Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Here’s a bit of what we’ve been up to over the past week or so.
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Home Projects & Updates
Not a lot changing on the home front, as we prepared to host our gingerbread house party last Friday. It was more of a scramble to get things cleaned up and orderly again before our guests arrived, while also moving furniture and bringing in folding tables for the party. I’ll share more on that later in the post. Be sure to check out our full Christmas home tour if you missed it!
CHRISTMAS LIVING ROOM SOURCES: Woven Shades (Bonaire Flaxen) | Sofas (read my full review here) | Chairs | Coffee Table | Indoor/Outdoor Striped Rug | Frame TV | Linen Pillow Covers | Plaid Pillow Covers | Plaid & Faux Fur Throw Blanket | Raffia & Seagrass Coffee Table Tray | Silver Vase | Faux Juniper & Berry Bundle | Small Footed Bowl | Jingle Bell Vase Filler | Red Ornaments | “Ralph Lauren” Coffee Table Book | “Ralph Lauren: A Way of Living” Coffee Table Book “ | Lamps | Sofa Table | Christmas Tree | Blue Ornaments | Large Red Ornaments | Silver Jingle Bell Ornaments
When we moved into this house, we had a few Ring cameras and the doorbell installed/hardwired in. But since that time, we realized we had a gap in coverage in our driveway since the camera there is tucked up under our covered drive. We’d talked about adding another to our garage/carriage house for ages but you know how that goes. It wasn’t urgent so it didn’t take priority. Kurtis finally ordered this camera and solar power panel (since it isn’t hardwired here and he doesn’t want to deal with batteries) for the area and we got it installed yesterday. It’s nice to have that quick item marked off the to-do list!
In Case You Missed It
Following are the posts I shared over the past week, in case you missed some days!
Around Town & For Fun
A couple weeks ago, a few of my girlfriends and I had signed up for an ornament making class at the local art gallery. Unfortunately it was cancelled, and then rescheduled for a time most of us couldn’t make it. So my friend Marissa offered to host something similar at her home! Tuesday night we went over for sausage & tortellini soup and to make ornaments. It was also the first time I was able to see their newly renovated kitchen 99% of the way complete. It’s gorgeous!
Marissa had a cute table set up for us with every color under the sun and some matte white ornaments for us to paint. Admittedly, mine was a bit of a train wreck. It started as stripes, then it was plaid, then I painted over all of that and did polka dots. And then added a bow last minute. Ha! But it was super fun chatting and being artistic for the night! I definitely didn’t miss my calling as an ornament maker though 😉 I turned my little sample paper into an abstract with some of my leftover paint and actually like that better than the ornament!
Kurtis and I watched our first Christmas movie of the season. I chose “Our Little Secret”, the new Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie on Netflix. It was pretty cute and funny and worth the watch if you’re looking for something new. The cats always love “family movie night” because it means we sit still with them for a few hours 😉
Hawkeye has decided he’s obsessed with our front porch again. He makes Kurtis take him out now in the mornings for a bit. He also had his month check-up Friday morning after going on his hyperthyroid medication. His values have come down quite a bit thankfully, but they changed the dosage again to see if we can get back to normal levels! I appreciate all of the tips and recommendations from you all for those that have also gone through this with one of their cats.
Friday night, we hosted our second annual gingerbread house party! But a half hour prior we surprised our friend Katie with a pre-drink toast and pin- the-tail-on-Katie game to celebrate her birthday (Rachel ordered it on Vista Print as a personalized poster). Let’s just say Kurtis wasn’t even close 😉
We had a group of 20 for the party, so we made a table for ten in the living room and then the others sat in the kitchen around the island. The candy and all of our dinner were in the dining room. These coated tablecloths (round version here) were super cheap and worked great for the project (and looked cute too)!
This year I opted to buy a variety of gingerbread house kits so we had some architectural differences and people could flex their creative skills. Kurtis and I grabbed a house kit last, so we had one that was a Target store. Ha! But we converted it into a beach house and I think it turned out pretty cute!
There were lots of inside jokes and one non-postable house (turns out I have lots of inappropriate friends – ha!), as we competed for “most aesthetic” and “funniest”. Lots of laughs with this fun crew! I had to sprint from the phone to the floor (and almost fell over) to get this beautiful shot 😉 Here’s my tartan top. It’s much cuter than it looks in this picture and is an extra 70% off today. I’m in the size Large.
We ended the night singing happy birthday to Katie and Guillaume, who actually share the exact same birthday (year and all)! Our friend Ashley found the cutest cake that, once you slice into it, a fountain of sprinkles pour out.
We were moving a little slow most of Saturday. We had several people help to stay with the bulk of the clean-up Friday night, but it still took us the whole weekend to have the house fully put back together. But it was totally worth all the fun we had!
Marissa and Jake dropped off some fresh pumpkin chocolate chip bread Saturday morning and I couldn’t decide if I loved the wrapping or the bread more!
We fly to Omaha and Iowa later this week and will be staying in four locations over six nights so it will be a bit of a whirlwind trip. Kurtis has two work Christmas parties (I’ll be attending one of them) along with a bunch of meetings, then we head to his sister and brother-in-law’s for a night, our besties’/goddaughters’ for a night, and then off to his parents in Iowa to celebrate Christmas with the family. It should be a really fun week!
Once we’re back, we’re hoping to finally take advantage of some of the fun holiday activities here at home along 30A. With our trip to Utah and then planning for the gingerbread house party before leaving for the Midwest, we haven’t done much here yet this season. So we’re also looking forward to a few quiet weeks at home before and during the holidays!
Recent Buys & Sales
Following are some sales from the weekend that have carried over and are still going strong!
- AMAZON has a number of deals today! You can shop their site here.
- ANN TAYLOR is offering 40% off your purchase. You can shop their site here.
- ANTHROPOLOGIE is offering an additional 40% off items in their sale section! You can shop their site here.
- ATHLETA is offering 50% off best-selling gifts. You can shop their site here.
- BALLARD DESIGNS is offering 30% off sitewide plus an extra 30% off clearance during their extended Cyber Weekend Event! You can shop their sale here.
- BODEN is offering 15% off new womenswear styles and 40% off all mini Boden with code N2Q8. You can shop their site here.
- CRATE & BARREL is offering up to 30% off garlands, wreaths, and gifts. You can shop their site here.
- DUDLEY STEPHENS is offering their best-selling turtlenecks at $69. You can shop their site here.
- FRONTGATE is offering up to 50% off sitewide and free shipping sitewide with code FSS1224. You can shop their site here.
- GAP is offering up to 60% off sitewide, plus an extra 30% off your purchase if you don’t have GapCash to use. You can shop their sale here.
- J CREW is offering up to 60% off sitewide, as well as an extra 70% off sale styles with code TODAYONLY. You can shop their site here.
- J CREW FACTORY is offering 60% off everything plus an additional 15% off orders of $100+ with code CYBERTAKE2. You can shop their sale here.
- KOHL’s is offering 20% off your purchase with code SAVINGS20. You can shop the rest of their site here.
- LINDSAY LETTERS is hosting a buy more save more sale with 15% off $200+, 20% off $300+ and 30% off $500+. You can shop her site here.
- LOFT is offering 40% off full-priced styles and 50% off sale styles plus an extra 20% off at checkout. You can shop their sale here.
- LULULEMON has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- MADEWELL is offering 50% off select gifts with code CHEERS. You can shop their site here.
- MARK & GRAHAM is offering up to 50% off free shipping on orders $100+ with code HOLIDAY. You can shop their site here.
- MARSHALLS is offering free shipping on orders of $89+ with code SHIP89. You can shop their site here.
- MCGEE & CO. is offering up to 50% off sitewide. You can shop their site here.
- NORDSTROM has a number of sales going on with items up to 60% off. Plus get up to 50% off select designer items. You can shop their site here.
- OLD NAVY is offering 50% off all jeans for the family, today only. You can shop their sale here.
- POTTERY BARN is offering up to 50% off Holiday Sale deals plus free shipping on 1000s of items. Plus get an extra 15% off clearance items. You can shop their sale here.
- REJUVENATION is offering up to 70% off clearance items. You can shop their site here.
- RUGS USA is offering 30% off everything with code CYBERWEEK. You can shop their site here.
- SERENA & LILY is offering up to 40% off sitewide. You can see my Serena & Lily reviews post of all the items we’ve owned if that’s helpful. You can shop their sale here.
- TARGET has a number of sales including multiple home deals like up to 40% off floorcare, up to 40% off rugs (online only), up to 30% off lighting and tree ornaments, and more. You can shop their site here.
- TJ MAXX is offering free shipping on orders $89+ with code SHIP89! You can shop their site here.
- TORY BURCH has a number of new items in their sale section, with items up to 60% off. You can shop their site here.
- TUCKERNUCK has a number of new items added to their sale section. You can shop their site here.
- WEST ELM is offering up to 60% off holiday decor and up to 50% off clearance items. You can shop their site here.
- WILLIAMS SONOMA is offering up to 75% off clearance items. You can shop their site here.
I hope you all have a great week!
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I love your blog and design ideas. I just saw a picture of your friend Marissa’s kitchen and wondered if I could find out what color her cabinets are and her countertop is and the color. We are in the process of a new build here in Michigan (burrrrrrrr!!!) and are would love to do that.
Thanks, Ann Gibson
Thank you Ann! And she said she will double check on colors! But the countertops are honed soapstone, her walls are SW Snowbound and she *thinks* the cabinets are SW White Sesame but she needs to circle back on that. I hope that helps!
It does help. Thanks so much.
Happy Holidays,
Ann G.