Friday, December 30, 2011

yummm.

how i spent my holidays.

besides the obvious time spent with family, and catching up with friends, this holiday has been very relaxing. having some time off has given me the opportunity to sit down and watch a movie with marcus (rare - during normal life we don't have anytime to sit on the couch at the same time, for more than an hour), start and finish(!) a few books, and curl up with my favorite magazines. 
watching...I am so glad santa left midnight in paris in my stocking. watching it transported us back to our spring vacation in paris, and reminded us how magical and wonderful the city of paris really is. 
reading... I finished sarah's key in just a couple days because I could barely put the book down.  it is a unique story that focuses on a little jewish girl in france. her life gets turned upside down when thousands of jewish families are taken from their homes during WWII. this book makes it easy to envision the conditions of the war, and the descriptive writing can make the book hard to read at times. however, it is a wonderful and fulfilling story. santa also left the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society in my stocking, which I have just picked up and started reading. 
relaxing...a perfect relaxing day to me is waking up for early morning yoga, and then heading to the gym. coming home for my favorite fruit and yogurt, and curling up with a latte and my favorite magazines. this day happened once over my holidays, but it's once more than I thought it was going to happen. perfect. 
 

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

before christmas.

here is a little peak of us preparing for christmas. the hustle & bustle before christmas prevented me from sharing this earlier, and now that I am on holidays until new years it has been hard to be motivated to do anything but read & sip tea all day. 
 david & marcus being brave and very patient with my detailed instructions for setting up the perfect christmas light display. I was a little upset when we discovered that absolutely no one carries the old style christmas lights  - the clear ones, my favorite! I think a house looks so classic when only clear lights are used. I can't stand the LEDs, but I had to deal with it this year. although, admittedly the 'warm white' color has grown on me. 
kassie also being very patient with me. 
our blue & silver christmas tree, with the newest additions - an eiffel tower & a diamond ring. pretty perfect to represent our year. thank goodness for my parents who donated their old imitation tree to us last year. as grateful as we are, the tree has seen one of it's last christmas'. I'm thinking a pre-lit white imitation tree next year - with gold, silver, brass and white ornaments. 
I tried my hand at being a little more creative with wrapping paper & ribbon this year. I have collected a lot of inspiration from pinterest, and stocked up on wrapping necessities after christmas - so next year's gifts will be even prettier. 
new cushions for the front room couches, a little upgrading to marcus' bachelor pad. thank-you grandma for being a wonderful seamstress!
two items that I forgot we had purchased last year after christmas. it was like christmas morning when I opened the storage boxes to find our new stockings &  eiffel tower stocking hangers. 
we are off to sun peaks to ring in the new year with family & friends. christmas day photos & new years photos to come when we get back. happy new year! xoxo

Sunday, December 25, 2011

merry christmas.

merry christmas! xoxo

Thursday, December 22, 2011

gift wrap.

grey likes weddings really is a gift wrap guru. this year I think I improved on my gift wrapping skills (pictures to come!), but they are no where near the genius of these sparkly, glittery, jeweled & broached packages. the combination of lush fabrics, royal blues and greens, copper sparkles and jewels is one gorgeous and festive combination. next year, I think I will be searching for sparkly broaches, rings, earrings and necklaces to wrap around packages. the packaging is a gift in itself. lovely. 

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

oh christmas tree!

we started a family tradition this year - the hunt for the perfect christmas (real - not fake!) tree. a perfect tree to our family is one that is big enough and strong enough to hold years of family ornaments. my brother and I have been getting an ornament every year for christmas since we were babies, plus anything my parents have collected over the years - that's a lot!

we found the biggest and fullest tree standing all on it's own, like it was waiting just for us. 

we left the heavy lifting to the boys!
marcus & I have a imitation tree, but we are so lucky we get to enjoy a real tree (and the smell!) with my family on christmas day! sometimes it just doesn't seem like christmas if you don't have the christmas tree smell. counting down the days  - 10 more days, can you believe it?

Friday, November 18, 2011

snowflakes.

eeeeee! Even though we didn't get as much snow as most of our city last night, those few little snowflakes get me so excited! 'They' say that it's going to be a cold winter, I'll probably kick myself for saying this later, but I'm excited about it. Having a white christmas would be the best. Fingers and toes are crossed!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

christmas fever.

I told myself I wouldn't decorate for Christmas until the first weekend in December, just too prolong my excitement for the holidays. Turns out that weekend is going to be busy - so good news, looks like the halls are getting decked this weekend! I can't even remember what we bought last year, so now I have time to take things out of boxes and spend time looking for some additions to our holiday decor. Some decor inspiration to get me going!
38 days till Christmas! In case anyone was curious!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

christmas wishes.

I blame it on Starbucks. That red cup gets me excited for the holidays, WAY too early. I've already started listening to Christmas tunes. Michael Buble and Justin Bieber (hey don't judge, its a good album!) if you really want to know. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one in the house that's this excited - I caught a hint of some bing crosby holiday music coming from Marcus' office a few nights ago. I also blame writing a paper on my laptop, for my countless hours perusing the internet for wish list items. My attention span when it comes to analyzing research is about as long as the memory of a goldfish. This list may be more of a lust list for christmas, but nothings stopping me from fantasizing when the most exciting thing I've done all day is make the bed. 

1. Paige Skinny Jeans. These jeans have to be the most popular skinny jeans amongst celebs. I tried a pair on, and it was love at first try!
2. J. CREW velvet schoolboy blazer. Plush velvet is so chic for the holidays, and I've been wanting a blazer that pops and something that is slightly more exciting than black. 
3. Michael Kors jet set ipad case. Seriously how awesome is this - looks like an oversized clutch! Of course this would make no sense without #4...
4. Ipad 2 in white. Enough said. 
5. Aveda lip shine in pomelo. I have another shade of this lip gloss and I love it! It has a minty taste, and lasts for a long time. 
6. Clarisonic Mia. Consider it a super, but gentle, exfoliator for your face. People who have them, love them!
8. Vince Camuto Ellen Flat in Bisque. I've been searching for the perfect nude flat and I spotted these at nordstrom this week.  

Monday, November 7, 2011

if we had a little girl...

... I would do my best to replicate this ballerina birthday party. Seriously? So cute! My birthday's just around the corner, and I don't see any reason why I can't celebrate in a pink sequined tutu. However, if that falls through I will settle for a ballerina cupcake. 

Sunday, November 6, 2011

framework.

I've been craving some oversized, wide rim, plastic framed glasses. I haven't tried any on yet, but I hope can pull them off like these girls. These glasses make everything else seem a little more stylish. Since hearing about Warby Parker, where you can get vintage style prescription glasses for a mere $95, I've been contemplating ordering a pair. Plus, for every pair ordered Warby Parker provides a pair of glasses for someone in need. How great is that? 

dream getaway.

Every girl dreams of the tiffany blue boxes, including me! Now, the St.Regis Hotel in New York is giving guests a chance to be inside a tiffany box - in the Tiffany Suite. The suite has floor to ceiling windows overlooking Fifth Avenue, a bar cart accessorized with Tiffany stemware, a chandelier that looks like it's draped with jewelry and the classic tiffany blue walls. A black shift dress,  strands of pearls and a croissant for breakfast is all you would need to make your Holly Golightly experience complete. Is this where we're going on our honeymoon? Definitely not. One night in this suite costs as much as our whole honeymoon budget. A girl can dream right? 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

fall in our house

If you haven't already heard me say it, here it is again: I LOVE FALL! 
Apple picking - check, make apple chips - check, pumpkin patch visit - check, make pumpkin spice bread - check, drink at least one pumpkin spice latte a week - check! There's still a few things on my fall bucket list (picnic, sparkle pumpkins, red pepper jelly making, go on a walk and bring my camera), but I think I still have some time. 

lots of pumpkins, cake plates & cloches.




 a glittery bronze feather wreath on our door.

 the perfect fall footwear.

 new artwork that hangs in our foyer. 

I'm crossing my fingers this beautiful crisp weather we've been having lasts until the weekend!