Show Us Your... Holiday Decorations {2014}

I know there's a ton of different blogs that holiday decoration link-ups, but I can't help and stick with my favorite (and one of the first blogs I ever really linked up with) Kelly's Korner.

I tend not to go to crazy with holiday decorations, partly because we really don't own very many, and also partly because while my husband is Catholic I'm Jewish so a feel a little conflicted about the whole thing. But it's important for him to have a Christmas tree so if we going to have one, I at least want to it be pretty. Seems, reasonable, right?
Each year we talk about upgrading to a bigger tree. But for now, with just the two of us our little tree works. Plus I'm not quite sure there's room in our house for a huge tree at this point.
Both mine and the boy's stocking are up, and while the baby does have a stocking holder ready, their stocking isn't quite. Not too big of a deal since the baby hasn't yet made their appearance, but by Christmas Eve I can promise you both the baby and the stocking will be hanging out.
I do have the majority of presents wrapped at this point, except for the boy's since he was in the room with me while I was wrapping. Maybe a bit of an overachiever, but really more that I wanted to make sure as much as possible was done before we have a new baby in our house. You can pretty clearly see which presents are for Christmas and which are for Hanukkah by the whole color divide. And yes, I do have a present for each day of Hanukkah for a baby who won't even be a week old. Obviously, they won't remember, but I will. Plus as an October baby I used to give my mom a hard time for not dressing me up for my first Halloween, so I want to make sure I don't fail our child in a similar way!
Speaking of Hanukkah, here's our bit of holiday fun on the dinning room table. It'll definitely need to be rearranged a bit to light the candles, but I think for now it works. Although I'd love to find more cute Hanukkah decorations to put our next year, as impossible as they may be to locate.
Here's one final look at what our living room looks like for our baby's first Christmas. Crazy to think both the holiday and the baby are really only days away from arriving, right?

Curious about our decorations from years past? You can see them here!

If you're stopping by from Kelly's Korner be sure to say hi! And what are your thoughts on celebrating holidays with newborn babies?

Show Us Your... Gallery Walls

I can't believe it's been over a year since I wrote a post for Kelly's Korner's Show Us Your Life Series. Especially knowing how much fun I have writing them, and reading through everyone else's posts. As for this week's theme, it's gallery walls.
I do realize that ours is still very much a work in progress, but so far I'm happy with how it's coming together.
It definitely needs another photo on the left, and then possibly smaller photos on the far left or above. I am pretty sure that I don't want to put anything lower, I guess I might change my mind there. Who knows! But for now, I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at the individual frames that make up the wall.
The only wedding photo in the bunch, this is us with our wedding party. (Since the boy and I just celebrated our second anniversary this was just over two years ago.)
This is what I call my LSU themed photo. The top and bottom photos were taken at Tiger Stadium, and I'm with my mom and a childhood friend respectively. The photo in the center is my and my BFF with a Mike the Tiger statue. Not that you can really tell, but we're actually standing just outside of Mike's cage where there's an actual tiger.
Out of all the frames, this is actually the first one I hung which also means it has the oldest photos. First is a family photo with myself, my parents, and brother. The next is actually one of the first photos the boy and I took together taken on Bourbon Street. The third photo is the boy with our niece right after she was born. As for the last one, it's me, my brother, and a good family friend... or it just may be a photo we happened to take with Bon Jovi. But if his picture is up in our house, that means I must know him, right?
While this isn't the oldest set of pictures, you can definitely tell that they're several years old by how young my niece and nephew look. They're 7 and almost 5 now, while in these photos they're probably 3 and almost 1. Which I guess means it might be time to update photos? Although I'm definitely of the mentality that you don't update photos, instead you just add new ones. As for the photos, the first is me and my niece, then me and the boy. The center photo is me and my BFF (yes, the same one from the Mike the Tiger photo) when we were both around 4. Then there's one of me and the boy at an LSU baseball game and finally one last photo of our niece and nephew.

Do you have a gallery wall in your house? Or how often, if ever, do you update your photos? Also, if you're stopping by from Kelly's Korner, be sure to say hello!

Show Us Your... Link-Ups

This week I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner to share my favorite link-ups. I think this will be a lot of fun, and hopefully I can discover some new ones that are worth checking out, plus introduce others to some of my favorites.

Mailbox MondayThis one was first started by Marcia who now blogs at To Be Continued.... It's a way to share the books you've picked up whether for review, purchased, or gifted. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists, but I promise you will discover a ton of books you can't wait to read in the process. MM travels to a new host each month, and since this Monday starts July, we'll be linking up at Book Obsessed.

Project 52This link-up is also on Mondays and hosted by Random-osity and Klienworth & Co. It's where I share my Project 365 posts each week. There's some amazing photographers that participate that I don't quite feel worthy of, but I still have fun sharing my daily photos from the year.


Book Club FridayBook Club Friday is hosted by Heather of Blonde... Undercover Blonde every Friday. It's a place to share reviews of the books you've recently read. Again you'll discover some awesome sounding books through this link-up, the hard part is finding the time to read them all.

What are you favorite link-ups to participate in that you think I should check out? And if you're stopping by from Kelly's Korner be sure to say hi!

From Miss to Mrs: Programming Break

I've gone on and on about our wedding programs without actually showing you what they look like. At least till now! As a guest would read the program before the ceremony starts, before I start my ceremony recaps, finally, here our are programs!

The only professional photo I have of the inside of our programs, and the pages are stapled in the wrong orderI got the basic idea of the programs, of using vellum paper as the cover from Mrs. Pony of Weddingbee. Which worked out since we had several sheets of vellum left over from our invitations. The inside of the program was computer paper, of which we also had a ton. And while computer paper isn't that fancy, the vellum did at least dress it up.

personal photoThe flower graphic was a free piece of clip-art included in my version of Word. Although I believe I changed the color and played with the shading. And since the flowers were printed on the vellum itself, it meant when you turned the page...

personal photo...you were left with our title page. As well as the outline of the flowers on the back of the cover.

personal photoThe next two pages showed the names of our families (at least those in the processional), as well as members of the wedding party. (Names have been edited for privacy.) I may have gone a little overboard describing exactly how each bridesmaid and groomsmen knew us, but I'm always curious about that information, and figured at least some of our guests would appreciate it.

personal photoThe next page had a basic outline of the ceremony (which I'll describe in more detail in my ceremony posts). Again of course, I wanted to make sure to describe just how those speaking were connected to us.

personal photoA lot of the wording regarding Jewish traditions I borrowed from Weddingbee's Mrs. Cream Puff. I also googled a few traditions for descriptions, and likely found some off Chabad.org as well. (If the print is too small, feel free to click on the photo for a closer view.)

personal photoI was inspired by Mrs. Tartlet of Weddingbee to include a menu in the programs as well. I loved the idea of including menus on the table for plated receptions, but since we were serving a buffet, I thought this made the most sense. And it gave our guests the chance to get excited for all the delicious food to come.

personal photoAgain on the last pages I borrowed from Weddingbee bloggers using Mrs. Pretzel's Thank You and Mrs. Elephant's In Remembrance page for my mother, whose funeral was barely 10 months before our wedding.

personal photoThe last page had the photo from our STD, and on the opposite side you could see out moo card. I had about 4 different cards that I rotated throughout, and just to prove it...

personal photo... here's a second version.

personal photoClosing the program, you could see our photo through the vellum, but now saw the side of the MOO card with our photo sharing instructions. (Which unfortunately, wasn't used nearly as much as I had hoped.)

personal photoSince I know you must be curious on how these stayed together, I did take the "easy way" and just staple them, but did at least use blue staples. (Although I realize it's hard to tell from the photo itself.)

What type of programs, if any, did you have at your wedding? Or what's your feeling on having descriptions of the wedding party in the programs?

All photos in this post unless otherwise noted courtesy of Sabree Hill Photography.
Miss a Recap Post?
From Miss to Mrs: The Calm Before the Storm
From Miss to Mrs: There's a Hurricane Coming?
From Miss to Mrs: Here Comes Isaac
From Miss to Mrs: Weathering the Cane
From Miss to Mrs: After the Storm
From Miss to Mrs: Trials and Tribulations
From Miss to Mrs: The Last Errands
From Miss to Mrs: A Night on the Town
From Miss to Mrs: The Hangover
From Miss to Mrs: Rehearsing in the Heat
From Miss to Mrs: The Last Single Supper
From Miss to Mrs: Gifting the Girls
From Miss to Mrs: The Last Single Night
From Miss to Mrs: Oh What a Beautiful Morning
From Miss to Mrs: Getting Prettified
From Miss to Mrs: Prepping the Plantation
From Miss to Mrs: Turtle Time
From Miss to Mrs: The Photographer Has Arrived
From Miss to Mrs: Becoming the Bride
From Miss to Mrs: Dress Details
From Miss to Mrs: Ou Est le Groom?
From Miss to Mrs: A Bridge-y First Look
From Miss to Mrs: Couple Time
From Miss to Mrs: Just the Two of Us
From Miss to Mrs: Grouping the Girls
From Miss to Mrs: Ain't No Party Like a Bridal Party
From Miss to Mrs: Fun with Family
From Miss to Mrs: Making it Official
From Miss to Mrs: The Bedeken
From Miss to Mrs: The Final Minutes

I'm linking this post up to Kelly's Korner for this week's Show Us Your... DIY projects!

Show Us Your... Holiday Cards

This week Kelly's Korner is linking with holiday cards. Except, we didn't send out holiday cards. Which begs the questions, why I am here linking up? Well, instead of sending out cards wishing happy holidays, our friends and family had these arrive in their mailbox recently.
Yes, those are our thank you cards from our wedding! And to be honest, only most of our friends and family received this recently. We do still have a handful left to send, which should all be in the mail by the end of the year. But about half of the cards did make it out by Emily Post's supposed 3 month deadline.

I was the one writing out each and every card, but the boy did at least sign his name. He did want to know why I chose I photo where only I looked nice. He thinks he has a silly look on his face, and doesn't like how his pocket square is crooked. Although since he's refused to look at any of our wedding pictures and I have no idea which one he would have preferred, he doesn't really have a lot to contribute here. (And just to defend myself, I like his grin in this photo because it feels true to his character.)

We did also include a small photo on the back, except I don't think the boy even noticed that one was there. (You can also see in this photo I did have them printed by Snapfish, but no, this isn't a sponsored post.)
For the return address I used a box of square Avery labels I had purchased for the wedding but never used. I went to format them, and realized I hadn't reinstalled word on my computer since I reinstalled windows. Luckily avery had an online template I was able to use. Except when I needed to print them, I needed adobe which again wasn't on my computer. That was at least easy to do, so finally I got them printed.

Except... they were supposed to be purple, and they're looking awfully pink. Turns out we were out of blue ink. But with all the trouble I'd already gone through, and knowing I had already printed 2 sheets labels, pink it was! (And for anyone curious, the Louisiana forever stamps were leftover from our invitation suite.)

How long did it take you to mail out thank you cards after the wedding? And if you're stopping by from Kelly's Korner be sure to say hello in comments!

Show Us Your... Holiday Decorations

This week Kelly's Korner is linking up with holiday decorations! Two years ago I wrote this post about how I'm conflicted about decorating for Christmas. Rather than rehash it, I will say that I'm still conflicted, but part of me can't help but have fun with Christmas decorations.
These were taken this past Saturday, which was the first night of Hanukkah. Today is the 6th night, so tonight in our living room we'll have 5 more candles lit.
The stocking on the left was mine growing up and made by my grandmother. (To clear up confusion, my mom converted, so while we celebrated Christmas with my mom's family, we never did in our own home.) The boy didn't have a stocking in our house, so we picked up a LSU stocking for him. They may not match, but they work for now.
On top of our mantle are the wine bottle centerpieces for our wedding. I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep them there, but for now, again they work.
Also on the mantle is our cake topper (again not sure where this is going to stay permanently) and a few different dreidels. Now to the tree itself, most of the ornaments are the boy's from his childhood, but I've realized there's a few I claims as my own.
My mom used to always buy me cute things that made her thing of me, like this little fairy. I don't think she was actually meant to be used as a Christmas ornament, but she works pretty well as one.
This was actually meant to be an ornament, although wasn't purchased as one. I has an obsession with flower fairies growing up which is why my mom bought her for me. (This is the Columbine Fairy.) I kept her on display in her box for years, but now she's actually on our tree.
Again, this may not actually be an ornament, but works well as one. My mom bought me this because in high school and college (and even now really), I had somewhat of a flip flop obsession.
This one is actually an ornament, and was even purchased as one. This was the boy's holiday present to me last year, which he purchased on our Disney World vacation.

What holidays do you decorate for in your home? And if you're here from Kelly's Korner, please say hello in the comments!

Show Us Your... Appetizers

The past few weeks I've been linking up with Kelly's Korner, sharing favorite recipes, and today is no exception. This week theme is appetizers, and while I don't have a ton of recipes to share (I guess I'm not big on making appetizers?), the ones I have are delicious!
Bacon-Wrapped, Parmesan-Stuffed Dates
Fried Halloumi Cheese

Do you have a favorite appetizer to make? Which of these would you most want to try? And if you're stopping by from Kelly's Korner, be sure to say hi!

Show Us Your... Main Dishes

The past few weeks I've been linking up with Kelly's Korner sharing our favorite recipes. And today we're continuing that tradition with main dishes. Here's some of my favorites, and hopefully you can find the perfect one for yourself!
72 Market Street Meatloaf
Angel Hair con i Funghi
Coca-Cola Pot Roast
Chili
Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie
Lemon Risotto
Peanut Soba Noodles
Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken with Sage Pesto
Risotto Cakes
Spiced Meatballs
Zapps Cajun Crawtator Crusted Chicken

Which ones of these dishes would you most want to try? And if you're here from Kelly's Korner, be sure to say hi in the comments