Birthday Wishes

Happy birthday Dad!!! I love you and I'm so glad I get to celebrate with y'all tonight! Thanks for being the best Dad any girl could ever ask for ;) 

Silence for Sandy Hook

{So I'm not a teacher right now, and this isn't a teaching blog... but I wanted to participate in the day of silence for Sandy Hook. This tragedy is heart breaking, and our prayers are with the families... praying for God's peace that passes all understanding}

Tis the Season

-Last weekend we went to see the Joffrey Ballet production of the Nutcracker... loved it!! It was an early Christmas present from Z; have I mentioned I have the best husband ;) In the past, my mom and I always would go to the local production of the Nutcracker in T-town. It seemed like every year one or both of us had sweet little students in the ballet {often they would give us tickets!}, and it was just a fun tradition we started. So it was a special treat to see such a famous production of one of my Christmas faves!!!
-I'm still waaay behind on Christmas shopping... we do have 4 wrapped gifts under our tree though!
-Less than a week until I head home!! Sad Z can't go with me until later in the week, but looking forward to time with my family!!!
-Still no snow here in Chicago... apparently this is like record breaking and all... December 16th is the latest recorded first snow... I'm a little disappointed :/
-Last night I made homemade shrimp fried rice {which is one of Z's favorites} and it was actually good! The original recipe called for teriyaki chicken, which would be delish as well!
-I really love having our apartment decorated for Christmas! It's going to look so bare when we take it all down :/
-I did finally make some Christmas cookies... already in the mood to make more!
-I am trying to make a conscious effort this year to focus on the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Not that I don't usually, but it's pretty easy to get caught up in trying to find the perfect gift or other crazy things. Instead, I want to slow down and remember why we celebrate in the first place!

I love this print that I found on pinterest!! Such a welcome reminder of what this time of year is really all about!

Birthday Wishes

 

Happy Birthday Maggie!

 We love you and miss you pretty girl!! Wish we were there to celebrate with you! Have a great day!

Love,

Z&B

Random Christmas Thoughts...

I haven't posted in a few days... I guess I haven't really had much to blog about! We had a good weekend... we especially LOVED cheering on the Tide! {We definitely got a noise complaint during the game, which Z was pretty proud of! Ha!} We also watched our first Christmas movie of the season... I really love  Christmas movies!! Can't wait to watch a few of my other favorite ones! I REALLY need to start a Christmas to do list... like buy a few presents {since we have not bought a single one yet :/} Still trying to come up with ideas for everyone... and totally drawing a blank! Maybe if I bake some Christmas cookies it will spark a few creative ideas for gifts! {And we'll have some delicious cookies too!!} One exciting note, I purchased a ticket to fly home a little earlier than originally planned for Christmas, yay!! It's been kinda hard not being "home" for all of the annual Christmas traditions, so I'm pretty excited! Another completely random thought... I am a little disappointed that we haven't had any snow yet. I mean I really was bracing myself for blizzards and bitter cold, but not so much yet ;) Monday was close to 70 degrees here! Crazy! I'm sure there is plenty of snow and cold weather coming, just surprised we haven't had any yet...

Well here's hoping I will come up with some fabulous gift ideas and put a few presents under our tree soon!!

Fa-la-la-la-la

We've been busy decorating for Christmas around here! And I love it!! On Monday, we went and picked out a cute little tree... I wanted to get one from one of those adorable stands popping up on random street corners in the city. But they all only take cash, and we didn't have cash :/ so Home Depot it was. Which was fine because they always have a good selection for a decent price, and I was just excited to get a tree!! On Tuesday, I decided we needed a tree skirt and a tree topper. So I went to West Elm {love that store!} and found a perfect tree topper on sale for $15! The tree skirts on the other hand were like $50... no thanks. So I decided to make one ;) I followed a diy tutorial for a no sew ruffle tree skirt. I used painter's drop cloths {again} and hot glue, and I think it turned out pretty cute. Just a few hours and about $15... love! Z helped me decorate the tree Tuesday night. I also put a few other small decorative items around the apartment. We don't have a fireplace, so no mantel for the stockings. But I really love our stockings, so I wanted to display them anyways. I used clear command hooks and just hung them straight on the wall, ha! I did see a cute idea on Pinterest last night to hang stocking from twine if you don't have a mantel... hmmm.. maybe next year. Anyways, here are a few pics of our festive decor...

Christmas really is the most wonderful time of the year!

Post Thanksgiving

You guys.. we had such a wonderful Thanksgiving!! It was a great week celebrating with family, visiting with friends, and being reminded of ALL that we have to be thankful for. We are SO blessed!!! We drove home for our Thanksgiving trip, and let me tell you, it was a loooong drive! But I really did enjoy the time spent with Z, not to mention the $$ we saved ;) I am already counting down til we head back home for Christmas!

Headed home! I think we had about 500 miles to go at this point ;)

We were SUPER excited to see this sign!!!

While we were in Ttown, we ended up getting some tickets for the Alabama/Auburn game! We had such a fun day tailgating with my family and then going to the game with my brother and his sweet girlfriend! And Z's sister even got to sit with us for a while too! 

So happy to spend some time with sweet friends!

LOVED some family time at the quad!

 I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well! We already have been decorating for Christmas around here... I'll share some pictures soon!!