Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Blanket Scarf at AE

I saw these today and just had to share.  Check out these cute blanket scarfs that are on sale at AE right now for $10. I bought the navy and silver buffalo plaid.

AE Blanket Scarf


They also have a few other patterns that are on sale for $10.

AE Scarf

Friday Favorites

Today I am linking up with Erika for Friday Favorites.

Today I thought I would share a few last minute gift ideas.  This year it was hard for me to decide what I was going to put on my Christmas list because I am in the process of decluttering my house.  Don't get me wrong I love receiving gifts, but this year I wanted to make sure it was something that was practical.

One and Two

Amazon Roomba

Roomba Mop

I added these items to my Christmas list at the last moment.  Last weekend we went to my aunt-in-law's house and she has both the vacuum and the mop. She showed me how it works, and I fell in love. I am so excited about trying these in my own house. 

As I am typing this, Amazon currently has the Roomba Mop on sale as a lightening deal for $203.99 which is a awesome deal.  I might have bought one at this price just in case Santa doesn't deliver.  My mom's birthday is in January, so this just might be her birthday gift if I end up with two.

Three

Cuisinart Cast Iron

This will make a great gift for the cook in your life.  You can also find a good deal on these at Homegoods.

Four

Kate Spade Earrings

I love these earrings.

Five

Pioneer Woman Cookbook

Who doesn't love the Pioneer Women?  I think this would be a great addition to my cookbook collection.

We are off to more Christmas get togethers this weekend. Have a good one!

  

Callaway Gardens - Fantasy in Lights

Sorry I have been MIA for the last week.   It seems like we have been busy with work and Christmas. 

Last Saturday night, we went to the Fantasy of Lights at Callaway Gardens with some friends and their two children. The tickets came with a daily pass to the gardens, so we went a little early and explored.  We went to the butterfly center and got to see the butterflies hatching out.  There is also a indoor garden that they keep warm where you can interact with the butterflies.  Sometimes they will even land on you.  Here are a few pictures I took:

We were going to go to the birds of prey show, but we were about 30 minutes late for it.  We walked around and enjoyed the scenery.  We did find the Tree Top Adventure which is a ropes course that has a few zip lines in it.  It looked really neat, but you have to make reservations in advance.

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• Treetop Adventure
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We visited Santa's Village and ate at the Pavilion were they had hamburgers and hot dogs.  There were a couple of booths selling "fair" food as well.

I forgot to take pictures of the lights, but here are a few from their website. You can ride in the trolley or take your own car.  We chose to take our own car because we were not sure at the time we made reservations if it would be really cold or not.

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• Fantasy In Lights
• The tickets are a little expensive, but it is worth it.  Every year you can usually find a Groupon for the event, but you cannot use it on Saturdays.
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Stocking Stuffers

Here are a few great stocking stuffer ideas for the entire family!

Adult Coloring Book

J Crew Socks

OPI All Stars Nail Polish

Children's Book

Pop Up Sponges

Yeti Tumbler

Camo Coozy

Baseball Cap

Hope these will give you some great ideas for gifts for your friends and family!

Friday Favorites

Today I am linking up with Erika for Friday Favorites.

I have been struggling this week.  We did get our Christmas tree up, but the rest of the house is only half way decorated.  I have the garland on the mantel, but that is it.  It is a blank canvas up there.  I need to get with the program before Christmas is over.

Here are a few recipes that I love or would love to try this Christmas season:

One

Last week, my mom and I made sugar cookies and added sprinkles!



We used the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix.  They were very good and super easy to make.  It would be fun to have a cookie decorating party and make these.

Two

For me it is not Christmas without buckeyes.  How can you beat a ball of chocolate, peanut butter, and powered sugar?



Buckeyes

These are pretty easy to make. The hardest part is dipping the frozen balls into the chocolate without the ball falling off the toothpick.  Just make sure they are really frozen and it will make the process a lot easier.

Three



Cheesy Sausage Croissant Casserole

My mother-in-law made this breakfast casserole last year for Christmas morning. This is a great recipe to make the night before and then just pop it in the oven the next morning.

Four



Pineapple Cheese Ball

I know what you are thinking... Pineapple.. really? It is good trust me.  My mom makes this every year around Christmas time and it is always gone really quick.  You should definitely try this. We usually roll ours in pecans instead of walnuts. I am sure it is good either way.


Five



 Mini Chicken Pot Pies

I have not tried these, but they look good.

Six



Ranch Oyster Crackers

These are great for parties.  Once you start munching on these, it is hard to stop.

Seven



Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cake

These are rich tasting, but oh so good!




I hope you will enjoy some of these recipes during Christmas.  I know I certainly will!!

O Christmas Tree

Since we were in North Carolina last week, we went to a Christmas Tree farm to get our tree last Friday.  If you are in the Highlands/Cashiers area, go to Grandy Mountain Tree Farm. They are awesome and so friendly. They even have a large nativity on the hill that would be great for pictures.

We picked out the perfect tree.

As we were leaving the farm, we had the perfect sunset over the mountains.  This picture does not do it justice.

As of today, we have the tree standing in the house with lights and ornaments, but I feel like it needs something else.  I am hoping to go to Hobby Lobby and find a few felt balls to make garland like the pictures below.

West Elm Felt Garland

Hopefully I will have pictures soon of the finished product.

Christmas Mugs

The Christmas Season is officially here.  This is my favorite time of year. We cut our Christmas Tree at a Christmas tree farm yesterday (blog post coming soon.)

One of my favorite things about this time of year is HOT CHOCOLATE!! When I drink hot chocolate or even coffee, I like to drink it out of a cute mug.  Today I am going to share a few mugs I found that are great for the Christmas season.

One | Two 

Three  | Four | Five



Williams -Sonoma has a great hot chocolate that comes in many flavors.




via

I have tried the Classic Hot Chocolate and the Peppermint Bark Hot Chocolate.


You can also use the hot cocoa recipe on the back of a Hershey's Cocoa container.

Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Hot Cocoa

Friday Favorites

Today I am linking up with Erika for Friday Favorites.

Today I thought I would share my favorites gift ideas for Christmas.

One

Kate Spade Glitter Earrings

I am sure you have seen other bloggers talk about these.  So cute!!

Two

North Face Thermoball

My husband and I both have this jacket in black.  I am sure we look really cute walking around in matching jackets! Ha! This jacket is so light and warm.  I definitely recommend it.  I personally think the cut of this jacket makes one look slimmer.

Speaking of matching jackets, we both have this jacket as well:





Marmot Rain Jacket

We love this rain jacket. It comes in twenty different colors. Seriously! It is great for all reasons.  It even comes in a XXL for women.



Three

Sorry for the bad picture! I saw these in Wal-Mart this week and I thought they were really cute.  This would be perfect for a boys room.  I would not mind them in my room if we had them in a cabin or hunting camp. If you do not like this pattern, they have many others as well.  You can buy them online as well.  Here is the link:

Flannel Sheets

Four

Last week, I shared in this post that I was going to buy the red Pottery Barn ornament this year.  Well, I went to buy it yesterday and it was already sold out.  So I ended up buying the white one.

Pottery Barn Ornament

When I was ordering the ornament, I also found these moose items.  I love moose and cow items, so this was right up my alley.

Soap Dish

Catchall

I plan to use this year round.

Five

I got these branches out of my yard and just spray painted them white.  These branches are from a dogwood tree. I can't wait to use them this week as I am decorating for Christmas.  This is such an easy DIY project.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Asheville, NC

Yesterday, I went to the Spa at Grove Park Inn with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We arrived a couple of hours before our facial to enjoy the pools and steam rooms.  The Spa is a cell free zone so I could not take any pictures, but here are a few from their website.

Grove Park Inn Spa

One of the pools has underwater speakers and when you float on your back, there are stars on the ceiling to view.  They have hot tubs with water falling into them and eucalyptus-infused steam rooms. They provide you with a robe and slippers when you arrive and then you can relax all day.  I chose the Classic Facial for my treatment.  I highly recommend going at least once if you are in the area. 

This time of year at Grove Park Inn is beautiful.  They have Christmas trees at every turn, and they even have a Gingerbread House Competition on display. Here are a few pictures of the decorations:

After the Spa, we ate a late lunch at Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville.  I had the fried chicken with milk gravy that was amazing.  It might have been the best fried chicken I have ever had.

Here is a list of their current locations.  

Tupelo Honey Cafe Locations

They usually open about 4 locations each year.  I heard Dallas and Denver are on the list for next year.  Be sure to check them out!