Saturday, December 31, 2011

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

A Baby Sprinkle & A Holly-Jolly Christmas!

I hope yall had a very Merry Christmas! I know I did! I just can not believe it is over and now only a few short days away from the new year...this year has flown by.

Me and a few of my best friends helped host a Baby Sprinkle for one of our best friends, Sarah a couple weekends ago. She is pregnant with Baby Boy #2 so we decided to throw her a little Baby Sprinkle and Holiday Dinner! Sarah has been one of my best friends since around 5th or 6th grade and her sister even married my little brother so we are family now! Here are a few pictures from the sprinkle:





Baby Cooper will be here in just about 6 weeks!! :) I love him already!




I had to work last Monday and Tuesday but then was off until today. Chris and I flew to Georgia on Tuesday night to spend a few days with my Dad, Step-Mom, sisters and other family. We had a great time seeing my family and celebrating Christmas with a couple big dinners and great gifts. I definitely gained a few pounds while we were there...



My step-mom always has a fun game or activity for us to do before opening gifts. This year we were divided into 2 teams and our teams has to dress me and one of my sisters up as Santa and whoever looked closest to Santa won...annnnd WE WON :) HA!!





My niece and I after decorating our gingerbread house.






Me and my Dad :)





Love my dad's house at Christmas!






Got to see my Granny in Atlanta before we flew home on Friday.






Before heading to the airport we made a lunch stop at The Varsity in downtown Atlanta! Best hot dogs and orange slushies ever!



Friday night we flew back to Houston to spend the weekend in The Woodlands with my Mom, Step-Dad and Chris's Mom. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew were in town also so we got to spend alot of time with them.




I love him :)



He loved sitting in this pot!







My sister-in-law made these for us!! I LOOOOVE them!




Christmas Eve Service at Crossroads




Pretty sure he is the cutest 1 year old out there :)




My husband definitely won HUSBAND OF THE YEAR AWARD for these gifts!! He got me the Pippa bag I have wanted for months and Tory Burch loafers I have had my eye on too! I told him we did not need to do big gifts for each other this year since we are about to be moving but he clearly did not listen. I think I will manage to forgive him though :)




And this is what I got him for Christmas. I found an artist in New Hampshire who specializes in watercolor home portraits and thought he would love to have a painting of our first home together. He bought this home on his own and is very proud of this house...we are going to miss it so much once we move out but now we will always have this to remember it! I had it framed and ordered a little plate that says "Our First Home" on it.


This year was so special because it was our first Christmas together since we got married! We are so blessed with such great families and so thankful for the time we got to spend with them all. I hope you and your families had a safe and happy holiday!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!




Merry Christmas, friends!! Wishing you all a blessed and merry day with your friends and family! xoxo

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Exciting News & A Few Updates

Remember a couple weeks ago when I said I had some exciting news but could not share it yet??? Well..... I can finally tell you- WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!!!! WHOHOO!!

We actually sold it on Saturday, December 3 but our realtor advised us not to tell everyone yet just in case the guy buying it decided to back out during the 10-day option period. So, the option period is over, we passed the inspections and the appraisal went well and there is no sign of the buyer backing out! As of now he is planning on closing on January 7th so we will move out on January 5th & 6th...EEEEK...that is less than 3 weeks! It took 1 month and 3 days for our house to sell. We got very lucky and feel very blessed because we know so many people out there have had their houses on the markets for months and maybe years. This was part of God's plan and His timing was perfect and we could not be more excited! :)

We head out of town tonight and will not be home until Sunday night, then we have friends coming in town for NYE weekend so I have no clue when we are supposed to back up our entire house and be ready to move in less than 3 weeks.

Tonight we are flying to Georgia to spend a few days with my Dad and family there, then we will be with our families in The Woodlands over the weekend! It is going to be a busy few days but I love getting to see all of our family during the holidays so it will be fun.

Last but not least, here is an update on our NEW house in The Woodlands! I am loving the process of building a home. Seeing all of the stages of it getting built is so fun. Last week our cabinets got put in and they painted the walls. And the finished the stone & brick on the outside of the house. I am most excited about the granite we chose and I can not wait to see it once it gets put in. I will share more pictures next week but here is our house as of this past Sunday, December 18th:


This will be my last blog post for a week so I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday!!!

Our Weekend in Hollywood- Day 3

I just realized I completely forgot to do a recap of our 3rd and final day in Hollywood, so here it is, even though I am a month late!

Our last day in California was probably our favorite. We loved all the hustle and bustle and excitement of Hollywood and Beverly Hills but being on the water is one of our favorite places to be and that is exactly what we spent the day doing. We woke up bright and early (thanks to going to sleep around 6 the night before), packed and checked out of our hotel in Hollywood. We headed to The Beverly Hills Hotel for brunch and it was AMAZING! This was one of my favorite parts of our whole trip. The hotel is beautiful and it is home to many, many years of Oscars parties and so many more events. I pretty much had my mouth hanging open the whole 2 hours we were here...I was in love with this place! Everything is pink and green and smells rich (if that is even possible)....I had their famous pancakes for breakfast at The Polo Lounge and Chris had an egg dish. After brunch we walked out to the pool and did a little shopping in the boutique. If you go to Hollywood, you MUST go here! If you can't eat at The Polo Lounge, at least go to see it! Here are a few pictures we took while we were there:






Next, we headed to Santa Monica Beach. We spent about an hour walking on the beach and the pier. It was a beautiful day and the beach was packed. Venice Beach is just a couple miles south so we drove there and walked around for awhile. Venice Beach is "interesting" to say the least...it is a GREAT place for people watching. The sidewalk is lined with tons of little shops...most of which are little stores with "Kush Doctors" that will give you a prescription for medical marijuana!! CRAAZY!!



Next, we headed north on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to Malibu. The drive is beautiful...on one side you have the ocean and cool beach houses and on the other side you have mountains and mansions. We did a little celebrity stalking and saw Kristin Cavallari's beach house from the last season of The Hills and saw Jennifer Anniston's beach house that she lived in right after her and Brad Pitt got a divorce. I know we passed tons of other celeb homes but did not even realize it. Our friend from high school told us about this restaurant called Geoffrey's Malibu so we found that and decided to have lunch there. It was pretty much on the side of the mountain overlooking the ocean and the food was to die for! This is another must if you are ever in the area. After lunch we found a secret passage way that took us down to the beach. We literally had to climb down hundreds of stairs to get down there and worse- climb back up them to go back to the car. It was worth it though. Malibu is beautiful!


Hundreds of surfers next to the Santa Monica pier






Santa Monica Pier




Memorial set up for Veteran's Day on Santa Monica Beach







Trying to fit in with the Venice Beach locals =)






Jennifer Anniston's Beach House in Malibu






Best restaurant EVER! Geoffrey's Malibu!




View from lunch at Geoffrey's- BEAUTIFUL!






Malibu Beach :)








We had an unforgettable trip to California! I can't wait to go back one day!!




Monday, December 19, 2011

{A Festive Treat- White Chocolate Dipped Candy Canes}

Over the weekend I helped host a baby shower for one of my best friends and I made these for favors since it was a Christmas themed baby shower. They are perfect for favors or little treats for co-workers and friends and they are super easy!


What you need:

-Candy Canes
-White Chocolate or Almond Bark
-Assorted Sprinkles
-Wax/Parchment Paper



Spread out the wax paper on the counter. Melt the bark in a large bowl in the microwave. Unwrap the candy canes and put to the side (this was the hardest part... Candy Canes are not that easy to unwrap without breaking!). Dip the curved part of the candy cane in the melted bark and use a spoon to cover about half of the candy cane. Lay it out on the wax paper and sprinkle the wet bark with sprinkles, then let dry.




Thank you, Pinterest for another great idea :)