Christmas Spirt!

After a wonderful five days with my family, it is back to the real world. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving down in Pinehurst, NC with my grandparents.

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, it means Christmastime is here! Last night, MMB and I started to decorate for Christmas! It's one of my favorite things to do all year long. The tree and stockings are up and this week I am planning working on the smaller festive decor in our apartment.

I LOVE to use Amaryllis as a Christmas flower, so chic! They are so beautiful and really set the Christmas mood. I am off to buy some today. What is you favorite Christmas flower?

Thankful.

Well the Holiday season has officially begun! Thanksgiving is the G Family's favorite holiday. It is just a time to get together and spend time with family and truly be able to reflect on how good life really is. I am headed down to Pinehurst, NC today to meet up with my family and spend Thanksgiving at my grandparents house -- I can't wait. I feel extremely blessed and thankful this year, I have an amazing family and wonderful friends. It is also my last official Thanksgiving as a single lady, this time next year, I will be Mrs. B!

2010 has been an amazing year and I am truly thankful.

My amazing family!

The perfect fiance!

I have more than a girl could ask for...

Monogrammed Gift Wrapping Ideas!

Over the past few years I have really gotten into wrapping Christmas presents, I especially spend lots of time and thought when it comes to wrapping my family and MMB's presents. This year I was flipping through Martha Stewart Living and Southern Living magazine and combined two ideas. Southern Living featured these beautiful birch wood monograms from Southern Proper Monograms, the perfect size to attach to a gift! Martha Stewart had displayed a fun idea of attaching a letter to the gift, which I thought was super cute and personal! Tada! A new wrapping idea has been born. I think these monograms would even be cute to attach to my bridesmaids gift bags?

3-Letter Monogram from Southern Proper Monograms

6 inch wooden Monogram - $10.00!

All the monograms come in the natural wood,

so you can paint them however you would like!

Martha Stewart's Gift Wrap Idea!

Fun Holiday Dip!

' Tis the season of parties! I love this time of year, so many fun events and gatherings. The next few weekends we have a bunch of holiday cocktail parties to attend and some are being held at friends homes. I always love to bring a little something, my go-to is usually a bottle of wine and an easy appetizer. However, when I am going to someones home that I don't know too well, I am always cautious about what I bring. You never want to bring something that is going to take a while to prepare or reheat in someones kitchen, as if the hostess wants a bigger mess!

Well thanks to my friend, CLS, I think I have found the perfect solution. She made her holiday spread in just a two minutes on Saturday night and it was a huge hit!

It couldn't be easier to make, you simply mix Trader Joe's Red Pepper Spread with Goat Cheese. Tada! I told you it was easy. Simply serve the dip in a bowl with pita chips on the side or put the spread on toasted bread and serve as bruschetta!

This appetizer is so easy to whip up and you can always keep a jar of Trader Joe's Red Pepper Spread on hand for all of the holiday soirées coming up! Thanks for the tip, C!

Trader Joe's Red Pepper Spread -

$2.99 at your local Trader Joe's!

Me and CLS out on the town this past Saturday night!

And the bridesmaids will be wearing...

The Pearl by LulaKate in Navy!

The fabulous thing about LulaKate is that you are able to mix and match the tops and bottoms of their dresses and basically create your own look. So fun! My girls will actually be wearing the Pearl top which is seen in the above picture but with the "full" skirt, which I found to be more fun and youthful compared to the straight skirt seen above. My two sisters will also be wearing a sash on their dresses since they are the maids of honor!

I am so happy we have found the bridesmaid dresses, I know all of my girls will look beautiful! Special thanks to bestie, BAG, who was such a trooper last night and tried on every dress I thought looked cute!

Wedding Wednesday!

Today is the day! I will make a decision on my bridesmaid dresses! I have narrowed it down to 4 choices. Two dresses by Coren Moore and two dresses by LulaKate. I am headed out with bestie, BAG, this afternoon to look and try on all four dresses and hopefully come to a decision. I feel good about all the dresses because my girls seem happy will all the choices and that is saying a lot for 9 ladies! Whichever dress we choose, the color has already been picked and that is navy! Wish me luck, I should have an update tomorrow. What did your bridesmaids wear?!

The Nolan by Coren Moore

The Jackie by Coren Moore

Pearl by LulaKate

Christy by LulaKate

Pinup Wreath for Holiday Cards!

Holiday Card season is almost here! My cards have already been created and shipped from the wonderful talented Ashley Brooke. I know I usually start to get cards during the first week of December. Last year I was so busy with Grad School, that I totally slacked on displaying our friends and families beautiful cards, I just put them in a basket! This year I wanted to find a creative, pretty way to display our Holiday Cards. Enter Martha Stewart... she really does know best! I found this fun pinup wreath and it seems very simple to create, I think it will be perfect. I have ordered the pieces I need and will let you know how the assembly goes. How do you display your cards?!

Martha Stewart's Pinup Wreath!

What You Need:

1.) A 14-inch embroidery hoop. I found one for $1.59 here!

2.) Mini wooden clothespins. I found a set of 24 clothespins for $2.95 here.

3.) Wood Glue... You can find this at your local hardware store.

How to create the pinup wreath:

Affix mini wooden clothespins to your 14-inch embroidery hoop with wood glue.

Alternate pins to point outward and inward, and space them 1 1/2 inches apart.

Suspend wreath from a ribbon, and clip on the cards!

Slow Cooker!

One of my favorite engagement presents was from my bestie BAG, she gave us a slow cooker. Now, as I have mentioned before MMB (the fiance) is the cook, and he is wonderful. He was actually very excited about this gift also. But I think, I can even handle making dinner in the slow cooker, I mean how hard can it be right?!

Do you use a slow cooker? What are your favorite recipes?

Tomorrow I am planning on making this Autumn Beef Stew:

Apple cider and a little bacon give this homemade beef stew great flavor. If you don't care for rutabaga, replace it with turnip, more potatoes or another root vegetable.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds lean stewing beef, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 1 slice bacon, diced
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 1/2 pounds potatoes (about 5 or 6 medium potatoes), diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
• 2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups diced rutabaga
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Preparation:

Cook bacon, beef, and onions a large skillet over medium heat until the beef is browned and bacon is cooked. Put the beef and onions in the slow cooker with the bacon, beef broth, apple cider, potatoes, carrots, celery, rutabaga, bay leaf, rosemary, and pepper. Cover and cook for 7 to 9 hours. Combine flour with cold water to form a smooth mixture. Stir into the beef mixture, turn to HIGH, and continue cooking for 15 minutes longer.
Serves 4 to 6.

Thank You!

I thank god for my life

And for the stars and stripes

May freedom forever fly, let it ring.

Salute the ones who died

And the ones that gave their lives so we don`t have to sacrifice

All the things we love...

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

-Elmer Davis

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our heros and she-roes!

Wedding Wednesday!

I am sure most of you have now seen the custom name wire hanger that is seen holding wedding dresses. I am just in LOVE. I think they are so cute and fun and definitely adds something to "the wedding dress" picture. I did some research and there seems to be a few knock offs... however, I think the creator is LilaFrances, she has a shop on Etsy. She is actually closed until November 17th, but I plan on ordering my hanger then!

PS! My SAVE THE DATES are being mailed today!

I am so excited, it all is becoming so real.

For All Of You Brides To Be....

Yesterday, a friend (and future bride to be) told be about WEDOBO. It site kind of like Gilt or Rue La La or Groupon, except exclusively for BRIDES!!! Love it!

Yesterday I became a member and scored my first deal on a name-change service. I am very excited, I heard the name-change process can be brutal and I am so excited to have a wonderful service help me through the process!

So, all of you brides to be out there, be sure to check out WEDOBO!

Loving Campo Marzio Jewelry Cases!

While flipping through O Magazine, I spotted the cutest little jewelry boxes from Campo Marzio. The box has clean lines, two levels of storage and come in fab colors. I even love the little lock and key, it seems like the perfect home for precious baubles. At $85 they also seem like they could make for a wonderful holiday gift. You can buy them at Kate's Paperie, one of my fav stores in NYC!

So cute!

Love the purple, may just have to buy one for myself!

Paris in the Fall

And I'm bacccckkk! Very jet lagged but I wanted to post a few pics from our amazing Paris trip. We had a tres fab time and I know it is going to be very hard to get back to real life after the past 10 days. Our engagement party was wonderful and then we left for France, what more could I ask for?! Right now...SLEEP!

And we're off, enjoying some champagne in the lounge before taking off!

First night in Paris

Late night crepe - so yummy!

Concorde

Champs-Élysées for some shopping and lunch!

Lunch at the Laduree

So Yummy!

Paying my respects, of course!

It's holiday time at Galeries Lafayette

The Strikes

Musee d'Orsay - my fav museum in Paris!

Soupe Aux Oignons

Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame