Weekending

We had such a fun weekend and with all our Christmas activities along with the cold weather, we are finally getting into the Christmas mood! Friday night, we hosted #BasicChristmasParty which was a lot of fun. Everyone came over and we ate dinner, drove around the neighborhood to look at lights, made gingerbread houses and played a game. It was a lot of fun and it was a great way to forget about the week's stress and enjoy time with friends.

Elyssa made the best Moscow Mules!

And we celebrated Jeanna's birthday

After dinner, we decided against driving 30 minutes to see the big Christmas light show and just drove around the neighborhood to see the lights. It was fun to see them and Stephen and I checked that one off our list ;)

After lights, it was time for gingerbread houses. Since each couple was going to do their own gingerbread house, Stephen and I decided to get a village kit so we could each have our own houses to do and wouldn't clash on design ideas. Thankfully, it worked out really well and we realized that the smaller houses held up structurally better because our friends' regular houses kept caving in. 

I had a lot of leftover herbs from our turkey brine so I used them to decorate the houses

After the houses, we played a new game called Fish Bowl. It was so much fun, even though the boys won ;)

Saturday, we were up bright and early to head to Orlando to attend my SIL's Grandfather's funeral. The mass was beautiful and we're all so sad to see him go.

After the funeral, we got dressed and headed over to Disney for our annual Christmas Disney date. We stopped in MK to get lunch and see the decorations. thankfully, that's all we wanted to see because it was packed.

After MK, we headed over to Epcot to check out their Christmas around the world which was a lot of fun. It was freezing and I underestimated how cold it would actually be - we could've used a few more layers but it definitely helped us get into the Christmas spirit. After walking around the countries, we watched the Candlelight Processional where Kurt Russel read the Christmas story. It was so pretty and they did such a great job.

After the show, we grabbed dinner then headed out. This was a new change of pace for us because we usually stay later in the night but it was so nice to get home, put on a Christmas movie, read in bed and it not be 11 pm. 

Sunday, we went to church then I got to work churning out orders. It feels so good to get things checked off my list - almost done for the year!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Only 2 weeks until Christmas (how is that possible!?) Linking up with Biana.

Five on Friday

One
I'm super excited to finally share our Christmas cards this year! They should all be delivered by now but we were so excited with how they turned out. The day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to get a feel for what cards we liked and which company we wanted to go with before the black Friday sales. Stephen mentioned Amazon did cards so we looked into them and were shocked to see how cheap they were! We ended up purchasing them that night and we're super pleased with the quality for the price - they even included free return address printed on the envelope!! Definitely using them again

Since we traveled around the country a lot earlier this year, we decided to use a picture from NYC & San Fran and incorporate that into the card text.

Two

At work on Wednesday, they had our annual Christmas lunch. It's something fun they do and provide all of the employees a Christmas style lunch. Y'all, best cornbread I've ever had in my life. Every year, I look forward to this event because of the cornbread lol

Three

We made another one of Christina's soups this week and it was delicious! We have yet to find a recipe of hers that we didn't love and this tortellini soup was no exception

Four

Last night, one of my co-workers hosted our second annual cookie exchange. It was so much fun and I can't wait to try all the delicious cookies! My sister sent me an amazing sugar cookie recipe and then I dipped half the cookies in dark chocolate and added sprinkles & crushed candy canes to them. 

Five
And now that I've realized almost my entire FoF post is about food... we are hosting our #basicchristmasparty tonight with our friends from our fall party! We are so excited to have hot chocolate, see Christmas lights, build gingerbread houses and play a Christmas game :) Tomorrow, we're going to Disney to see the Christmas decorations before we lose our passes and hopefully, we'll get to see Kurt Russell read the Christmas story at Epcot!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Can't believe Christmas is coming so quickly!

Weekending

We had a great first weekend of December and kicked off the Christmas season in style! Friday morning, my group had our annual Christmas potluck - there were tables of food all the way down the hall. There was so much delicious food! After getting our food, a few of my friends camped out in my cube to eat before our meetings.

Later that evening, we headed to the local garden center for a Christmas wine and cheese event with some of our friends. It was a super cute setup but unfortunately, we got there late and missed out on all the snacks so we went to dinner afterwards.

We were supposed to go to Disney Saturday but our fire alarms went off at 3 am for no reason and I wasn't feeling well so we decided to stay home. It was probably the best decision of the weekend because we got to take it easy, watch a Christmas movie, make Christmas cookies and wrap presents. Later that evening, we went to Stephen's Christmas party which was at Kennedy Space Center. We had so much fun and it was the perfect venue!

I will say, if you want to see some funny video of Stephen dancing, check my Instagram ;)

Sunday, we went to church and read the advent reading for the week. Then we did our usual errands and I embroidered all day before we spent the rest of the night wrapping presents and watching another Christmas movie.

Linking up with Biana

Ultimate 2017 Christmas Gift Guide: Men

After a quick break for Thanksgiving, we're back for another gift guide link up! I'm honestly really interested to see what y'all put on your guides this week because I have the hardest time shopping for the men in my life.

1. Leather Watch Case: I love the simplicity and clean lines of this case - the perfect gift for any man who loves watches. I also love the beautiful monogram at the bottom,

2. Men's Button Down: You can't go wrong with a classic button down as a Christmas gift. Most guys can use these for work and if not, they'll need one at some point ;) We always find amazing deals on button downs for Stephen in the clearance section of J Crew Factory!

3. Personalized Scotch Glasses: The perfect addition to any bar cart or man cave. Perfect way to add a little fun to your drinks

4. Fossil Mechanical Watch: Watches are usually a great gift - mix things up with a leather vs metal or gold vs silver band. I love the look of the mechanical watches because they're so fascinating!

5. Slippers: Every guy can use a good pair of slippers. This is an easy one because they usually need replacing every year or so anyways.

6. Portable Bluetooth Speaker: I seriously love this one and since this one is weather-proof, it's perfect for the beach or golf course

7. Commuter Weekend Bag: This bag is so neat how it completely unzips and has all sorts of compartments for organization.

8. Bluetooth Thermometer: This is easily one of Stephen's favorite grill gadget - he loves that he can monitor our meats to the perfect temperature and I love that he can hang out with me while he grills instead of staying glued to the grill.

9. Gas and Charcoal Grill: The best of both worlds!! We have one and it's so nice if we want to grill something quick with gas or spend a little more time with the charcoal and smoker.

Ultimate 2017 Christmas Gift Guide: Women

I'm excited to be linking up with some fabulous ladies again this week for our women's Christmas gift guide! This one was a lot easier for me - all of these items I either already have, I want for Christmas this year or I just think they're super cute :)

1. L.L. Bean Boots: This is one item I've always wanted but since we live in Florida, doesn't make sense to buy. You better believe if I ever live in an area where it snows, you better believe I'll be buying a pair! They're so classic and adorable

2. Kate Spade Wallet: I actually got this wallet a few years ago for Christmas and it still looks brand new! And to make things even better, the outlet stores usually have amazing sales during black Friday weekend. 

3. Longchamp Le Pliage Tote: Stephen got this for me 5 or 6 years ago and it's still going strong! Seriously, I'm so glad I got this purse - it has held up so well and I've never heard anyone say anything negative about Longchamps.

4. Kate Spade Crossbody: This is the most precious crossbody. So classic and feminine - I love the light blue color for a pop of fun

5. Hunter Boot Socks: Since Hunter Boots aren't very well insulated, you need a good paid of warm socks and I've heard great things about their socks. I also love how they go on top of the boot and still have the cute tag.

6. Hunter Boots: I got these Hunter Boots in hunter green 2 years ago and I absolutely love them. I wish I could wear them more often but they're so adorable and versatile. I love the green color because it matches perfectly with blues, blacks and browns without being too in your face.

7. Ginger Jars: I absolutely love the look of ginger jars and have questioned multiple times why I didn't do a blue and white scheme in our house... Fortunately, our master bed room has a blue and white look to it so I'm thinking I need to add some ginger jars to my lonely 1 jar that I already have. Love this one and this one.

8. Old Navy Cardigan: I got this cardigan on sale at the end of summer and love it. The fit is amazing and so flattering - I was so upset when I washed it per the directions and it shrank. Thankfully, they replaced it so I only handwash it now to ensure it won't shrink because I love it so much. Don't forget everything will be 50% off at Old Navy on black Friday ;)

9. Makeup Brush Cleaning Mat: I really need to wash my makeup brushes more and this looks like just the tool! I've seen the Sigma mats which can be upwards of $30 easily and with this one under $10, it's the perfect stocking stuffer! 

10. Jack Rogers: I received my first pair of Jacks for Christmas about 6 years ago and they are the best sandals I've owned. Even though you might not be able to wear the sandals for a few months because of cold weather, they're worth it. Oh, and be warned that they do have a break in period but once they're broken in, you're good to go and you'll never want to get rid of them.

11. Monogram Necklace: I've got this on my list this year - I love how delicate the necklace is and I can never pass down a good monogram ;) I'm still trying to figure out if I want the Nordstrom one or the Bauble Bar one - definitely let me know if you have an opinion on that!

12. Portable Waterproof Speaker: Stephen got me this speaker last year for my birthday and I love it! It's small, yet has amazing sound quality and won't break the bank. I use it every morning while I get ready which totally beats the phone speaker.

13. Old Navy Vest: I love Old Navy vests, especially with an adorable monogram. I also happen to know someone who can monogram your vests ;) 

Five on Friday + A Giveaway

One
I'm so excited because we had such a fun time at our #BasicFallParty that we decided to do a #BasicChristmasParty!! This time, we will be getting hot chocolate, driving around to see the local park Christmas light display, decorating sugar cookies and playing Christmas themed games!

Two
Along the lines of a Christmas party, our newlywed group is having an ugly Christmas sweater party! I'm going to sound like such a loser but I've never gotten to go to an ugly Christmas sweater party and can't wait! I'm on the hunt for the perfect outfit now ;)

                   Sweater                                               Sweater Dress 

Three
I saw this hysterical Taylor Swift parody about Joanna Gaines and had to share it!

Four
We are extra excited because we get to babysit our niece overnight for the first time :) Stephen and I are pretty pumped and have some fun things planned - let's hope on Monday I'll be telling y'all it was smooth sailing ;)

Five
I am so excited to share with y'all a super fun giveaway! I have teamed up with CaseApp for another fun collaboration and this time, instead of doing a custom phone case, I picked cases they already had designed. I've been dying to get a palm print phone case and they literally had the perfect palm print! I was so excited when I saw it - I love the way it looks on my phone and I've already gotten tons of compliments on it.

I also tried a new case this year with getting the extra tough case in the super adorable and trendy marble print. I was very impressed with how this case turned out - beyond the marble being absolutely gorgeous, the tough case didn't add bulk or weight at all which always worries me when you go for extra protection in a phone case.

With CaseApp, you can design your own phone case or chose from hundreds of already designed phone cases or laptop skins. I was so impressed with the pre-made designs and the quality of the two cases I received that I might stick with the adorable pre-made designs from here on out. CaseApp has graciously agreed to give away a custom phone case to one of my readers - be sure to enter below, the giveaway will run until Thursday 11/16 and the winner will be announced next Friday.

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