Custom Work

Now that I'm back in full working mode, here are some custom pieces I made last week. I'm working on a few others this week.

I hope you all enjoy the lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas tree tonight!

Come and Gone

I can't believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone and the days until Christmas are ticking away. The Rockefeller tree lighting is tomorrow and we have our first Christmas party on Thursday! But I'm jumping ahead. Thanksgiving was wonderful and one of the most relaxing yet. It as great to spend time with family down in Nashville. We had a yummy dinner for 21 people and the next morning awoke to the sounds of credit cards swiping. The rest of the weekend was spent seeing friends, watching football, eating some more and just being together. Now begins the countdown until this Sunday at the big trunk show!

 Some pre-thanksgiving Brie and Sausage Balls - beginning to stretch the stomach

The men were concerned about getting their clothes dirty, thus the aprons

 How many men does it take to fry a turkey??

 We were able to catch up with some good friends while watching the Iron Bowl. Ben caught a cute little blonde's attention. We also watched all 3 of our football teams lose that day - somehow we're getting use to it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're on our way to Nashville to spend Thanksgiving with Ben's side of the family. I'm so excited to (hopefully) be with Ben work-free, spend time with family, see friends I haven't seen in 6 months, eat lots of homemade food, watch the best parade and do some black Friday shopping! We have so much to be thankful for this year! Here are just a few...

 Thankful that I get to spend the rest of my life with this amazing guy

Thankful we live in such a fun city

Family

I couldn't find a pic of the whole family so...

My two favorite little boys

More to be thankful for - 

Great friends

Jobs

Health

And being a child of God

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Holidays!!!

It seems that the Holidays really are beginning and there was proof of it this past weekend! My first indication that Thanksgiving and Christmas is right around the corner was when I was walking past Macys in Herald Square and saw the mass chaos of the Christmas tree lights going up on the front of Macys. Apparently, they are getting ready for Santa to make his stop at the end of the greatest parade on earth! Next clue was my advent wreath making party with the girls. I had never made an advent wreath before and I was pleasantly surprised at how fun and relaxing it was to just decorate (and eat) while catching up with friends. After the wreath making party came the Thanksgiving Dinner with about 50 of our friends from church. :) We had it upstairs in our building and had such a great turnout. Everyone brought food, which means there was no shortage to worry about. It was a great way to kickoff the holiday season! Next, we'll be traveling down to Nashville to visit family and celebrate all we have to be thankful for this year!

The lovely Hostess' wreath

 My first go at wreath making

Part of the spread

 Did I mention that Ben took a little time away from work to go and have brunch?! We went to one of our favorite French neighborhood spots, Plein Sud. Yummy

C Wonder

Apparently, as the holidays approach it seems that the hours in the day dwindle. Is anyone else having this problem? It seems as though all the hours are going to designing, creating, and Christmas shopping. I'm not complaining though since I enjoy all of these tasks. However, I do feel like I'm falling behind on the blogging and jewelry aspect. I've finally gone through all the Europe pictures (it took an hour and a half) but haven't for the life in me figured out how to blog about all the fun we had. On the more pressing topics I've put more necklaces up on the website and am completely open for Christmas shopping! Speaking of shopping, I'm getting close to finishing up our Christmas shopping. This is insanely early for me! But I can credit half of that to the new SoHo store C Wonder. I've been reading about it for about a month and finally went in yesterday. Oh my did I fall in love. It has preppy clothes (that reminded me slightly of Tory Burch's style) jewelry, and then loads of trinkets for your house. It is decorated fabulously and I can't wait to go back. Although, our bank account thinks I should wait a while.

I normally hate things on my kitchen counters but I think I could have made an exception for these nesting bowls!!

 Random Knick Knacks

 They had such cute dog plates - I almost bought the "Tucker" plate

 Even the store flag and door are cool and attractive. 

A Tease

Did you all have a nice weekend? We had a busy but good one. Therefore, I still haven't had time to sort through all the Europe pics but did find a few gastrocentric pics that made me excited to go back! Who knew London had a restaurant explosion in the past 11 years (last time I had been?) 

Currant Scones from Daylesford Organic

Having a sip at The Orange

Afternoon tea at Covent Gardens Hotel 

 

 Fish and Chips (& peas) in Oxford at The White Horse

 Having another sip in the beer garden in Oxford at Turf Tavern - it dates back to the 13th century.

 Had to throw this in there

 Enjoying quite the drink in Oxford at The Trout

 This is what you call a sausage buttie. We found this gem at the Pimlico Rd farmers market right by our flat. I could eat these everyday for breakfast.

Maybe I'll be able to get through all the pics today :)

Holiday Trunk Show

If you haven't read on Facebook yet...I'm a part of this Holiday Trunk Show at the beginning of December! I'm so excited to be a part of this event and next to some very talented Designers. Some have been in various magazines, etc. If you're in the area on Dec 4th please stop by (or check out their websites) - anyone and everyone is welcome. Bring your friends as well! 

I haven't even looked at one picture from the trip since I've been unpacking, working and spending the day back in reality. It was one incredible trip!!

Apple Bread Galore

Today is the day!! We're leaving for London tonight. We're flying through the night (cross your fingers that we sleep) and this time tomorrow we'll be having tea and scones in foggy London town. I'll be out for a week but will obviously have lots to share once we get back! So I'll leave you with a recipe for apple bread, until we return.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups apples - peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup broken walnuts

Directions

In bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, place oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and apples. Stir into flour mixture. Add walnuts and mix. Divided mixture between two greased bread pans. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

I did one with butterscotch chips and walnuts and one without

I hope you all have a great week!!