How to Entertain a Baby

Happy Almost Friday!

Oh, How Pinteresting: Christmas Cookie Style

 First things first, I am glad so many other people go with the convenience of the fake tree! The hubs gives me a hard time about it every year and says we should just suck it up and go with the real one, so it is great to know that so many of you are still sticking to the practicality of a fake tree.

Now, on to today, I'm linking up with The Vintage Apple's Oh, How Pinteresting series and I'm thinking about Christmas cookies. Yesterday, I admitted to Meg, over at henning love, that I didn't really have a favorite Christmas cookie since I have just recently learned to bake and she almost immediately emailed me back saying that we had to get together and get to baking because that was just crazy. Growing up, my Oma always had special German cookies she bought at the store and my mom made some amazing sugar cookies and gingerbread houses which she learned from my grandfather, but I don't really have anything specific to call my own. Last year, I attempted sugar cookies and they were pretty, and fun to make, after they cooled off, they were too hard to bite into. So this year, I'm determined to find a little holiday cookie tradition of our own.

Maybe some little reindeers?

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 Or Christmas trees?

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 O how about these guys?  I think they are hilarious, but I'm not sure if C would get it.

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 Or try some traditional sugar cookies again?

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 Graham cracker nativity? That pretty cute right? But would anyone else feel weird eating little marshmallow Baby Jesus?

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 Maybe when we head home, my mom will share the family gingerbread recipe...

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 Or I could jump on board with the cake pop trend, I am pretty confident with cake making skills.

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What's your favorite Christmas cookie? Any recipes you can pass along?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We've started decorating...

 

Have you?

PS- Don't judge my fake tree..we always travel at Christmas so it just hasn't made sense to buy a real one...next year, next year...

My New Look

Good morning darlings and Happy Monday! How was your Thanksgiving? In case you missed it, you can read my Thanksgiving wrap up here. We had such a wonderful time with some really special friends. And now, it is back to reality, but our Christmas is up and I know that makes me just a little cheerier.

Did you notice the amazingness happening at the top of my page? My super talent and beautiful friend Laura Anne has created a new design concept to spruce up the blog a bit and the header is just a sneak peak of the total new look that is to come. I love it so much! Don't you? 

Here are some other samples of Laura Anne's work, from logos to custom stationary and inviations:

Blog design/logos, invitations, Wedding Mad Libs, Save-the-Dates, Thank You cards, Retro poster to sign for a wedding. She specializes in Wedding Design packages, so go get on it!

If you are in the market for any of the above, I highly, highly recommend using Laura Anne. She is not only talented and smart, but also one of the nicest people in the world. You actually become a better person as a result from working with her. True Story. 

Please contact lauraanneh@gmail.com for examples of work and/or pricing. Prices will depend on the depth of the project- please include a basic idea of your wants and needs for a quote.

 I hope yall enjoy the blog's transition over the next few days. I am so excited about it! 

Thanks again LA!

The Simple Things: Thanksgiving

Hello, friends! I had a great few days unplugged: We entertained some from friends from our hometown who have also recently moved to the West Coast.  We played some trains (shocker):

 And I set my table with my mix-matched china, including a new platter which came as a gift from Kev's best friend's mom. She saw my post about my china and felt the need to send me her pieces, knowing they would be used. I not only used the platter, but made all our guests read Momma Wyn's note so they would know how special our table was. Thank again Wyn!!

 Our boys loved the special attention:

 Yea, we had 4 open bottles of wine at the dinner table (they were finished and then some)...

 Friday we headed down to Big Sur:

 And on the way back, stopped for a few pictures:

 Must be nice to be the most beautiful couple ever, right?

 Still pretty fascinated that we live here:

All, in all, a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends we have known for over 10 years. We are thankful for friends from home who live on the West Coast, and thankful for a beautiful place to celebrate our frienships.

Hope your long weekend as wonderful as ours!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm going to unplug for a few days and enjoy time with some old friends, new friends,

and my three favorite blessings of all:

I also wanted to take a minute to let you know that I am so grateful for each and every one of you who follows my little blog and constantly bring a smile to my face with your encouraging  and kind words. I am so blessed to have you in my life. Thanks for sharing your world and inspiring me every day.

What are you plans for the holiday? I hope it involves eating and being around loved ones!

Happy Thanksgiving!! See you Monday :)

PS- War Eagle! Beat 'Bama!

Guest Post: The Foreign Domestic

Hello Lovlies, I have another very special guest blogger visiting us today, Kirsten from The Foreign Domestic. Kirsten and I are connected because her brother-in-law is my hubby's best friend, so we have met each other several times over the years. In fact, right after we got married, Kev had to head to Kansas to train to deploy again and I could not be with him during that time. As it so happened, Kirsten was stationed at the same post and on more than one occasion graciously let me stay at her apartment even though she didn't know me well. I literally flew to Kansas with the hope of seeing Kev for dinner.. when you are about to spend a year a part, it is totally worth it and Kirsten understood that and opened her home to me. So I can tell you that the genuine kindness and zeal for life with which she blogs is completely authentic. By the way, thanks again for that Kirsten :) Make sure you head on over to The Foreign Domestic to read my answers from our swap! Now, on to a little more from Kirsten.

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Hello Daffodil's readers!  I'm so happy to be here today for my very first blog swap.  It almost feels like my first day of school--I'm all giddy, excited, and even a little nervous!  Just a little background info on who I am.  My name is Kirsten and I'm, relatively, new to blogging.  I met my husband in college and the Army took us to different places when we graduated.  We got married this past January, and four months later (after five years of service) I resigned from the Army.  We're at our current duty station for only a few more months, so I decided to do some freelance writing/reporting in the midterm. When I'm not doing that, I'm cultivating my skills as housewife and sharing all of my adventures and sometimes misadventures at The Foreign Domestic.  I'm not sure if I'll ever get this opportunity again, so I'm really enjoying it.  I should also share that my husband and I l-o-v-e to travel and I enjoy sharing/recommending different places we visit. 

Me and my handsomely, handsome husband on our wedding day.

Let's get started!

• Why did you start blogging?

As I mentioned in my intro above, a few months ago, I began my transition from being an Army Officer to being and Army wife.  I knew this transition would be more like an adventure so I wanted to document as much as possible as I explored all things domestic.  Also, our families are spread across the world, so I thought this would be a fun way to keep everyone up-to-date with what we were learning and experiencing.

• What is your favorite thing about blogging? 

My favorite thing about blogging is by far the relationships I've developed with other bloggers.  This was a completely unexpected surprise!  Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started blogging.  I thought, okay, I'll post some things here and there and my family can see what I'm up to as I learn to be a wife.  Man, this has turned out to be something much more meaningful.  There's just so much talent, creativity, and love in 'blogland'.  And, as The Carpenters so aptly put it, "[I've] only just begun"! I'm inspired everyday when I read others' posts and I'm encouraged to know anyone outside of my family (and even in my family) responds to what I'm posting. 

• What do you like best about being a military family (either growing up, being active or as a wife)? 

There are so many dimensions to this question, but the answer really comes down to one word:  relationships.  As you can tell from this answer and the previous answer, I'm big fan of relationships!  Friends my family made when my parents were in the Army, friends I made while serving, and the friends my husband and I are making now together have been a huge blessing.  Not all of the relationships I've formed in the military have been with other military servicemen/women.  But I wouldn't have met them had I not been stationed in a place where our paths could cross.  For instance, I probably never would've moved to Kansas on my own if I hadn't been stationed there, but I thank God I was because I met some awesome people! Needless to say, I have a lot of long distance friendships.  Sometimes when I think about it, I get a little sad because I wish I could gather all of my family members and closest friends and plop them down in one town.  But, it's fun to know someone in almost every State and in different countries across the world.  Relationships are definitely the biggest blessing the military has given me. Besides, that's how I met my husband!!

• What is your favorite Thanksgiving side dish and why? 

Alright, I'm actually going to name two dishes here.  Is that cheating?  I hope not!  My favorite dinner dish is my mom's amazingly tasty broccoli casserole!  I know it's not a traditional Thanksgiving dish like stuffing or cranberry sauce, but I adore her casserole.  The sad thing is, she makes it from memory so I don't know exactly how to make it and I can't share it with you all today.  But, next time she makes it, you better believe I'll be hovering over her shoulder writing down everything she does so I can properly document it.  My second favorite dish is a dessert dish--pecan pie!  I grew up eating pecan pie after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.  To me, these meals just aren't complete without a slice of pecan pie.

• What are your Thanksgiving plans?   

Well, I'm happy to say that it's me and my husband's first Thanksgiving as a married couple!  Yes, our first major holiday as husband and wife.  This year, we'll be spending Thanksgiving with some of my husband's family.  Our travel plans don't have us arriving until Thanksgiving morning, but it's just enough time to join in the Thanksgiving festivities.  I'm really looking forward to it!

• What current or future projects are you working on?

I'm actually working on a few projects right now.  I'm in the process of redecorating our living room on a tight budget and deadline.  In fact, tomorrow is the big reveal!  I hope you'll check out the before/after pictures!  I'm also in the middle of a photo challenge.  Have you ever done one?  It's been a fun learning experience so far and I can't wait to continue with it. If you've done one before or if you're currently doing one, email me a link to your blog, I'd love to check it out.  Hope you'll visit me and read about all of my adventures at The Foreign Domestic .  Thanks for having me, Kate!

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Thanks Kirsten! Make sure you stop by and tell her hello!

Weekend Review

Here's how we spent our weekend:

We did a little relaxing



 Played Trains

Took Pictures

 Watched our dog Frankie (40lb mutt) get chased by a Grant Dane at the park

 Bennett willed himself to be bigger so he can have a lollipop too.

 We joined a wine club (2 bottles a month, plus free tastings whenever we go to the tasting room)

 And it is right on the ocean and has a 'kid's corner' with toys and books. You win, Taste of Monterey.

 You win too, Bennett. Because you are devlishly cute.

And you win too, Cullen, for convincing us that trains get to go in the sitting room on the weekend.  

And one last picture, just for giggles.

 How was your weekend?

Friday Fancies: Mixing It Up

Yay! Friday has made its way back around again and it is time to link up with {av} for Friday Fancies. This week we were prompted to embrace the mix and match trend for this fall and create an outfit using mixed prints and colors. I love the way my outfit turned out and feel like it is definitely something I could pull off, maybe even for Thanksgiving dinner?

mix match by kklarrabee featuring a striped shirt

What are you up to this weekend? We are wine tasting this afternoon (yay) and then having a date night in tonight, followed by no real plans the rest of the weekend (yay again!). I am in the mood for cuddling up and watching a good movie, any suggestions?

Don't forgot to pop over to {Long Distance Loving} for more mix-matched inspiration! Have a great weekend!