Company Christmas Party

I've been blessed to have a good job the last 10 years and every December they treat us to a very nice Christmas party. Sometimes it has been a simple lunch and sometimes its a special theme. These year was casino night and we had a great time!

 This beautiful dress was the most formal I have ever worn to a Christmas party and it was so much fun! I thought the pretty cranberry color was very festive, it came from Amazon.com on cyber Monday!

 Omma and Poppie picked up the girls from daycare and took them to play and eat dinner at McDonald's! Here is Hubby and I walking into the Hyatt Regency, notice the cute black heart at the wall?!

 Poppie and Coco at Catch Air!

 I know Taylor loved playing in the balls!

 The Hyatt was so beautiful and upscale, the stair way up to the party was filled with garland and twinkle lights!

 Parents night out!!

 Hubby played blackjack and Texas hold em, I did not understand either one!

 My sweet coworkers Kathy and Katie looking lovely!

 They even had a fun photo booth, say cheese!

 While we were gone, Omma made Christmas cookies with Taylor, I know she loved the frosting. We had a great night out, it was so nice of my in-laws to come over and watch the girls, it was a great party to kick off this fun time of year!

 

Elf on the Shelf Breakfast

It's that time of year again!! We had a special morning visit from Elfie all the way from the North Pole!

For those who may not be familiar, Elf on the Shelf is a book about an Elf who comes down from the North Pole on December 1 and reports back to Santa every night about the children's behavior. Each book comes with an Elf, boy or girl and the family names the Elf.

 Our Elf is names Elfie and she is really sweet and likes to join us for breakfast every year!

When I was packing up from our last trip in Athens I accidentally picked up my Mom's plaid blanket, sorry Mom!! But it has been a happy accident cause I have been using it on our table and think it gives a really cozy look!! Last year I purchased the Elf on the Shelf plates and cups from Pottery Barn. They were a little bit of an investment, but they are adorable and I look forward to using them every year!! I've had my eye on their Grinch bedding but haven't had the money yet, hopefully soon!

 I am not much of a chef but I do love cooking up some pancakes!! Both my Grandmother and Dad are fantastic pancake cookers. My Grandmother called them Hot Cakes and would cook them in a black skillet with Karo Syrup every time my cousin Andy and I would spend the night with her. My Dad taught me a good secret, while cooking them I put the butter on them so it melts while I cook the others, YUM!

 Here is sweet little Elfie, I think she is eyeing the donuts just like me!

 For some Christmas decor I put this cute little gingerbread house on the table, it looks like somewhere Elfie might live in The North Pole!

 My 2 little elves!! You can see The Paw Patrol joined us for breakfast too!

 Daddy reads The Elf on the Shelf book at breakfast. I want to give credit to Hubby right here, he was in an extreme amount of pain when I took this pic, a few hours later he was in the emergency room with his back. He tries really hard for us and I REALLY appreciate that XOXO

 You know I love a good side by side pic of the girls, here they both are in December at 3 months old, look at those tongues!!

 While cooking the pancakes I love so much, here is what Nicole is usually doing, pulling EVERY cabinet out!! This is why I love my microwave!

 One of my very favorite things to do during the holiday season and tour holiday homes on different blogs, there is so much inspiration out there!! With 2 small kids right now I can't really go on real life home tours so being able to see every one's Christmas decor from my computer is perfect. I have been seeing deer every where and love them. I wanted to add some to my decor and I found these 2 at Walmart, $6 each...SCORE!!

I purchase some shiny red berry leaves to go with them and used one of my Aunt Sarah's platters, love them!

 I hope you enjoy seeing Mom's decorated home as much as me, she has been a busy elf herself getting ready!! Isn't this picture of her dining room absolutely gorgeous?! It really sparkles and feels so festive with all the red. Notice the beautiful vaulting ceiling above, its wood came directly from the Chattahoochee River!

 And Mom doesn't stop in the dining room, here is another family tree in their sun room, it over looks their lake, so pretty!!

I hope you all are enjoying this most wonderful time of the year!!

Visit with Santa, Simple Joys & What I Wore

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Ever since Taylor was born I have been able to take off work the day before Thanksgiving and we go see Santa, so far we have never had a screamer, the girls always do really good! We visit the North Point Mall Santa, he is really sweet, North Point takes you on a little sleigh ride with Santa before you see him and Taylor seems to really enjoy it. Here we are before entering the North Pole:

 They take a family pick, put up the stroller and give us a family pass to the North Pole!

 Taylor was all smiles, Nicole not so much but at least she wasn't crying!

 Santa, did you say TOYS??!!

 Then Santa asked us to come take a family pic, Hubby has gotten so much slack for this pic cause of  his torn jeans!! He is still mad at me for posting this pic, but I think its a good one! Hubby needs to tell Santa he wants some new jeans this year I think!

Taylor said she wants anything and everything Paw Patrol!

I think Nicole just wants a bottle :-)

 Later that night we went to Home Depot and picked up our Christmas Tree!

I always laugh cause my father in law tells us my mother in law has to look at 12 plus trees before she finds the right one, I told him if he takes these 2 with him it will go much faster!! There is no shopping around with these girls, we bought the second one and got out of there before someone had a breakdown!

 All smiles after seeing Santa and getting a tree!

 Starbucks has so many great treats this time of year, one of them is the snowman cookie, its thick and yummy! Perfect with a warm drink!

We stopped by Chick Fil A last night, a local radio stations 105.7 The Fish does a Christmas Wish List every year. Although every paycheck we get is already spent, we wanted to see if we could help by doing something for someone, even if its small. We found a local woman who has a lot of medical bills due to her daughter being in the ER, for obvious reasons that really appealed to me. I totally understand how medical bills can drown a family and be very disheartening. I purchased a few gift cards for her, although it won't pay her bills, it will help with food, gas and presents so she can put some money toward her bills. "To whom much is given, much is expected." I am someone who has been given way more then I deserve.

 You may have heard this story but its stuck in my head cause its so amazing! An employee of Dollywood was sweeping the park after the fires they have experienced. While cleaning up he found a page from The Bible that was still in good condition, the verse talked about fire and how God would always be there. Isn't it great when you see God working, the employee was not a man of faith but said that has changed XOXO

I got to work a little early one day so I got some Starbucks :-) I paired my denim shirt with some pearls and my boots, kind of a country music look I think!

 Like everyone else, on the weekend I like to feel more relaxed and comfortable, but no less festive! I ordered this long sleeve tee from Etsy, it has the cutest candy cane monogram pattern and I paired it with my buffalo check vest!

 Another Shein.com dress for the win! I love the navy, aqua and red combo. This dress is super comfy but a little shorter then I thought it would be so I paired it with some think navy leggins and boots. Don't want to be scaring anyone!!

 This festive look came from Target, the tee was only $10 with free shipping...SCORE!! I paired it with my navy blazer for a more professional look, love Rudy!!

So many friends and my Mom, like me, all enjoy The Small Things Blog by Kate, if you read her daily blog you may recognize this awesome plaid skirt she blogged about, its from JCrew. Its more then I like to spend on cloths BUT the skirt is fantastic, hello stretchy waist band and pockets!!! Its great for the holiday season, I paired it with my Walmart black tee, hose and black boots! Thanks Kate!!

I got the white denim jacket for under $10 at Walmart, its pretty comfortable for a denim jacket. I paired it with a red Walmart strap less dress, brown boots and blue necklace. And of coarse my Dixie Delights bracelet I wear everyday!!

I wore this to work and got lots of compliments on it, its a simple hunter green sweater dress from Shein.com with my buffalo check vest from Mom. I also snagged this gold necklace at Walmart for $5...SCORE!!

Christmas season is the best season for plaid in my opinion, this dress is all plaid and pretty busy so I pulled out my go to green vest and loved it, the dress came from Shein.com too!

 Dunkin Donuts has their Christmas donuts out and they are delicious!! I will defiantly be picking up some more this weekend!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend, we have our work party tonight, date night!

 

 

Holiday Home Tour 2016-Front of our house and den

Happy December Friends & Family!!

Does this make you happy or do you get a panic feeling, or maybe both?!

I am pretty excited myself, I am really glad I have finished most of my decorating and about half of my shopping. I really like having this done so I can sit back and enjoy each night relaxing with some hot chocolate and watching Christmas programs or looking at Christmas lights! I hope you got a chance to watch Dolly Parton's Christmas of Many Colors last night on NBC, it was fantastic!! Heart warming and full of hope, just what Dolly and Christmas should be!

 I even got Taylor to sit with me for a few minutes and watch it, of course cookies and chocolate milk helped! I love picking up a pack of Toll House cookie dough, like $3 at Walmart and making them warm and gooey.

 I wanted to show you the front side of our house today along with our den. One of the many things I love about our neighborhood is the charming white picket fence we all have. I've always hung some garland on it and have been wanting to add lights but never have, until this year!! I ordered a BIG string of lights and hopefully they will be long enough to wrap around the garland, I will let you know.

I did hang up wreathes and put some twinkle lights in the bushes. Hubby usually hangs the wreaths but with his back I did it this year. I will admit, I was really nervous on the second level but I did it and no one had to go to the hospital...SCORE!!

 Here is another view of the front of our house. You can tell I took a pic on a sunny day and another on a cloudy day :-)

Along with Rudolph I hung my monogram P letter on the door, I think it looks like a big ornament!

 I picked this plaid ribbon at Walmart, I love it!

So many of us are mad about plaid during Christmas!

 I love how the mantel came out this year, it really sparkles! The only thing I added was the Ho Ho Ho had from Walmart to the fireplace screen. I've had the Pottery Barn stockings since it was just me and Gizmo, over 10 years ago and they still look great! I have a Lenox Christmas lamp that was my Aunt Sara's and a nutcracker from my MIL. Pricilla the Pig and Richie Bear are also Aunt Sara's and Snoopy was my Granny's.

 I picked up this super soft red fleece blanket from Walmart, $5 bin!

 I think this may be my favorite tree I've ever done! We picked it up at Home Depot! What I am most excited about is the paper fan's I added. I saw this in Instagram and loved it, I orders a set of 6 from Etsy and they look fantastic!

 I tried getting the perfect picture of the girls in front of the tree, instead I got this, but I love it!! This is reality, look at Taylor's face!

 For me like so many others, decorating the tree can be sentimental. Looking at all the ornaments and remembering where you got them or who you got them from. I hang 4 special ornaments on our tree for all my angels. My two girls here and my two babies on the other side of heaven XOXO

 While on the subject of beautiful trees, I wanted to share Mom's stunning dining room tree!! It's so pretty with all the poinsettia's and red curtains. As far back as I can remember my Mom has always decorated with red in some room, she loves it and always makes it so pretty!! They have an awesome vaulted ceiling in this room, I will have to get some more pics to share with everyone soon!

I purchased this Christmas plaque from Home Goods a few years ago, its so pretty and sparkles so bright at night. I hung this in or dining room and love it right next to the lighted garland. I hope you enjoyed this part of our Holiday Home Tour!!