A Belated Christmas Recap!

(Our pretty tree and living room all decked out in Christmas cheer!)

So I know that Christmas was almost a month ago and the store shelves are now filled with a bipolar mix of red hearts and chocolate bunnies… but you know what? I’m a rebel (well a procrastinator, really), so darn it, I’m going to post Christmas photos anyway!

Hope you enjoy taking a peak into how we deck the halls in my home (we admittedly & proudly go slightly over board) and some special moments from my Christmas 2013… even if we are already half way through January 2014! ;)

Christmas 2013 -

Picking out a Christmas tree! It was an usually freezing Texas day but this is one of my favorite Christmas moments so I didn’t care. You just cannot beat the smell of a real tree! The loveliest aroma! And then some (but definitely not all) of our pretty ornaments.

Another picture of our Christmassy living room and some more holiday décor!

Christmas in our kitchen! The pink tree is definitely a favorite of mine, it adds a little Christmassy quirk! And for the second year we made the cute (& super easy)cupcake liner Christmas tree on the door (idea courtesy of Pinterest). The “Joy” and “Noel” banners are from a craft kit from Hobby Lobby. My sister and I both made one when she was visiting in October. It got glitter everywhere (almost a month later & still finding glitter all over the place) and would not stay up for nothing but it was really cute… and that’s all that matters right? lol

And yes, that is a Pillsbury Dough Boy cookie jar wearing a Santa hat :D.

Christmas dinner place setting. A close up of kitchen décor. And the adorable Christmas aprons my sister bought for my mom and I! The elf belongs to me and Mrs. Santa is my mom’s. Too cute!

Christmas desserts! A Black Tie Mousse Cake Trifle that I made and my dad’s traditional White Chocolate Raspberry Cake (wouldn’t be Christmas without it).

The trifle actually started out as a cake. I was making a copy cat recipe of Olive Garden’s Black Tie Mousse Cake but half way through baking, I encountered a little problem. After baking the cake in a regular cake pan your supposed to transport it to a spring form pan to assemble. Well the only spring for pan that I have is huge, way bigger than the cake was. So needless to say, I had no choice but to improvise. Still turned so delish (& pretty too, I think). Definitely want to try and make it the right way at some point.

More Christmas treats! Staying warm with some sweet apple cider on Christmas Eve. Wouldn’t be the holidays without peanut butter blossom cookies, would it? And Raspberry Linzer Cookies (delish & so festive)!

Some sugar cookie making! So to state the obvious, we cannot decorate cookies to save our lives lol. But it’s tradition and it’s fun!

So my mom and I got all creative and “Pinteresty” wrapping some of my sister’s Christmas gifts… and when she opened them up on Christmas day (over Skype, cause she lives in GA) she… didn’t even seem to notice a thing lol. But to her credit, she later said she was just sleepy and did in fact think they were really cute (well… actually she called them “hipster” but whatever).

My favorite Christmas gift!!! My parents bought me this lovely purple coffee maker! I’m completely in love with it, let me tell ya! So this is my little coffee corner, if you will. And yes, even the cow creamer gets a Santa hat in our house… cause you know, why wouldn’t it? ;)

New Years Eve with my family! My mom & I made tamales (not pictured) with my sister over Skype early in the day. It was my grandma’s New Years Eve tradition and we’re trying to keep it alive. They turned out so amazing! We also had some cheese fondue with French bread, played with sparklers, watched the ball drop, and prayed & toasted the New Year with some sparkling grape juice! A lovely start to 2014!

Last but not least, Christmas décor at the bay in my town!

Fall Recap & Playlist

(Pretty pumpkins galore at the Central Market & Whole Foods in Austin last month.)

I can’t believe that tomorrow is already December 1st! So crazy how fast fall came & went, isn’t it? While I’m so ready to start decking the halls and enjoy my favorite holiday, I must admit I’m a little sad to see fall go. So I thought before I officially go Christmas crazy I would recap some of the lovely & fun moments of the season.

And in true me fashion… below is a very late, totally last minute fall playlist lol. I couldn’t help myself… so just indulge me, okay? ;) These songs were my fall in music form.

In October my family and I took a trip to Le Cordon Bleu in Austin (where God willing, I will be attending in the very near future). They were having a fall cooking demo & open house. We got to watch the chefs make food, hear them talk about cooking & the school, ask questions, and sample the food! Then afterwards take a tour of the school. This was so fun for a foodie like me!

The first chef made breaded & fried goat cheese with fig preserves… which I ate every bite of before I even thought about taking a picture lol. But trust me, it was delish! The next chef made the soup pictured above. I honestly do not remember the name of it lol, but it had butternut squash in it and cilantro… it was really good! The food was great and everybody there, the chefs included, were so friendly. I loved just walking around & looking at the awesome Halloween cakes the students made! I kinda love this place!

Also from our trip to Austin: a guy outside the Central Market carving these crazy awesome pumpkins (very impressive). Pretty & yummy pumpkin spice cupcake from the Central Market. Dinner at Magnolia Café (really liked this place, will do a review soon). And owl cookies from Whole Foods (how cute are they?!).

Lots of fall baking (pumpkin rolls, pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes), fall crafts (wreath, glitter pumpkins, & painted pumpkins), way too many pumpkin spice lattes, and our Halloween spread (chicken salad sandwiches, dip, my dad’s traditional green punch, popcorn balls, cupcakes, and turtle apples).

My sister just got to come visit all the way from GA! We were over the moon happy she got to come, we miss that girl like cray! She stayed for 6  days, which went by way too fast, but somehow we managed to fit in just about all the things we had planned. We celebrated my birthday with lunch at The Cheesecake Factory (tamale corn cakes… amazing!) and cupcakes & macarons at The Sweet Boutique (my favorite bakery) in Sugarland.  We watched tons of Gilmore Girls, did some crafting, baking, cooking, shopping, and smashbooking.

The Christmas bulbs my sister, my mom, and I painted and decorated! Such masterpieces, aren’t they? lol They were a lot of fun to make… mostly cause we made them together.

So yes, ladies and gentleman, they laughed, they scoffed, they said it couldn’t be done… but we did it! We made tamales!! My family (namely my sister & dad) have been talking about making tamales for at least a couple years now, but everyone we would talk to would try to talk us out of it. Telling us how hard & awful the whole process was. My grandma & aunts used to make them all the time on New Years Eve when we were growing up. It was a family tradition. Now that my grandma is gone we usually just order them. But using an amazing recipe from my aunt, we decided to give it a shot while my sister was here.

It was a family affair. My sister and I were spreading the masa on the corn shucks while our parents filled them with the meat and rolled them up. We were nervous about the outcome but they could not have turned out better! They were so flavorful and delish! And... easy! I honestly don’t understand what all the fuss is about. They were a little time consuming but one of the simplest things I’ve ever made. Will definitely be making them this New Years Eve instead of ordering them!

My sister and I may be half breeds but we felt like true Mexican's that day (or Latinas :D)... but then we made Creme Bruelee for dessert (yep, now that's our white side coming out ;)).

Family photos! Some of my sister and I, a family photo outside the mall in Sugarland, my sister, my mom, and I in our front yard, and one of my favorite photos of us with our cousin Pam and her adorable son, Elijah! 

And last but not least, our Thanksgiving spread! My mom and I cooked the feast… we were so tired, but it all turned out amazing… so I guess it was worth it.

Turkey, my grandma’s recipe for dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rice & broccoli, and homemade cranberry sauce! And my dad made his traditional dessert… it’s his creation he’s been making since I was a kid. There’s no name for it but it has strawberries, Chips Ahoy Cookie crumbs, cream cheese, whipped cream, and marshmallow cream. It’s no bake and really good!

This fall season was not without its stresses and anxieties but there were also so many good moments that made up for it. All in all, it was a time of making a lot of happy and fun memories. Hope you all had a really lovely fall season as well! Now may the Christmasing commence! :D

Family Heirlooms #blogtember

I can't believe that today is the last day of September... and the last day of #blogtember! :( I had so much fun with this challenge. It was refreshing to have fun and creative writing prompts to do almost everyday. I felt like I really did more real writing this month than I have in a while. It was also so fun to connect with other bloggers; to read their thoughts and be inspired by them was truly one of my favorite parts.

I want to thank Jenni over at Story of My Life for hosting this challenge. I'm going to miss it! I hope I can keep the creativity flowing! :)

Well the final #blogtember prompt is to share something that's very special to you, that was maybe given or past down to you. I chose two items, each represent both sides of my family.

My grandpa's (on my dad's side) guitar -

When I was 14 I became completely obsessed with wanting to learn how to play the guitar. For years I'd seen my grandpa’s small acoustic guitar sitting in our living room (my family & I lived with my grandparents at the time), he would pick it up and play on occasion. When I was a kid I would sometimes pick it up and pretend to play it. But most of the time I would run my fingertips over the bridge of the guitar just because I liked the way it sounded.

When he found out that I wanted to learn how to play he let me have his guitar to learn on, even teaching me some chords. The guitar, being rather small, was and still is the perfect size for me. Not heavy like some some are. I took lessons for a short time from a friend of my cousins. When we moved out of my grandparents house not long after that, he told me to take the guitar with me. And even 8 years now after his passing, here it remains.

I took lessons on and off through out my teen years and um ... still only know like 4 chords lol. But that's beside the point. Having his guitar means so much to me. He was a musician who mostly played the saxophone. He even played and traveled around in a band for a while. His love for music, listening and playing, was definitely passed down to his grandchildren.

My great grandmother's (on my mom's side) quilt -

My grandma passed this beautiful quilt, that was handmade by her mom, down to my mom years ago. It hangs on my mom's quilt rack and means so much to her. So much so that she has said it will later on be passed down to me. My great grandma handmade it from her kids' clothing and my mom thinks it's probably near a hundred years old.

To think of all the time and love that went into making it, to think of how much it meant to my grandma, and how much it means to my mom, makes me even more proud to someday have it in my home. Especially since I have a love for all things handmade and homemade. To think of the generations that have cherished it will make it extra special. Then to someday pass it down to my children for another generation to cherish. Keeping it in the family.

What makes these items or anything that can be classified as a “family heirloom” so special is the person it came from and the stories attached to it. I’m so glad that I have these as well as other things to treasure and remind me of my special loved ones. :)

Letters To Some Special People…#blogtember

So this #blogtember prompt has us getting all sentimental, writing a “love letter” (that doesn't necessarily need to be romantic) to someone in our lives. Well there are a few people that I decided to write short letters to… I’ll try not be overly cheesy. But that may be hard as cheesiness tends to be my specialty lol.

To this special pink haired girl (wearing a zombie unicorn dress in this photo :)), my little sister, Cecily -

(Cec & me while she was visiting this past 4th of July.)

I miss you… like crazy!! Before I get to the mushy stuff, allow me to pout for just a second: I hate that my best friend, concert & baking buddy had to move hundreds of miles away from me. I hate that we never took a train to Seattle and begged for a job at Tooth & Nail. I hate that we never opened up our rockin’ music venue and cafe where we would have gotten Showbread to play the first show. And I hate that we never crowd surfed at a rock show.. (okay, so maybe it’s a good thing we never did that :p). But…

I love knowing that no matter what happens.. no matter the crazy ups & downs or the miles that separate us that we will always be close. I think time has proven that. I love knowing that we can get through anything.  And I love that we still make a way to do fun things to together even if that means baking cookies & making wreaths over Skype.

I have learned so much from you over the years. The way you have overcome struggles in your life and come out even stronger. I’ve always admired your individuality.. the only person I know that would wear a pink tutu to a church convention lol. I would always walk away totally inspired by one of our late night conversations about God & life. Or reading an amazing blog you wrote.

I know that life has changed so much over the past couple years. We both have new lives & new dreams, and I think that’s a good thing. But what will never change is that I’m still your big sister, I love you, and will always be here for you.

To three awesome gals, my cousins Pam, Erika, & Ashley: - 

(Ashley, me, Pam, & Erika @ my grandparents house back in 2000)

(Ashley, Erika, Pam, & me! With Ashley & me sort of hogging the camera just a bit, ha! I think this was taken in 1999)

Oh my, where do I start? lol Some of my most favorite & fun memories are with the three of you. Being homeschooled from the time I was in the 5th grade, I didn’t really have the “typical” teen years, but I feel like you guys provided that for me. Because of y’all I have a lot of fond memories of my teen years (& beyond).

Riding around town all day with the windows down listening to all the late 90’s pop music, talking & laughing (really loudly) for hours in my room, the totally insane obsession we had with *Nsync (Yes, I went there :p) lol, going to *Nsync & Backstreet Boys concerts, and all the many other fun & weird things we did back then. The four of us, always together, we were such a little group. It always makes me smile thinking back on it all.

Even though now that we’re all grown up and don’t get see each other as much as we’d like, I still love you gals like crazy! And I’m so glad that we still talk and still make time to be a part of each others lives. You’ve never just been my cousins, you’ve been my friends, you’ve been my sisters. We’ve had our ups & downs over the years but we always seem to find our way back to this circle and I hope that we always will. - (Kiwi ;))

Wedding Recap!

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a week since my sister’s wedding. It all felt like such a crazy whirlwind but it could not have turned out more beautiful!

(Photo courtesy of Blackbird Photography) 

My sister is a Georgia peach now so we were basically helping her plan this wedding long distance through many phone calls and Skype sessions. Yeah, not easy. Her & her husband (they were already married but never had a ceremony) came down a week before the wedding and it was non-stop chaos getting everything ready. Luckily we had a lot of help with family willing to pitch in left and right. Such a team effort! My cousin even came all the way from PA to be a bridesmaid and help out with everything. She was such a life saver, even stepping in as a wedding coordinator of sorts. Seriously we all kept telling her she should do it professionally.

One week isn’t a lot of time to get things together but somehow we all made it happen. We did wedding crafts (as it was very much a DIY wedding), threw my sister a bridal shower complete with great food, cupcakes, and bubble tea (first time making bubble tea, so easy, will post recipe soon!), wedding rehearsal and dinner.

Then the night before the wedding my cousin and I basically stayed up all night long baking treats for the dessert table and making cds to play at the reception. I got three hours sleep, woke up, finished making chocolate truffles, headed straight to the wedding venue to decorate, get ready, take pictures, and head down the aisle. So I may have been a bit delirious from lack of sleep lol but I suppose my sister is worth it. ;)

(Photo courtesy of Blackbird Photography)

It was an outdoor wedding held at a nature center close to our town where they said their vows in front of a pretty wooden arch. It was a lovely place that fit their woodland/rustic theme perfectly. And after a minor mishap that made us a little late getting down the aisle (so inevitable, right?) everything was quite a success! It was a small but beautiful wedding and I think everyone had a great time.

My sister took this photo of us on her phone after the wedding as we were all getting ready to leave. I think it might be one of my favorite photos of us. I don’t know if you can tell in the photos but she dyed her hair blue, green, and purple…looked so awesome! So my cousin and I surprised her by putting blue streaks in our hair last minute so we could match; she loved it!

This photo was also taken about ten seconds before I basically lost it and dissolved into a puddle of tears lol. The reality just set in that those were my last few minutes with her till her and her hubby left back to GA that night. I swear I’m such a basket case sometimes when it comes to the people I love … no really, maybe it was also the sleep deprivation, but I was still in tears when I got home lol.

She moved to GA in March, and while I hate living so far away from each other, I’ve adjusted and am fine most of the time. We call and Skype as much as we can. But spending a week together and then saying goodbye all over again is still heart breaking. I guess it probably always will be. We were always so attached at the hip that it’s so hard saying goodbye not knowing when you’ll get to see each other again. I’m sure many of you can relate to that feeling.

But I’m so glad that we had that week together and that I got to see her walk down the aisle. The wedding was so lovely and she made the most gorgeous bride ever (though I may be somewhat bias ;)).

Things That Made Me Smile In December – Highlights of the Season

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is actually over and December, and 2011 are nearly gone. December, where did you go… am not ready to say goodbye yet. I made a most depressing discovery today as I was shopping in Hobby Lobby; the aisles that were not even a week ago filled with Christmas cheer are now replaced with pink & red Valentines Day decor as far as the eye can see. Ugh! There should be a rule about not moving onto the next holiday that fast. I mean really, who is looking for Valentines decor before New Years?? Okay, rant over. :)

How was your Christmas season? Mine was pretty good, despite being under the weather for most of this month, I managed to get in some baking and Christmas movie watching.

Since this season flies by way too fast; I thought I’d take a look back at some of my highlights and things that made me smile this December. :)

1. Watching my cousin get married. On the 10th of this month I watched my cousin, Pam, walk down the aisle in a small but beautiful ceremony. Even though I was sick with a really bad cough and cold, I vowed not to miss this for the world. Luckily, I made it through without much coughing during the ceremony (that my dad,who’s a minister, performed) lol. We’ve always been more like sisters than cousins so it was such a special thing to witness her special day. She was a beautiful bride and I know her and her husband are going to be so happy! Below is a photo of my sister, my cousin, and I at the reception. This is one of my favorite photos of the three of us and I’ll treasure it always. :)

2. Decorating our house for Christmas! This is always one of my favorite parts about the holidays… watching our house transform with a little bit of Christmas magic everywhere. We are the family that starts decorating for Christmas even before Thanksgiving lol. Oh c’mon, you know you can’t resist either! :p Below are some photos of our house all ready for Christmas.

3. And admittedly, we tend to go maybe just a little Christmas crazy… just a little. ;)

(Yes, even the Pillsbury Dough Boy needs a Santa hat… duh! Why wouldn’t you put a Santa hat on a cookie jar?? ;))

(My mom & I got a little mischievous one night and thought it would be funny to surprise my sister, who’s not the biggest fan of Christmas, with our bedroom doors covered in wrapping paper; festive huh? She already thinks we go nuts at Christmas, so we thought we’d prove her right. :p)

 

(Gingerbread salt & pepper shakers!!! :D)

4. Our yummy Christmas desserts!

(My dad & I made this delish dessert together. This is his creation that he’s been making for years now. I guess you could call it a no-bake chocolate chip cookie strawberry cheesecake… kind of a mouth full, I know lol. But whatever you want to call it, it’s pretty amazing! We ate this up so fast! :))

(This is another one of my dad’s creations, it’s a White Chocolate Raspberry Cake. This cake has been a holiday tradition in our home for years; I look forward to it every year. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without it.)

5. Christmas music – I started listening in the fall and I haven’t stopped yet. :)

6. My new Christmas apron – This was a Christmas gift from my mom; isn’t cute? I had been mentioning to her all month how I wished I had a Christmassy apron, so it was the perfect gift. The only downside is, I can’t get much use out of it till next year. 

7. Opening gifts with my family - This year, since Christmas was on a Sunday, we started the morning out with church instead of gifts. My dad is a pastor of a small church and it meant a lot to him to still have service on Christmas. Which I think everyone actually really enjoyed. It made the day feel even more special. So after we got home we opened gifts before devouring our Christmas feast. We all got some really nice gifts; Santa was good to us. ;)

(My sister opening up her cupcake cookie jar that my mom and I got her.)

 

(My sister and I kinda have a weird tradition… she’s not the best gift wrapper and doesn’t really care to do it. So every year she wraps me one gift and goes a little crazy on it to make it look as bad as she possibly can. This started for her own sick amusement then became something I looked for every year. I affectionately call it my “ugly wrapped gift”… I know, we’re weird lol.)

8. This recipe for Chicken & Dumplings that we made like three times just this month. The best I’ve ever tasted!

9. Constant Christmas movies on Hallmark & Lifetime – This is the best time of year for channels like this. I may be a rare gal in that I’m not at all a fan of Lifetime, hardly ever turn it there, but at Christmastime, I love it. Both Lifetime and Hallmark have the best Christmas movies going all December long.

10. Family Photos – We meant to take photos after we ate on Christmas day but since we were all extra sleepy from getting up for church that morning, most of us opted for naps instead lol. So a few days later we all got dressed up again and snapped a few photos.

What were some of your highlights through out this Christmas season? Hope your Christmas was lovely and full of magical memories. :)