How The Glitz Stole Christmas Blog Swap!

When I saw that Lindsey ( http://www.thebargainblonde.blogspot.com/ ) and Raven ( http://www.amommasdesiresandpacifiers.com/ ) were hosting this fun blog swap I had to join in! Who does not like giving/receiving gifts and meeting new people???

I was paired with the lovely April at A. Liz Adventures ( www.alizadventures.blogspot.com/ ) and I could not have been more excited. I have been following her blog for months and love all her posts, she lives in North Carolina and I am kind of obsessed with her wedding. We both got married around the same time, she loves cooking & DIY projects and did I mention her wedding?? Seriously BEAUTIFUL...you should go to her blog and check it out :)


Here are all the goodies she got me!

- Leopard print scarf- I wore it twice over the weekend but forgot to take a picture :( BUT, I am in love with it!! I plan on wearing it to work this week and will make sure to take a picture!
- Sparkly nail polish- Perfect for the holidays!! At my mani/pedi this week, this will be on my nails & toes.
- Pink polish- so pretty for Spring & Summer...I can't wait to try it out!!
- Stress Relief Face Mask- After the crazy, stressfull weeks coming up I am going to for sure need a good face mask for my tired skin!
- Bath Fizz Ball- I ran in half-marathon relay yesterday and my legs ached all day yesterday (thanks to my lack of training) so I took an epson salt bath last night and added this bath ball to it for some yummy scents and extra relaxation...between the scents, epson salt and scolding hot water I was in Heaven!



Thank you again, April!!!!!!!!!!!! I love being paired with you! xoxo

This was such a fun idea and a great way to spread some holiday cheer! Head over to April's blog to check out my goodies I picked out for her :)

Christmas Craft- Holiday Card Display

Happy Monday, friends!! Can you believe there are only 12 more days until Christmas?! Well, I have been trying to find a cute way to display all of the Christmas cards we get in the mail this year and I came across a post by my fellow Texan blogger friend Lindsey at The Bargain Blonde
( http://www.thebargainblonde.blogspot.com/ ) and I thought it was super cute so I had to do it myself. It is really easy and turned out so cute!

What you will need:
-Christmas ribbon (thick is better)
-Mini Clothespins
-A bow...or if you are super crafty- make your own. I found one for 99 cents and I can not make good bows.


What to do:

Cut the ribbon as long as you want it. I hung mine from the refridgerator door but Lindsey hung hers from an actual door. Our doors are too tall so I opted for the fridge. Tape one end of the ribbon at the top of the fridge door (over the edge) and attach the bow with hot clue or tape. (sorry for the terrible blackberry pics!)


Use the clothespins to attach the cards to the ribbon. I used red & green clothes pins and separated the cards by an inch.


Here is a close up of the clothespins:


And WA-LA, you have yourself a homemade Christmas card display!

Pinterest Wednesday- Holiday Cheer!!

It is Wednesday and that means I am linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple ( www.thevintageapple.com ) for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday! Head over to her blog and link up :)

Tasty Tuesday- Homemade Chili

It has been FREEZING and rainy in Houston the past couple days and that just makes me want to stay home and eat chili. It is one of my husband's favorite things that I make so I make it a lot during the Fall & Winter and even every once in awhile in the Summer & Spring. My Mom gave me this recipe a few years ago but I am pretty sure I have changed it a little. Here you go!

What you will need:

- Ground Beef
- Chili Powder
- 2 Cans of Diced Tomato's
- 2 Cans of Kidney Beans (drained)
- 1/2 Onion, chopped/diced


What to do:

-Brown the beef in a pan on the stove.


-Add the cans of kidney beans, tomato's and the diced onion to the cooked ground beef (still on stove, medium heat)


-Mix all ingredients together and sprinkle with as much chili powder as you like. The more you add the spicier and more flavorful it will be. I don't really measure it...I just add a lot then taste as I go until I like it. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes on medium or low heat then it is ready to serve!

** I usually add about 1 cup of water so that it is a little more soupy**

Serve with Saltine Crackers or Cornbread! Enjoy!

A fun, Christmas filled weekend!

~ We went to our 1st Christmas party of the season Friday night. It was hubby's company party at Hotel Zaza in Houston and it was so much fun. I love getting all dressed up for holiday parties! We even stayed the night at the hotel because they had really cheap rates for his company. We had a room that was about 20 feet from the pool and if any of your have been to Hotel Zaza in Houston, you know how cool that is :) More pictures to come tomorrow!



~ Saturday we had brunch @ Empire Cafe (one of our favorite's) then knocked out a TON of Christmas shopping. We spent hours in Williams Sonoma, Costco, Pottery Barn and Anthropolgie.

~ Our feet were hurting from not sitting for so long so we decided to go see Breaking Dawn. It was a little slow in the beginning and it was driving me crazy how depressed Bella was throughout the first half but, it got really good eventually. I don't think it is as good as the first few in the Twilight Saga but still worth seeing. Can't wait for the final one to come out...that is when all the big action happens! We went home, ordered pizza, watched football and finished decorating our house and tree the rest of the night.

~ Sunday Chris went to the Texan's game ( WE WON! ) with his Dad and I spent the day cooking, baking and grocery shopping. I made the crockpot Italian chicken & pasta recipe that has been floating around Pinterest- it was DELICIOUS! I made gluten free strawberry & blueberry muffins for breakfast and baked some gingerbread cookies with homemade cream cheese frosting too. Our house smelled like an Italian restaurant and a bakery all day!

~ And last but not least....we got some REALLY, REALLY exciting news over the weekend but I can't share it yet! :) Hopefully in the next week or 2 though!! And NO, I am NOT pregnant!

Pinterest Project- Wedding Invitation Ornament

Now that it is officially time to start decorating for Christmas I decided I really wanted to make the wedding invitation ornament I have been seeing on Pinterest for months. It was super easy and turned out really cute. Here is a step by step:
(sorry for the terrible pictures...they were taken with my blackberry)

1. Here is what you will need:

- Your wedding invitation
- A glass or plastic, clear ornament. I got the large size but wish I had gotten the smaller one. I ended up having to cut up 2 invitations just so it would fill up the ball.
- Scissors
- A pen or pencil


2. Cut up your invitation into strips.

I did not do a very good job of cutting straight and I was worried you would be able to tell, but you can't!

3. One at a time (unless you are talented and can do more), wrap a strip of invitation around a pen or pencil tightly and hold for several seconds.

4. Insert rolled invitation strips into the ornament.


**The hardest part is trying to get the invitation strips with words to show. I tried sticking my pen inside the ornament and attempted to "re-arrange" some of the curled strips but that did not work out so well. So, I just left it as is. It still turned out really cute. Now, I just need a cute ribbon to tie to it before I hang it on the tree.**

Happy Crafting and thank you Pinterest for all of your fun ideas :)

Our Weekend in Hollywood- Day 2

I am a little late with this post but I still had to do it!
Our 2nd day in Hollywood turned out to be so much fun. It was supposed to rain all day so we had left it open to do museums and a couple indoor things but we got really lucky and it only sprinkled in the middle of the day for about 15 minutes! We woke up, ate breakfast at our hotel then set out for the day. We walked up and down the Walk of Fame looking at more stars then went back to Beverly Hills and Brentwood to see more celeb houses. We got back to our hotel around noon because The Muppets Movie Premier was taking place right outside our hotel at the El Capitain Theater and we wanted to try to get close to the red (it was green this time because of Kermit) carpet and see some of the movie stars! We waited FOREVER...the stars were all late and there were HUNDREDS of people in front of us, but we did get to see a few cool celebs. My pictures were pretty terrible because of how far back we were and I was trying to take pictures by just holding my camera up above everyone's heads. It was cool to see how a red (green) carpet works though...seeing hundreds and hundreds of paparrazi, news & photo journalists and video cameras, all the entertainment people yelling at the stars to get interviews with them and screaming fans EVERYWHERE. If it was this crazy for The Muppets, I can only imagine how crazy it would be for something like Twilight! Moving on...after the premier we went to have lunch at The Ivy. This was pretty much the top thing I wanted to do. We had margaritas and lobster raviole and 4 flavors of ice cream (great combo huh?). After lunch we shopped at Kitson and other shops along Robertson Blvd. By this point we were exhausted and our legs and feet hurt from standing for so long and walking so much. We headed back to the hotel to take a nap before our dinner & night out plans. Let's just say what was supposed to be a 2-3 hour nap turned into a 12 hour nap. Ugh. We laid down around 5 and planned to get up about 7ish to get ready to head out for the night. Well, we woke up around 8:30 and had zero motivation to get ready and go out so we just went back to sleep! HAHA! We definitely needed the rest but we missed out on what would have been a REALLY fun night. We had dinner reservations at The Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel then we had managed to get on the guest list of the grand opening of The Graystone Manor nightclub in Hollywood. But, we missed it all. At least we woke up the next morning feeling rested and refreshed and ready for a full day in Santa Monica & Malibu ( that post will come tomorrow ). Here are pictures from our 2nd day:

OJ Simpson & Nicole Simpson's home in Brentwood. She was found murdered right inside that gate.

Home in the Hollywood Hills where Britney Murphy & her husband both died. You should see the view from this home...it is overlooking all of Hollywood and directly above Sunset Blvd.

Betty White's house in Brentwood! She did not have a gate or any security. You can just walk right up to her front door :)

Entrance to the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills.

Neil Patrick Harris @ The Muppets Premier!

Mickey Rooney!

Miss Piggy :)

The Muppets making their entrance on the green carpet!

Jason Segal & Amy Adams that premier

Jason Segal!

Joel McHale from The Soup on E!

THE IVY!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Chris and I having lunch at The Ivy!


Santa Monica & Malibu tomorrow!!

Holiday Fireplace Mantels

We don't have a fireplace in our current house but once we move into our new house in February or March we will and I can't wait to decorate it next year! Here are some of my favorite holiday mantel insprirations:

I think a fireplace & mantel is such a focal point of a living room and there are so many beautiful things you can do to bring attention to it! I love these designs and CAN NOT WAIT to have a fireplace next year :)