Weekend Recap

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a happy and safe few weeks and holiday season! We did a little traveling, a lot of relaxing, and had some fun along the way, so it was a great mix! Here’s what we’ve been up to the past few weeks.

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Home Projects & Updates

Not much has changed around our home the past few weeks. Including the fact that all of our Christmas decor is still up 😉 I’m hoping to tackle it sometime this week or weekend, if I can get Kurtis to agree to let me take it down. He loves the Christmas lights possibly even more than I do, and if it were his choice they’d stay up all winter!

I thought I’d show a few home-related items from around my parents’ home. I love how my mom did her tree topper this year. She said she just used a bunch of picks and sprays and stuck them in the top to create this effect. So cute!

Kurtis and I each also received a money tree as part of our gifts. Such a cute way to gift some cash! She anchored the bills to a styrofoam cone with really small sewing pins. The tree topper was just a star ornament she found that she tied on!

And the star of my Instagram stories this month was her ornamentini martinis! She got the recipe and idea from Michael at Inspired by Charm. She then swapped the cherry juice for a cranberry pomegranate. They were so delicious and couldn’t be a cuter way to serve cocktails!

Around Town & For Fun

Prior to our holiday festivities, we had to run Henley to the vet again. Her mass on her neck reappeared and they wanted to reevaluate. Another dose of a steroid shot, and it went away a day or so later. We’re hoping this doesn’t become a regular thing and she doesn’t have to be permanently placed on a steroid! Thankfully it hasn’t returned since.

The day we left for Utah, Kurtis and I had a notification on our Ring doorbell that someone was at the door. Imagine our surprise when we both looked and saw the grinch on our porch! Ha! It was pretty funny. A few minutes later we got this selfie text. It was from Gitt Construction, who worked on our bathroom renovations early in 2021. We were dying of laughter! And I’ll let you decide if I’m ahead of the game and put my summer wreath up early, or if it’s leftover from this past summer 😉

My cute cousin and her boyfriend joined us for dinner our first night in Utah (the night we had the ornamentinis). He works for Stihl and gifted them one of the hottest gifts of the season. One of their mini hand pruner chainsaws. Unfortunately I can’t find them online to link to because they’re sold out, but I definitely want one. We all got a demo and were so intrigued by it!

Our initial plans included heading up to Idaho to my brother and sister-in-law’s house the day after we arrived. It’s a four hour drive and we were going to spend most of our time up there. However, they got a lot of snow, and with their house at the base of the Tetons, it wasn’t likely we’d be able to get there or return. So, we ended up staying in Bountiful for the whole time. We were sad not to be able to visit my brother and his wife, but it was also nice not having much of an agenda and just spending time with my parents.

My mom and dad take their puggle on multiple hikes a day. My mom shared this pretty view from one of her hikes while Kurtis and I lounged on their sofa 😉

Once we returned from Utah, we tried to lay low for a few days and veg out. Not always the easiest thing for either of us to do, but we tried! I completed two puzzles with the help of my trusty assistants.

I also took a number of naps, most of which looked like this. Super comfy having a 14 pound cat laying on your hips while you sleep, but I always let her.

Kurtis and I planned a date night to Dante one night last week. Their Christmas decor was all still up, and the food was as excellent as ever!

We stopped at Alice afterwards for a drink. Kurtis ordered the smoked old fashioned and I always love what a pretty process it is!

Our original plans including hosting Kurtis’ side of the family for a belated Christmas celebrations starting Friday. However, we were in a winter weather advisory and woke up to freezing fog. We were then supposed to get 6-8 inches of snow overnight. So, early Friday morning, I chatted with Kurtis’ siblings and we decided to postpone the weekend. Although the roads were slick most of the day Friday, we didn’t get near the snow that was predicted. But the temps were crazy cold all weekend.

With that, we ended up celebrating New Year’s Eve with our BFFs and goddaughters. We were also able to give the girls their gifts since we hadn’t seen each other since before Christmas.

Jill made a homemade pastry puff for baked brie and it was so yummy! It popped open when we tried to transfer it from the cookie sheet to the serving board, but I assure you, it was so dang good! So good, that we barely had room for the lasagna they served from Dante!

Probably nobody in history had more fun that Zoe did on New Year’s Eve. She played with her new toys, bounced around like a maniac on her hopper ball we got her, and had a blast with Instagram filters. The grinch one was her favorite, and she got into character pretty quickly. The videos are priceless! Apparently she woke up early Saturday morning, and just kept hopping around the house.

I spent most of Saturday doing blog work and setting goals for the new year. I forced myself to do some of the blog work I hate, which is cleaning up old crap and trying to optimize my site for better speed, etc. If you’ve ever wondered how my blog got it’s start, it was with captivating posts like the one below that I wrote in 2010. 😉 This is only a small portion of some of the ridiculous titles I found. It was actually fun to read back through some of them. I moved a bunch of old irrelevant posts to drafts, because I’m pretty sure nobody ever wants to find out the answer to “Are you an Ugg or ugh?” Ha! Definitely the good ole days when you could write a two paragraph post on the merits of your favorite snow boots and call it done. It did remind me just how much blogging has changed in the nearly 14 years I’ve been doing it. I genuinely miss the simpler days when social media didn’t have to be such a huge part of the process!

Some snow finally arrived over the weekend, but it was not nearly what was initially expected. Unfortunately it was just enough that Kurtis had to go out and shovel while it was 3 degrees outside. The older we get, the less and less tolerable these temps become!

I do love the snow though when it’s fresh and I only have to look at it out the windows and not actually be out in it 😉 Our windows are still covered in mud from that tornado warning we had a few weeks ago, but otherwise, the view from the pool house is so pretty right now!

We ended the holiday season with a few episodes from the new season of Emily in Paris.

We’re participating in Dry January again with our friends this year (it will be our third year). We’re also doing all the other cliché resolutions like eating better, working out, etc. After over-indulging this past month (and really, the past two years), I’m ready to hit the ground running today! But, ask me how I feel about that come Thursday or Friday 😉

I always love the start of a new year, and I look forward to seeing what this year has in store for us! I’m holding out hope that it will be a great one for all of us!

Recent Buys & Sales

Following are some sale from the weekend that have carried over and are still going strong!

• ABERCROMBIE is offering up to 50% off select styles, plus an extra 20% off almost everything! You can shop their site here.
• AMAZON has a number of after-Christmas sales you can find here. Lot of workout gear included this week. You can shop their site here.
• AMERICAN EAGLE is offering up to 30% off jeans. You can shop their sale here.
• ANN TAYLOR is offering 48% off your purchase with code FLASH! You can shop their site here.
• ANTHROPOLOGIE is offering up to 30% off in-stock bedding, mirrors, furniture and more. Plus get an extra 40% off all sales styles! You can shop their site here.
• ATHLETA is hosting their semi-annual sale with up to 60% off. You can shop their site here.
• BALLARD DESIGNS is offering up to 50% off sitewide! You can shop their sale here.
• BODEN is offering up to 60% off sale styles, plus an extra 20% off sale styles with code G3D7. You can shop their site here.
• BROOKE & LOU is hosting their holiday closeout sale. You can shop their site here.
• DUDLEY STEPHENS is offering a huge selection of items up to 40% off select styles. You can shop their site here.
• GAP is offering an extra 30% off regular price styles with code ADDON plus an extra 60% off markdowns with code GREAT. You can shop their sale here.
• HOME DEPOT has our pool house Café refrigerator and beverage refrigerators for 10% off. You can shop their other sales here.
• J CREW is offering up to an extra 60% off sale styles with code BIGSALE. If you’re on the hunt for some nice gloves, I have these leather/cashmere gloves and love them. The price is hard to beat with the additional discount! You can shop their sales here.
• J CREW FACTORY is offering up 50% off everything as well as an extra 60% off 2+ clearance items with code MORE! You can shop their sale here.
• LINDSAY LETTERS is offering 15% off all art. You can shop her site here.
• LOFT is offering 50% off tops and sweaters with code FRESH. You can shop their sale here.
• LULULEMON has added a bunch of popular items to their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• MADEWELL is offering an additional 30% off sale items with code BYE2021. You can shop their site here.
• MARK & GRAHAM is hosting their end of season clearance sale with items marked up to 70% off. You can shop their site here.
• MARSHALL’s has a number of deals sitewide including new markdowns and is offering free shipping on orders of $89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
• NORDSTROM is hosting their Half-Yearly Sale, with items marked up to 50% off sitewide and an extra 25% off clearance items. You can shop their sale items here.
• NORDSTROM RACK is offering an extra 20% off select homes styles – prices as marked. You can shop their site here.
• OLD NAVY is offering 60% off winter favorites for the family. Plus cardholders get 35% off their purchase with code CARD. You can shop their sale here.
• OVERSTOCK has a New Years Home Sale, with items marked up to 70% off! You can shop their sale here.
• POTTERY BARN is offering up to 20% off select bedding, and all bedding ships free! You can shop their sale here.
• REJUVENATION is hosting their Warehouse Sale with up to 75% off. You can shop their site here.
• SERENA & LILY has special pricing on organizing essentials. You can shop their sale here.
• TARGET has up to 25% off furniture – online only. You can shop their site here.
• TJ MAXX is has a number of deals sitewide! You can shop their site here.
• TORY BURCH has added a number of new items in their sale section and are offering an extra 25% off sale styles. I ordered these Miller Cloud Shearling Sandals and absolutely love them. You can shop their site here.
• TUCKERNUCK has a bunch of cute items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
• VICTORIA EMERSON is offering up to 45% off sitewide. You can shop their site here.
• WALMART is hosting an up to 50% off clearance sale. You can shop their site here.
• WILLIAMS SONOMA is hosting a End of Season sale with items marked up to 75% off! You can shop their site here.
• WILLIAMS SONOMA HOME is also hosting a End of Season  clearance items marked up to 75% off! You can shop their site here.

I hope you all have a great week!

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