a pregnancy craving – just a hankering. Promise!)
Even though this menu only goes through Wednesday we will usually adjust because something always comes up where we don’t eat at home or we eat something super fast and I hate to waste too much food.
I keep these items on hand for dinner in a hurry:
For you locals, Reasors sells these Texas Tamale brand tamales in their gourmet/organic frozen section and I try to keep some in the freezer because they are awesome, low cal (130 for 2) and so, so fast and delicious. Even Emmy loves them! When I say fast, you can warm them in the microwave for three minutes and they are perfect! They are a little “pricey” for frozen food – like $9, but really are worth it for a good dinner on the go.
We also keep these Morningstar veggie corn dogs on hand as well. They are pretty good (especially with mustard) and Emmy gets so excited when she gets them. I assume they are a veggie of some sort, so it’s a win.
For those of you who don’t know me, I don’t eat red meat or pork, hence my meals are really chicken heavy. Luckily, Tommy will eat anything and the baby has an affinity for chicken just like her mama. I hope these are somewhat helpful to you in planning your meals for the week. I now just wish I could get someone to grocery shop for me!
This week I went to my first Cookbook Club dinner. My friend Megan and Daisi invited my sister and I to come to the first dinner with their new cookbook – Real Simple Easy, Delicious Home Cooking.
Each person brings one item from the cookbook to the dinner and we all discuss the dish (amongst other fun stuff), what modifications you made and what you might do differently next time.
For those of you who like a quick, easy meal, I would highly recommend this cookbook. Everything was delicious and really was easy – as you know is a requirement in my life.
My dish was dessert and I brought Peppermint Brownies. This was honestly the recipe – take one box of brownie mix and make according to package (I used Ghiradelli double chocolate brownies), pour half the batter into the pan (8x8) and then layer with York Peppermint Patties and then pour the remaining batter on top and cook according to directions. Now that is a recipe I can stand behind!
Since we are on the subject of food, I thought these pretzel Christmas trees featured on I Heart Naptimes by Sweet Rose Studio were super cute and looked doable!
I am sure I have mentioned my obsession with polka dots. It’s actually a sickness. I have so many and I just.can’t.stop. A Subtle Revelry had a really easy tutorial on how to make these adorable silver polka dot balloons. Love!
Another favorite from A Subtle Revelry are these really great ideas on what to do with your post-Halloween pumpkins. These are all so pretty/delicious and clever!
I feel like I have seen a lot of ice cream party ideas on blogs, but this one stood out to me because of it’s simplicity of design. Isn’t the little cart cute? See more on Kara’s Party Ideas.
The little angel is now chirping! And I just realized I never posted on her happenings this month. I am sure you have all been waiting with bated breath! More soon!
We had so much fun celebrating Halloween with our little owl. She did surprisingly well in her costume and pretty much stole the show. (The audience being her mom, dad, and grandparents, so not hard to do.)
I got out my fancy camera and took some pics. Next weekend I am going to be taking a photography course from the wonderful Jenny Collier and Ashley Thompson Westfall. I am pretty excited about learning how to use my camera and hopefully bringing you all better pics. Luckily, it won’t take much for me to show improvement. And I love that the class if focused on moms getting good shots of their kids. Here’s more information if you are local(ish).
She really was so cute in her costume!
And serious face (bribed with the phone since it is a very special treat that only grandmas give her)!
Our first (and only) house.
Oooh! What’s in there?!
And outtakes from our photo shoot. Because we all need a little smile!
Sorry I am blowing up your reader with all of my edits, but I am editing to add that I got her costume last year at Babies R Us for $4 (marked down from $33) a few days after Halloween. It was really cute and decent quality (not scratchy), so if you have little ones who won’t care what they are (I am guessing the 2 and under set), you might hit them up in the next few days!
Hope you all had a very happy day! Bring on the Christmas music! (It’s not too early, right?)
