Christmas 2018

Well, another one in the books, Christmas 2018 has come and gone and even though we didn't have any family visiting we had a pretty great day.  Presents, a delicious breakfast and the beach.  I also went pretty all out with there Christmas decorations in the house.  It was quite shocking how many decorations I actually have, having them all in the same spot for the first time.  They house is so cozy I really don'e want to take everything down!  I thought I would share the decorations, my gifts and some photos from the day if anyone is interested!  I hope everyone had an amazing NYE and all the best in 2019!

I love our Christmas tree/fireplace/mantle area this year!  It was so cozy, and it is cold enough in Florida this year to make good use of the fireplace. In The second picture you can also see the Santa and reindeer I added on to the fireplace door using Chalk Couture paint and stencils.

This was the first tree I put up and probably my favorite.  It was decorated with all sea and beach themed ornaments, and with a garland I made of shells.  I really am considering never taking this one down! 

Thank you to everyone for the Christmas cards!  We broke a record this year for sure and I love getting cards!

I made this little snowman from some leftover Halloween pumpkins and he turned out so well.  I used sea glass for the eyes and mouth, an Olive shell for the nose, Turban shells for the buttons and some driftwood for the arms.

This is my bedroom tree, and its the first time I've had a bedroom, AND I will never not have one!  It was so relaxing and pretty to lay and look at. and yes there is also garland on the headboard.  

This is my little Peanuts musical set.  Check out the video, its so cute!  I got the 4 human characters and lights at Hallmark last year during Christmas clearance.  Josh got me Snoopy this year as part of my Christmas present.

A bit of my snow globe collection.  The 2018 one was a gift from Josh and I got the Snoopy one on clearance at CVS on Boxing Day.

I bought a set of 250 snowflakes and put them on almost every window and light fixture.  They look so pretty.  

Smudge in her Christmas toque.

Mom got me this candle years ago, and it smelled so good I was saving it.  I decided to light it this year and I never knew there was this beautiful Pinecone in it!

I love my little Charlie Brown Christmas tree on the breakfast nook table!  And you can see my Christmas cactuses pre-bloom behind it.

My stairwell Christmas tree and one of my ceramic trees.

Entryway.

This is the gorgeous table runner that my mom made for me last year.  So in love with it, I wish I didn't have to put it away.

We did pretty well outside this year, but after Christmas I went to Walmart and bought all the lights so next year will be epic.  You can also see my blow up Snoopy, one of my gifts from Stephanie and Steve.  In the nighttime picture you can see one of the projectors we had out.   We had another one but it was almost impossible to take a picture of.

Some more Chalk Couture on the door (the snowflakes and truck), the sign I made at Aerie Lane, and  both of my homemade wreaths. 

My pink Christmas cactus that waited until the 26th to bloom.  The White one bloomed on the 30th.

Our coffee table with the Christmas coasters my mom made.

I made some Pillsbury Hot Cocoa buns Christmas Eve.  They were delicious and they look so cute in this pan.

We did our Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so I didn't have to cook all day of Christmas Day.

We went to Indian Trails on Christmas eve (one of the top 10 neighborhoods in the US for Christmas lights) and these are a couple faves. 

Christmas morning:

Smudge trying out her new blanket.


Some stocking stuffers:

Necklaces from mom

All My Chrissy stuff.

Watch from the Marstons

Stuff from Stephanie and Steve. got my Maine mug finally!

Awesome stuff from Miranda and the gorgeous ring that was in the bath bomb.  Really hard to take a good picture of it but I love it.

Toothbrush and Snorkel gear from Josh.

Got a few mugs!

my 2 favorite David's teas from Michelle

Best margarita glass ever from my parents

And the best tea pot from my parents.

The piece de resistance, 4 bags of loads of ketchup from Michelle.

And a pretty sign from Michelle.

Mean Girls flamingo bag and tea towel from mom and cute tank top from Nicole.

Silk pillow case from Josh.

Managed to remember to include the deep freeze from my parents.

We got awesome beach chairs from Stephanie and Steve.

I know I missed some gifts and various gift cards, ornaments and my teapot (previously seen on my blog) from grandma. Thank you to everyone for everything, I am so grateful!

And NYE in Palm Harbor! 

*Recipe* Chocolate Cherry Coconut Truffles

Well here it is, Christmas Eve Eve!  I thought I would put up one more recipe that you could probably throw together in a pinch before Christmas day if need be.  Now, I'm aware that people are weird about all three of the main ingredients in these Truffles.  Either people don't like dark chocolate, cherries or coconut.  Fine with me, you are weird and that means more for me.  For the few of us that do like all of the ingredients, these are DIVINE.  I had to hide them in the freezer so that I didn't eat them all.  Everyone have a very Merry Christmas!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup Graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 3/4 glaced cherries 
• 2/3 milk chocolate
• 1 cup dark or semi sweet chocolate
• 1 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions

• If you are using actual graham crackers, crush them up into tiny crumbs.  If you are using pre crushed crumbs, add them to a large bowl, add the coconut and mix together.  
• Finely chop your cherries and milk chocolate and add to cracker/cookie mix and combine. 
• Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave according to directions and then combine with sweetened condensed milk. 
• Working quickly, add the chocolate mixture to the dry ingredients and store well until combined. 

• Cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge for about 30 minutes. 
• Carefully roll out your truffles, approximately teaspoon size or a bit larger. 
• Roll the truffles in more desiccated coconut.
• Store truffles in fridge for up to 5 days or freeze. 

thanks to sweetest menu.com for the recipe!

Fab Friday Faves 12.21.18

Hello everyone and happy last Friday before Christmas! Four more sleeps!  I am very ready for Christmas this year, even though I felt very late with everything until about last week.  It doesn't feel like Christmas weather here sadly, although in Florida I guess it really never does?  Yesterday, we had many, many inches of rain, and then today it was insanely windy (I've been here for two tropical storms and this is the windiest I've seen it), so it hasn't exactly been ideal.  For anyone that is wondering, Josh and I got some not so good news today regarding our IVF round we did a couple weeks ago.  A negative pregnancy test on Wednesday.  I had prepared myself as I was fairly certain that I wasn't but still, it is never easy.
Alright, since this is the last FFF before Christmas, everyone have an amazing week with loved ones and I hope Santa is good to all of you!

Finally got my Christmas nails on Wednesday!  So cute!

Palm Harbor had our Christmas parade on Saturday.  This is the first time we have attended and it was so great!  We live in a relatively small city and it is great to see the community come together.  The parade was fantastic and really put us in the Christmas spirit.  

On Sunday one of my neighbors had a bit of an accident (she is fine now) but her dog is her baby, so as soon as I knew some thing was going on we offered to look after her dog.  Dinner is the sweetest, tiniest, thing you'll ever meet.  We played fetch for a few hours until his mom got home and we were sad to see him go.  Fun fact:  his name is Dinner because he was rescued from the dog meat trade in Korea where he would have been "Dinner". 

 Saturday was also the Christmas Open House at my massage place, "Natural Balance." It is also a spa, and where I get most of my Eminence skincare products (I've raved about Eminence on here a few times).  Anyway, they had some raffles and I won this kit ($130 value) so I was super pumped and of course tried it out right away.  Love it!

Another one of my contest wins arrived today.  I won a Litter Robot and year supply of litter ($800 value).  I have been entering their "12 Days of Christmas" contest on their website for at least 3 years now and I finally won!  I can't really say this is a favorite at the moment, as I just got it set up and I have no idea if Smudge is even going to like it, but if she does, it will make my life easier.  For anyone that doesn't know, its an automated litter box, with wifi and an app and lights and is definitely the most high tech thing in our home.

Today I'm linking up with:

/ Style Elixir / A Little Bit of Everything / Simply Sweet Home / Bright On A Budget / 

*Recipe* Chipotle Turkey & Sweet Potato Chili

It's been a while since I did a recipe, and I thought I better do one for winter, since it is again "Florida cold" here in Florida.   I found this recipe after subscribing to a Whole 30 mailing list, it was one of several Fall recipes that looked delicious.   This can be made in an instapot or a slow cooker, and I'll include both sets of directions.   I'll keep this description short, since I know that no one likes to read a novel before they get their recipe!

Ingredients

• 1 Tb Coconut or Avocado oil
• 1lb ground turkey
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 28oz diced fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 medium sweet potato cut into small cubes
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional: diced avocado, chopped cilantro, lime wedges

Directions

slow cooker:

• Heat oil in medium sauce over medium high heat.
• When oil starts to shimmer, add ground turkey and break up and cook 5 minutes.
• Add onions and garlic and continue to cook 8-10 minutes until onions are translucent and turkey is cooked through.  

• Transfer meat to slow cooker and add remaining ingredients tomatoes through chipotle powder.  
• Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours until sweet potato is tender.

• salt and pepper to taste and garnish with optional toppings.

Instapot:

• select sauté setting on Instapot and add the oil.
• When oil starts to shimmer, add ground turkey and break up and cook 5 minutes.
• Add onions and garlic and continue to cook 8-10 minutes until onions are translucent and turkey is cooked through.
• Add remaining ingredients and stir.
• Lock lid in place and set vent valve to "sealing." Select manual high pressure and set cook time to 12 minutes.
• When cooking time is up, use quick pressure release then remove lid when safe to do so. 
• Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with optional toppings. 

thanks to the Real Food Dietitians for the recipe! 

Fab Friday Faves 12.7.18

Hello everyone!  Yes, I am aware, it isn't Friday, but I had this blog halfway done and didn't get home until dinner time last night and I was REALLY tired.  I had been in Rockville, MD for a couple days and just felt like laying around when I got home.   Besides that it was a quiet week!  not too much to report.  Everyone have a great rest of your weekend, and judging by the stores today, I hope every is completely prepared for Christmas so you don't have to go out in that mess!

On Wednesday I flew from Tampa to Baltimore, for my FET (embryo transfer) at Shady Grove in Rockville.  The night I got in, I met one of my BFF, Ericka (we became friends in Peru and she recently moved to the US) at Wildwood Kitchen for some appetizers and a great visit.  I got a hotel about a mile from my clinic so the next morning I got up ad headed over early for some pre-transfer acupuncture, which was amazing.  My transfer was at 1:00 and it takes all of about six minutes, so by 1:25 I was back in for my post transfer acupuncture.  by 2:30 I was back in my hotel room eating Thai food.   I came home yesterday late afternoon and I am feeling great!  

On the weekend Josh and I went down to the Channelside area in Tampa to Sparkman Wharf, a super cool new little area with a bunch of restaurants and a biergarten and an outdoor games area right on the water.  It was so much fun and a great place to hang out.  

ON Sunday Josh and I went to LBC for their Bloody Mary bar.  They have THE BEST Bloody Mary bar ever!

ON Black Friday, my favorite skincare company, Eminence, had a very rare, very awesome sale.  Three items and a cute little bag for $98.  This is a savings of about $50 so it was pretty awesome.  If you have never tried Eminence, don't because you will never be able to use anything else once you do.  But if you want to, use coupon code REFDF6SSQPES4 for $10 off your first order.

I got this cool mirrored bird feeder from Zulily and am thrilled to report that the birds love it!  I can watch them but they can't see me and because it's in the middle of the window the squirrels can't get at it.


Today, I'm linking up with:

/ Style Elixir / A Little Bit of Everything / Simply Sweet Home / Bright On A Budget /