Christmas Break

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas!

I had a great day snuggled up with Cam and the pups watching movies. 

We made Eggs Benedict and snacked on cookies all day long. 

We were both asleep in bed by nine.

It was awesome and SO lazy. 

I'm taking the rest of the week off. 

Enjoy the rest of the Holidays!

Monday's Must Have - Last Minute Decorating

I saw this DIY posted on i suwanee last week and just had to share.

It's too cute and too easy to not know about.

Be sure to check out P.S.- I made this... 

Another great idea that my mom saw on the Amelia Island Tour of Homes was to take a family Christmas photo every year and shrink the photo to a small size. Print and then mix or tie the photos onto garland on a mantle or staircase. 

You could also use Christmas cards to save time and money. 

1/2

I think adding your child's pictures with Santa to the garland each would be too sweet.

Your family & kids will be able to see how much they've grown and changed over the years.

I adore the idea. 

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! 

5 Things I Love

This room and that little Gus wannabe.
I think it's time for Gus to get his own children's book. 

About that time again...

Yes please. 

Absolutely love coming home to a mailbox full of Christmas Cards.

Sorry for the language. LOVE Christmas Grumpy Cat. 

I want a tutu

 

I need this skirt. ASAP.

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ASOS Sale

Just got an email about ASOS' 50% off sale.

It's basically the whole website.

This would be a perfect opportunity to snag a discounted New Years ensemble or last minute gift.

Here's what I want:

Skater Dress $42.22

Lace Shift Dress $31.66

Pearl Hi-Lo Sequin Dress $56.29

Latisse - Good or Bad?

Do y'all know anything about Latisse?

The stuff that makes your eyelashes longer and thicker.

Julia of Gal Meets Glam, mentioned here, uses/used it.

It worked so well for her that she stopped using it because her eyelashes were too long.

Read what Julia has to say about Latisse here.

I basically have no eyelashes. Not even a lash line.

I would love to have long, luxurious eyelashes. I wore individual eyelashes on our wedding day and was obsessed. I have never felt prettier.

But I have heard that Latisse can have some unwanted side effects such as darkening of the iris. 

SO, if you know about Latisse or have used it please let me know!

Thanks in advance! 

Monday's Must Have - Orange Slice Cookies

This Christmas, I was invited to my first Christmas Cookie

Party.

I knew my mom attended many cookie swaps over the years so I went to her for help.

She pointed me in the direction of this recipe for Orange Slice Cookies which I instantly remembered eating as a kid.

They are yummy!

I was kind of wary about the wide variety of ingredients that go into these cookies. 

Worried that they wouldn't be a crowd please.

I shouldn't have been worried at all because they were delicious and so easy!

Cam even ate some and he is SOOOO picky.

Here's the link to the original recipe.

Here's what you need:

2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 package orange slice candies, 13 oz.

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup pecans, chopped

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup shredded coconut

1. Preheat your oven to 350. 

2. I popped the butter into the microwave for 30 secs to soften it. Then I added the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar to my mixing bowl. Beat until combined. 

3. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined.

4. In another bowl, mix together the 2 cups flour, salt, and baking powder. Add it to the butter mixture and beat until combined.

5. Cut up the orange slices. Cut each slice into five pieces. They look big but don't worry. Toss the cut orange slices in 2 tablespoons of flour. This will prevent them from sticking together.

6. Add the orange slices, pecans, and coconut to the mixture. Although the mixture is VERY thick, I still used my mixer to combine the ingredients throughout this entire recipe. You could always use your hands or a wooden spoon. 

7. I used my hands to scoop the dough into small balls onto a silpat on my cookie sheet.

I baked them for exactly 13 minutes on 350. 

Once you see that they edges are browning, TAKE THEM OUT.

I let them cook slightly on the cookie sheet but then moved them to cooling racks.

While transferring the cookies to a cooling rack, you will notice that the inside is still really soft. 

Don't worry they WILL harden up.

They are NOT GOOD when cooked too crunchy. You want these cookies to soft and chewy.

They are SO good!

Thanks Mom! 

5 Things I Love

Sh%t Southern Woman Say 

Part two

Obsessed with Grumpy Cat

Orange Slice Cookies. Posting the recipe next week!

Adding this Milly dress to my wish list. 

Heatherwood Ladies Christmas Party

A few weeks ago we were asked to host out neighborhood's ladies Christmas party.

I love to host a party so I quickly agreed.

I used Meredith of Au Courant again for my flowers, mantle, and wreaths.

Fabulous job as always!!

Catfish

It started with this...

And now MTV has created a show about it.

Meeting someone online, falling in love, and never seeing them in person.

Then finding out that they are not who they said they were.

Nev comes to a different person's town in each episode to get to the bottom of their internet "relationships".

He usually discovers that the person who they think they are talking to is really sending them pictures of another person. Nev knows this  because he can usually find the REAL person's Facebook page in a HOT minute. 

While that is REALLY bad, it gets worse.

Nev then persuades the mystery internet lover to meet with the person being featured on that episode.

Most of the time you can tell that they are hiding something just by the initial phone call or their voice doesn't match their photos at all...

But they agree.

So Nev will arrange a meeting.

That's when the real horror starts.

I've seen 4 episodes now and it doesn't end well for any of the people involved.

In one episode, a girl has been talking to this guy she thinks she knows SO well for TEN YEARS!

In another a YOUNG, single mother is in love with a guy she's been talking to online. I won't give away too much info but she has not been talking to a guy.

This show is insane, shocking, gut wrenching, and just sad at some times.

But you have to watch it!! Wednesdays on MTV. But they are playing the reruns all the time.

Don't even talk to me about Trina the sweet stripper's episode. It killed me. 

Healthy & Easy "Pasta"

When I ran across Maggie's recipe for veggie noodles on her precious blog Spice, I honestly said to myself "that's what healthy people eat, I wouldn't like that."

I have a hate-hate relationship with health food and people that are all about healthy eating.

I judge them for being so nit picky about what they eat. Then I resent myself for gorging or eating something soooo unhealthy and ask why I can't be more responsible about what I eat?

It's like when I see a couple running on a Saturday morning. I think "Oh well they didn't go out last night! They can't be fun."

Then I start thinking "Omg I'm a judgmental loser! WE need to run! I need to run! Hey Cam! Let's go running!"

So I decided to try Maggie's noodles.

I made them to go with one of my fave stand-by recipes, Turkey meatballs. 

Here is Maggie's recipe. 

Wash & dry a large carrot, squash, and zucchini. 

Use this gadget, a julienne peeler to slice the veggies into "pasta noodles"

I bought mine at Bed Bath & Beyond. 

Saute the veggies in a skillet with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

I know that Maggie is an amazing chef but I did not expect to love the veggie noodles as much as I did.

I didn't even think to take a picture before I started eating. I just dove in!

They are soooo delicious! 

(Say it in the voice of Martin Lawrence Bullard from Million Dollar Decorators on Bravo)

I even got Cameron to eat a bite. He agreed that they were awesome and didn't have a strong veggie flavor.

Don't forget he's "Mr. I'm not eating anything green or that I haven't already eaten before."

I have used veggie noodles three times since the first time I made them.

They are SO good and don't make you feel heavy like eating a big bowl of pasta can. .

I just can't tell you enough how good they are.

Try them out for youself!