Merry Christmas Everyone!

Just popping in quickly to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

I've been pretty quiet here on the blog the past month or so. The holidays seem to consume more and more of my time as the kids get older. Which sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm most certainly not.

I truly enjoy shopping for presents, wrapping gifts, baking goodies, attending Christmas programs, volunteering in the classroom, and all the other things that come along with this time of year.

Even though it can be hectic, I know I will miss it so much when January rolls around.

So, I'm going to take a break from the blog until after Christmas.

I am going to fully enjoy these last 10 days and immerse myself in everything "Christmas."

Bring on the peppermint mocha creamer, the balsam-scented candles, the Nutcracker soundtrack CD! Light the fireplace, cozy up for a Christmas movie, and don't count any calories in our late-night bowls of ice cream. I'm going to enjoy every single second of this joyous season.

And most importantly, our family will be taking time to read through the story of Jesus' birth in the Bible. We will be reminded of the real reason behind all of the holiday hype. We will pause and give thanks for the humble way our Savior was brought into this world.

My prayer for all of you is that you too take a moment to thank God for this season. For His son. For all of the blessings in your life. For your health. For your family. For all the good you have enjoyed this year.

I will be back before the end of 2014 with an end-of-the-year wrap up, but until then,,, if you need me I'll be on the couch in my ratty worn out comfy Gap sweatpants and hideous granny cozy button-down sweater. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Christmas Gift Guide - All Things Personalized!

I consider myself to be a fairly organized individual.

I enjoy getting things done ahead of schedule.

Preparing for family vacations, weekend trips, or birthday parties weeks in advance.

But sadly, when it comes to Christmas shopping, I’m a bit of a procrastinator.

I don’t mean to be, it’s just that with all of the catalogs and emails and promotional discounts… I get a bit overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. So I don’t.

Then I panic… because it’s a couple weeks before Christmas and I haven’t purchased a single thing.

Not this year.

I have already bought a few well-thought out gifts for friends and family members. And fortunately, for the boys, we’re getting them bunk beds, so that was an easy (albeit expensive) item to knock off the list.

So I figured if this pretty well organized person has trouble getting her gift-giving act together during this season, maybe there are others out there who would appreciate a little help as well.

I’ve created a little list of some of my favorite items I’ve purchased – either for myself – or for loved ones – this year; along with some additional gifts I’d love if Santa decided to put them under the tree for me (hint, hint, Santa). ;)

And it will come to no surprise, that most of my favorite items can be personalized. I just think adding a name or a monogram to something shows that you really put some thought into it. So, without further adieu...

For Posh Sake Oversized Coffee Mug $16

(Photo courtesy of For Posh Sake)

I have one that is monogrammed in hot pink, but this snowflake mug is so adorable, I may need to get one for the Winter months!

What I love about these mugs is that they're a little larger than your average coffee mug, but they're lightweight and easy to carry around. You get to pick from a large variety of fonts, monogram styles and colors. And all for $16! Such a good deal.

Another favorite item from this shop is the "Bev2Go Adult Sippy Cup" $14.

(Photo courtesy of For Posh Sake)

I ordered one of these for a neighbor who recently turned Sweet 16 and got an adorable Prius for her birthday. I figured she would need something cute to carry her lattes, iced tea, or water while cruising around town. 

These fit perfectly in most car cup holders, or how cute would they be for adult driveway happy hours? Non-breakable and totally cute with tons of personalization options to choose from.

Right now, For Posh Sake is offering my sweet blog readers a 10% discount. Just enter the code "HOLIDAY 10" at checkout and you'll enjoy an added little savings.

Next up is another online boutique that sells some adorable jewelry and clothing items for great prices!

Mindy Mae's Market  carries a wide variety of items that are all equally adorable, but what I love about them is that unlike buying something from Loft or Target, you're not going to see these items on three other people when walking through the grocery store. The fact that it's an online boutique allows you to have a somewhat unique item that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

I own this super-comfy lace-trim tank, which is currently on sale for only $17!

But perhaps you're in the market for some warmer clothing right now? Well, this shop has a ton of gorgeous sweaters including this one called the Cozy Grandpa Sweater $37:

Or this double-hooded sweatshirt $50

They also carry tons of sparkly jewelry, which I know is very popular right now. But they also carry some more simple items like this 3-chain Sparkling Disc Wishbone Necklace $21:

And I personally own these tassel bracelets $17 and love layering them with other gold bracelets:

If you haven't noticed by now, I love buying from smaller retailers who offer a little something different than you'll find at the mall.

Of course, one of the more popular places to find small retailers is through Etsy. This online marketplace boasts thousands of small retailers all in one convenient place.

Some of my favorites this year are:

• Milk and Honey Luxuries where you can find beautiful hand-stamped eating and serving utensils, coffee mugs, cutting boards, and much more. I purchased this spoon ($20)for my morning coffee and I smile every time I use it:

• The Dotted Poppy is one of my favorite places to buy jewelry gift items. She creates such beautiful handmade earrings, and so many of them are less than $20! These are just a couple of my favorites:

The Taryn $17

The Katia $18

The Becca Necklace $21

There are so many great items on this site, it's almost impossible to pull a few of my favorites. I'm sure you could find great gift ideas for any female on your list in this shop.

• Good Sport Design makes fabric covered monogrammed buttons, clips and bows for really good prices. Here are a few of my favs:

For the preppy school girl:

Monogrammed Shoe Clips $18

For the precious preschooler:

Monogrammed hair bows $9

For the Beach Lover:

Monogrammed Flip Flops $14

So many cute items to choose from!

• Lovey Dovey Creations took my love for all things personlized to a whole nutha level!! They carry just about anything and everything that you could want to put your name on. I own one of these melamine platters and I love using it to take to parties because no one ever mistakes it for their own, and I always get it back if I accidentally forget it!

For the Sports Family

Personalized Melamine Platters $28

(Of course I would choose Gators over Auburn, but you get the point). ;)

So, so many other beautiful designs for these platters including these:

{For the Boat Lover}

{Cute Trellis Pattern}

And a million other things (you really have to visit the shop) including license plates, journals, notecards, cosmetic bags, and so much more!

I thought these two items would be great gift ideas for a favorite babysitter, or Sunday School teacher:

Personlized Key Rings $16

Personalized Notepad $16

I sure hope I've sparked some gift ideas in your head by now! I am toying with the idea of doing a "Men's Gift Guide" as well, but not sure many people really need help in that area. Leave me a comment if that's something you'd be interested in. 

Until then, I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and enjoy a smooth, stress-free, shopping experience this Christmas season! Love to you all.

Recipe: Cheddar Bacon Cornbread

We finally got some cold weather this week! Yahoo!

Of course it's going to be back in the 80's by this weekend, but for now, I'm taking every second to enjoy the chill in the air.

And nothing makes me want to bake more than cold weather.

I'm not sure if it's just the time of year, or truly the dropping temps, but I always feel more inclined to bake during the fall/winter months.

One of my favorite quick meals to make during a chilly day, is... chili! (Sorry for the bad pun).

I typically make my chili the traditional way with ground beef (grass-fed, pasture raised beef), canned kidney beans, a can of tomato sauce and the pre-packaged chili seasoning. It just doesn't get any simpler than that!

I cook up the beef and then throw everything in the Crock Pot so it bubbles and simmers all day. And while I'm messin up the kitchen, I go ahead and grate the cheese, cut up jalapenos, or anything else I'm serving as toppings and put them in the fridge for later.

Then, when the "witching hour" hits and everyone is hungry, there's nothing for me to do except pour a glass of wine and dish out the chili. Voila!

This last particular time I made chili, it was quite rainy out and a cold front was moving through so I decided to make corn bread. But I'm never happy with the way the boxed cornbread mix turns out - it's always kinda dry and tasteless.

So I went on a hunt for a fairly simple cornbread recipe that sounded good.

Let me tell you, I'll never buy the store-bought packages of cornbread mix again!

To be fair, I did combine a couple of recipes.

This recipe and blog post from "Not Just Baked," gives great information on how to keep your cornbread fluffy and moist. She seemed like she really knew what she was talking about so I went with it. And it turned out excellent!

However, I wanted to give mine a little extra "Oomph" so I added a 1/2 cup of grated extra sharp cheddar cheese and a healthy handful of cooked, crumbled bacon (my mouth is watering just thinking about it).

The result... the most delicious, moist cornbread I've ever made. It had so much flavor between the sweetness of the cornbread, the saltiness of the bacon and the sharpness of the cheese... perfection.

So, the next time you make chili (or anything Southwestern-y) I highly recommend trying out this recipe. You will not be disappointed!

Thanksgiving Thank You Gifts: {FREE PRINTABLES}

Yes, Christmas is just around the corner. And yes, people get inundated with gifts. So, why not stand apart from the crowd this year and give some "thank you" gifts for Thanksgiving?

I found the most adorable FREE Thanksgiving printables and immediately knew that I wanted to make Thanksgiving gifts for the boys' teachers.

It was so easy and turned out quite adorable if I do say so myself!

I bought the Mason jars on sale at Michael's for .99 each and got the "fall-colored" candy on clearance for .91 a bag (Halloween close-out at Target). Then I attached the free printables on top with double-sided tape, and made the vinyl initials on a Silhouette machine. If you don't have a vinyl cutting machine, you could use paint pens, or just leave them blank.Wrap a festive ribbon around the top, and you're done!

I used another free printable and had Parker tell me what he was thankful for for each of his teachers. We handed them out to his sweet preschool teachers today and they actually got teary-eyed at the thank you notes I wrote on the back. I just don't think teachers get the recognition they deserve.

All of these printables - and SO MANY more - are available here at Amanda's Parties To Go. I love her kids table activities and fun decor. Check her out, she's quite talented!

I hope you have some lovies in your life that you want to say "thank you" to during this special season of Thanksgiving. Cuddle up and enjoy these last few days of November... before we know it, it will be Christmas!

Fall Recipe: Beef, Bacon & Mushroom Ragu

I have been meaning to post this delectable recipe for about a month now, but life has been a tad bit busy.

But before fall slips between our fingertips, I want to make sure you have access to this amazing dish that is just perfect for the cool temps we get to enjoy this time of year.

This dish takes a little bit of prep work, but the resulting dish is so full of flavors, it's totally worth it. Just put on some good music, poor yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the cooking process.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. EVOO
• 1/4 lb. bacon, chopped
• 1/4 lb. mushrooms, chopped
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 medium white onion, minced
• 2-3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt & Pepper
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 lb. ziti or mastacholi noodles
• 2 tbsp. butter
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. In a deep skillet, heat the EVOO over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until it starts turning crisp, about 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook together until the mushrooms brown, about 3-5 minutes.
   
3. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Add the onion, garlic, and season with salt & pepper.
   
4. Partially cover the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion softens, 5-6 minutes.
5. Add the tomato paste and stir until you can smell it, about 1 minutes.
6. Stir in the beef stock, and reduce heat to low and let it simmer while you cook your pasta.
7. Reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta.
8. Put the reserved water back in the pasta pot, with the drained pasta.
9. Add the butter and ragu and stir completely.
10. Serve in shallow bowls, topped with freshly grated cheese.

Of course I had to pick out all the mushrooms before serving it to my guys (more for me!), but it was still a huge hit! 

I hope you'll make this the next time you're in the mood for a warm, comforting meal that satisfies the entire family. Bon Appetite!

Halloween Photo Dump

Hello out there!

Sorry I've been MIA lately.

With all we had going on with Halloween (Cub Scouts party, school parties, school parade, trick-or-treating) and the fact that our primary car died, we've been consumed with so much "stuff" lately, the blog has definitely taken a back seat.

BUT...for my own purposes, I would like to document this Halloween season, as I have ever year since I started this blog.

So, prepare for a complete photo dump! :)

We started out the Halloween festivities with the annual Cub Scout party, which is held at Payton's school. Everyone gets dressed up and each den makes their own game for the kids to play and then hands out candy for prizes. The kids absolutely love it.

I made Mummy Dogs for dinner that night, knowing the kids would want to load up on candy once we got there.

I snapped this photo right before we left, which I'm glad I did because we didn't get any family photos on Halloween. As you can see, the boys are Jedi Knights/Luke Skywalker and I am R2D2 (well, I'm wearing an R2D2 tank top, which totally qualifies as dressing up in my book).

The boys loved all the games at the Cub Scout party:

Our den does "Angry Birds" every year and it continues to be one of the most popular games of the night!

 

A couple days before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. Parker really got into it this year. He loved pulling out "all the guts" (no surprise there).

Payton wanted to carve his own pumpkin this year. So I cut the top off and he did the rest!

I think he did an awesome job!!

On Halloween night, I made my annual chili bar, complete with about 5 different toppings. We brought it to our neighbors house and enjoyed a yummy dinner with them before heading out to trick-or-treat.

My Star Wars cuties.

And of course we roasted the most delicious pumpkin seeds. I think I may grow pumpkins next year just for the seeds!

Halloween night was a huge success. We walked the neighborhood circle and chatted with all of our sweet neighbors. The kids got a ton of candy, and then we headed back and handed out candy the rest of the evening. It was great fun.

Aside from celebrating Halloween this month, we also welcomed my brother and his family back to the state of Florida! We're so excited that they now live on a little over an hour away from us! The cousins are so happy, they want to see each other every chance they get.

We drove over one afternoon and spent the day swimming, grilling and enjoying a beautiful, crisp fall afternoon together.

These two are like two peas in a pod!

We also enjoyed several days of cool weather for this first time all year. It made for perfect al fresco dining, and bonfire nights. And Payton had his first experience lighting and cooking on the grill. If this kid can master cedar plank salmon, he's going to have one happy wife one day. :)

And last but not least, we had to say goodbye to my beloved Lexus RX350. I have loved that car for the past 7 years, but it had a blown head gasket, needed breaks, and tires, and would cost about $6,000 to make the repairs. After lengthy discussions with lots of people at Lexus and trusted family members, we decided to trade it in for a new car.

The boys could not be happier about having a 3rd row in our new GMC Acadia. It's a gorgeous car and I am so nervous to drive it or park it. But I'm sure after it gets it's first scratch or spilled snack, I'll relax a bit. As for now, I'm inhaling every bit of new-car-smell out of it, and enjoying all the new bells and whistles that come on new cars these days (Yay for Bluetooth and navigation systems!).

Okay, that's it for now. I've got some great new recipes to share this month along with some cute Thanksgiving ideas. Stay tuned!