Isn't it crazy how fast Thanksgiving flew by? Steve, Emma, and I had such a good time spending a few days at my parents' house for Thanksgiving. It was so relaxing and fun to spend time with family, I definitely didn't want the fun to end. But now we've got Christmas to look forward to! And this year we'll be hosting Christmas dinner so you know I'll be decking the house out to the nines with decorations.
We've got a few decorations up, but have yet to get a Christmas tree. I was hoping to get one this evening, but with the rainy weather we're having, I think it'll be more prudent to wait until tomorrow when the sun will be out. Until tomorrow, I'll just have to satisfy my Christmas cravings with these images below.
Design Sponge
Love how these gifts are wrapped in such an artistic and charming way.
Martha Stewart
This is a great way to showcase your holiday cards and decorate your house.
Good Housekeeping
Such a clever idea to stamp the initials of the gift's recipient.
@Liam'sMama! Congrats on winning the gold feather necklace! All you need to do in order to receive your lovely necklace is send me an email with your name, shipping address, and phone number and Shabby Apple will be shipping it to you directly.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway!
I'll be busy as a bee today baking up a storm, but I wanted to share this with you since I just thought it was so funny and cute. Every year since I can remember, my family and I have always shared what we're most thankful for at Thanksgiving dinner. And just within the past decade, it's become one of my favorite traditions. During my teenage years, it wasn't exactly the type of tradition I was eager to participate in but now I'm singing a different tune. Well, except for one itty bitty problem I have with this tradition - I tend to get all teary-eyed because I get so sentimental and usually ruin my makeup. Nothing like family photos with mascara and eye liner running down your face. Any who, I know that sharing what you're thankful for is somewhat of a serious type of announcement, but why get so serious on such a joyous occasion? Which brings me to why I think these mustaches are perfect. You get to share what you're most thankful for, but at the same time keep the mood light and fun.
I love how Elsie attaches them to toothpicks to stick into cupcakes, but I'm sure you could easily use double-sided tape and stick the mustaches right on your face. Either way it's bound to be a hit, especially with the kids.
I hope you all have a wonderful time giving thanks with family and friends this Thanksgiving holiday. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Me Oh My
I'm leaning towards simple and sophisticated window treatments like these.
Not knowing whether our little one is going to be a boy or a girl has made it a tad difficult for us to decide on anything regarding the nursery and its decor. Steve has pretty much given me full reign over how to decorate it, which is (let's be honest) to be expected. But I definitely will get his opinions on a few of the major pieces.
Until we know whether we're having a boy or a girl, I won't be buying anything but I do know one thing for sure: I want this nursery to grow with the little one so that we won't have to constantly paint or redecorate it. Although knowing me, it'll probably change in a few years anyways. But for the sake of Steve's sanity, at this point I'm sticking to the idea of keeping it somewhat adult-friendly. I also know that I definitely want the words 'polished' and 'modern' to shine through when you walk into the room. Other than that, all ideas are fair game.
Below are some images I've found for both girls' and boys' nurseries that really spoke to me. I've jotted a few notes down for a some of them to explain myself since, for a few of them, I like a certain element of the room but not necessarily the whole package. Which are your favorites?
For a Little Girl
Kids Kingdom
That striped chair is absolute perfection.
There's been a rather big secret I've been keeping from all of you. I know, I really shouldn't have kept it to myself for this long, but you'll understand why I did: Stephen and I are expecting our first child!
I so badly wanted to share this announcement much earlier, but I told myself that I would wait until we were safely into the second trimester before sharing the news with the world. In a few weeks we'll know the sex of the baby, but I just couldn't wait til then to tell you all the good news. We cannot believe that we've been blessed with a baby. It was not something that we had planned, but we are overjoyed and cannot wait til next Spring. The due date is May 2, 2012 and I am seriously counting down until then. And trust me, I have been counting down ever since we found out the news.
I had an extremely rough first trimester, since I pretty much experienced every single symptom in the book. I hinted at this in earlier posts, but this is the reason why I've created so few posts since I quit my job. Between the nausea, fatigue, and heartburn, I felt like all I could do in the first trimester was lie down on either the couch or the bed. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better now. While I have not yet woken up feeling like I could conquer the world (I've been told this happens sometime in the 2nd trimester), I'm hopeful that it will happen very soon.
And yes, I've been busily scouring the web for nursery ideas, but I'm waiting until we find out the sex of the baby to make any final decisions and purchases. Not that I'm not a fan of unisex nurseries and baby decor, but let's just say that if I knew we were to have a girl, I'd really want to make the nursery somewhat girly for her. And similarly if we were to have a boy, I'd want to use some boy-oriented decor items in the nursery.
We'll be transforming my office into the nursery (I know! I feel like I'm constantly changing that room). So now we have the big question: what room will we use as the home office? Stephen definitely needs to have his own space since he's always on conference calls and cannot be disturbed. And although that's never stopped Emma from barking at our neighbors throughout the day, I think a baby might just be a tad more distracting. We've got some ideas floating around with what to do for a home office, but we'll need to hire a contractor to get some quotes. Until then, I'll share some nursery ideas I've been collecting in tomorrow's post. Happy Monday everyone!
*Shabby Apple Jewelry Giveaway Update: I know that I said I would announce the winner of the Shabby Apple Jewelry Giveaway today, but I've decided to extend the deadline to this Friday (give more of you a chance to win). Thank you to the folks that have entered so far!!! Don't forget to hurry to enter for your chance to win that gorgeous feather necklace!
We've been having some rainy weather in Maryland the past couple of days, and I have to tell you that it's making me so unmotivated. I think the only thing that'll make me feel cheery and upbeat is if I post on something about the holidays. And there is nothing better than free stuff to make me smile. Plus, I think we could all use something free and fabulous once in a while, especially during the holidays, right?
I scoured the internet and found these great free gift tags that I think you'll like. I know these will be my go-to's unless I find some more between now and Christmas. Oh, and don't forget these gift tags from last year! And one more thing, don't forget to enter my Shabby Apple giveaway! It ends tomorrow!
All photos are owned by Proper Hunt LLC unless stated otherwise. Please email me and cite Proper Hunt if you'd like to use any of the photos taken by me. Thank you!
What I'm Fancying
How cheery is this little number? Such a great summer dress, no?
Want a less frilly type of bottle stopper? Then these wooden ones are just the thing.
