Instagram Life – November 2014

November started off in the 60’s, had a couple large blizzards in the middle and ended in the mid  40’s and sunny. Michigan. You unpredictability never ceases to amaze me. I spent 3 weekends completely lazy’ing around and the other two spend with family and friends celebrating the holidays. It was a good month.

** Cookie Face

** Remembering an amazing lady

** Frozen

** #CamilleStylesEntertaining

** Saw Mockingjay Part 1 – LOVED!

** Beautiful holiday decorations

** Black Wednesday in Kalamazoo

** Thanksgiving dessert… 3 ways

** Greensky concert at the State Theater

December is here! December means holiday parties and gift giving and champagne toasting and snow days and twinkle lights and hot chocolate and decorations and cookies and heated blankets and sledding and mistletoe and snow ball fights. I welcome you December… with open arms. 

Friday Five!

{Thanksgiving!!}

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This week I am thankful. 
I'm thankful for the people in my life and how much they inspire me.

I'm simply thankful for THIS life.

Friday Forte:

{slowly building up my Hunter collection!}

{the softest & most holiday appropriate, leggings I've ever worn}

{new & improved business cards}

{turkey pot pie soup for the win!}

The World is FULL of things to be Thankful for!!!! (comedy edition)

Butters! Note: this is not my cat.. although I wish it was... :(

Don’t forget Kitty gif’s

  Skittles. I love me some rainbow tasting.

   Mint.com – seeing your savings account grow is FUN

Groupon – thank you... from the bottom of my heart...

Champagne…the best beverage in the history of beverages.

  Family wooohooooo! 
I DO know people love me…

 Husbands are pretty cool

   Spotify!! Oh my baby Spotify, what would I do without you?!?

Kalamazoo Thanksgiving 2014

Since my parents will be in Colorado for the actual Thanksgiving day, we all decided to have my family Thanksgiving the weekend before. I couldn't think of a better way to spend this past weekend! Thanksgiving is awesome enough as it is, but to have it twice! And not have to eat two large meals all in the same day?! That’s best case scenario in my book!

The weekend started out with a fun Kalamazoo night on Friday, out and about downtown (lobster mac & cheese?! Yes please!), and complete with euchre and pool into the wee hours of Saturday. A few short hours later my mom and I went to see the new Hunger Games! Oh man did we love it! I gotta tell ya, I wasn’t a huge fan of the third book, but I am absolutely obsessed with the movie (Part 1). Once we were home we relaxed by the fireplace, watching sports and sipping champagne, anxiously waiting dinner (which turned out to be one of my favorite Thanksgiving meals to date!).

It was a great weekend! And to top it off, we only have three days of work this week.

Couldn't be happier. 

{this happened...}

Friday Five!

{holiday preppin’ with Happy Mail}

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A vendor rep of mine summed it up perfectly: “Don’t worry everyone, there is only 5 weeks left until the start of Winter”. Depressing, right? Right. Yeah, the world we live in is frozen over, slippery and extremely snow covered (literally… 50% of the US is!). It came too soon. But I’m going to embrace it! For now, it’s simply put me in the Holiday spirit sooner than usual, which I don’t mind. The tree is up and the house is just beaming with festivity. I LOVE the Holidays! Who doesn't??

Speaking of, this weekend kicks off our 2014 holidays! My parents will be in Colorado for the actual Thanksgiving day next week so Max and I are celebrating with them this weekend. I’m so excited for the next two days! The new Hunger Games movie, toasting champagne over hors d'oeuvres, euchre, pool, darts, Michigan State football & basketball and induced food coma are all on the agenda.

Drive safe everyone!

Friday Forte: 

{snow-mageddon come early this year!}

{mistletoe smooches}

{final splurge before budget-minded-Meg took over}

{got crafty & made a craft box using leftover burlap from our bedroom}

Holiday Decorating (w/ baby elves)

Well guys. It happened. We all wanted the white fluffy stuff to hold off until December, but alas, it’s back! It’s like it never went away… Can't face today :(

This past weekend I decided to embrace the magical feel the outdoors possessed and use my free time to get the house holiday ready. Our big bay window in the front of our home truly made it feel like we were in a snow globe and as much as I hated to admit it, I really did love being cooped up inside with the snow slowly descending from the sky onto our already snow-covered grass. Then I remembered it’s only mid-November, but oh well, this is the time of year is when snow is acceptable (check back in February!).

Since Max was hunting, I employed a few elves to help me out! We had a blast drinking champagne (adults, not the kids!) and hot cocoa all day while laughing and joking around, chatting about the upcoming months. Everything from last year’s Polar Vortex, our holiday plans, our Christmas lists and what to expect in the next year were discussed. It was a really fun & relaxing day. 

Since the decorations went up a little earlier than usual, we’ll be able to enjoy them for well over a month! Last year, there was a hole in my living room (and my heart!) when I took down the Christmas decorations. I wanted them up longer! This year, I was sure to make that happen. 

{got the hard part done before the kiddos got here...}

{this is what we woke up to... not ready for this}

{the big bulbs are by far my favorite part... next year... ALL BIG BULBS}

Home Made Applesauce

Having finally broken the bowl-of-ice-cream-a-night habit,  I started looking for a sweet but healthy replacement that would keep my gigantic sweet tooth satisfied. A recent new membership to Costco sealed the deal, because what else is a girl to do with fresh fruit in BULK?

The recipe couldn't be more simple, as you'll see below. It doesn't even require words, it's that dummy-proof.

In fact... I am going to strongly advise the teachers I work with to try this in their PreK classrooms at some point during the winter holidays....

It's got all the pieces that an early childhood teacher goes nuts for: 
-Math (measurement)
-Reading (sequencing & vocabulary)
-Writing (ingredients list & steps)
-Science (apples going from solid to--almost--liquid)
-Health & Wellness (smart alternative to typical kids' treats)
-Seasonal/theme-related harmony (apples & cinnamon & warmth...come on!)

[Making one batch for my little family, I didn't actually use ALL of these.
I think I used 5-6.  Luckily, this recipe is very flexible.
It's all about taste & appetite.]

[1/2 cup sugar]

[Recipe says 1 tsp, but I always add spices to taste. 

And the nutmeg is all me. Favorite spice, what can I say?]

[After you've added the spices, mix it with 1/2 cup of water, then cover]

[Simmer over medium heat for about 20-25 minutes, depending on your 

desired level of chunkiness.]

*Recipe Enhancements*

1. While it's still piping hot, pour over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. 

2. (As seen above) add as a healthy addition to a serving of oatmeal.

3. Repeat all steps above, only replace 2 of the apples with PEARS.