{12 Days of Christmas} Winter Solstice

Only 4 days left until Christmas, which means... today is Winter Solstice, or the first official day of winter. I love when we pass solstice because it means that the days begin to grow longer again. 

More sun = more time for me to play and enjoy the day! 

☼☼☼

I don't know about you, but I am very excited for these holidays and the many plans I have with my family and friends over the next week, and then New Year's is coming! This is one of my favorite times of the year and I absolutely am looking forward to it all! There are so many traditions that my family and I choose to partake in that give this time of the year a certain structure and nostalgia that I just love.

I'm most looking forward to reading The Night Before Christmas and popping open our Christmas crackers on Christmas Eve. 

What are your favorite traditions?

xoxo

p.s. I accidentally skipped one of the days of Christmas yesterday, so I will have lots to post tomorrow!

{12 Days of Christmas} Stocking Stuffers

Sip Back and Listen Flask // It's a Done Meal Kitchen Timer //Anchor the Call Mug // Home Sweet Houseboat Wall Hook // All Along the Watts Tower Flashlight // Sippin' in the Stars Flask Set
Refinements are Forever Cocktail Shaker

Christmas is coming - only 6 days away! 
I've compiled some of my favorite things from Modcloth for stocking stuffers - most of these gifts are under $20! 
As you can see, there are many coastal-theme (read: anchors and lighthouses, my favorites) items as well as flasks/drinking items, which I know my friends would love! 

What are you hoping to find in your stocking this Christmas?
xoxo

ps. **This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.**

{12 Days of Christmas} Books!

The Twelve Days of Christmas by Laurel Long

This book is absolutely beautiful - I know that I appreciate looking at it (possibly) more than my preschoolers. It's a fun one to sing and see if they can remember the words, too - not to mention, it's a Christmas classic. 

I'll definitely be adding this one to my Christmas collection.

 

Santa Is Coming to Santa Cruz by Steve Smallman

This one is great! The words are personalized to fit a certain location (in this case, Santa Cruz) but they have them for many locations all over! This one is long so I would recommend it for older children aged 5-8. 

 

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by James Dean

Pete the Cat is always a preschool favorite, and this time of year, Pete saves Christmas! Santa is ill and cannot deliver gifts, so Pete takes care of the situation in a very silly and fun way. Very cute read.

 

The Night Before Christmas hardcover: The Classic Edition, The New York Times bestseller

by Clement C. Moore

This is a Christmas classic written almost 200 years ago! Crazy to think about, but I always remember curling up in my father's lap and listening to him read this every Christmas eve. It was one of my favorite traditions and I miss it terribly. This is probably my favorite Christmas poem/book ever.

What are some of your favorite Christmas books?

Tell me in a comment!

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

{12 Days of Christmas} Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

Cheesy mashed potatoes right in the front

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

I chose to pair these delicious cheesy mashed potatoes with turkey meatloaf (recipe) and baked asparagus spears. It was delicious!

Here's the recipe for the potatoes:

Ingredients

3 cups yukon gold potatoes

3 tablespoons butter

10 oz (1 1/2 cups) sour cream

3/4 cup 2% milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups cheese

Directions

1. In a large stock pot, cover the potatoes with cold water, bring to a boil and cook until you can easily pierce with a fork (about 35 minutes or so).
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Drain potatoes and return to the pot.
4. Use a potato masher to mash potatoes.
5. Add the butter, half of the sour cream and half of the milk and start whipping them with a hand held mixer. Then add the remaining sour cream and milk, whip together until well blended.
6. Add the salt and 1 cup of the cheese. Whip together until blended.
7. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray and spoon the potatoes into the dish evenly.
8. Sprinkle the potatoes with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Sharp Cheddar cheese and cover with foil being careful not to touch the cheese.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
10. Remove from oven and keep covered untilb ready to serve.

*adapted from Cozy Country Living*

Hope you enjoy! 

xoxo

{12 Days of Christmas} Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

• Ingredients:
• 
  
• 3/4 cup extra-crunchy Peanut Butter 
• (*The original recipe uses creamy but I much prefer crunchy*)
• 1/2 stick Crisco Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening 
  (Or 1/2 cup Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening)
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat only until blended.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix until blended. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with a fork.
3. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to cooling racks to cool completely.

*recipe adapted from Jif*

This is my absolute favorite cookie to make and to enjoy!

It is always a favorite at Christmas parties and my friends always ask me to make them these cookies. 

I hope you try them out this holiday season - and if you do, let me know how you like them in the comments!

Happy Christmas!

xoxo

{12 Days of Christmas} Ornaments

'Staching through the snow; London Calling!

Oh, Christmas Tree...
My tree has been up since before Thanksgiving, but I finally finished putting on the lights and ornaments just this weekend! Every time I think I'm done, I find another box of ornaments! I'm sharing a few of my favorites.
Above is the moustache, which came in a "Gentleman-Theme" box, also containing a pipe and a pocketwatch. Next to it is my London ornament, which was, unfortunately, not purchased in London. Someday it will be replaced with a London ornament that is actually from London!

 This ornament is one of my favorites: it's Paris-theme, glittery, and has kraft paper and twine involved?! All of my favorite things! I made sure this one was front and center. 

This is the newest ornament added to my collection, bought over Thanksgiving on my trip to Yosemite. It was a gift purchased for me at the Ahwahnee Hotel and I love it! 

Owls and good memories. 

What are your favorite ornaments?

xoxo

{12 Days of Christmas} Decorations

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I absolutely love decorating for Christmas. It's one of the best times of the year; the house has all of these trees, lights, shiny ornaments, stockings... There's so much to look at and decorate with! My living room is a light turquoise so I tend to go with a coastal Christmas theme in there, as pictured above. All of the ornaments are ocean-related or teal/blue/green. There's a starfish, jellyfish, whale, pufferfish, and dolphins!

Above that mini-tree, I hang my stockings on the wall (unfortunately, I lack a mantel) and my favorite Christmas sign! The stocking on the left was hand-made by my grandmother and the one on the right is my father's; he was born a week before Christmas and got to go home in a baby-sized stocking! These are two of my most-loved possessions. 

On top of my armoire is my father's toy car, which I paired with ornament-garland, tinsel garland, and two of my grandmother's vintage nutcrackers.

That's it for the living room!

 I'll have to share more of the house in another post soon!

Do you have any specific themes for your decorations?

Tell me in the comments!

xoxo

{12 Days of Christmas} Boat Parade 2014

Jellyfish!

This year, I attended the Santa Cruz Harbor's boat parade for the second year in a row. This time I went with a large group of friends (my Santa Cruz family!) and had a lot of fun. It was very chilly down at the harbor. There weren't as many boats this year, and many were the same as last year, so that was kind of disappointing, but going to a boat parade at Christmas has been a tradition for me my whole life. 

I really liked the jelly fish boat (pictured above) and my favorite from last year was back: Rudolph the Red-Nose Rein-boat! See this post for the picture. 

They even lit up the lighthouse! 

Overall, it was a lot of fun to enjoy the boat parade tradition with new and old friends, who have become my family.

Have you seen a boat parade this Christmas? If so, where was it? 

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Family Trip: {Yosemite, part one}

El Capitan

Over Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to stay with my grandfather in his house outside of Mariposa, a small town near the entrance of Yosemite. So, on Black Friday, I took my brand new camera, my family, and drove up the mountains into Yosemite National Park.
Our first stop was El Capitan, a beautiful granite rock formation. It was so tall! It was also quite chilly, seeing as it was late November. There was even a little bit of snow on the ground. 

Yosemite Chapel - frost on the ground!

It was a wonderful experience - I can't wait to go back and explore some more, when it's a little bit warmer. I think snow is gorgeous but I much prefer it when I'm curled up (wearing fuzzy socks) next to a warm fire with a good book.

I have some pictures of the historic Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite to come!
Have you ever been in Yosemite?
xoxo

So Long, {2013}

 

It's time to say "so long" to 2013, and "hello" to 2014!

It's the time for resolutions, new hopes and dreams for the year ahead, and a time to celebrate the year we have just completed. I love New Year's Eve/Day because it is so full of hope.

 

2013 was a pretty good year, overall. It didn't seem super eventful, but then I realized that so much has happened in the last year: I left the United States for the first time, I moved out to a city that I love, I didn't go to Disneyland this whole year (that is the first time that has ever happened), and while I have yet to make a good group of friends in my new home, I have a calmness and happiness in me that comes from living there.

 

So, 2013, you were new and weird and a little crazy, and I am glad to have had these experiences, but I am ready to make new memories and have new experiences in 2014.

 

Happy New Year!

xoxo

P.S. New Year's Resolutions to come tomorrow!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to anyone reading this! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then I wish you a happy day! And a happy year ahead!



My pup says "Bah Humbug!"



Today, I am enjoying the company of my family and feeling their love. I am incredibly happy today and although I miss many people, today I feel closer to them because today is filled with love.

How are you celebrating today?

Happy holidays!

xoxo

{Balboa Island} Christmas Boat Parade

 

Happy Christmas Eve!

Last weekend, my family and I went to Balboa Island in Newport Beach in order to watch the 105th annual boat parade. It was a blast, and I am so glad that we were able to make it.

 

We started our day with a long walk around the island our annual "trip" to Starbucks, and browsing the shops on the main road for fun and funny gifts. We had no such luck in the shopping department, but we all enjoyed our coffee and family time.

 

We also walked by many houses and piers (like the two pictured above) and while some houses were not so Christmas-y, they were still gorgeous. Other homes were completely decked out in lights! It was fun to just walk around and enjoy the lights.

 

This boat looked like a Christmas tree with a little vintage pink car following! 

 

I was in Christmas heaven!

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

 

Merry Christmas eve!

xoxo

Christmas Decorations!

I have the whole house decorated for Christmas, and I am absolutely in love. 

I might just keep all of the decorations up until February!

How cute is this Christmas Scottie?

I couldn't decide on one theme, but most of my house is the typical red-and-green - however, my living room is a coastal theme, which I can't wait to share with you! I enjoyed finding all of the things I had forgotten about since last year - every year, there is at least one "new" discovery. But even better was my mom passing on a few of her Christmas items to me - it was nice to have a part of her with me. 

The table runner belonged to my grandmother, and it is yet another Christmas decoration that I hold dear. I am so glad to have a part of our family tradition with me as I embark on a new adventure, in a new place. 

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

Friday Five: {Christmas Movies}

ONE | ELF
 

Elf from Amazon

 Elf, starring Will Ferrell Zooey Deschanel, is my all-time Christmas favorite.

 I can't wait to snuggle up and watch it each year, hot cocoa and candy cane in hand.
My personal favorite line?
"I'm nothing but a cotton-headed ninny muggins."

TWO | LOVE ACTUALLY

Love Actually

Love Actually is a super-cute rom-com, involving over 12 people, all in love, and what they do during the five or so weeks before Christmas. It's ten years old this year, and it's getting a lot of hate recently, but it's become a sort-of Christmas tradition for me! Love it, actually.

THREE | HARRY POTTER

Harry Potter: The Complete Collection

I know that technically-speaking, the Harry Potter films aren't Christmas-themed, but they do such a wonderful job at mentioning Christmas throughout the series. There is always a semi-festive moment (or at least a mention) of Christmas at Hogwarts. Plus, the Harry Potter series is the best.

FOUR | DR. SUESS' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

 Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Dr. Seuss' Grinch is an essential part of any Christmas. I think Jim Carey did a pretty good job portraying the Grinch, and I always enjoy looking at the set of this movie - it is so much fun!

FIVE | THE HOLIDAY

The Holiday

If you're looking for a cute, cheesy Christmas rom-com to accompany Love Actually, the Holiday is it. It's about two women who switch houses for the holiday and find that happiness and friendship can be found in places very far away from home. It's quite sweet and romantic.

Happy watching!
And happy holidays!
xoxo

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Oh, Christmas Tree! {Part One}

'Staching through the snow...

Christmas is here! (Well, basically - only 6 more days!) We're having our preschool Christmas party tomorrow, then my mom and I are off to Southern California! There's so much happening between now and December 25th, and I'm so glad to have time to spend with my family. 

None of my family gets to see my house or tree... trees (I have one large tree and four mini ones!) so I wanted to document my first Christmas in this house to share. 

This was a Pottery Barn find, last year after Christmas... my favorite time to buy ornaments!

My true dream in life is to travel, so many of my ornaments are travel-related. For instance, above a London bus is pictured ... Yes, I will be one of those cheesy tourists on the bus; also will be one of those people who take cheesy photos in a phone booth ... and pictured below, the globe!

Snagged this at Cost Plus World Market

And since my dad loved planes, and I love travel ... I have a multitude of plane ornaments, but this one is my favorite:

I have a faux-tree, which I love (even though it's hard to store) and I have been collecting ornaments for a few years now, waiting for my very own tree to put them on. I was so glad with the outcome! 

Here's my favorite ornament:

Take me to Paris!

What is your favorite ornament? 

Do you have a faux-tree or a real one?

xoxo

Pre-K Wednesday: {Christmas}

Play-dough Snow

It's so sparkly and it smells like peppermint!

This year, we have had a variety of play-dough colors and scents, and for Christmas, we decided to make play-dough "Snow." 

Since we live in coastal California, snow just isn't something we come by too often, but this was a very fun (and much more warm!) alternative. We added glitter and some peppermint extract, and it really got the kids talking about Christmas! 

They even made snowmen:

Letter Recognition Tree

We have been working with letter recognition, writing practice, and spelling quite a bit, but the kids have been losing focus. I wanted to find a fun way to get them excited about spelling again, and this worked! I cut a ton (seriously, these kids have so many letters in their names!) of small circles in various colors for their 

"ornaments" and then added a letter to each one. I then cut out a tree for each child, spelling their name on the tree. They then had to match their letter ornaments to a letter on the tree and glue it down. 

We had so much fun!

Christmas Ornaments

We also made little circle glitter ornaments, and the kids love glue and glitter, so this was really fun for them! 

On top of our fun crafts, we've also been reading quite a few Christmas books, listening to Christmas music, and we are even having a mini-party!

xoxo