Happy Thanksgiving!

Immanuel and I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving last night and it was the perfect atmosphere setting video for Thanksgiving. Holidays just aren't the same without watching the Charlie Brown movies. Check it out here at hulu:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/193930/a-charlie-brown-thanksgiving 

It's great to listen to in the background while you are cooking :)

Have a great Thanksgiving! I'll miss you guys!

-S

Read more »

Great Crowd Pleaser

Last night my group of high school friends got together for a girls night at my friend Lauren's house. We all brought an appetizer to share and what we wanted to drink. I went through a TON of recipes trying to find something that would be tasty, satisfying, not too weird, and easy enough to make. Its hard making something for a group that you think everyone will like. Since I've known my friends forever I know that they don't like to be super adventurous with their food, so I thought, what is something everyone loves? Pizza of course! So I found this Giada recipe that was a hit and it's super easy to make. I followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfect. Immanuel loved it too. I think next time I make it I will experiment a little and maybe add sausage or pepperoni (Immanuel's favorite) and green peppers. You can really do almost anything. It's a fun recipe that you can be creative with. Keep this in mind next time you need to feed a crowd! 

Recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/venetian-rolled-pizza-recipe/index.html

-Steph

Read more »

Yay! I did it! I figured out how to sign in! Sorry I haven't posted anything. This whole blogging world is new territory to me. Don't expect anything fancy for awhile. I don't even have a camera at the moment to put up pictures...

I LOVE the Thanksgiving and Christmas ideas!! Who posted those? Be sure to sign your name at the bottom. Infact I think I'm going to go ahead and do some of those ideas. I don't ever think Holidays should just pass on by. You really need to make a point to make them extra special and magical! The Holidays go by so quickly, you really have to make every day count!

Thought I would update you on my plans for this month... It's a new month and a new chance to start fresh! Thats how I look at it anyway. Each month is a chance to start off on a brand new foot. Especially if the last month was kind of a blur, which was my October, with my wedding and then vacation. I think this month I'm going to work on my Spirit! Which is now my category for mind, body, and soul. And really just my overall outlook on the world. I have been feeling a little down and crabby the last couple days. It hit me when I snapped at my husband about something stupid and he said "why are you so angry lately?". That really made me feel bad. He's never said anything like that to me before and I certainly don't want to be known as an "angry" person. I want to be the person who is happy and smiling all the time and makes people feel good! 

I got as far as planning out my day today and tomorrow, then I will have a rough plan for the next week then even and overall plan for myself for the month. I'm going to start today by going to the gym, because I haven't worked out in awhile and as much as I don't want to go sometimes, it always makes me feel better when I'm done! Then I am going to come home, shower and gets dressed and actually put some makeup on for a change! Then I will force myself to make a cup of tea, then sit out in the backyard with a good magazine and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL day! I'm starting to find that is the key to sanity. Sometimes you have to force yourself to just stop, and have the perfect little quiet moment.. Then I will get the house cleaned up all nice, because that always makes me feel so much better as well, then make a nice dinner for my husband!

Tomorrow I think I am going to explore downtown Charleston! I'll keep you updated! 

-B

Read more »

Craft Ideas - Christmas

That site has a ton of great ideas! Here's a link with template for christmas cards. Making homemade cards is on my "super-mom" to-do list :)   This would be an easy way to start.




And I really want to make an advent calendar to countdown the days to christmas. Do you guys remember that little cardboard one Mom had..where you'd open a little door or window each day leading up to christmas and there'd be a little christmas scene behind it. I LOVED that thing. It was so fun for building anticipation and excitement leading up to christmas day!

I want something that combines the countdown with each day getting a new little ornament to hang on a little tree and some christmas activity for the day, ie. make cookies, drive around and look at lights with a cup of hot chocolate, watch a christmas movie, play a board game, etc.

This site has a lot of good ideas for making an advent calendar.

I like the idea of finding 25 little stockings, numbering them, then having the ornament and a piece of paper with the activity inside. Then I'd just need to find the ornaments and a little tree to have nearby.


I also really wanted to make homemade gifts of some kind for my friends this year. I love giving gifts but don't want to spend a lot of money of give something too nice where the other person feels obligated to reciprocate. I think these gifts in a jar ideas are perfect.

Read more »

Craft Ideas - thanksgiving decorations

I'm always finding fun crafty ideas when going through blogs..and then always lose the links. I thought it would be nice to post them here to both keep track of the links and to share with you guys. Then we can do a post if we actually end up making any of them (**fingers crossed that I actually follow through!**)

I love this idea and it looks pretty easy. I really want to work on bringing a more personalized touch to the home to surround me with more family pictures and things with meaning.
Thanks Board



I was thinking you could also do one with your last name and hang family pictures below. I think I would just buy those little wooden letter from Joann's.

(and check out this blog for inspiration for the design of ours!!) (Check out that "posts by author tab!")



I love this "be thankful" board also. I'm really getting into making my own holiday decorations.



You could do this for any holiday. You could also make it on a piece of paper instead of the board and use a frame you already have (or get one at the dollar store).

Read more »