merry christmas

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! We truly enjoyed our day spending time with family and friends. We are looking forward to a little 'r' and 'r' next week! Hope you get to enjoy some too!

jolie boutique

It's funny how when you get older you just want money for Christmas so you can get something that you really want. Well if that is you and you get money, then I know just the place where you can spend it. Jolie is the best boutique around. It's located in my hometown of Belmont, just 10 minutes from Charlotte. I promise you'll find something that you love. If you come, let me know and after we shop I'll get you a coffee from Caravan or a bottled Coke from the Belmont General Store.

Christmas is so close! I'll be back soon...

happy tape

Sorry if it seems like I've been on a blog vacation. It's that time of year and life is getting busy, but I did want to take a moment to introduce you to happy tape. You can find it here.

And just look at what you can do with it:

Gotta love the raffia! Have a great weekend!

fruit dip

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season! We are just 10 days away from the big day. Luckily I'm almost finished with my shopping. I just wanted to quickly drop in and give you an easy fruit dip recipe. This dip is great for parties, showers, and tailgates.

Only two ingredients:

Mix them together and tada!

great joy

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"Behold I bring you good news of great JOY that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

christmas books

Christmas is one of those holidays that brings me back to my childhood. I was so blessed to have parents that not only taught my sister and I the real meaning of Christmas, but they also created beautiful memories of the season for us too. One of my favorite memories is my dad reading Christmas stories to my sister and I before bedtime. Here are my favorites!

My dad gave me a copy of this book a couple years ago. Now Paul reads it to me on Christmas each year (cheesy, but so so sweet). This is my all time favorite.

Who doesn't love this one?

My dad reads this story every Christmas Eve. It's still one of my favorite traditions.

This book is sweet. I know my mom loves this one too.

What books do you remember reading at Christmastime?

All of these books can be purchased here

copy cat

I have wanted to put some curtains in my bathroom for a while now and I decided to go ahead and do it this weekend. I knew I wanted an ikat print, but I could not find a navy print any where. I finally found some at MaryJo's this weekend. I found this awesome tutorial and decided to copy it. I made it for only $15 (1 yard of fabric, foam board, batting, and duct tape - yes. i too duct taped the whole thing:). You'll need a staple gun too. Mine is not as cute as the one in the tutorial, but my print was so big. I needed every inch of space I could get. Try it and let me know how your's turns out!

ornamental

Paul and I don't collect really anything, but we did start a tradition on our honeymoon of collecting Christmas ornaments. We buy an ornament in every town that we visit. Typically, the ornament has something to do with the town. For example, the ornament from our honeymoon in Playa del Carmen is a little sombrero. It's a neat tradition and I look forward to putting them on the tree each year. I do like trees to have some matching/coordinating ornaments, but I like some sentimental ones mixed in there too. Here are some Christmas ornaments to get you in the spirit!

Love this.

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If I had a dog (maybe someday), then I would have this ornament.

breakfast pizzas

I cannot believe it's December already!

There aren't many dishes that you can have for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but this is one of them even though they are called breakfast pizzas. You and your Christmas guests can enjoy them for breakfast and you and your family can enjoy them paired with a salad for a quick and easy lunch or dinner. I have also made the breakfast pizzas as appetizers for Christmas parties too. Oh, and you can also freeze these and save them for a later date. It just doesn't get any better than that.

What you need:

Brown the sausage, then drain. Put the sausage back in the skillet pan and add the cheese. Stir mixture until the cheese is melted.

Divide the english muffins and place them on a cookie sheet. Place the mixture on each muffin half (makes 12). If you are going to freeze them, go ahead and place the cookie sheet in the freezer and let freeze. When frozen, put in plastic bag for freezer storage.

If you are not going to freeze them, then set the oven to 400 and let bake for 10-12 minutes.

Everyone will love them, I promise!