Christmas in (a ton of) Pictures!

It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year!!!!  It's time for Christmas wrap up - enjoy!

Christmas Eve

We spend Christmas eve with my family every year.  Usually we go to church and then come home and open a gift, but with a new service schedule and my sister having to work, we weren't able to attend church this year.  We spent the night enjoying a delicious dinner my momma made and opening a few small gifts.  After that, Scott and I went home to exchange our gifts!

The aftermath!

Christmas Day

We woke up to a warm Christmas day and headed back over to my mommas for brunch.  I made a pancetta and gruyere breakfast casserole and Mom made her DELICIOUS pecan french toast.  We exchanged gifts which was a lot of fun!  My love language it definitely gift giving, I love seeing peoples reactions to what I picked out for them!  My mom and sisters spoiled me with very nice and thoughtful gifts :).

An Audrey painting by Liz, one of my favorite gifts I've ever received!

There were some tears when we opened our "Daddy" bears.  Mom made them out of my dads favorite shirts.

Christmas Night

We spent Christmas night with Scott's family.  I made a trio of crostinis that were so delicious (you can find the recipe here).  We got to see the little ones open some gifts and I was so happy when my niece was excited to open up Spiral Art and a Lite Brite, two of my favorite toys from when I was a kid.  Scott and I were spoiled again by his family; it sounds cliche but we really are lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people.

Guess how many good pictures Scott and I got together.... no really guess.  If you guessed zero, you're right!

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As you can see we had a busy but awesome Christmas!  It's always been my favorite holiday because I get to pick out gifts for those I love, eat amazing food, and spend time with my family.  I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and have exciting plans for New Years Eve; Scott and I are planning a fancy dinner to end the year :)  See you back here later this week!

100 Things About Me

It's my 100th post!!!  It's hard to believe I've put together 100 different things for you all to read about.  Thanks for sticking with me so far.  Here is my Christmas gift to anyone that reads this.... 100 incredibly random things about me!

100 Things About Me

1. I was born at 3:23AM... making an entrance from the start :)
2. My life = A constant Christmas countdown (3 days!!!)
3. I was born in Connecticut
4. My favorite color is yellow
5. I can't stand when people click pens over and over
6. I have an addiction...
7. ....it's Bath & Body Works 3-wick candles
8. I cry really easily
9. I like one of my sisters more than the other
10. Sometimes I tell white lies (see above)
11. I am my moms favorite (not a white lie)
12. I never remember good dreams
13. But I can always remember nightmares (totally lame!)
14. I have to look at menus ahead of time because I'm a bad decision maker
15. I collected Spice Girls lollipops and saved the wrappers after I ate them... so I basically collected trash
16. I went to afternoon kindergarten
17. My dream vacation is visiting Mykonos and Santorini, Greece!
18. But my favorite place I've been so far is Sorrento, Italy
19. I genuinely enjoy studying and taking tests
20. I met my husband when I was 16
21. My first job was filing in a dermatologist office
22. My favorite restaurant is Terrain
23. I once got strep leg after I got bit by a spider
24. My Easter egg hunts were on the beach in the Outer Banks
25. I am a godmother to my beautiful godson, Chase :)
26. I went through a phase of singing everything in a Broadway voice (sorry, Molly!)
27. My favorite U.S. city (so far) is Chicago, IL
28. I am not very good at painting nails
29. People used to call my Lizzie in middle school because they thought I looked like Lizzie McGuire
30. I'm allergic to pretty much any lotion created... so that's cool.
31. My current favorite words are tight and dope                                                                                           

    

32. My favorite show in middle school was TRL
33. I can bench press 100 pounds (on a good day)
34. I had a hamster named Snuggles growing up
35. My mom made me an ice cream castle cake one year but it was so hot out we sang around the freezer
36. I have two tattoos
37. Scott and I already have boy and girl baby names picked out
38. I have never gotten a speeding ticket or even been pulled over
39. My first car was a two-door, stick shift, purple RAV-4
40. I kicked a hole through a wall in middle school and my dad made me learn how to drywall to fix it
41. Molly and I snuck into the grand opening of Sprinkles Cupcakes
42. I always wanted to be a ballerina
43. I have two kitties even though I'm allergic
44. I found my first white hair at 14 (whaaaat the actual eff??)
45. My favorite cookies are macarons
46. I am a quarter Italian, a quarter German, a quarter Scottish, and a quarter English/Irish/Swedish/Scandinavian/I really don't know
47. I'll be a first-time bridesmaid in July 2015! #meetthewhalens #mybffisgettingmarried
48. My favorite meal is a medium rare steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus OR scallops over risotto
49. I danced in a hip hop dance crew called So Fresh
50. I prefer the mechanical pencils that twist down
51. I have been to 6 different countries... so far ;)
52. My mom ate at Gina's Hot Dog Stand everyday when she was pregnant with me...
53. ...but supposedly I'm named after Geena Davis
54. My favorite drink is champagne
55. I work in the real estate investment industry
56. I have my Series 65 certification
57. My hair has officially grown back to my natural color after years of dying it!
58. I learned to drive stick after buying a manual car
59. My favorite cake is yellow cake with chocolate frosting...
60. ...but I MUCH prefer lemon meringue pie!!!
61. I hate bananas but love banana cream pie
62. Two amazing friends and I camped out overnight to make sure I got a parking pass my first year of college
63. My first concert was Dream Street
64. I flew on a plane with Bruno Mars' band to Curacao
65. I don't like chicken
66. I had my church add a confirmation name for me even though they don't do that
67. Justin Timberlake and I are meant to be together (sorry Scott!)                                                                           

    

       

68. I lost to a shut out in beer pong on Senior Week
69. I used to get really tan as a child... and then that stopped. Lame!
70. I had my first kiss during A Walk to Remember (in theaters!)
71. One summer we tried to hair-wrap my whole head and made it to over 15 hair-wraps
72. Every time the seasons change that becomes my new favorite season
73. We got married on a beautiful fall day last October
74. I got stitches in my lip with I was 2
75. My favorite holiday after Christmas (and besides my birthday) is Halloween
76. I loooove chalkboards and have a bunch in my house
77. I collect Christmas ornaments from everywhere I travel (and my family is nice enough to bring them back from me from their travels!)
78. Every day in middle school I ate a plain salami sandwich
79. My dad drove me to school every morning for a year and a half in high school
80. My favorite pizza is Mac-n-Cheese
81. I go through phases of obsessing over things (past examples include cherries and Hello Kitty)
82. My favorite valentine chocolates are the ones filled with fruit!
83. I could eat Mexican food for every meal, for-eva-eva
84. I've saved my birthday cards since I was 12 years old
85. I've also saved calendars and planners
86. I might be a hoarder...
87. One of my nicknames in high school was "Tink" and I'm still not sure why...
88. I've never been to a professional football game
89. But I was at the Phillies World Series win!
90. I'm writing a book with my sisters and momma
91. My dreamiest dream purse is over $4,000 (I've faced the music - it's never gonna happen)
92. I've always wanted to run a marathon
93. My favorite section of the news is law/justice
94. Rootbeer is my favorite soda
95. I like using ink stamps on crafts and letters
96. I cross out the day on my calendar when it starts, not when it ends
97. I didn't learn how to take pills until I was 15
98. Probably because my biggest fear in life is choking
99. Speaking of which, I had to have the Heimlich done to me once (thanks, Molls!)
100. I have OCD tendencies including washing my hands 10+ times a day

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If you've made it to the end, I am seriously impressed.  Do you know how hard it is to come up with 100 things about yourself??  Ay yi yi... hopefully you enjoyed this list and learned everything a few things about me!

Enjoy these last couple days before Christmas :)

Hot Cocoa Cookies!

It's the time of year when I just want to curl up with a cup of hot cocoa and a cookie every night.  I was making M&M cookies with by niece a couple weeks ago and decided I wanted to morph the recipe a bit and turn them into Hot Cocoa Cookies!  The original recipe for M&M cookies can be found here.

What's the best part of hot cocoa?  The little marshmallows!  For these cookies I highly demand suggest you pick up some Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Bits or dehydrated marshmallows.  They taste exactly like Lucky Charms!  If you've ever baked with regular mini marshmallows, you know they basically disappear in the over - where do they even go??  Anyway, these were easy to find; right in the aisle with the tea and coffee.

The cookie dough may seem a little dry when you stir in the chocolate chips and marshmallow bits, but once you start scooping it onto the cookie sheets it's just fine!  Good luck making these and, if you do, leave a comment and let me know how they turn out!

Hot Cocoa Cookies

Yields 2 dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick/1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 3 tablespoons hot cocoa mix
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 3/4-1 cup hot cocoa marshmallows

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  You will need two large cookies sheets, either nonstick or lined with parchment paper.
• In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and both sugars until fluffy.  Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
• Add flour, cocoa powder, hot cocoa mix, baking soda and salt.  Mix until combined.  
• Take mixing bowl off stand, pour in mini chocolate chips and marshmallows.  Stir into cookie dough with a spatula.
• Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough onto baking sheets.
• Put both baking sheets into the oven for six minutes.  Remove from oven and use a spoon to lightly flatten each cookie.  Return to oven on opposite shelves (the cookie sheet that was on the top shelf should be on the bottom and vice versa) and bake for an additional six minutes.
• Once the cookies are done, you want to get them onto cooling racks pretty quickly to avoid burning the bottoms.  They will still be soft when you do, so be careful not to break them.

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I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as we have!  Only a week until Christmas, good luck with last minute shipping and gift wrapping :)

Philadelphia's Christmas Village

This past Saturday, my mom and I took the train into the city to visit the Christmas Village in Love Park.  A bunch of different vendors get together in the park and sell all kinds of food and treats, ornaments, hand made goods and decor.  We lucked out with a day in the mid-40's, but still bundled up for our walk around the village.

This sign made me feel guilty about our tree... one year we will have a real one again!

The first stand that drew us in was full of beautiful Turkish lanterns, bowls and towels from Silk Road Traders.  The lanterns were all different colors and sizes, and the bowls were hand painted.  All the colors were beautiful and the Turkish towels were so soft, I loved this booth.

We walked around and saw stands filled with Bacon Jam (interesting), tons of jewelry, lots of German sweets, and colorful finger puppets.  I almost got sucked into the crepes, but wanted to save my "treat" for something else I saw people carrying around!

One thing I really loved was the "Wish Wall."  I thought it was so sweet that people added their wishes and positive thoughts; a nice reminder of what this season is all about.

Ally is not messing around with her wish ;)

My favorite stand was full of hand blown Egyptian glass ornaments.  I am obsessed with Christmas ornaments, so we spent more than a couple minutes looking through all these beauties before picking out two to bring home to my tree!

And then, of course, there are all of the treats!  We tried a couple macarons from Baked by Tiffany and mom got chocolate dipped mandarin oranges.  And then I found what I was looking for all day, the Wandering Waffle!  I tried a bacon bits waffle with Nutella and it was worth saving up some calories for!  Perfect warm treat on a chilly day!

Such a fun day with my momma! If you are interested in visiting the Christmas Village, it will be in Love Park through December 28th and you can find more information here.

#DGYTIAT: Gift Ideas for Your Co-Workers!

Happy Friday!  We've made it to the end of the #DGYTIAT series.  If you've visited my blog everyday this week and kept up with the posts, thank you!  It's awesome to know people are reading what I'm putting together.  The last gift guide this year is for your co-workers!  This can be a tough one because you don't know what to spend or what's appropriate.  Here are my holiday gift ideas for your office mates!

1. Hot Cocoa Stick

You may recognize this Hot Cocoa Stick from my stocking stuffers post, but throw a little bow on top and it can double as a gift for your co-workers!  Who doesn't like a mid-afternoon pick me up?  And delicious hot cocoa... I mean come on!

2. Wine!!!

Nothing says "we got through this ridiculously hard year" like a bottle of wine!  I'm a white girl (yeah....) and my SIL introduced me to one of my favorites, Cantina Zaccagnini Pinot Grigio.  I've heard great things about their reds, too!

3. The Wedge

I saw this little guy a few weekends ago.  The Wedge basically holds your phone for you and keeps it propped up.  I think it's perfect to have at your desk!

4. Chocomize Bar

If you eat lunch with co-workers or even sit near them, you probably have an idea of what they like to snack on.  Chocomize lets you create a custom candy bar with all the options you can think of!

5. Hand Cream

Constant A/C (if you're in my office) can dry out your hands pretty quickly.  These little guys from Bath & Body Works are only $5 and the perfect size to keep in the office.  Plus they have amazing scents for the holidays and year round!

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I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I did!  I loved putting together my ideas for holiday gifts for anyone.  And if you're on my gift list, you may or may not have gotten a little preview this week ;)  I hope you all have an amazing (second to last shopping) weekend!