2012

2012 will forever be remembered 

as one of the best, 

and busiest, 

years of my life. 

---

January

We saw American Idiot. 

We celebrated Mike's birthday. 

We got a touch of wanderlust. 

We hung out with old friends, and celebrated new ones. 

February

We had the first special lady weekend. 

We painted & watched football.

We celebrated April's engagement, Valentine's Day, 

the science of wine, and the love of painting

March

We celebrated St. Patricks Day,

 our Anniversary, (where we won trivia)

We enjoyed our weekends and weekdays

April

We celebrated Eastover,

ate chili, drank wine, and went to DC.

Read More: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

My knee and I broke up (again.)

May

We watched some baseball,

celebrated Mother's Day, and my Birthday. 

Mike went to China

We went to Asheville. 

Read More: (1) (2) (3) 

June

We saw concerts & went painting.

We went to Durham.

We found Shiva.  

Here's our updated family :) 

July

We brewed, 

I went to New Orleans, & hardly blogged about it. 

We went to the Outer Banks, 

introduced Mama and Daddy to Shiva

and crossed a goal off my list. 

Mike interviewed in California. 

August

We went to Beer, Bourbon and BBQ,

 and celebrated Raleigh Beer Week. 

We traveled to New York and announced our move,

September

We went house hunting and succeeded.

We said our goodbyes to Raleigh. 

Mike drove to Cali and I got real.

We celebrated weddings, & packed.

October.   

We went to Europe,

and packed some more. 

I got engaged to my best friend. 

I went to Charleston for April's Bachelorette.  

I quit my job, went to Charlotte, 

and made one last trip home. 

November

We went to April's AMAZING wedding. 

We traveled 3000 miles across this AMAZING country. 

We had our first California weekend. 

We went home to NY for Thanksgiving.

December

We said goodbye to Grandpa Joe & Mike went to Brazil. 

I decorated for Hanukkah & Christmas. 

We went to Ikea. 

We traveled back to NC for Christmas. 

We were overwhelmed by the presents. 

Mike's family came to visit US the week after. 

We celebrated NYE on our couch, in pajamas. 

HELLOOOOOOO 2013.  

You're gonna have to be pretty spectacular to beat 2012. 

I have faith in you though 

Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort, 

while being a nice drink (with lime)

is also what I'm missing today. 

But, as the song says, 

gotta get outside my comfort zone. 

Happy Holidays

Between spending the week before Christmas with my parents in NC

and the week after Christmas with Mike's parents with Cali, 

this blog will be a bit quiet for a bit. 

See you Soon. 

Let's Talk Subscriptions...

Still looking for Holiday ideas?
How about something that KEEPS giving?
----


So, it's no secret that I love mail. 

Really

I won't let Mike check it because I get such a thrill out of opening the mailbox. 

It's also no secret that I've subscribed to a couple different boxes. 

Birchbox, which I no longer receive, and Julep, which I love. 

And if you like nailpolish, you should click HERE and get a box for a penny (use code PENNY), and you'll love it too. 


BUT, There are so many other boxes that I had never heard about, 

but I want to hear about. 

I also want to open up a few of these every month..

LOOK!

Pets Love Toys

via

$25 and you get to CHOOSE the box of either Treats, Toys, or BOTH that comes to your pups door. They even have catagories specifically for chewers, or swimmers, or tuggers. Too Sweet. 

Amazepack

via

$25 (intro price!) and you get EVERYTHING YOU NEED to create a craft project every month. 

I. Need. This. Now. Consider this gift idea #1 (GI1)

Julibox

via

$40 and you get everything you need (with instructions) for how to make two different cocktails. 

Pretty sweet if ya ask me. 

PopSugar's Must Have Box

via

$35 and it's packed full of..well. EVERYTHING. This specific box had a book, movie tickets, face wipes, make up, hair ties, a scarf, snacks and a notepad. 

Consider this gift idea #2

Hammock Pack

via

$25 and each month a little vacation/getaway themed box of goodies. 

There have been beach days, camping boxes and bed and breakfasts (among others)

Create Crate

via

$20 for a monthly dose of creativity. Each box includes things to help and inspire you to celebrate major holidays (like halloween) or the everyday (like a wine tasting party)

This is too cute to both give and receive. (ahem)

Seriously y'all, there are some CUTE boxes out there.
I might have to check out some of them for myself. 

Anything new catch your eye?

Weekend Update

After the heaviness of Friday, 

there are no words. 

I guess I've always felt that the show must go on. 

I hope this isnt perceived as callous, but rather a celebration of life. 

Along with a reminder that life can be cut way to short, and must be lived. 

==========That said: ===========

The last weekend of Hanukkah,

and I got a present! 

Mike came back from Brazil. 

Here's a few shots of our weekend. 

Cat Naps & Dog Naps 

Hanukkah lights & Hanukkah presents. 

 -AND-

A visit to Mecca. 

er, IKEA. 

  

Mike wouldnt let me buy ANY of these for Shiva

Finally, 

we went outside for the fruit haul, 

and made some caipirinha's!  

Friday Mashup

Helloooo Friday :)

So, I've had a ton of fun getting into the Christmas-Hanukkah spirit,
and I'd love to show you some of my favorites:

You've already seen my mantle,


and my favorite festive wine glass & bottle stopper,


but allow me to show you my wreath,

and the key holder thingymabob.



Here's a cute closeup of the cute pinecone snowman:



ALSO,
Here's a couple adorable family photos from our first annual Sled Race



what? Of course we have a sled race.
Click this link, and watch for yourself.


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Now on to the silly stuff:
To celebrate the last night of Hannukah tomorrow,

with a dash of sparkles, of course:

This week's Friday Fancies

and this weeks manicure,
sponsored by my homesickness:
Juleps (sweet) Caroline: (bah bah bah!)

linked up with tara & vicky
 


Have a good weekend, y'all!!

My first Mantle

one of my favorite parts about this new house

is that I have a mantle. 

Somewhere to hang garlands, put decorations and be a real "focal point"

So, for our first holiday, I knew it would have to be excellent. 

I had seen this on Pinterest:

via

Sooo, I made my own. It's SUPER easy. 

Step (1): gather all your supplies. 

I used plain white acrylic paint, Martha stewart white pearl and some flaky iridescent glitter. 

Step (2): Paint it. Paint it good. 

I used a TON of all white paint, and then only 2 coats of the Pearl paint in order to get a completely opaque coverage. (Which is HARD with white..) 

Hint: I let the white dry overnight before adding the pearl. 

Step (3): After letting the pearl paint dry 6 hours, 

I mixed a ton of white & pearl paint together and really smooshed it onto the letter. 

While it was still wet, I went over the area with the glitter. 

I did this in sections, and went back with a smaller brush later to add paint/glitter in missing sections. 

Step(4): Let it dry while lying down, then shake it off lightly. 

and voila! 

Pretty wintery wonderlandy Joy. 

Accessorize with dreidels and christmas balls as you wish ;)

And the final mantle piece: 

I'm not -completely- convinced she's done, but I love it so far.  

Everyone wants to find their pretty trees filled up with lovelies, 

but you dont wanna forget about the stockings!

how about...

 A pretty clutch,   or maybe a new bauble.

 Spruce up the iPhone, or always have a  battery backup.  

 Some snazzy magnets, or the coveted Naked palette..

Or, get productive with a new coffee mug,

  or charming  notepads to help you get it done?

What do you hope to find in your stocking?

Pinspiration

psssst,

there's some craftyness happening over here,

and all of it,

came from these pins

                                                                    Source: jesslc.com via Jess on Pinterest

                                                                      Source: whathopesanddreamsaremadeof.blogspot.com via Terri on Pinterest

                                                                Source: lorrinteriors.blogspot.com via Terri on Pinterest

                                                               Source: acasarella.net via Terri on Pinterest

                                                                  Source: hgtv.com via Terri on Pinterest

be sure to pop back by tomorrow for my first

Saw It, Pinned It, Did it.

and, if you've got any awesome DIYs to share, lemme know!