Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Gift Ideas 2011

It's that time of the year, the time to put up decorations, spend time with family, and shop for everyone on your list. Yesterday when I woke up to snow flurries falling outside, it felt official to me, it's beginning to feel and look a lot like Christmas! Our house has been decorated for a couple of weeks now and all of my shopping is near complete, but I have a lot of wrapping to do and not much time to do it! Even though this time of the year is so so busy and hectic at times, I adore Christmas and this year happens to be really special to me. If you still have a shopping list so long it makes your eyes cross, maybe I can help you out with some gift ideas (hopefully there's at least one to suit someone on your list)!...

For Her...

 Either one of these stunning necklaces is sure to make any girl on your list one happy lady!


Hello super cute tote bag :)


Such a lovely notepad for any list-making girl you have to shop for


Personalized gifts are extra thoughtful, such as one of these fun iPhone cases


 Cute gift idea for any bakers on your list


A really cute hat so she can stay warm


Or some fun slippers, I mean what girl does not like to be comfortable?!


Another notepad that will surely make her smile


Pretty wrist candy


For Him...

Last year I gave my husband a really nice bottle of whiskey along with these Whiskey Rocks and he really enjoys them because they don't dilute his drink.


Great for the iPad lover


Perfect for the golfer, he can bring it to his office or have it to practice at home.


For Them or The Hostess...

Gorgeous gold triangles glasses


A great set of cheese knives


A pretty picture frame is always a good option


Happy Holiday shopping!

oxox,
lauren















Thursday, January 13, 2011

New Year, New State

Hello! I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays!

We went down to Florida to spend Christmas with my mom and two sisters and we had a great time! We all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did too! We came back to Atlanta to celebrate the New Year and Matt and I had a wonderful dinner out at Pricci (one of our favorite restaurants in Atlanta) to celebrate and it was delicious.

With the New Year brings some big changes for us. First of all, we're moving to Nashville, TN! My hubby got a great job opportunity there and now we're relocating. Matt and I have been a whole three times in our entire lives, two of which were for his interviews and one to house hunt last weekend. It's been a whirlwind. The whole process began back in the beginning of October! They brought us over twice for him to interview, and then made him an offer right before Christmas and he accepted a few days later! Whew! So far I know where the two best malls are (sounds a bit lame, but one of the days he interviewed for nine and a half hours and I was by myself all day wandering around Nashville, so, yes that is how I spent my time alone!), some great restaurants, cute shops, Vanderbilt and that is about it. Last weekend we had a tour of downtown Nashville and the surrounding areas so we learned some more about the city. It is going to take a little while. We are very excited for this change in our lives! It is always a bit intimidating to move to an unfamiliar city and also in our case, an unfamiliar state, but 99% of the people we have spoken to about Nashville really love it and we think we will too!

So, back to December when this became official, I surprised Matt with a very nice dinner. I cooked him a porterhouse steak, and that was the first time I have ever cooked steak in my life! I went to a butcher in Buckhead and bought a 1 1/2" thick porterhouse and used an epicurious recipe that you can find here, if you would like. I cooked these mashed potatoes as a side dish along with asparagus. I bought some rolls that he did not even touch because the steak was the size of a basketball and he had two side dishes to go along with that...it was a lot of food, but I had planned out the whole menu and bought the ingredients before I got to the butcher and saw how enormous the steak was! I was so nervous about messing up the steak, but Matt promises it was the best steak he ever had! I feel like I set the bar a bit high though, I mean let's be honest, I am not going to be cooking him porterhouses on a regular basis here! My husband is definitely a meat and potatoes kind of guy and he had a permanent smile on his face that whole meal. It was so fun to see how excited he was...I mean, he was giddy...I am not kidding!

I told you it was a lot of food! The steak was huge! He ate the entire thing though, just not all of the mashed potatoes and he could not eat any of the bread (understandably)!

Mixed cherry tomatoes are not really in season, so I just used all red, but I don't think Matt had a problem with that!

This is now my husband's favorite meal and he talks about this darn steak a lot!

I don't eat steak, so I had chicken instead. I have to say that the mashed potatoes were really good, if you're looking for a new recipe you should try these.

Well, we have a lot going on! It looks like we are headed back up to Nashville tomorrow to continue our house hunt (we did not find a place last weekend) and we're keeping our fingers crossed that we find a place because Matt starts his new job in the middle of next week!

oxox,
lauren

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Fa la la la la....!

Well, as I've already confessed...i love Christmas and I apologize in advance if this post bores the heck out of you! My friend Catie suggested that I share some pictures of the Christmas decor i put up around our home and I decided to take her up on that suggestion! ;) Oh, and nine days to go, can you believe it?!

So, here are a few pictures of some of the Christmas decorations I have put up in our home (I hope you enjoy, even if it's just a little!)...

Here is one of our trees, yes, that's right, i said one. We have three total (well if you count the little 3' one in our guest bedroom in that total), but I'll just include the one that is in our living room.

Please ignore the the random bright spots...it's a reflection from the camera or something...i promise the lights don't look splotchy in person.

The console table in our living room with our pathetic little stockings! They are just for the fun of it...we'll be in Florida for Christmas :)

Our living room window


A door decoration



One of our end tables

Now, I have to go make a caprese salad for dinner before I have to leave to go pick up my sister, Katie, from the airport! Yes!!! So excited she is coming to visit! Have a fantastic weekend!

oxox,
lauren

Friday, December 10, 2010

It's Crunch Time

There are fifteen days until Christmas!!! Oh my goodness! Can you believe it?! I can't! I was talking to my sister, Katie, yesterday about how we are both so happy and frankly relieved to be finished with our shopping because we were both out running a bunch of errands yesterday in the madness of people trying to Christmas shop. Let's just say that there is definite panic in the air. I mean I saw several people yesterday who were on serious missions and I was not about to get in their way...they are intensely focused on finding that gift they're searching for! And finding a place to park anywhere...eeek!

I really do love looking at all the pretty decorations that are out though!












oxox,
lauren

*images courtesy of Country Living, House Beautiful and Southern Living

Friday, December 3, 2010

Fit to be tied...with a pretty bow!

Alright, so I am just going to say it...i am in love with (or maybe obsessed with!) Christmas. Some would say I am over-the-top or even a bit obnoxious about how much i like Christmas, but I am okay with that because it makes me happy. Christmas is my favorite holiday and my favorite time of the year. I think I love Christmas so much because I know it is something I can always count on to be there, year after year. I know that lights and decorations will be everywhere every December and things just look so pretty. I know a lot of people are currently thinking of gift ideas and going out shopping every weekend. Why are some people so hard to shop for? I have already finished most of my shopping, but here are some of my favorite gift ideas. Now, these are girly gifts (i have two sisters, two sister in-laws, my mother and mother in-law to shop for) because the girls out-rule the boys in my family and i have been shopping for lots of girly gifts...

Love this necklace + it would look great for New Year's!

I think these colorful ikat bowls are just as great for decorating as they are for eating

Love and Toast is a super cute line of hand creams and other fun products and the adorable packaging makes it the perfect gift

I think I need this pretty sequined tank

Great clutch for a fun night out

Love the faux-fur trim on these little gloves

This precious little ring bowl is so unexpected

Any girl could use a notepad with some fun & pretty color to jot down her to-do list

This sunglasses case is not only cute, but probably helpful when trying to find your glasses in your bag!

Soft and pretty cable knit slippers

Who doesn't like chocolate? And please, the gorgeous Mast Brothers packaging is insane!

Sephora is one of my go-to gift stores, they have a ton of options, like this great Fresh gift set

Our wedding Shutterfly book

This is a wonderful gift idea for anyone special in your life! So, I am in love with Shutterfly, not just for storing my pictures, but for making personalized photo books and lots of other cool stuff. I completely surprised Matt with a formal photo book of all of our favorite wedding photos and then a fun photo book of our honeymoon pictures last year for Christmas. I was so excited about giving them to him and he was so happy and surprised when he opened them! I also made two more wedding books, one for my mom and one for his parents and they were a huge hit. They make really thoughtful and special personalized gifts that will be kept forever.

Our honeymoon Shutterfly book

Happy shopping!

oxox,
lauren

*Pretty sparkly gold necklace, little colorful ikat bowls, Love & Toast, fun sequin tank, zipper clutch, cute faux-fur trimmed gloves, dainty ring bowl, colorful note cube, pretty pink sunglasses case, comfy cable knit slippers, Mast Brothers Chocolate, Fresh gift set, Shutterfly