Tree Trimming

Christmas is by far the greatest time of year. You can't help but have a smile on your face when you see the houses all decorated with lights, hear the music and are surrounded by friends and family. Christmas has always been a HUGE deal in our family, especially the Christmas tree (or treeS for my mom).



Our tree this year.

 Every year before putting up the tree my family would go out to dinner then my brother and I would be able to pick out our yearly Christmas ornament. This, along with collecting ornaments all the places we travel to (a tradition Brett and I also carry on) leads to lots and lots of ornaments. I alone have 2 boxes of ornaments and each and every one of those ornaments has a story, which I love!

Over the weekend, Brett and I went and got our tree to decorate and even though this is the 3rd tree we have decorated together, I still feel the need to tell him the story of all my favorite ornaments (not sure this will ever stop, sorry honey). Here are just a few of my favorite ornaments with the stories behind them.

This ornament makes the sound of popcorn popping and it is truly never Christmas until we hear this sound in the house. When my brother and I divided up ornaments I had to fight for this one. I'm sure we will have to arrange some sort of "shared custody" at some point.

This one is "Santa's answering machine" and has a message that I still to this day have memorized... "HO HO HO, I'm out packing my sleigh now so be sure to leave your Christmas wishes. Wait for the jingle bells!"

Who didn't love Fraggle Rock growing up? This one has fallen off the tree a few times and is broken on the bottom but I can't seem to throw it out!

As I said, Brett and I pick up an ornament from every place we travel to. This one is from when we got engaged in Georgetown so I know it will always have a special place on our tree for many years to come!

Ohhhhh the pickle! If you don't know the story of the pickle, it is an old German tradition where the pickle is hidden in the tree and the children search for it on Christmas morning and whoever finds it gets a special surprise. Still to this day my brother and I fight tooth and nail for that pickle.

I don't know why I love this one so much. I think I even got it from a Happy Meal. It just so reminds me of those late 80s-early 90s toys that were so great.

If you only knew how many Nutcracker/ballet ornaments we had you would be embarrassed for us. But in the Will household, it isn't Christmas without Nutcracker!

My grandmother (dad's mom) would make the most beautiful ornaments. This is just one of the many I have on my tree.

Got to give a shout out to Brinkley!

Speaking of Brinkley, I couldn't help but share this picture. Brinkley loves when the tree gets up because it provides the best "hiding" spots for his bones/toys. It never fails, we always find a few under the tree.

So there you have it! So glad to be kicking off another Christmas season.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is the big-man's birthday so want to give him a shout-out and virtual hug from Columbia! Definitely the hardest part about moving away from my hometown is not being able to see my family as much as I used to but we still get to spend a good bit of time together so we can't complain too much.

Through the years his nicknames for me have gone from "Hollywood" to "Badness" but the one that has always stuck was "Princess" and what describes a father-daughter relationship better than that? I am so thankful for such an incredible dad. He has always been the level-headed Will who can talk us all down from our dramatic ways (or is that just for me?). He is the reason I went into Marketing/Advertising and has taught me all about how hard work can pay off. I'm told we look just alike and I think we share a pretty similar personality. Thanks Dad for always being there for me! I love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLD MAN!!

Thanksgiving 2012

Besides the few years my dad had to work on Thanksgiving (bless his heart), my entire childhood was spent driving up to Richmond, VA to spend thanksgiving with my dad’s family (then do Christmas with mom’s). I remember packing up the car full of pillows and blankets and hitting the road at night so my brother and I could sleep the 8 hours while dad drove (again, bless his heart). My dad’s sister and mom are real life Martha Stewarts, seriously. Every little details was always taken care of from personalized name tags at each seat to small little gifts for the kids at their spots. And the food was always spot on – I will always remember the cookies and the sweet potato casserole my grandmother made. This was always our tradition until my grandmother passed away my senior year in high school and since then we have spent it with my mom’s side of the family. 

Until of course Brett and I started dating and then the big question in any relationship is asked; “Who’s family do you spend the holidays with?” We came up with a pretty easy solution: Thanksgiving with Brett’s family and Christmas with mine. I may or may not have made it pretty darn clear when we first started dating that I would spend Christmas with my family every year whether he came or not so this seemed to be the most logical solution. (Look, my family is REALLY fun at Christmas and I can’t fathom missing out on the festivities! Don’t judge!) So for the past few years I’ve been enjoying the Owens family Thanksgiving tradition where we rent a house on the beach in Oak Island, NC and spend the week there. (I have to say I think I got a pretty sweet deal.) It is always so quiet and peaceful at the beach, we can do what we please, eat some good food and catch up on sleep. And we have the beauty of watching the Clemson/Carolina game on tv which I prefer any day over going to the game (btw, USC has beat Clemson ever since Brett and I started dating…).

So what am I thankful for this year?
- An incredibly loving family
- My new in-laws who have welcomed me into the Owens family
- A wonderful husband who is way more patient with me than I deserve sometimes.
- Friends who are like family to me.
- A great new job
- The sweetest puppy in the world

I hope everyone has a wonderful thanksgiving with friends and family!!

Tasty Tuesday: Cranberry Walnut Relish

I feel like everyone is saying this but I seriously can't believe it is already the week of Thanksgiving! It is crazy to think that the holidays have already arrived and this time next week the house will be all decorated for Christmas and we will most likely be watching Christmas Vacation on repeat.

But before we get too involved in Christmas, we still have Thanksgiving ahead of us and in honor of the holiday I thought I would share a new recipe we tried last year for turkeyday that is sure to be a staple moving forward.

Cranberry Walnut Relish

Recipe from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:

- 1 Orange

- 2 cups fresh cranberries (about 8 ozs)

- 3/4 sugar

- 1/4 cup of chopped walnut pieces

Directions:

Finely grate the zest of half the orange into a medium saucepan then squeeze in all of the juice. Add the cranberries, sugar and walnuts and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens and the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes).

The Friday Five: 11/16/12

Another week, another Friday, another fabulous weekend ahead! Definitely lots to be excited for today!

1. Christmas Music on the radio! There are a lot of negative people out there complaining about how soon department stores have their Christmas decorations out or why the radio has Christmas music already on. To that I say Bah Humbug! I couldn't be more excited about the Christmas music on and it just put me in an even better mood heading into work this morning. Even better, I finally have a car with satellite radio which means even more Christmas music stations for my listening pleasure.

7 Full stations dedicated to my favorite time of year!

  

2. Lake Lure/College BFFs. The second the clock strikes 5:00, we are hitting the road to Lake Lure for the weekend. My friend Lauren's parents own a house on Lake Lure and they graciously let us use it from time to time. We always have the BEST time up there. If you have never been to Lake Lure you must go. The perfect mix of mountains and water - beautiful. Just can't wait for some hot tub time, fire pit chats, mimosas and college football. It's going to be a perfect weekend with best friends for sure!

3. Short work week(s). There is nothing better than a short work week... except when you have 2 short work weeks in a row! Next week is only a 2 day work week because of  Thanksgiving and then the following week we head to Atlanta for a law conference Brett has to go to (I will simply be enjoying sleeping in, coffee in bed, shopping and good meals).

4. Cookies on a Stick. It's a cookie, on a stick, with a hidden snickers inside - the famous "Cookies on a Stick" - my mom's specialty. I was very excited when I received a text from her earlier this week saying she was going to make a batch to send with us to Lake Lure. All of my friends in college love a cookie on a stick and they have become a staple for any get together. I even used these to ask my bridesmaids to be in the wedding...

5. Dogless week: Something I'm definitely not excited about but worth noting is that Brett and I will be dogless for over a week! Tonight as we drive through Greenville we are dropping the pup off at the "grandparents" house to stay with them through Thanksgiving. We have no idea what we will do without our little man around but I'm sure he will be treated like royalty. I had to get some extra snuggles in last night and this morning though... boy will I miss this face!!

Williams-Sonoma HOME - Who knew??

I never found a love for Williams-Sonoma until my husband (yes, husband) insisted we register there for our wedding. (Side Note: Before getting married Brett was definitely the chef in the relationship and has always loved to cook/grill - and is quite good at it - so registering here if you know him is no big surprise). Now, since registering here and seeing all the goodness this store has to offer, I fell in love.

Then today I see on their website that they have a home store too... WHO KNEW?? Maybe I am behind on this and just always got wrapped up in the fun gadgets on their site to see this but I'm definitely impressed. The stuff isn't exactly cheap (but it's WS so I was expecting that). Here are some of the items that caught my eye.



Weekend Recap: 11/12/12

Last week was a pretty crazy week with a case of the stomach virus in the Owens' household however I think I have disinfecting every inch of the house and am ready to get back to a normal schedule this week!

Besides still recovering from the bug, this weekend was just about perfect in my book.

Friday night we stayed in, watched a movie and were in bed by 9:30. (lame or extremely satisfying??)

Saturday Brett was still feeling pretty crummy so we decided to stay home and not go to the football game. Instead, we ordered out from one of our favorite spots, Zoes, and watched The Gamecocks beat Arkansas. It was an absolutely beautiful day on Saturday so we were bummed we couldn't enjoy the weather but I never complain about a lazy Saturday at home.

Yesterday was the best day! Typically every year we do a big mother/daughter shopping trip with my mom's best friends and their daughters (who happen to be my best friends) in Atlanta but this year was the first year in ages that we couldn't all make it work with our schedules. So, to try and get at least a little shopping done together my mom and I met up in Charlotte Sunday morning and spent the entire day inside the Southpark mall. Neither of us were all that impressed with the clothes out this season (too much spandex and glitter for my liking) but we were able to check a few things off the list and get some Christmas shopping done. But it was really just nice to be able to have an entire day with just mom and me! :)

So, since my mom is one of the only people who reads this... thanks for a great day of shopping and for all my stuff! Love you!

My Month via Instagram: October

A few days late but here ya go:

Started the month off with some fall flowers.

And Fall candles. (we've already gone through this one.)

Tried a new restaurant called Crepes and Croissants - delish!

Game Day came to Columbia where one of our friends had by far the largest sign.

Brett made some awesome green beans for us - which you can't make unless you have some fatback.

We celebrated my brother's 31st birthday on the 11th! Which also happened to be 10.11.12.

We tried to cheer the Gamecocks to a W over LSU, without such luck.

Got stopped by a few trains (per the usual around here).

Got to wear jeans to work! (not per the usual.)

Attended a beautiful wedding in Myrtle Beach.

And admired all the details.

Spent a Friday afternoon at the Riverbanks Zoo.

Where we got to feed some giraffe.

I am not ashamed to say I bought the new Taylor Swift CD - which is awesome btw.

And closed out the month with a little Halloween dress up with the pup. (he loves me.)

Hope everyone had a great month!

Election Day Thoughts

Today is my 3rd presidential election that I have been able to vote in (only my 2nd I have actually voted in. The first was in college and I forgot about that whole "absentee ballot" thing... whoops). I am not a political person, period. I love the fact that we have a right to vote in this country and I always exercise that right. However, I always go into an election similar to how I went into a final exam in college - never feeling adequately prepared and always cramming up until the last second (I did graduate college with honors so this method works well for me). I also don't consider myself a straight Republican or a straight Democrat, I will vote based on the individual and their views which always leaves things a little gray when voting (but I would say I lean more towards the conservative side).

A few things cross my mind today before I hit the polls after work:
1) How qualified am I to vote? As mentioned, I'm sadly not very in tuned to politics so how qualified am I to vote? Will I regret the decision I make in 2 years? I don't feel informed through debates - to me, they both argue valid points and it seems like its hard to get and unbiased opinion from any news source.
2) How much does my vote really count? South Carolina is definitely not a swing state so does my vote really count? I can definitely say I feel more empowered about my votes being cast on state and local races/issues today then the presidential election.
3) Is change what this country needs right now? I think ultimately that is what this election boils down to (for me). Does putting a new person in office just mess things up more with a whole new "transition" period? Do we need to let the current POTUS finish/clean up what he has started? Is a fresh set of eyes and new bodies in the White House exactly what we need to turn things around?

I'm not sure the answers to these questions but the important thing about today is that we live in a country where we have the ability to think about these things and right or wrong, whether you live in Ohio or SC, "political" or not we can still cast a vote. So today I am thankful to live in a country that gives us the right to vote.

*Pssst... I also hit over 1,000 page views on the blog. They are probably all from the same 5 people but hey... it's still a big deal! :)

The Friday Five: 11/2/12

Five (very) random thoughts...

1. Last night Brett and I went and saw the movie Argo and it was amazing! Seriously, drop whatever you are doing and go see this movie! And to our surprise Coach Taylor (from Friday Night Lights) aka Kyle Chandler was also in the movie. So with that you really should go see it.

2. This weekend is all about the bathroom. I'm hoping to get the pre-paint prep work done tonight, paint the primer tomorrow morning (before we head to Summerville for a wedidng) then paint it Sunday. With us only having 1 bathroom, this could be challenging but hopefully it will all go smoothly and get done! I can't wait to see how it turns out. We are going from chocolate brown to a nice soothing grey.

3. We just booked our room for New Orleans today!! Some of our friends are getting married down there in April so we are making a vacation out of it and going down Thursday-Sunday. This will be my first trip to the big easy (that's what they call it, right??) so I'm really excited! And the fact that we are going with a big group of friends will make it even better! Can't wait!

4. I've been staring at this recipe for Lasagna Soup for over a year now and haven't ever made it so I'm going to try to finally take a stab at it this weekend... we shall see.

5. T-Swift... still #1. I've probably purchased 2 actual cds in the last 10 years... both of which have been Taylor Swift's. I've had a few days to listen to her new one and I love it. Sure, judge as you wish but I'm a big fan. They also just announced her 2013 tour which happens to be stopping in Columbia on March 23rd. May have to steal somebody's teenage daughter to go with me...

Also, given that it is November I thought it would be good to share something I am thankful for at the end of each post I write this month. So, today I am thankful for beautiful South Carolina weather. In light of the events of "Sandy" this week, having a few days of good weather is definitely something to be thankful for! It is a perfect 75 degrees today and I can't wait to get home, have a cocktail and throw something on the grill for dinner.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!