Monday Must-Haves: Christmas Hold Over 1/6

I had such an amazing Christmas with those that I love and these are a few of the items that were on my list! Definitely planning on grabbing some of these for myself! PS I realize that today is Tuesday, but I had a day off from work yesterday and I really ran with it, I had this post ready to go and forgot to publish it!

Hunter fleece socks
$49 - office.co.uk

TOMS canvas espadrille
$46 - vanmildert.com

Alex and Ani bracelet
$36 - bloomingdales.com

Alex and Ani bracelet
$39 - bloomingdales.com

Urban Decay matte eyeshadow
sephora.com

The Things That Matter: Nate Berkus: 9780679644316: Amazon.com: Books
amazon.com

Pug Yoga Mugs from Zazzle.com
zazzle.com

John Varvatos Star USA USA Swagger Gift Set 1 ea
beauty.com

Friday Silliness- Reptile Edition!

I've been negligent this week with Novelty, but it's been crazy. I had my little brother for the night on Monday and then Christmas craziness followed. I hope you all had a great time with those you love and I'm so looking forward to the new year!


I promised to make a tortoise cozy for my friend's 20 year old tortoise named Lady, I found this image below and I was totally ready to replicate the pieces, but alas I cannot crochet-I knit. So I threw some money at the problem and ordered one from MossyTortoise on Etsy. I can't lie, I'm pretty obsessed with these damn turtle sweaters! Please also see below for a Snake sweater! My question is, how do you get a snake into a sweater, and doesn't it just slide off when they move?!

Discovering Monica Vinader

I've recently started following (stalking) A Piece of Toast and I was going through their posts and found one featuring Monica Vinader jewelry and I began picking out my future presents and I stumbled upon their blog that features a new tool where you can create looks using her Stacking Rings. So, I went a little crazy and came up with 5 combinations to start. Of course, I want all five combinations, all of her pieces are gorg! See below for my original stacks! 

Aren't they gorgeous?! 

This Siren Ring would be THE perfect pinkie ring, and I'm obsessed with monograms! 

A Unique and Delicious Christmas Gift

Every year, I have people on my list that drive me crazy and challenge me to find them awesome Christmas gifts. Usually, its the same people, year after year! This is my 7th Christmas trying to find an awesome gift for my in-laws, my father-in-law is especially difficult to shop for. Cue Nudo Italia! My in-laws are serious foodies and my father-in-law is a vegetarian that dabbles in fish consumption, so he sometimes has difficulty finding foods to enjoy. Every Sunday we go to their house and eat the most delicious foods, from homemade fried rice (my fave) to shrimp etoufee, so this is the perfect gift for the man that has been known to spend $100+ on olive oil at Fairway!  

Nudo gives you the ability to adopt an olive tree in one of their many groves. "Nudo groves are scattered across the eastern coast of central Italy, in the Le Marche and Abruzzo regions and in Sicily", according to their site. You can either adopt the tree yourself or give it as a gift, which is what we did at the suggestion of a co-worker. Once your adoption is approved (just kidding!) you are given olive oil from your tree and its neighbors once per season depending on the duration of the subscription. Nudo also offers gift packs of their oils, herbs, chilis, and pastas. Adopting a tree starts at $69 and probably becomes very expensive if like me, you ADORE the product and the premise. To be completely honest, I'm now coveting a subscription myself! 

All images and some wording was taken from Nudo Italia's website. Compensation was not provided, I am just a huge fan! 

Christmas Entertaining with Horchow

Horchow is one of the first luxury mail-order catalogs dating back to 1971, when Roger Horchow began his catalog business without the presence of a brick and mortar store. He believed in "decorating without borders" and his catalog is a collection of inspired, quality pieces for both home and entertaining. I recently stumbled across some gorgeous and delicious sounding desserts from their catalog and I couldn't help but share them, I'm obsessed (as per usual). 

Baby Brownie Classic Dozen $35

Chocolate Raspberry Cake $65

Decadent Dessert Sampler $54

Mini Holiday Cheesecakes $125

Four Mini "Pointsettia" Cheesecakes $120

Elegant "Present" Cheesecake $175

Wednesday Words

Trimming a Tree

This past weekend we went to pick out our tree from a really lovely farm in Paramus, called Home Depot. I decided that we HAD to get our tree in the middle of a snow storm. On the way there, I knew that I made a grave mistake and that my husband was 100% justified in being annoyed with me. Luckily, we found a beautiful little tree and we made it home without a hitch. I subscribe to the rule that you have to put the tree in its stand and let it settle for a day prior to decorating so this beauty wasn't touched until Sunday, except for my dogs nibbling on it, which is a huge issue that I still don't know how to solve. 

I decided to make a whole day out of decorating the tree with baked treats and a crock pot dinner. You can find the mac and cheese recipe here. I doubled the pasta to 16 oz and I decided to throw the mac and cheese into mini crocks with some butter drenched Panko bread crumbs and broiled them to get a crispy, golden top layer.

I posted this to Instagram, but it doesn't give the full effect of this messy, bone-chillingly cold day!

A family friend made this ornament for us with our wedding invitation inside of it, it is one of my most treasured possessions. 

Pillsbury Peppermint Chocolate Chip cookies for Jon, because I would rather chew on the tree than eat chocolate and mint together! 

Monday Must-Haves-Side Table Symphony

I have a small side table in my living room that sits between  a slipper chair and the chaise lounge on our couch and I moved it to the other side of our living room to accommodate our Christmas tree, and now I want to put a piece there permanently for remotes, drinks, etc. It's a tight space, so I need to find something that is small but still makes an impact. The side table that we have now has a thin gold basket design with a round black glass top, so I want something that is reminiscent but not identical, all of the below pieces give me that feeling!  

Currey Company accent table
burkedecor.com

Cyan Design accent table
purehome.com

Black accent table
lovesac.com

Black accent table
highstreetmarket.com

Pols Potten nickel table
$320 - amara.com

Holiday Gift Guide-Stella and Dot

With Christmas less than 2 weeks away, I've been helping many friends, coworkers, and family members pick out gifts for loved ones (and themselves) from Stella and Dot. I was pulling together a list for my Aunt of my favorite gifts for $75 or less and thought that I might as well share my favorite pieces with you guys (the list below is actually curated for my super hip Grandma)! Enjoy!

I'm happy to offer personal shopping to anyone that may need me, I can also send wishlists to the men in your life that may need a little direction!

Orders placed by Dec 18, have guaranteed Christmas arrival without shipping upgrades! I'll be offering free shipping today through the 18th, contact me to place your order! 

Bardot Spiral Bangle

Bellissimo Angelo Earrings

Christina Link Bracelet

Demi Layering Necklace

Frida Print Scarf

Haley Necklace-This is the piece that my Aunt ended up choosing!

Leopard Print Cosmetics Pouf

Renegade Cluster Bracelet

Rhea Bangles

Somervell Necklace