Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. It is always a little bittersweet when it is over. There is so much hype and excitement leading up to the big day and then the next day it just feels a bit quiet. The Christmas songs and movies start fading away and slowly the decor comes down. We have new year’s to look forward to but after that is is the dreariness of winter and the anticipation of spring.
The girls were given so many wonderful gifts this year both from Santa and other family members. Santa brought the girls both a LiteBrite and it was a big hit! I used to love LiteBrite growing up and both girls are loving making pretty pictures full of color. We ended up finding some more replacement pictures as well not realizing how much they were going to love this classic toy. We found them over on Amazon.
We had a nice size celebration this year. My in-laws came into town, my sister was here who had moved down to Savannah this summer, and my stepfather who came up from Jacksonville all joined us to celebrate. The girls love having family around so it was a special time for them.
Winter fun in the sun
The weather here was absolutely perfect this past weekend! It felt like a beautiful spring day. It is days like this that made us want to move to the south. We were able to go to Forsyth Park and let the girls enjoy the playground.
It is supposed to be beautiful for the rest of the week. I am grateful for the days like this that makes the winter less gloomy and more fun.
Recipes we tried
Christmas morning calls for a make ahead casserole or dish. It just makes things easier. We tried this Overnight Egg Nog French Toast casserole from Southern Living Magazine. It was so delicous! What made it even yummier was the bourbon maple syrup glaze. It was something I would definitely make again. If you don’t like egg nog, well neither do we. It just added some holiday flavor but was not too egg noggy.
As a side item for our Christmas dinner, I made these Roasted Carrots from the New York Times. I wanted someting a little healthy but with lots of flavor and I found these carrots. It is a recipe I will make again and again. I am always looking for new ways to make my veggies. I may even try this with broccoli or sweet potatoes.
What’s been inspiring me
–@mariekondo: This pantry organization goals HERE
–@farmonhogbacklane: This beautiful, classic piano decor HERE
–@nashvillewifestyles: A holiday white russian recipe HERE
Favorite Finds
We have a goal of finishing up the butler pantry we put together. If you missed it, we converted what was a laundry room closet to an extension of our kitchen. We took out the washer and dryer and moved it on the other side of the wall into the garage. We were going to just put up shelves and turn it into a larger pantry but we decided on something better. We put in a cabinet, took out the doors, took out the popcorn ceiling and painted the walls white. We painted the cabinet blue, put on a counter top and now we have a serving station and coffee bar. We plan on putting up shelves painted the same color and store our glasses, baskets, and make it look pretty.
I have been in the mood to get this looking beautiful before we continue working on the next project of the house. This week’s finds include all the pretty pieces for the shelves.
Leave a Reply