Our Christmas Card

 One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is receiving Christmas cards from family and friends.  Opening the mail is so much fun!  I love seeing what everyone has been up to during the year or seeing the little babies or kiddos as they grow.  Such a great time of the year to really reflect on how blessed we all are to have such amazing family and friends.  With that said, I also love sending out our cards so that everyone knows we are also thinking of them and wishing nothing but the best for them in the new year!

We haven't really shared our pictures from New York (last December) with too many people (other than me posting a few here on the blog), so it's a perfect way to share them.  We put the most festive one on the front of us in front of Radio City, and then on the back, we're on Top of the Rock with the Empire State Building in our view, then Central Park and last at Times Square.

We used Zazzle this year to do our cards...mainly because I had bought a groupon for a great deal.  I was thrilled with the quality though! And I can't take all the credit for this one as my husband actually picked the picture and the design he liked best.  I think he did pretty good if I do say so. :)

I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner to share our Christmas Card and to go check out all of the other beautiful cards!  Click HERE to go view them.

XO,

Tara

Adult Hot Chocolate Bar + Christmas Mantel

We recently had our 8th annual girl's Holiday Party at my new house.  In getting ready for the party, I used a white tray to create an adult Hot Chocolate Bar.  Here's what it included:

Mugs + Spoons

Instant Hot Cocoa Mixes

Marshmallows

Candy Canes

Peppermint Liquor

Bailey's

I'm leaving this bar out for the holiday season for our house guests to enjoy.  Of course the kids can use the bar too when they visit as long as we put up the liquor.

Also, here is a glimpse at our holiday mantel.  As we're still getting settled and upacked, I kept the mantel simple.  I like how it turned out for this year!

(note these are from my phone, so please excuse the blurriness)

I added some mercury glass after I took the pic above. 

I'm linking up to A Thoughtful Place's Christmas Vignette Holiday Linky Party.  Go check it out by clicking here.

Also, I haven't forgotten that I haven't shown you my new white cabinets in the kitchen.  I need to be home long enough to clean up the kitchen and take pictures to show you guys!

Also, I'll be back sooner than later to show you the rest of the food and treats from our girl's holiday party.

XO,

Tara

It's Starting to Look Like Christmas + My Wish List

We are still knee deep in boxes at our new home, but we couldn't resist starting to put up Christmas decorations to make it feel more festive and homey.  The rest of the boxes will just have to wait a bit longer to get unpacked.  Our tree went up while we listened to Christmas music, and we ate a big and comforting bowl of chicken and dumplings for dinner.  This has been our tradition for the last five years since we had our first Christmas together.  It's starting to feel and look like Christmas!  I just adore this time of year!

I also came up with some ideas of items I wouldn't mind receiving this year.

MY WISH LIST...............................................................................

Starting from the top going clockwise:

1. Kendra Scott Elle Earrings in Chalcedony

2.  Michael Kors Gold Link Bracelet

3.  Zara Leather Bag

4.  Keurig Coffemaker

5.  J Crew Rail and Wharf Duffel Bag

What's on your wish list??

XO,

Tara

Girl's Night In - Ornament Exchange + Great Recipes

Yes, yes I know Christmas is over!  I get it I promise.  I just got so behind in blogging when we were traveling and spending time with family.  I don't know how some of you keep up so well!! Seriously, this girl is impressed.  :)

So this post is not just focused on the Ornament Exchange that I hosted, but more focused on FOOD and party ideas.  With the Super Bowl on Sunday, I just couldn't let you miss out on a couple of great recipes I made from other blogs, and they turned out great.  You'll definitely have to try them.

To give a short re-cap, my former roommate and I started a girl's holiday party with an ornament exchange when we first moved to Houston 6 years ago.  It was a hit, I mean mainly because how can you go wrong with food, wine and girl talk?  Ever since then it's been a tradition....well except my friend is now living in Australia for work!! So she's missed the past two years, but she WILL be here next year, right??  :) haha  Anywhoo, we all bring a wrapped ornament and then draw a number to see what order we'll go in.  The first person picks any wrapped present and opens it in front of the group.  Then the second person can either "steal" that ornament or pick another unwrapped ornament, and it continues the same way from there.  There are two steals allowed, which makes it really fun, and then at the very end, the person who went first gets the opportunity to pick from all of the ornaments that aren't frozen (meaning already have been stolen twice) at that point.  It's really fun to have a new ornament to add to the tree each year, and the girls always bring such beutiful ornaments, so it gets really competitive with lots of stealing!

Let's take a look at the refreshements I served this year.  Starting with the bar of course!

We usually stick to wine and Poinsettias (champagne with cranberry juice and cranberries), which are very festive.  This year I put a bowl out with little tags tied to ribbon, so the girls could write their names on the tag and tie it around the stem of their glass.  It was pretty and easier than trying to remember which wine charm you had!  

 

Now for the food, I went with a Mediterranean theme for the most part.  I purchased some of the main items from an amazing deli/store that is nearby.  Here was the menu:

Chicken Skewers with Peppers & Onions

Falafel

Mini Pita Pockets

Tzatziki Sauce

Caprese Skewers

Goat Cheese Baked in Marinara Sauce w/ Baguettes

Hot Spinach Dip & 7-Layer Greek Dip w/ Pita Chips

7-LAYER GREEK DIP {click here for recipe}

Okay, I didn't remember to snap all of the pictures before we started digging in to eat, but I wanted to share this great recipe with you. It's a new twist on the traditional layer dip, and it was definitely a hit! I might just have to make this again this weekend.  It's from Natalie at Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers.

To make the Caprese Mini Skewers, simply take a toothpick and put one mozzarella bite-sized ball, a grape tomato and basil leaf on it. Place them on a platter and then drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  You could also add some balsalmic vinegar as well.  They look very Christmasy don't they?!

HOT SPINACH DIP {click here for recipe}

Again, this dip was almost gone before I got a pic, so the presentation picture is awful, but it was that GOOD!  I agree that this is the best spinach dip ever.  To see what the secret ingredient is, head on over to Sweet Tea and Stilletos.

For the desserts, my friend brought over Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting.  Yummy!  I bought Baklava.  Then I also made a Sugar Cookie Fruit Tart with Cream Cheese Frosting.  Check them out:

I left the dining table cleared off around the edges so we could sit and chat while eating, but then we also played a game called LRC, and I had some fun prizes (aka bottles of wine and other goodies) for the winners.  It was a new addition to the party this year, and I think it kept the competition flowing after the ornament exchange.  Great times!

Thanks for the bloggers that had some amazing recipes for me to use!

Now switching topics, one last MAJOR thing before I go.  Remember not too long ago I showed you an amazing camera bag?  Well, here is another one.  Look at the gorgeous colors it comes in!  For a chance to win this bag, head on over to The COLOR ISSUE and follow the 3 easy steps to enter the giveaway.

It's hard for me to decide on my favorite color, but since I already have a couple of beautiful purses in camel, I think for this bag, I would choose the stone (gray). They are BE-UTIFUL!

Happy Friday and Super Bowl Weekend!

Tara

Christmas Recap

Yes, yes I know Christmas was two weeks ago, but seriously until yesterday it still looked like we just had Christmas morning at our house.  There were still presents and unwrapped boxes stacked around the living room, and all of our Christmas decorations are still up.  I'm starting to go through the presents and clean up in general, but I'm not going to lie, I'm okay with our decorations being up for a bit.  It seems like there's always a rush before the holidays and then it's all over too quickly, so I'm kind of liking being home this weekend and getting to enjoy the tree still lit and just taking it all in!

We did have a wonderful Christmas this year!  We hosted my sister and her family and my mom and step-dad at our house.  It was so much fun getting excited with the kiddos that Santa would be visiting our house! Here's a recap through pictures (yes, get ready there are quite a few).

To prepare for the little ones being at our house for Christmas, I used the space inside our armoire to make a s'mores station, along with Christmas books and coloring books to keep the kids busy when needed.  ;)

I also added a couple of touches of Christmas in our master bathroom to make it fun for bubble baths!

Our Visit to the Galleria on Christmas Eve Day:

Ice Skating around the big tree.

She was starting to get the hang of it!! :)

       Me with my mom and one of my beautiful nieces.     

The pretty girls in front of the beautiful decorations!



My oldest niece helped me set the table for our dinner.  We made shrimp and crab gumbo, which is a staple for our Christmas Eve Dinner. 

We baked cookies for Santa and some just for us to decorate and eat of course!

Me with my sweet husband.

and one of my favorite pictures....the youngest fell asleep on the top of a couch cushion after too much fun!

It really truly is the most wonderful time of the year, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Tara

Christmas Traditions

Jeff and I started our own Christmas traditions while we were dating.  For our first Christmas together, I still lived in an apartment but always had to have a Christmas tree - and a big one at that - no skimping on trees allowed!  So Jeff went with me to pick one out and help me carry it back to my apartment.  We made dinner together, which was his mom's recipe for Chicken and Dumplings and are so delicious.  Then we listened to Christmas music and decorated the tree.  Four years later and that's what we still do every year!  Here's our Christmas tree this year:

and this is how I wrapped our presents this year from pictures inspired by pinterest of course!

Another tradition that we started was collecting ornaments from each place that we traveled to so that when we decorate the tree, we can look back on the wonderful memories of our vacations together.  It's so fun to have a tree with ornaments that hold such special meaning to us!

New Orleans & Ouray, Colorado

Las Vegas & Jeffersonville (went to Louisville too on that trip!)

On our honeymoon in Zihuatenejo, Mexico, we picked up this cross at the market since I couldn't find an ornament, and I just put a ribbon through the hole to hang it.  It's one of my favorites!  The palm tree is from Belize.

We are also going to pretend like there is one from Chicago right here, deal?  I never got one on our trip, and I need to find one that I love so I can order it. 

...and our newest addition!!  New York City!!

I love that we already have our own special traditions to celebrate Christmas!!

Merry  Belated Christmas to all of you!!

Tara