NUMBER 278

so i'm hoping that sharing a delicious holiday recipe will make up for my serious lack of blogging in the month of december. i made a new cookie recipe for a friend's cookie swap recently, and wanted to share the love! the recipe made a TON of cookies [70] and was really easy - might end up being my go-to for events where i need to bring a lot to the table [literally]. p.s. i think this recipe would also be great with chopped pecans added!

NUMBER 277

so it’s not cold…at all. in fact, the high today is supposed to be 76*. something’s just not right. i love living in a place where you can experience every season, and when it's december...i need some cold weather. today, my five on friday is dedicated to some cold weather favorites [which i fully intend on using once the temps drop below 60 again].

1  |  i've got this gorgeous plaid scarf on my wish list. i love a good plaid, and the length/width on this baby looks like it would be so plush and warm.

2  | a few weeks ago, i met christina for a thanksgiving mani, and tried out essie's new shearling darling. my mind keeps going back to that perfect fall color, wishing i had it on my fingers now. i think a trip to the drugstore is in my very near future.

3  | the ever popular golden edition anthro mug is on sale today! i swiped up a few for christmas gifts and mayyybe even one for myself. looking forward to sipping my nightly hot chololate from something so pretty!

4  |  a little lotion? yes please! my skin gets so dry and itchy during the winter months, and i need something to lock in the moisture

5  | sephora's birthday gift last year was a sugar lip balm. i know their lip therapy would be just as luxurious. gotta keep those kissers healthy for the holiday red lips

thanks to christina, april, darci, and natasha for hosting my faaavorite weekly link up! 

HAPPY WEEKEND!

NUMBER 276

so life lately hasn’t been all sorts of glamorous, but it’s been very rewarding and….good. this long list of perfectly styled & edited cell phone pics pretty much sums up my past few weeks:



right in my element. i stocked up on mini marshmallows at teeter the other day and have been enjoying a nightly cup of hot chocolate [even though it's like 70* today].  |  completed the fastest christmas decorating session in history - 2 hours for the whole house [including outdoors]. of course it helps that we only have a tiny grinch tree. go ahead, ask me why. hint: reasons #1 and #2 are in this picture.  |  mimosas and bloody marys on turkey day  |  loving blacksburg – even when it’s cold and rainy  |  i've made lots of progress on the office! we opted for the cheaper ikea graphic rug, and i LOVE it! there have been many evenings spent here in the past few weeks.  |  andrew shaved his great woodsy beard into a mustache saturday night and had fun sporting it around greensboro. he definitely looked like a retro newscaster/police officer.

it’s finally december! i even got a little online christmas shopping done on black friday. go me! hope you're having a wonderful december so far, too! OH, and stop by sweet whitney's blog today where i'm giving away a $75 credit to go toward a new blog design [you know you want one]...and tell her that you think her new design is pretty sweet too!

NUMBER 275

GET IT GIRL! if you’ve been holding off on a new blog design, now’s the chance to check it off the list! start the new year off right with a fresh look! let santa bring YOU something [a little early!]. do you really need an excuse? hop over and select your design package, fill out the quick design request form, and let me do the rest of the work!

HAPPY SHOPPING!

NUMBER 274

happy thanksgiving, friends! in my life i've always had much to be thankful for, but this year, i can remember several times saying “life is pretty good” – out loud, just to acknowledge it! it’s so easy to get caught up in the fuss of the holidays…or any day for that matter. those days when our problems seem so big and out of our control. today, squeeze the ones you love a little tighter and thank the good Lord for the many blessings in your life...i know i will.

NUMBER 273

i'm not a huge football fan, but at least once a year, andrew and i try to schedule a trip to my [our] beloved blacksburg for a hokie football game. it’s GORGEOUS this time of year and theres’s always fun to be had in southwest virginia! we've been fortunate enough to have some great friends that live in town and are nice enough to host us for the weekend! really couldn’t be luckier! we always have a perfect time, and the weekend is the perfect mix of nostalgia and cold weather! we’re packing up this afternoon and heading up 81 for the weekend, and i could not be more excited!!
in my previous life – before i was a hokie – maroon and orange, just didn’t seem quite right together. some would even argue that the colors clash [how dare they!] after 4 years of seeing nothing BUT the chicago maroon and burnt orange together, it’s now in my nature to snatch up anything and everything that resembles it. or at least snap a picture of it and send it to my college girlfriends in case they want it!  i was in jcpenney not too long ago and was truly shocked at the amount of items that had my beloved college color combo. for my five on friday [christina, april, darci, & natasha], i've compiled a little list of their online selection! you can bet i'll be sporting that striped top with some skinnies and my boots tomorrow at the tailgate!

shirt  |  scarf  |  earrings  |  basket  |  cardigan

HAPPY [HOKIE] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 272

download the FREE desktop wallpaper

this week has been crazy busy in the best possible way. i'm forgoing my usual “five on friday” post [still love you gals] for a little download. i haven’t shared one in a while, but i thought it was pretty fitting since design work is what’s been filling up my evenings this week. hope you have a wonderful weekend – maybe go crunch some fallen leaves and sip some hot cider!
*tip: to download this wallpaper: click the link above, download the image, and set as your desktop background.

HAPPY [FALL] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 271

rug  |  desk  |  chair  |  bulletin board  |  garland  |  trunk [similar]

it seems like once i wrap up one project, i'm already focused on the next one. it’s a curse and a blessing, just ask andrew! we were having breakfast saturday morning, just talking about how much we loved our house, listing rooms that were “finished” or “almost there” [a short list], and here i am already…focused on 1 of the 2 rooms in the house that still look like we moved in last week!

i've been spending more time in the office lately, and since business is good [!!!] i hope to be spending even more time there in the future. andrew’s dearest aunt gifted us an heirloom antique trunk before she passed away last spring, and i'm using it as a jumping off point for inspiration. it’s a gorgeous piece and “industrial chic” is where i'm headed with it. i've never been a huge girly-girl, so a bright white office with hot pink peonies [as gorgeous as it is] just isn’t my style. so let’s see if i can make this happen!

NUMBER 270

cardigan  |  necklace  |  sweater [for him]  |  slippers  |  sweater [for me]

fear not! you may not can count on me for a saturday-thursday post, but i'm not going to miss my five on friday with darci, christina, april, and natasha. we were total scrooges [is that applicable for halloween?!] and left our house [and the lights off] last night! the perks to not having kiddies on halloween is that instead of trick or treating, you get to just "treat yo'self". that was our motto last night when andrew and i made a last minute decision to head down to south carolina and hit up the [empty] outlets! it was a ghost-town, and we pretty much had every store to ourselves. the majority of our damage was done in j.crew and you can see just a few of our goodies above. they were having a massive in-store only sale, and we scored some really great fall and winter pieces for next-to-nothing! we had such a great time, just us two, and finished off the night at an old standby restaurant – outback!

a big congrats to my blog [and real life] friend, april, on her big baby bump announcement! you and ian will make great parents to that little babe! xoxo

HAPPY [NOVEMBER] WEEKEND!

NUMBER 269

it’s been one of those weeks where watching scary movies and curling up by the fire has taken priority over blog posts, that’s allowed right? however, i'm staying true to my friday gals by linking up with darci, april, christina, and natasha for five on friday! woo hoo! let’s go!

fall is here, and with it has been some gorgeous carolina sunsets. this is one of my favorite skyline scenes in charlotte, and we just happen to drive by it every day on the way to work. there have been several evenings where i'll park the car and walk over the bridge just to get a better shot of this gorgeous city.
andrew’s gotta be commended on his dedication to healthy eating. in the past couple of weeks, he’s lost about 12 pounds just from being conscious about what he eats and working out [mostly] every day. he worked late one night this week, so i got dinner ready while he was at the office. after eating this salad for 2 nights in a row, we’ve declared it our FAVORITE salad!  get the recipe here for the skinny grilled buffalo chicken salad [and don’t forget the homemade skinny ranch – it TOTALLY makes the meal].
ummm… i don’t really have words for this, other than: she sleeps like this ALL the time, and i wish i could sleep this comfortably on the couch.

i decided to give a new local coffee shop a try this weekend and it did NOT disappoint.  i grabbed a chai latte from “not just coffee” in atherton mill and was so pleased! not only is their logo cute, but the chai hit the spot! p.s. would you believe that i've never had one of those pretty latte art drinks? i'm adding that one to the fall bucket list!
lastly, my mom is heading to town tomorrow for a girls weekend! we’re spending the day antiquing, brunching, doing girly things, then wrapping up the day with the michael buble' concert in uptown! i'm sure there will be a good amount of screaming 20-60 year old women in the crowd, and i'm SO excited to be one of them!
hope everyone has a great weekend! stay bundled up, it’s supposed to get COLD [and i secretly love it]!

HAPPY [GIRLS] WEEKEND!