Happy New Year!

Looking back on 2010, one of the highlights for the hubs and I was our four-legged new addition, Emmit. So what better way to ring in the new year in the 'burbs, than with a cozy fire, good food and plenty of drinks. Emmit is ready to ring in his first New Year! 

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year. Cheers to tackling more projects and sharing our adventures with everyone in 2011!

Christmas Craziness

I admire all you bloggers out there that not only continuously come up with content but are able to frequently publish posts! It's so hard, especially around the busy Holiday Season. This post is long overdue, sorry. Here is our final decorated Christmas tree!

The hubs and I rushed to get the decorations up this year partly because of my work travel schedule and wow am I glad we pushed ourselves to do it. The Christmas craziness has been in full effect since I got back from my trip last weekend. 

Here is the before and after:

 Merry Christmas!

Move Over Rudolph

Move over Rudolph, there's a new kid in town. The adventures in Emmit continue, yet I managed to snap this picture of him while looking out our window over the couch. His favorite spot. Hope your Holiday Season is merry and bright!
 

Blonde Baking Adventures...

Finally back from Japan and have been thrown into the Christmas craziness...literally. I decided today was going to be baking day. 

Attempt #1 at making sugar cookies (from scratch)...

Outcome: one giant sugar cookie. What? It got worse when I took it out of the oven too. They flattened out and were the thickness of.....a sheet of paper. ONE sheet of THIN paper. 

So what does this blonde do? Calls her mom! Per my mom, "Maybe you didn't use fresh ingredients? Sometimes old ingredients can screw up the recipe."

Off to the store for more ingredients.

Attempt #2 at making sugar cookies (from scratch)...

Outcome: success!

Lesson learned: always use fresh ingredients when baking (a.k.a mom's always know best!)

Work, Schmerk

gocomics.com

Work is interfering with life AGAIN. And right before the holiday's no less.

www.world-guides.com

This blonde is headed across the world to Kyoto, Japan. Wish me luck...adios!

Personalized Dog Treat Jar

When I saw this post over at Young House Love for a DIY'd etched glass jar, I just had to give it a try. I wanted to try to make a personalized dog treat jar for Emmit. When I found this jar at Target, I thought it was just perfect and it was only $4.99!

I followed the instructions on Young House Love but had some trouble cutting out the stencil onto a piece of painters tape. I think the size of my stencil was too big for the piece of tape.

After several attempts at cutting out my stencil for the jar I gave up on the painters tape an used a piece of shelf liner. It was the only thing I could think of that was sticky and could adhear to the jar.

Next, all I had to do was paint on the Armour Etch(you can get it at Michael's)and wait 60 seconds.....umm that's it???

I'm not going to lie, I waited longer than 60 seconds just to be sure it worked. Next, you just rinse it off...peel off the stencil (shelf liner) and voila!

Here is Emmit's new treat jar. Shhhh...don't tell him about it. It's a Christmas gift!

Christmas In The 'Burbs

Christmas has officially arrived in the 'burbs. When a few of our neighbors had their houses fully decorated the weekend after Thanksgiving, the pressure was on! The hubs and I deemed this past weekend "Christmas Extravaganza Weekend".

A la "Christmas Vacation", we kicked off our fun old-fashion family Christmas by heading out into the country in the old four wheel drive Jeep to embrace the frosty majesty of the winter landscape and select that most important of Christmas symbols. Our tree!

Actually, I lied. We drove to the church parking lot at the end of our street to pick up this spectacular tree. Although the tree is up, we haven't decorated it yet. I will post photos of the final decorated tree soon!

This is one of my favorite decorating projects...our mantle. I love adding fresh cut magnolia leaves from our tree in our yard. Here is the finished product...with roaring fire and all!

We decorated the outside of the house - put lights on the bushes, wreath on the door, candles in the windows, and wreaths on the dormer windows. Yes, don't let your eyes deceive you...there are 2 tiny wreaths on our dormer windows that took several attempts to hang. A wreath may or may not have slipped while we were trying to hang it, falling down the roof and onto the ground (the wreath, not me). We for sure provided an afternoon of entertainment for our neighbors. And I swear the wreaths were bigger when I bought them at the store. They have shrunk since hanging them.

And last but certainly not least...Emmit is dressed and ready to tackle this Holiday Season! Check out his new collar!

He's been such a snuggle-bug lately, this was the best photo I could get of him in his new collar. He's fast asleep on my lap...love it.

More to come, so stay tuned!