Thanksgiving

There are many things that I am thankful for, but nothing more than this goof troop! You can see by the two faceless blobs in this picture that it's really hard to wrangle three creatures into looking good in one picture! 

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families, I hope you all eat and nap well! 

Wednesday Words

Thanks for Inviting Me . . . The Perfect Hostess Gifts for $50 or Less!

I am a huge fan of the lost art of Hostess Gift Giving! When I have people over, I'm usually tired, stressed, hungry, and apprehensive. I've had friends bring wine, beer glasses, aprons, picture frames, serving trays, ornaments, and toys for my pups. Clearly, I have great friends, but not every hostess feels the love from her guests!

It can be nerve-wrecking and annoying to grab a gift for someone that you wouldn't consider a best friend, so I've compiled a list for all hosts. I've covered the hostess that loves wine, chocolate, coffee, puppies, and pampering herself! Thanksgiving is one of those times that you will likely find yourself stopping by someones house and it's the PERFECT day to say "Thanks"!

Jo, this one is for you! 

Sources:
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15

Monday Must-Haves: Bedroom Updates

We've been living in our apartment for about 13 months and we chose to focus on saving for and decorating our two front rooms-our living room and dining room. We have friends over a few times a month for activities like tv viewing parties, sit down dinners, and football watching (Jets, not Giants). To me it makes sense to ensure that the most often used rooms are comfortable, stylish and inviting. Somewhere we lost sight of making our bedroom all of those things. Now that I can say the dining room is complete and the living room is just about complete, its time to turn my attention to our bedroom, which should really be the most inspiring room of all. That being said, I've started to compile inspiration for a bedroom update, and I will follow up with a post once I feel that it is complete and internet-worthy! 

Ball table lamp
$40 - very.co.uk

BD Fine gray rug
burkedecor.com

Wool rug
hdbuttercup.com

World Market sheer curtain
worldmarket.com

Restoration Hardware double curtain rod
restorationhardware.com

Wood furniture
kathykuohome.com

Throw Pillow Snake
etsy.com

Designer Drugs

I tried several times to caption these images shot by Steve Kraitt, but I didn't know what to say other than the fact that I love them. They're cheeky and beautifully shot and play on the obsessive nature of the designer goods industry.

Happy Friday, lovelies!! 

West Elm's Thanksgiving Essentials

I am a huge fan of West Elm, somehow I started getting their catalog when I was in high school and I had it crumpled and dog eared just waiting for my own apartment, which didn't happen for another 5 years. They put together a list of Thanksgiving Essentials that every hip hostess needs in her arsenal and I love them all! While I won't be hosting this year, keep in mind that I barely cook, I will be dreaming of all these items for that one day (very far in the future) when my husband will be cooking and I will be serving our own Thanksgiving dinner to family and friends! 

West Elm is currently offering 20% off all their essentials! 

This bread tray is the only piece that I actually "need" at home, the rest are pure fluff!

I absolutely adore these trays, they could be used to serve food as well as display pieces elsewhere in the home. 

Cast Iron Cornbread

Today my division is hosting its annual Thanksgiving Potluck and I can't remember if I volunteered or was given the responsibility of bringing the cornbread. Is cornbread even a Thanksgiving staple-I'm not sure! Either way, I called my father-in-law for his sage cornbread recipe. I thought all along that he had some historical, southern recipe passed down through the generations of his family. I learned that his go-to recipe came from his great uncle Epicurious. 

Antiquated or not, this recipe is the best and the resulting cornbread is so buttery and delicious. I've recreated Epicurious's Sage and Honey Cornbread recipe with a slight modification on the sage. When I say modification, I mean that I went to 3 supermarkets and could not find fresh sage, so I had to improvise with a bit less than 1 teaspoon of dried sage. You can call that cheating, but I call that 'I-was-about-to-stab-someone-improvisation'. 

I was planning to use standard bakeware for my concoction, but I was politely informed by my husband that cast iron is the only way to go when baking cornbread, so I made sure to pick up a Lodge 10.25" skillet.  The best thing about this skillet is that its pre-seasoned-all you have to do is wash it the first time with warm soapy water and continue to use it so that it soaks in all the delicious, cholesterol-ridden flavors of your cooking. 

The Pampered Chef's Measure All is the best kitchen accessory for messy soquid substances-it handles peanut butter really nicely! 

Monday Must-Haves: Gold Wrap Ring Lust

I have been obsessing over this di Grisogono ring that retails for about $15,000. So I decided to scour the interwebs and find a ring that gives me the same warm and fuzzies at about 1/300 of the price and I was able to find several different styles. Any of these would look amazing on my hands while wrapped around a glass of champagne this Party (I mean Holiday) season! 

AEA wrap ring
ahalife.com

David yurman ring
davidyurman.com

Wrap ring
macys.com

ASOS wrap ring
asos.com

ASOS ring
$24 - asos.com

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for a better glimpse into my ideas, inspirations, and life! 

A Very Blue Christmas

A couple days ago my husband (NOT ME), received the Tiffany and Co. Holiday book. Naturally, I broke federal laws and opened it so I could drool and pick out my Christmas gifts (this was one of those books where everything stated "Price Upon Request"). I fully expected to fall in love with the diamonds I was about to see, but I did not expect the beautiful editorials sprinkled throughout. My fave included a baby fawn pug, which made me think of last Christmas, when my Piglet was just 5 months old (and crazy as hell). I am very fortunate to say that I was gifted with a little blue box last Christmas and the bracelet inside remains as one of my  favorite pieces!  

This picture is everything I want Christmas to be-beautifully dressed and beautifully decorated!