Nadine

I love making Christmas wish lists every year. I don’t really do the whole gift guide thing. Honestly, it is rare that I ever purchase anything from gift guides as gifts for others. But I often bookmark some items for later, or they spark ideas for something I do end up getting. What is on your wish list for this year?

I wear the silicone watchbands most because they are comfortable. I really love this Louis one and it would be so cute stacked with some bracelets. I have seen ones like it in local boutiques, and they go so quickly I have never been able to snag one. I think it is gorgeous and timeless.

Bum Bum cream is one of my favorite indulgences. I love the way it smells and how soft my skin feels after. Having an entire box of these products is what dreams are made of!

I have always wanted a pair of Hunter boots but have never pulled the trigger because I have super muscular calves, and the original tall boots were too snug. They now have an adjustable back version that gets great reviews for my problem. Also, the 50% off Black Friday sale is running now making them much more affordable. They are on sale here as well.

We need to replace one of our non-stick skillets that is getting bad. I have a stainless steel skillet that I love and is much more sustainable, but not everything cooks great in it. I still definitely need at least one or two nonstick ones. I read great reviews on All-Clad. What is your favorite skillet?

Who doesn’t love a fancy candle?

The simple nativity art is my favorite. How gorgeous is this piece from a local boutique.

I want to finish up the wall in our hearth room and I think this Cinderella picture would compliment the Beauty and the Beast one we have in there.

I have lots of recipes that I made regularly from different blogs, memory, etc. I really want to have some recipe cards and a box to keep them in one spot. I am so worried a site might disappear. And sometimes my mind isn’t always super fresh. Also, my mom and I have been trying to figure out what happened to my grandma’s cookie recipe. I would like to make sure I have a place for all our family recipes in the event that something happens to me, Zoe can have them.

There are so many recipe boxes out there. They are all so gorgeous! I love the heart in the “i” of this one.

I have always loved Ell And Emm’s stuff, but never pulled the trigger. I live in sweatshirts right now and both colors available are so cute.

If 2020 taught us anything, it is what is important. Our health, the roof over our heads, our family and friends, the time we have together. Thanksgiving week is my favorite week of the year behind Christmas. I feel like it is the kick off to the Christmas season. In a normal year, I am excited to spend some time with family on Thanksgiving and then going shopping on Black Friday with my mom. We have been shopping every year since 1993, except 2016 when I was 38 weeks pregnant.

I can sit here and be sad about all the things that we missed out on this year, but I am not going to do that. This week, I want to be thankful for all the memories we have created this year. All these months of extra time I got to have with Zoe when she was young. Daily parties celebrating anything happy. All the outdoor walks and play. Our crafting, sidewalk chalk drawings. The ability for Chris and I to work from home and keep Zoe out of daycare during a pandemic. This week I am going to focus on the fact that I get to spend Thanksgiving with my two favorite people, cooking our favorite things, watching the Macy’s parade in whatever form it will be. Maybe creating a few new traditions of our own.

I took some pictures around our house to send to my mom of our Christmas decor. I thought I would share them here. Don’t mind the rocket mess on the floor in our living room. I think it is Zoe’s favorite purchase that Chris made. Girlfriend has been entertained for hours by it. If you are looking for a Christmas idea, this would be great for a boy or girl. Honestly, I have been having just as much fun as her.

We have a little village and nativity scene on our entertainment center. I love this Snoopy popcorn scene. It plays the Snoopy song, lights up, and pops popcorn. It is SO cute!

I never really did a house tour after we moved in. Mostly because we never got to fully decorate before the pandemic hit. We had just gotten settled in. I feel like we have a good handle on Christmas though! I plan to put out all our outside décor on Friday, so I will share that next week!

This past weekend, we spent a lot of time just hanging out. The weather was nice, so a good chunk of it was outside. Saturday we watched a little football, and Zoe wanted to watch the Nutcracker Saturday night. I pulled the smore machine out while she danced around the living room making up her own ballet.

Yesterday, I secured a turkey and ham yesterday, and am planning out the details on how to actually get these things cooked along with all our sides at one time with only one oven. Fun times. We watched The Grinch before bed last night.

I think we wore Mac out this weekend. He couldn’t keep his eyes open last night.

Speaking of finds, Target had a box of macarons with red velvet cake, salted caramel and pistachio. Yum!!! Definitely be on the lookout for these.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! Please stay safe this week, especially if you are traveling to spend time with family. I know for a lot of us, Thanksgiving is going to look different this year. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make it great!

Happy Friday, friends! I am going to be honest with you, this was a tough week. I don’t know what it was with the moon cycle, the way the wind blew, something in the water….but parenting was an uphill battle this week. I am never anything but honest here, so I wanted to share that. It isn’t always rainbows and butterflies…though sometimes it is literally. Girl mom life.

I went and picked up BBQ Stop for us yesterday for lunch. That was a nice break from soups and salads. My stuffed potato was bigger than my head. Challenge accepted.

Do you guys have any plans this weekend? I need to track down a turkey. I was going to order one from HoneyBaked, but its too late to have one shipped and thawed in time. I called our local store to ask about curbside pickup, and the guy was rude AF to me so I was like you know what…I don’t need this. I am going to try to make one on my own. The thought is terrifying. I feel like I have some really great dinner recipes, and I can bake some really good cookies. But I have never made a large bird before. Or a huge ham. I should have sorted this out before this week, but I guess I was in denial.

Favorite Song: I haven’t shared a song in a really long time. I used to every Friday. Truth is, I don’t really listen to much new music. But Hi-Rez is one of my favorites and he released a new song this month that is so awesome and very relevant. You have to go about 1:20 in to get to the actual song. The idea of the video is really cool.

Favorite Purchase: It’s 2020 and I am ordering family Christmas pajamas and mommy and me pajamas. These were delivered yesterday and I LOVE them. I cant wait for the family ones to come in too!

Also, because I am old AF and am having all kinds of foot problems with my right foot…I ordered a pair of orthotic slippers. A year and a half ago I was diagnosed with acute plantar fasciitis and pes deformities (high arches). I bought a pair of slippers a few months ago that I absolutely love. And they really help with plantar fasciitis because they have memory foam in them. They don’t exactly do anything to support my arches though. The pain has been so awful lately, that its shooting up my entire leg. I have had these slippers for a week. They aren’t near as cozy as my first pair, they are heavier and clunky, but that is because they have support for both my heel and arch. They are still cute, not that it matters. They have a hard rubber sole that you can wear outside to walk the dog or whatever too. I am alternating between the two pairs I have. Barefoot is no longer an option for me.

Favorite Recipe: I made thai chicken soup the other day, it was so yummy and delicious. It was the perfect comfort I needed. This doesn’t take a million ingredients, and you literally throw it in the crockpot and forget about it. Until about 3 hours in, when you kitchen starts to smell like the best thai restaurant ever.

Favorite Workout: I did this POP HITT workout on Wednesday and it wore me out! No jumping does not mean easy. Not even a little.

Favorite Reminder:

Favorite Funnies:

What a title. I mean, I don’t really want to call it weekend things on a Wednesday….or shove this all in a Friday post. You know? It has been a long week and it is only Wednesday. Work is nutso, there must be something with the moon because Zoe has been testing my every last nerve that I have left, and just other life things that make you wish you weren’t an adult.

We did have a fabulous weekend. We watched some Christmas movies and made homemade hot chocolate and smores.

I have found my new favorite adult beverage of all time. Half apple cider, half amaretto, dash of cinnamon. Freaking amazing. Don’t take my word for it, a few of you messaged me that you tried it after seeing it on my stories and are in love as well. Don’t sleep on this. How much longer can we find apple cider in stores?? I am stocking up!

Zoe goes through cycles with her toys. She got Violet last year for Christmas, and while she has always liked her and she makes an appearance fairly often for a few minutes at a time….she is in heavy rotation now. I think it is really sweet to see her brush her teeth and put her to bed every night.

I cant wait to take Zoe to the American Girl store in Atlanta sometime next year. Given that things calm down. I think that it will blow her mind.

Saturday night, Chris and I poured some drinks and got busy in the basement unpacking the million boxes of video games that we have. We got them all unpacked, and I think he is still working out some placement of things down there…but the games are done!

Now to find the time to play all of them!!!

Sunday morning, Zoe and I were up early making a white chocolate oreo pie with homemade whipped cream. Zoe said it is the best pie she ever had. It was pretty damn delicious.

We then got started on breakfast, making biscuits from scratch (what a labor of love!!!) and gravy for them with a few other things. I declared that the kitchen was officially closed after that. But we all knew I was bluffing and I ended up making homemade fettucine alfredo for dinner later that day.

It has definitely cooled down here this week. We had to turn our heat on, as it is dropped in the 30s overnight! I am pretty sure my neighbors think I am nuts, outside walking at 6am in the weather…but I am not quite ready to give up my morning walks just yet. That fresh air has been so good for me before the start of my work day. I still have that northern blood running through me, the cold never bothered me anyways.

I didn’t realize that Thanksgiving was next week until I looked at the calendar Monday morning before my meeting. I can hardly believe it! This will be the first year ever that I do my own thanksgiving meal. It is really depressing to think about. It will just be the 3 of us. Not family late lunch. No Black Friday shopping all night and the next day with my mom. I hate this pandemic so much sometimes. It has taken so much from us all. I am going to focus really hard on remaining positive and making the most of our day. Maybe we can make some new traditions. Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions? Are you planning on spending it alone this year, or are you braving a larger gathering?

So many decisions this year that I have not enjoyed making. As we round the corner after next week, we are coming up on Zoe’s birthday and Christmas too. I wish people would have taken things more seriously this year. I wish everyone would just wear a damn mask and do their part to help contain this shit. This is my absolute favorite time of year, and I am trying to do everything I can to make it as fun and normal as I can. But inside it kills me a little more each day. Then I look on social media and see all the hate and think to myself, maybe I am glad we aren’t going out places and seeing all these assholes. It is nice to live in our little bubble and ignore a lot of the stuff going on.

This guy isn’t mad about it…

Happy Friday! I feel like this week has been a long one. We are super busy at work right now, but not with our usual job type…so it is really slowing me down. It has been interesting to see how the different markets have been performing through this year. It has definitely been quite the roller coaster in my world for sure. I am just thankful to have work and to do it remotely on my own schedule. Even if that means I was up here in my office until 11:30pm one night getting a job out.

I never got around to posting about my weekend. We didn’t do a ton, I just felt so tired and worn down. We did do a Michael’s curbside order, and purchased a new Christmas tree for our hearth room. The tree is gorgeous!!!! I was able to get the traditional white light flocked tree that I really wanted. I did some chippy ornaments on it that I got from a local shop, and then simple red and white balls. I am waiting on a tree collar to put around it, but I just love it! You can see it from our kitchen too, which has been nice while I am meal prepping.

Also bringing me a ridiculous amount of joy is this cute little fiber optic tree and string lights in my office. Since I spend so much time up here during the week, I wanted to bring in a little happy for the holidays.

Chris had “off” Wednesday. I say “off” because he never really has off, but his company was “closed” for the holiday. So we decided to drive out to Landmark and get their delicious burgers. I think we had only been one other time since we moved. It was nice eating a weekend meal during the week.

Which was also followed up by Thursday morning surprise donuts from Dunkin yesterday. I had to run and pick up something yesterday morning, and figured it was an excellent excuse to surprise Zoe with her favorite. She had a huge smile on her face the entire car ride and thanked me for her donut about 20 times. It’s the little things, you know?

Favorite Purchase: Walmart restocked my beloved sweatshirts that I basically live in. They look like Aerie for under $12, fit perfect, wash nicely, and are so cozy. Highly recommend. I picked up two more colors that I didn’t already have.

I had seen a few people post on Instagram about this lip gloss, and I was running low on my favorite and thought I would try it out. I still wear lip gloss most days. It helps me look more alive. My all time favorite is Buxon, but it is $20 a tube and I go through them pretty quick. I have never found anything I liked as much though, so I stick with them. I do like NYX, but they don’t have as much lasting power for me. I am seriously blown away by this one!!!! It goes on butter smooth, has a little bit of a glossy look to it, but way more color payoff than most glosses. It looks like a lipstick but feels like a gloss on. I am in love and plan to buy more shades. You cannot beat the price for quality. Grab it!!! I have it in the color Reef, and it is so pretty.

Favorite Recipe: This isn’t exactly a recipe, but how amazing does this tree board look? I also default to a fun board for weekend snacks.

Favorite Workout: On Thursdays I typically do a full body workout. I usually stick with Heather Robertson most of the time, as I like the way she structures her workouts. This one popped up as a suggestion when I was looking for one and figured I would check it out. I really liked it. It moves FAST! I hardly had time to get in position for the next move before it was starting. You do four rounds and bam, you are done! She has a full standing no squats, jumps or lunges dumbbell workout that I want to try soon.

Favorite Funnies: