Christmas Ornaments

Today, I was inspired by A Girl and Her Sparkles, and wanted to share with you some of my favorite Christmas ornaments. In August, I moved away from my hometown - the only place I had lived my whole life. Some look down on staying relatively local for college, but for me, it meant so much to go home when I wanted, and more importantly, for my parents to attend the vast majority of my swim meets in college. Last Christmas, with my move inevitable, my Mom and I began to split up some of the ornaments, although I'll be getting more this winter when we go home.

But, here are some of my favorites:

 

I've loved The Little Mermaid since I was little, and every year, my Mom gets me an Ariel Christmas ornament. Here are just (a few) of my favorites. (My husband groaned every time I put a new one up when we were decorating - there is no way I have less than a dozen of them.)

I had a  Sunday School teacher growing up, Miss Rosa, who would give us hand-stiched ornaments each here, and this one is my favorite. I can just feel the love radiating off of it when I hang it up.

Our United States Army ornament, of course. Even though I'm from a Navy family, and my husband isn't as "hooah" as some other Infantrymen, I'm still proud of his dedication to the Armed Forces and his willingness to fight for our country.

My Chung Mung baby, roommate, teammate, and one of my best college friends, KMS, gave this to me for Christmas my senior year. We lived together that year - in "Club 1-C" - and had entirely too much fun. I couldn't have asked for a better friend at Sweet Briar, and even though she caught our oven on fire trying to cook once, and knew I was going to tap her before tapping even happened, I love her to bits and this ornament reminds me of that great year.

What are some of your favorite ornaments? 

XO - Catherine

Thanksgiving 2013

Like I said in earlier posts, we weren't able to make the road trip we had been hoping for this week due to flight schedules and guard shifts at work - but, you won't hear me complain. My small sacrifice was well worth the chance for other families to be whole on this holiday.

We had a "Misfit" Thanksgiving - and I'm beginning to understand how military friends can quickly become family. I always saw it - my Dad is still in touch with Navy friends - and was anticipating it, but I'm thankful it's happening for us now. We've been in Tennessee for about 3 months now, and I was beginning to fret that we had NO friends. L has a few buddies he's working with day in and day out, but with my work schedule, I hadn't had a chance to get real involved anywhere here to make friends. Working from home also inhibits friend making, and we haven't had time to find a church we really like.

But, we met up with another couple to see "The Hunger Games" last week and decided to do Thanksgiving together, and we had a blast. I think we have our first two friends!

My family always made sausage balls to snack on during brunch/lunch until we were ready for dinner (around 4 PM.) So, I made some to contribute to the meal. The same recipe my family uses can be found here. But it's so easy!

• Mix together 1 lb mild sausage (or spicy if you're brave!), 1 1/4 c. Bisquick, 2 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 block of cream cheese. (I tried to use my mixer, but found it was easier just to get those hands dirty and mix it the old-fashioned way)
• Roll them into 1 in. balls and line on a cookie sheet - bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes - or until golden brown

In the past, we've made them with soy-sage (for my vegetarian cousin), and added jalapenos for variety. There are many ways to mix it up, and they're always an easy treat! They're great warm, they're great cold, and they keep for days.

So today, we went out to get our Christmas tree. $30 at Home Depot and $12 for a tree stand - not too shabby! We bought our lights there as well, but on Wednesday, so they were $5 a pop, and we got 3. (We also had a major disagreement about what kind - he was raised on white lights, I was raised on color. We settled on white, but what do you prefer?) I've had lots of my ornaments for several years, and many are too feminine for my husband's taste, but we'll phase out some of the older, homemade ones, and start to collect some of our own. 

Here's a glance at the set up (as seen on my Instagram):

Hope everyone is staying safe and enjoying a lazy day!

XO - Catherine

Favorites Friday!

Thank you to everyone for the "Get Well Soon" wishes -- I'm feeling better, even though I still SOUND very stuffed up. I'm sure I'll bounce back soon!

And I have to admit I AM guilty of making a purchase at the big Lilly sale yesterday -- so much for my resolution to save more money! But, in my defense, the dress I bought was very reasonably priced, AND it was my favorite print - You Gotta Regatta!

The Somerset Dress will be perfect come summer time - I'm so excited!

And now onto some of my favorite things for this week - keeping in mind how sick I've been they're things that have been my saving grace while I've been laying in bed trying to get better:

Dutch Blitz!

Logan's family got me hooked on this game when I was in Indiana and I purchased the app for my iPhone and played it all week - I'm obsessed.

Duke Basketball

Nothing makes you feel better than seeing your favorite team win a good basketball game!

Fleece Sheets

We keep our apartment very cold (it's not very insulated and our heating bill was through the roof last month) so being able to cuddle up in a warm bed with the kittens made it all easier to bear. I got my sheets for Christmas, but you can find similar ones at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

That's all for now! I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday Night!

Outfit of the Day

Jeans: New York & Co.
Top: ...I don't remember, but similar to this one from Loft
Shoes: Lucky Brand 
Necklace: Stella & Dot - discontinued
Earrings: Kate Spade

I had the best time at my Christmas party last night! :)

My week in Instagram photos!

Here's a bit of insight into my week via my Instagram!

On Saturday Bonnie took me to her company's Christmas party. Some Makers and Ginger Ale helps a girl ring in her 25th birthday in style!

On Sunday the alter flowers were in honor of my birthday and in memory of my friend Korinne for her birthday. Korinne was born the day after me and we were friends from that moment. Unfortunately Korinne passed away when we were in 8th grade and every year on our birthday I take the roses from the alter flowers to her spot at the columbarium. You should read this awesome article about how Korinne's family has moved on since her passing.

On Monday, Logan had some flowers delivered for my birthday :) He felt awful he couldn't be here to celebrate with me in person and hoped the flowers could hold me over until his arrival Sunday.

All week, Cosette has been walked around the apartment meowing. (She missed our roommate's kitten, Avery, who is with her Mommy in WV this week!) She'll continue to do so until I pick her up, cuddle with her, and turn on daytime television shows. #Spoiled

The Duke game was on ESPN-U, which we can only watch online, so Bonnie and I hunkered down, did our annual jigsaw puzzle, and enjoyed the Blue Devil's 100th consecutive non-conference win in Cameron Indoor.

This morning I noticed our neighbor is spreading a little holiday cheer at the mailboxes :)

Happy Weekend to you all!

Gifts!

I was very happy to get lots of Christmas shopping done this weekend -- it was much needed to get my mind off of everything and some time alone to browse and cut my brain off.

Here is a run down of some things I've picked up so far...

Woodford Reserve will let you personalize a label for your bourbon bottle, so I ordered one and picked up a bottle for Logan - bourbon is his favorite.

I got a scarf for my cousin Beth with a cute pattern on it. Old Navy had it for a great price and it's a light weight scarf, so it'll be great come spring time, too.

Because I'm on a scarf kick, I picked one up for my cousin Sarah as well. On sale at Old Navy and will keep her nice and snug all winter!

Already acting like an old married couple, I also grabbed Logan a couple of pairs of boxers - underwear is a given as Christmas presents, right? :)

My Dad has been getting into running since last spring, and to keep him motivated, I picked up "Zen and the Art of Running" for him to enjoy and help strategize a little.

This Summer, Logan got way into "Sherlock Holmes" - it was the perfect light and entertaining reading to get his mind off of Army stuff. My cousin Sarah is an English teacher and wants to name her first daughter Austen (her husband, a die hard Oklahoma friend, is vetoing it just because Austin is where UT is...). So, I got them each one of these classic series at Barnes and Noble. 

My future father-in-law is a huge classic country fan, so this Best of Johnny Cash was perfect! 

I was so proud of myself for all I picked up today but I have a long way to go! I'll definitely wrap up after this week and I'm on vacation officially :)

Happy Sunday! 

XX - C

Burnt Out!

This is my official apology for being MIA - and my being MIA until Dec. 14.

Work is crazy right now and it's finals time for Grad School. Today will be my 4th 12 hour day this week and the light at the end of the tunnel is so small right now it isn't worth acknowledging.

I have a paper to write by Sunday, a final Wednesday, and a final Thursday. Logan is in the field next week, which means after we hang up Sunday night, I won't hear from him again until Friday evening when they get back and have finished cleaning their weapons from rifle training all week.

It's going to be a long one, but then I get to enjoy 2.5 weeks off from work, my birthday, Christmas, and NYE with Logan in Atlanta!

7 more days until freedom!

Weekend Recap & Outfit of the Day!

This weekend was pretty packed - but very fun!

Friday night, Bonnie and I ran some errands and finally saw "Pitch Perfect." So funny if you haven't seen it yet.

Saturday, I went to Weight Watchers and weighed in (gotta get wedding dress ready!) and ran over to the storage unit to get Christmas decorations! I was able to get back to the apartment early enough that we even got the tree up and decorated that morning. Then it was off to the swim meet for the competition against Hollins. (Sweet Briar won, of course!) Cutting it close, Bonnie, Emily, Dad and I hit the road for Charlottesville for the UVA/Green Bay basketball game.

Although we're Duke fans, seeing basketball live is always a good time. We got home mid-evening and were pooped - so we relaxed and eventually went to bed. 

Sunday was cleaning day! We decided when we moved that we'd clean once a week to keep things spic-and-span. Of course, I'm pretty OCD, so I straighten and wipe down daily, but this is helping tremendously with cutting down on clutter. We gave everything a good scrub and Bonnie and I went grocery shopping. (Before hand, we sat down as roommates and managed schedules, planned meals, and made a shopping list. We never shop without a list - it's too dangerous for our wallets!) The Menu looks like this:

• Monday - We're all one our own - I have a study group and Emily has class
• Tuesday - Dinner at 7:30 when Emily gets home - Chicken Tenders and green beans 
• Wednesday - Bonnie and Emily will have dinner at 7:30 - Brown Sugar and Garlic Chicken and broccoli 
• Thursday - On our own - Bonnie has a Chi Omega alumnae event, and Emily and I have class
• Friday - Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter

Then we were able to catch the local Christmas Parade :)

Roommate picture before hand - sipping hot chocolate and waiting patiently!

My high school's band - I marched as color guard in this parade three times in high school! :)

Although I'm 100% in the Christmas spirit, temperatures in the high 60s are making it hard to get in the spirit. However, it also makes me feel a little better about wearing Lilly to work in December:

Today, I'm wearing black flats from Payless, an a-line skirt from New York & Company, and a Lilly Pulitzer top. I'm also wearing my favorite double string of pearls.

Happy Monday, everyone!

XX - C

Christmas Traditions

Don't worry - we'll be setting up our REAL tree this weekend. This was just our place holder :)

I love-love-love Christmas time! I just cannot get enough of any of it - it is seriously the high light of my whole year. My family is big on traditions and I wanted to share some of those with you today.

The season starts off with photos with Santa! My birthday is the 16th, and since my first birthday, I've gone to see Santa on my birthday - at least then we know what day it was and can usually figure out our ages. Here are a few samples:

Back in the golden days when I was an only child ;)

My 21st Birthday

Last year's photo before dinner in town 

Next, my sister and I always open each other presents on Christmas Eve. I think we started that forever ago just because we were too anxious to wait until Christmas morning :) Then she and I slumber party somewhere. We usually to stay in the TV room in the basement because Mom and Dad needed to unload presents in peace, but now we can crash down there and watch 24 Hours of "A Christmas Story" until we fall asleep.

We always go to the 11 o'clock service at church, we call it the Midnight service, and we always sit with our friends we grew up in the church with. (We are usually punchy and get in trouble with our parents for goofing off.

And on Christmas morning, Bonnie usually wakes us all up before 7:30 and the kids open their presents from Santa before rotating around the room and giving the parents a turn. While we're unwrapping, Mom is usually popping the  monkey bread and breakfast casserole in the oven before we head to church for a late lunch/early dinner with the community.

What sorts of traditions do you have?

XX - C

Gift Guides Galore! Sister and Fiance Edition

It seems we've reached that point in the year where gift guides are everywhere! Just today via email I've received Kate Spade's and Lilly Pulitzer's. My birthday is the 16th of December, so I've always been sensitive to "gift lumping" - where people buy you one present that is meant for your birthday AND Christmas. (I always felt it was a little bit of a cop out, but those closest to me do a good job of make sure my gifts are separate... and that my birthday gift isn't wrapped in Christmas paper!) This year, with my engagement still fairly new and the wedding next summer, I charged Bonnie, my maid of honor, to ensure my Christmas and birthday gifts weren't all wedding gifts. (I'm pinching all my pennies, and if I can't indulge in the clothes and tid-bits I'd usually buy, I want them for the holidays!)

Since Bonnie and I are obsessed with Google Docs, we started a running list a while ago with gift ideas, and I thought I'd share a little more about what I'm thinking for various family members.

My sister's style is a little more adventurous than mine, but still relatively preppy and classic. She's an avid reader but not a huge techie. Here is what made her list:

The Perfect Chambray Ex-Boyfriend shirt from Madewell

The Good as Gold necklace from Kate Spade

A Long-Sleeved Monogrammed Pocket Tee from Etsy

I have a couple ideas going on for Logan so far. He has great style already, and I hate feeling like one of those girls buying clothes for their significant other to change them into the person they want. Plus, he's a big fan of practical presents. So here's what's at the top of my list:

I bought him a shirt from Ralph Lauren this summer and he loves it. It's already so soft and it's a great dressier alternative to an old college tshirt. 

He's a big fan of a good whiskey, so I thought a decanter would be a great grown-up addition to an apartment, etched with an "S" of course for Springer.

Of course a long-distance relationship won't be easy, and there will be lots of traveling in our future, so who wouldn't need a good toiletry bag to keep the essentials in order?

Stay tuned for my ideal gifts and what I'm thinking for Mom and Dad!