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A Christmas Eve Tradition

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It’s no secret from my family and friends that I love traditions. For me, traditions create memories that last a lifetime, and also brings families and friends together to celebrate, reminisce or experience a certain thing. Traditions are a memory, a moment of reflection on the family members before you who created this ritual, but also a glimpse at the future and the excitement that you can pass on these moments to future generations. 

Unfortunately, in today’s day in age, traditions do come and go. Families separate, new families form, and life gets too busy or in the way and we lose track of those moments that were once so important to us. Coming from a divorced family, many of my childhood traditions disappeared. And I won’t lie – it was heartbreaking. But as I got older, new traditions formed and the dream of passing down family traditions to my future family kept my spirit alive. In my 24 years of living, there is one family tradition that never faded. There was one magical tradition that my mom kept alive, and passed on to my friends and boyfriends as I got older. Whether we were together on Christmas Eve or not, my mom never let me down with my longstanding family tradition: Christmas Eve Pajamas. 

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10 Tips for Saving Money While Decorating for the Holidays

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Our house is finally decorated for the holidays, making it hard to leave our little wonderland each morning for work. At night when we get home from work, I love to turn on all the twinkling lights and sit in our cozy home with a fire. There’s nothing more peaceful to me. Since moving into our house in February, we have heavily relied on hand me down decorations, and just recently started sourcing new holiday items of our own. I think the perfect balance of old + new is what creates the best holiday spirit and cheer!

For those new to the holiday decorating game, like we are, I’m here with a PSA: Decorations can get expensive! I won’t forget the mile long receipt from my first holiday run to Target. Needless to say I returned a few things and started investing time and money into the items I truly wanted and needed, rather than those I coveted or saw on display. Let’s not forget about the cost of the electric bill during the month of December due to a surplus of outdoor lights! I wanted to share my top tips for saving money during the holiday season, without giving up on design and style!

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#ADULTING Holiday Gift Guide

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#ADULTING

Can you believe the holidays are around the corner? I’ve been trying my hardest to keep our fall decorations and pumpkins out for as long as possible, but the recent snow storm and the 24/7 streaming of Hallmark Christmas movies have made it very difficult. Once Thanksgiving is over, all bets are off and the our house will look like winter wonderland! 

So many of the bloggers I follow create these beautiful gift guides each year, and I’ve always found them helpful when looking for unique gifts for my friends and family. Since I am promoting a domesticated life, I wanted to gather some of my favorite items and gifts that I have received that have helped my #adulting transition from slumming it in college dorms to decorating and hosting in my first home! Whether you know someone who is moving into their first apartment or home, or looking for the perfect gift for the millennial in your life, these gifts and gadgets will be winners this holiday season and spread cheer all year long. 

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Seven Staple Foods You Should Always Have in Your Kitchen 

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We all know that feeling. You open the fridge or pantry to see absolutely nothing to eat besides some chips or crackers, maybe a box pasta and frozen meals. Nothing about that sounds appetizing or nutritious. Nevertheless, we always seem to resort to eating a potluck of garbage from the pantry or worse, ordering Chinese takeout or pizza delivery. It’s time to say no to takeout and munchies for dinner, and say yes to homemade dinners!

Life gets busy. Between work, extra curricular activities, chores, bills (the list goes on and on,) when is there time to grocery shop and prepare healthy meals that keep you moving as fast as your life is. The key is stocking your kitchen with these seven versatile foods that can be transformed into a flavorful and nutritious meal your family will love. These seven ingredients are easy to cook with and jam-packed with protein, vitamins, and low in carbs. Here are my recommended kitchen staples and 12 meal ideas you can make with them:

Candy Cookie Bars

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Are you staring at your dining room table littered with colorful wrappers of candy, candy, candy! Before you throw it all away, transform your leftover chocolate candy into the world’s sweetest cookie!

Whether you are trying to get rid of excess candy you purchased for Trick or Treaters, or trying to minimize your child’s loot bag, Candy Cookie Bars are the tastiest and easiest way to reduce your candy supply before it goes to waste.

These cookie bars are basically the Halloween kitchen sink of cookies. It doesn’t matter what chocolate candy you throw into the batter, it will always taste good. Imagine the ooey gooey-ness of Snickers caramel, the creaminess of Reese’s Peanut Butter and the crunch from M&M’s. Each bite is a taste of your favorite candy bar surrounded by a soft cookie shell.

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November To Do List

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November To Do List

October has come and gone, and I am officially starting November with a sugar/alcohol hangover. As shocking as this may seem, this was my FIRST Halloween being on the receiving end of trick or treaters. Growing up in a rural area, our house was never a destination for trick or treaters, but instead the popular street for the school’s haunted hayride and mischief night. Nick and I were warned that our townhouse would receive anywhere from 200-300 kids and sure enough, we did! 400+ pieces of candy later, we’re left with a few M&M’s, a handful of Reese’s and some lone KitKat bars.

What did I love most about Halloween? Of course I loved the kids in their costumes (especially the little girls in Poodle Skirts!) but I loved the atmosphere of the night. All the neighbors grabbed chairs, fire pits and alcoholic beverages and spent the night  hanging out. It wasn’t just kids night out, but also the adults night out! Here’s to hoping we have more block parties before the weather turns cold and frozen.

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5 Boyfriend Approved TV Shows to Binge Watch this Fall

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TV Shows.png

 

Let’s face it. Not all shows are created equal – and they aren’t supposed to be! Comedy. Mystery. Sports. Talk. Sci-Fi. Musical. Romantic. There’s many genres to choose from that don’t always suit both genders. While there have been a few arguments and fist fights over the remote in our household (Nick usually for football or UFC and me anything on Food Network and HGTV), we’ve found a way to compromise and keep the peace in our family room.

Ever since we started dating, Nick and I always tried to find one show that we both wanted to watch. When we lived separately, we always found time during the week or weekend to have a tv show date night where we binge watched a few episode. The only rule was we have to watch the show together. No skipping ahead allowed and no looking up spoilers. As time has passed, we’ve come to learn what we like, don’t like, and how to find that perfect balance between masculine and feminine.

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The Only Apple Dessert You’ll Need to Make this Fall

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Apple Bundt Cake

 

It’s obvious that fall is finally here. Instagram is filled with #basic pictures of apple picking, pumpkin spice lattes, colorful foliage and fall decor (fall decorating ideas on a budget coming soon!)

If you’re like me, you love the food that comes with the fall season. Roasted root vegetables, hearty soups and countless apple and/or pumpkin desserts that make you want to eat every last crumb. With so many different festive desserts to choose from, let me help narrow your search by providing the only apple dessert you’ll want to make this fall.

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