Christmas Crazies
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas Eve…
…from our crazy little family!
Pour a little eggnog nightcap and catch a few winks, for it’s Christmas Day in the morning!
XOXO
Fashion
Christmas Facts
Hi friends!
We’re less than 2 days away…
I was out shopping this afternoon and was surprisingly calm as I navigated the aisles of both of my Target stores. I’m kind of at the point of what will be, will be because it’s not the things that matter. It’s being together and celebrating the real reason for the season and that is the birth of our savior. BUT that didn’t stop me from trying to coordinate some outfits for the kids to wear to church tomorrow night {OK, so I still have a lot to learn}. Looks like we’re going casual with skinny jeans for both ~ green for Elliott and red for Holden. Pictures to come, of course!
Here are a few Christmas facts:
1. Gift bags don’t necessarily have to be from the Christmas department. I bought these little bags for 44 cents a few months ago at Target and they worked just fine with some red and green tissue.
2. Kindergarten gingerbread houses are NOT built to code…
3. You can recycle crayons into fun shapes that are old and broken ~ package them up and pair them with a Dollar Store coloring book…
4. Puppy Chow is, by far, the quickest holiday treat to throw together…
5. Office gifts rock…
6. Some elves got stranded in horrible weather {holiday travel can be such a bear!} and JUST now arrived to sit on their shelves {or whisk Barbie off to Vegas}….
7. I kind of don’t want to see my KitchenAid for awhile. It’s been banished to the back of the cupboard…
8. I grabbed every high caloric holiday beverage I could find this weekend ~ I call this our empty calorie line-up. {coffee is necessary, the the peppermint whipped cream is NOT}…
{need to have a chat with Canada Dry to make that cranberry ginger ale in diet form}
9. Coffee really is better with peppermint whipped cream and sprinkles…
10. Handing out blessing bags is more of a blessing for the giver than the receiver…I almost feel guilty saying that, but it’s true. Try it.
11. Delivering goodies from a big basket is a must…
{learned this one from my mama ~ although hers would have a big bow perfectly tied at the top!}
*****
We’ve had so much fun celebrating the season and advent this year. I just don’t know where the time goes between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Tonight we lit our last candle on our advent wreath and are looking forward to mass tomorrow afternoon to kick off our Christmas Eve celebration.
Going to soak it all in tomorrow and the next day.
That’s a fact.
XO
Smooth Sailing
Hi friends!
Happy Humpday.
Hope your week has been smooth so far. Mine has been drama-free thus far and I have been able to get up to the gym the last couple nights which was always good for me and seems to make life smoother.
Last week I {invented} a little breakfast smoothie with one of my new finds via Instagram. A friend posted some {Cookie Butter} from Trader Joe’s during Lent and I immediately fetched a jar to enjoy on/after Easter! It is fabulous alone on a spoon, on bagels, Ezekiel toast and graham crackers, but I thought I’d incorporate it into a smoothie in place of peanut butter and see what happened!
{Cookies & Cream} and Banana Smoothie
You will need: 2 cups crushed ice, 1/2 cup almond coconut milk, 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt, 1 banana, 1 tbsp ground flax {flax meal} and 1 tbsp. TJ’s cookie butter
Place all into a blender and blend ’til smooth!
Pour into a glass, add a straw and enjoy!
*****
And speaking of {sailing}, we plan to take a quick little trip to the beach this weekend.
Last time we went to the beach {in January!} Jay captured some cute pics of the kids just frolicking in the sand…this time I wanted to plan a little better with their wardrobes and hair and have a little Nautical inspired photo shoot at the shore.
I had originally picked up the anchor tee for a gift for a little girl….when the guy rang it up, it came up as boy’s. I thought it’d be cute on Holden so I set out to find something complementary for Elliott and stumbled upon this little striped number with the big bow on the shoulder. Both of them will wear rolled up jeans and bare feet ~ I think it’ll be perfect for some fun photos to get us excited for summer.
*****
Make the most of the rest of your week…Saturday and Sunday will be here before you know it!
XO
Ballet Flats
Three years ago…
Holden at {almost} 24 months in random octopus shirt, Nike basketball shorts and Isaac Mizrahi ballet flats {with lone Loeffler Randall gold flat in the background}.
My baby is almost FIVE and he wouldn’t touch pink flats with a 10 foot pole now.
Where oh where did that 36 months go?
Wah.
Leap!
Leapin’ Lizards!
Where did January go?
February is here and we get one extra day this year…yay!
It may still be the shortest month of the year, but it’s already proving to be a busy one with the Superbowl {go Pats!}, after school enrichment classes, a visit from Gramma, Valentine’s Day, the 100th day of school, Holden’s 5th birthday, Art Night and who knows what else…
Following along with Erin and April this month and doing a photo-a-day the February way! Follow the fun prompts, snap a pic and share ~ it’ll be fun ~ won’t you join in with me? I must admit that I am stressin’ about #10….sun flare. Going to have to read up on how to capture that one ~ ha!
Here was my entry for today ~ RED:
{down to our last grounds of this stuff from the holidays…wah!}
I’ll be posting these daily on Instagram ~ come find me and follow along: aaspiras
*****
Wednesdays are great days for bow ties, don’tcha think?
Followed this super duper easy tutorial over at The Vanilla Tulip!
So fun.
Here is a better idea of the fabric color….{along with a cheesy grin!}
{I had the green polka dot fabric from Christmas ~ was supposed to go atop mason jars filled with yellow pepper relish for the neighbors…oops! Sorry neighbors. Hope the New Year’s sugar cookie bars made up for it! XO}
I think a little green bow tie bunting for across the mantel mirror would be cute for St. Patrick’s Day ~ time to bust out several more of these cuties.
Would also make cute boy’s bow ties for Easter and matching girl’s hair clips.
Or clip onto the top of a birthday gift….
Thanks again for the inspiration, Ashley!
*****
Today is also Day 1 of Valentine stocking stuffers…
{Valentine jammies all washed and ready to wear}
And by Valentine jammies, I mean girly “pirate” {skull & cross bones} ones for Elliott that have hearts for eyes ~ that’s Valentine’s enough for me. Picked them up recently at Target for 70% off. Picked up Holden’s from last year post-cupid at Old Navy for el cheapo, too. That’s how I roll.
They will not be getting {extravagant} goodies every day…maybe a simple fruit roll one day, a dollar store coloring book another day, etc. The new jams were just to kick off February and get into the Valentine’s spirit!
*****
Hope your {leap} into February has been a good one!
What are you going to do with the extra day given to us this month?
Lady Gaga, Daisy Dukes & Chuck E. Cheese
My weekend consisted of moments with and conversations about these three {things}.
I find it ironic that while Holden worked on his family flag project {a week late!} for church class, we had Lady Gaga blaring in the background. Fortunately he did not draw her into our family portrait {no offense Lady G, but that would have just been weird}. Afterall, Poker Face DID help get me through my 13.1 in Vegas! I will be ever so grateful for that.
*****
Yesterday afternoon Elliott and I took a little outing to get my car washed {needed it!} and stop by Justice to see if we couldn’t find some {hip hop high tops}. As you can see in the picture below, we found some. All I can say is that if we didn’t have that $25 dollars off $50 card she would have been wearing a different pair of zapatos in this pic. And all I can say is that these sparkly peace sign numbers best do the job in hip hop class…
While we were browsing through glittertown, she mentioned that she also needed some new shorts…”not the kind that go towards your knee, but the kind that go up towards your shirt”. Me: “Oh you mean Daisy Dukes”. Uh, we’ll revisit that when the weather gets warmer. Or she turns 25.
*****
And the gift she’s holding in the pic above…that’s for a 6:30 Sunday evening party at Chuck E. Cheese.
Can I just say it was a little weird going to a birthday party in the dark on a Sunday night…not the kind of stimulus we would normally seek an hour before bed time. Yes, we could have politely declined, but this is a little classmate of hers that she always talks about. I have always told her, she can go to any of her classmates parties {they are all sweet kids and I know most of the parents} as long as we don’t have previous engagements or are out of town, etc.
Oy.
But we made it this morning…up and out the door on time.
In, what she now refers to as, her “tenniboots” ~ half tennis shoe, half boot.
And she was NOT wearing Daisy Dukes with them.
Monday’s off to a decent start!
Hope yours is too.
XO
Grateful Day By Day ~ InstaFriday
Lots of good stuff this week.
All captured by Hello Kitty.
Friday:
Grateful for super fun movie play date on Veteran’s Day
Saturday:
On the way to see Santa
Grateful to get his visit checked off our list even if it was 6 weeks before Christmas!
{On Holden: plaid dress shirt ~ Nordstrom, tee ~ Target, Paper Denim & Cloth jeans ~ Ross, Tan Chucks ~ Marshall’s * On Elliott: denim ruffle blazer ~ D-signed by Disney @ Target, tunic & pants ~ Naartjie outlet}
Sunday:
Grateful for a beautiful mass and monkey bread following
Monday:
Grateful for Pinterest and whipping up two of these inexpensive decorations for outside along our front walk
Tuesday:
Grateful for a passenger on the way to pick up Holden at preschool
Wednesday:
Grateful for good friends {that also happen to be neighbors} and early morning walks to Albertson’s for a few necessities and for some Fall leaves to frolic in
Thursday:
Grateful for Larabars {espesh Coconut Cream Pie[!!]} for on-the-go mornings
What were the little things that you were grateful for this week?
Linking up again over at Life Rearranged ~ InstaFriday
Super Powers Galore
{proof positive that an iPhone takes MUCH better pics than an iPod Touch!}
Scooby Doo pajamas, my black jersey knit scarf criss crossed around his chest, a reversible Batman/Superman cape and an Iron Man mask.
Wish he’d share some of his mystery solving/super powers with me on this Tuesday.
Still not used to these shorter afternoons….
Yeh, we’ll blame it on the time change.
Head To Toe
I think accessories make an outfit.
You can be wearing a ribbed tank and some yoga pants, but if you throw on a little necklace, a headband or some fancy flip flops, you’re in business!
{at least that’s the kind of business I’m conducting these days}
Lately I’m falling for fedoras:
{via}
Always adore a scarf:
{via}
Who knew you could layer so many fun necklaces?
{via}
I think I’m more in love with this display than the bracelets themselves! Go have a couple Coronas tomorrow night and make a home for your bangles.
{via}
Cocktail or statement rings always add a little punch…
{via}
And how about these? Glitter & leather are a match made in heaven.
{via}
And I can always use a ginormous MOM bag to hold random pieces of Legos, Woody’s hat, extra pairs of kids socks and birthday piñata candies for bribing.
{via}
*****
I’m a little late, but not going to let a FULL day of jury duty stop me from linking up some of my dream accessories over at Gussy Sews ~ Inspiration Workshop!
Come on over for some fun ideas for ways to {gussy} up your daily wardrobe.
