12
Jan
2015

Photo of the Week – Week 1

categories: Life & Adventures

You will see “Photo of the Week” all over the internet; whether it be on a blog, a social media page, or a major news website. It is a great way to reminisce on the week behind you and remember your favorite moment. I decided to create my own blog series to sort of document my year in photos. I think it will be fun to look back after week 52 and see how my year went. So here you have it folks. My first posting of Photo of the Week.

Last week I celebrated my 28th birthday. There were a few delicious meals, an assortment of great gifts, and lots of cake. I feel that I had more cake last week than I can ever remember having in one week’s time. The girls at work brought in cupcakes, a friend of mine and Nick’s brought me a chocolate raspberry cake on my actual birthday, AND the girls night crew had a chocolatey fudge cake for our weekly dinner. I mean, that is a lot of cake. My photo for this week though is of the beautiful flowers that my parents had delivered to my work. They never forget a special holiday!

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07
Jan
2015

DIY New Year’s Eve Photo Booth

categories: Festivities

This New Year’s Eve Nick and I hosted our second annual New Year’s Eve party. I am pretty confident in saying that it was just as successful as last year. We invited the normal crew with a few additions. To keep things simple, we had everyone bring a snack and drink to share. Champagne was provided by yours truly for the midnight toast.

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One thing I added this year was a DIY Photo Booth. You see them at weddings all of the time now in different styles and formations. The most recent wedding we attended though I realized it could be very simple to create at home; especially given the fact that Nick has some killer camera gear. So here is what I did:

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18
Dec
2014

DIY Christmas Gift: Wine Glasses

categories: Festivities

 

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Every year the Girls Night crew has a special holiday meal at one of our favorite Italian restaurants. It is at this meal that we exchange our Secret Santa gifts. We decided a few years ago that it would be more fun and less stressful to buy a gift for our chosen receiver than purchasing four different gifts. It is definitely my favorite Girls Night of the year!

I put a lot of thought into what I wanted to gift this year. My “receiver” would have loved anything that was given to her but I wanted to do something a little different, useful, and creative. I came up with this festive idea! DIY decorative wine glasses. I loved this idea because I know she loves wine and will get a lot of use out of these. Plus, these are one-of-a-kind glasses being that I decorated them myself.

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15
Dec
2014

USA Food Tour: Massachusetts

categories: Life & Adventures

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When I started the USA Food Tour series I knew I wanted to conquer Massachusetts during the holiday season. My sister Michele lives in Boston and last year I discovered how wonderful the city is this time of the year. Once we settled on a weekend, I started my research to discover exactly what Massachusetts is known for. (more…)

07
Dec
2014

DIY Christmas Card Holder

categories: Project: House

IMG_5614Last Christmas we received quite a few cards from our friends and family. Seeing as I did not have an official “christmas card holder” I just taped them up to the basement door. It did not look too bad, quite festive actually. However, this year I wanted something a little more formal.

During one of my nightly Pinterest perusals, I came across this DIY Christmas craft that I thought could be turned into a card holder! The instructions seemed very simple, plus the materials were minimal and cheap. (more…)

04
Dec
2014

Thanksgiving with the Family

categories: Festivities

IMG_5581I volunteered to host Thanksgiving dinner again this year. Last year went fairly smoothly and it takes the stress off of my mom. To make things easier, I took my own advice by preparing ahead of time. I planned my menu, Mom and I did the grocery shopping the weekend before, and I was able to prepare a few of the dishes at least partially a few days in advance.

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26
Nov
2014

Theresa’s Holiday Sangria

categories: Treats

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Last weekend Theresa, Sarah, and I had a Hunger Games marathon in honor of the release of Mocking Jay Part 1. We had good food, good drinks, and good movies. One of those drinks was a red sangria. Theresa had dropped off the recipe and ingredients ahead of time so I could make a batch with enough time to sit overnight.

After my first glass I decided this would be my drink of choice for Thanksgiving dinner, and probably for the rest of the holiday season. It’s super easy to make and absolutely delicious. Enjoy! (more…)

24
Nov
2014

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

categories: Treats

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When creating the menu for Thanksgiving dinner this year I decided I wanted to minimize the appetizers. I also wanted to ensure that they were delicious and festive. Soup was one of the first things to pop into my head. Something cozy and warm while the family is watching the game waiting for dinner to be cooked. The type of soup was pretty simple to decide on as well. There really isn’t anything that speaks fall more than apples and squash. I adapted this recipe from one that I found on Pinterest, of course.

The best part about this recipe…it can be made in advance! I prepped the soup this evening, 3 days before Thanksgiving Day. I will just have to pop it on the stove to reheat for guests to enjoy.

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15
Nov
2014

Thanksgiving Prep

categories: Festivities

IMG_5504Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. It’s Opening Day for the holiday season, the most wonderful time of the year. Not to mention it is a day full of cooking and eating, two of my favorite activities. With all of the food and festivities comes a lot of prep work. Being that we are only a week and a half  away I’ve decided to provide you with my favorite tips and tricks to help prepare for your big event. (more…)

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