Guest Post: Hidden Space

Today I’m over at Hyphen Interiors, guest posting for Kristy while she unpacks after her move to Texas.  I’ve been a fan of Kristy’s blog ever since she shared her painted chair makeover:

Isn’t that awesome!?!  I love it when people paint unexpected things!

So, I have to thank Kristy for inviting me to guest post today, because it gave me incentive to sit myself down at the computer and get back to my blog!  I’ve been too busy enjoying my holiday… coffee by the Christmas tree every morning, happy hour every afternoon, playing games and skating with the kids, and reading actual books (I’m on my third one!) 

So hop over to Hyphen Interiors today to see a space that I’ve hidden from my blog so far!  Any guesses as to which room it is???

Feature Drink: ‘The Grinch’

So, for the last few days I’ve been running around like a crazy person trying to ‘get ready’ for Christmas.  (Which basically means doing all of my shopping, plus baking, and decorating.)  I had one of my classic melt-downs where I realize that I’ve taken on too much and might not get everything done. 
My sister and I both decided that we would sew presents for our boys.  Great idea, but almost impossible to get done with kids who don’t want to go to sleep early anymore.  Ugh.  So last night we both set up shop at Mom & Dad’s house… one of us on the surger and the other on the sewing machine.  It was all great fun until the surger started munching up every seam.  Gak!  So I quit sewing and had a drink instead.
You have to try this drink that my Mom and Dad mixed upIt’s so delicious and perfect for holiday entertaining!  I found a few variations online, but here’s the recipe my Mom used:
photo via
1 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz KeKe Beach key lime liqueur
2 oz pineapple juice
shake with ice.

Bake-N-Blog: Vegan Coconut Sugar Cookies

Guess who was baking at 6:45am today?  Yep, me.  Because I forgot to bake a day in advance instead of the morning of the Bake-N-Blog party.  Ooops.  Luckily these cookies were relatively easy to whip up.
The recipe is courtesy of Chez Bettay the Vegan Gourmet.  It’s similar to a basic sugar cookie recipe, but with coconut milk as the liquid, and coconut oil instead of butter.  It’s a delicious twist on a classic cookie. 
So I mixed up the batter, and formed it into 3 logs, which went into the fridge for 30 minutes.  When you take them out, you can slice them into circles and put them directly onto the pan.  So easy!!!  To dress them up a bit, I added a few drops of food coloring to white sugar, and dipped the tops of the cookies in.
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Obviously, you could roll these out and use cookie cutters.  Or you could decorate with fancy royal icing.  But seriously?  If I am baking in the sixes, I’m totally taking the easy way out, because I do NOT want little helpers to notice what I’m doing and insist on being involved.  I’ll save that ordeal for after school.
The recipe made three ‘logs’ of dough.  I only used one this morning.  The others can either stay in the fridge for later or even go into the freezer.  One log made about 24 small cookies.  
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All I can say is YUMMMM…I’m totally having these for breakfast.
Recipe is here.
Thanks to Kelly for hosting the Bake-N-Blog party today!  Hop over to check out all of the delicious holiday recipes.
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Our Mad Men Holiday Party

We decided to have a Mad Men theme for our little Christmas party this year.  I was worried that going with a theme might scare people off, but it was actually super fun.  Everyone dressed for 1962, and looked absolutely smashing! 
Check out my glasses… they are my Mom’s from when she was a teenager in the ‘60’s.
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Cristin had the most awesome beehive!  She did it herself!

A bunch of random party pics:




There was some (fake) smoking:


We kept the snacks simple, and tried to make them 1962 appropriate.  I was bummed that my jello mold (mould?) didn’t set.  Oh well… the main focus was on the bar anyway…


One last thing… look how cool my Christmas decor looks through a retro filter!

Our Christmas Tree

Last year, I came to the realization that I wasn’t going to have much control over how our tree turns out for the next few years.  As long as my boys are excited to help me decorate the tree, the ornaments are all going to be clumped around the bottom of the tree, and we’re probably going to be using all kinds of clashing colors!  But we love it that way. 

This year we added some thick silver tinsel.  We had a Mad Men themed Christmas party last weekend (more on that tomorrow), so I really wanted one of those silver aluminum trees from the ‘60’s, but that didn’t happen.  The silver tinsel was as close as I could get.  It definitely adds an element to the tree this year!  I also added the black & white striped tree skirt because I wanted something to connect the tree to the rest of my decor. 

We also have three little trees in our foyer that the boys decorated on their own.  Another explosion of color. 

Now I need to get at the shopping so that we can put some presents under the tree!

I’m linking up to:

Honey We’re Home:

Guest Post: How to Make Your Home Your Own

Today I’m visiting over at one of my favourite blogs, All Things Bright and Beautiful.  Aubrey is one of the funniest and friendliest bloggers out there, and her blog is full of fabulous inspiration.  I was flattered that she asked me to participate in this series:

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Hop over to All Things Bright & Beautiful to see how I’ve tried to make my home my own. 

While you are there… one of Aubrey’s friends just found out that her 3-year-old little boy is battling stage 4 cancer.  The diagnosis is grim.  As a mom of two little boys, my heart breaks to hear a story like theirs.  When I see the picture of this young family it could be me or any of my friends.  Aubrey is helping to organize an online auction to support this family.  I think it is happening tomorrow, so please take time to visit the Auction to Benefit Matthew site.

Our Christmas Mantel

I’m so excited to have a real mantel this year!  I decided to keep it simple with the decorations.  I put them up pretty early, and I don’t want to be completely sick of them by the new year.

On the mantel itself, I kept the large photograph of my kids, and added some glittery gold reindeer and some gold candle sticks.  The ‘BE MERRY’ garland is simple but cute, and another way to add some sparkle!

 

On the cabinets on either side of the fireplace I collected some branches from my yard, and the kids and I made colourful paper ornaments that we saw on DesignSponge.  I love the way they fill in that space. 

We had a party on Friday night, so we added some twinkle lights, but they came crashing down half way through the night, so I guess I need some stronger command strips.

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That’s it!  Simple, but fun. 

I’m linking up to:

Mantel Party at Ten June

Holiday

Mantel Party at Southern Hospitality

Carissa’s Christmas List: Part 3

I think this is the last list in my series.  It’s starting to get pretty random.  Plus I included loungewear, which I’m pretty sure my whole family will absolutely cringe at.  I used to own a beige velour lounge suit, and I wore it well beyond the limits of what is socially acceptable.   

1 – My name on a necklace!  I never see ‘Carissa’ on stuff, so this is pretty much a must-have.

2, 3 – pretty gold necklaces

4 – vintage ‘70’s clutch

5 – love print

6 – love pillow

7 – brass candle sconces

8, 9 – the infamous loungewear (someone PLEASE get this for me!!!)

vintage suzani – 1, 2

I was on a quest for a vintage suzani this summer.  Then I got sidetracked.  But this week, I was totally re-inspired when I saw Naomi’s house tour on DesignSponge.  Her loft is AMAZING.  See the tour here.  Here’s the shot with the suzani:

via DesignSponge

Carissa’s Christmas List–Part 2

First of all, I have to give an update on the Christmas music.  Thanks for everyone’s input on this post!  I ended up getting all three.  Here are my thoughts: She & Him is good, but a little mellow for the kids.  Glee is more up-beat and fun for them.  And Michael Buble is fantastic.  You just can’t go wrong with Michael Buble.

On to the Christmas List:

I decided to put together my ideal outfit for a day at the hockey rink, since I’ll be spending some time there this winter. 

Hockey Mom List

Cute jeans – 1

Shirts to layer – 2, 3

Legwarmers and warm boots – 4, 5

Warm puffer coat – 6

Hat, gloves, scarf – 7, 8, 9

Big bag to hold snacks and entertainment for Beckett – 10

Carissa’s Christmas List – Part 1

I decided to browse through Etsy for some Christmas gift ideas.  Does anyone else get completely mesmerized by that site?  All of a sudden I was on this tangent of picking out all kinds of office-y stuff for myself.  (My office really does need a re-vamp in the new year.) 

Luckily, a lot of these things would make great gifts, so I’m calling part 1 of my list “OFFICE STUFF” and going with it.  I shopped in a variety of price categories, and grouped it accordingly.  (I’m making shopping too easy for Jeff this year.)  Anyways, on to the list:

notepads 1, 2, day planner 3, to do list 4, motivational prints 5, 6, 7

perpetual calendar 1, pencil set 2, vintage desk lamp 3, business card holder 4, rotary phone 5, 12-month calendar 6

office chair

BTW… did anyone score some awesome cyber Monday deals???  I was to lazy busy to bother with it.  Oh well.

What’s Your Holiday Soundtrack?

You can’t decorate for Christmas without the perfect music, right?  Last year my family was all about this:
Glee  Music  Christmas Album
I need to introduce something new this year. 
I’m guessing this would be a popular choice:
Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2
But I definitely need to check out this:
Christmas
And most likely this:
A Very She & Him Christmas
*** side note – is anyone else obsessed with the show New Girl?  I love it.  It’s hilarious.  Zooey Deschanel is awesome.  ***
What tunes will you be playing over and over and over and over through the holidays this year?