for the photographer

These camera bags are gorgeous! And the best part? You can win one here!

And you must check out these adorable camera straps. I would get one in "geisha and seeds"!

  

for the foodie in your life

These bird cheese markers are super cute. Plus I think cheese markers are always handy - that way I can actually remember which one was my favorite (and get more of it later!).

I have this Williams-Sonoma Entertaining Cookbook and I love it! They not only give you all the recipes you need, but throw in tips on decorating, invitations, etc. It's great.

These stainless steel prep bowls from Martha Stewart would make me feel like a food network chef.

Christmas, a bit early!

We had Christmas with my in-laws early this year since they'll be gone for the better part of December. My lovely cousin-in-law got me this vase, featured on my site back in September. I love it! Thanks, Michelle :)

I've been busy and feeling a bit under the weather for the past few days, so I'm sorry to have missed this week's friday finds and the continuation of my gift guide. Hopefully I'll be feeling better by Monday and get back to sending goodies your way.

Foodie Thursday on Wednesday

{via}

I'm making green beans and rolls for Thanksgiving dinner at the in-laws. I came across this Martha recipe for green bean casserole, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I think it will be a nice alternative to the canned soup variety! Do you have any Thanksgiving favorites?

for the boot lover

{via}

These boots from Timberland are so pretty. 

I'd wear them with some skinny jeans and a chunky sweater. 

give thanks

{via}

Thanks for all your input on yesterday's Christmas Cards post! As it stands right now, we're leaning toward the "Peace" card at the bottom. We like that it has a family photo, plus a close-up of the cutie pie, and I love the clean, simple feel. I'm excited!

Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and my husband will have off work until Monday, I'm not going to do normal posts for the rest of this week. Instead, I'm going be sharing my Christmas gift guide with you, one item at a time. It should be fun! I'll be back to my normal posting schedule next week (though I'll keep doing gift guide posts until Christmas). Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas is coming!

You might have noticed that I have yet to do any Christmas posts. This is because I strongly feel that holidays ought to be approached one at a time, and like to fully enjoy Thanksgiving before getting excited about Christmas (which I do... just not 'till Friday!).

Today I'm having to break my rule, but it's for a good reason. How do ya'll feel about Christmas cards?

If you love them like me, and blog like me, you'll be happy to find out that Shutterfly is giving away 50 free photo cards to bloggers! You can sign up here.

When we moved to Idaho, I knew that Christmas cards were going to be a must. Not only were we newlyweds, we lived across the country from our families and knew they would enjoy getting a card from us. I love photo cards because they're just a step up from the standard Christmas card - plus with the interwebs they're so easy it would be silly not to send them! This is where Shutterfly comes in. You just pick a design, upload your photo, and then they'll send them out for you. I love it.

We no longer live across the country from our families, but we left lots of friends back in Idaho, so this year my cards are for them. I'm excited to send them some photos of our growing family!

I've put together some of my favorites and need your help choosing which one to send!

Holly Jolly

Merriest

2010

{Months - No longer one of the christmas options - I'm going to use this idea for Emma's 1st birthday!)

Peace

They've also got great calendars for the new year, stationary cards, and birthday cards. Go check it out!

Do you have a favorite?

My floor is clean, doo doot da do!

Huge thanks to Bri for editing our Christmas photos  - didn't she do a great job?!

Hey guys! I hope you all had fabulous weekends. Mine was absolutely wonderful, as I got to spend some time with my hard-working hubby, eat sushi, see the Frames, and my Brother-in-law!

Sorry about the lack of posting yesterday. After getting home from the concert at 1 am on Sunday night,  I was pretty wiped out all day Monday (as in, Emma and I slept for about 6 hours, broken up into two naps...). Not much happened here yesterday!

But today I've been much more productive already, as the dishwasher is washing, the dryer drying, and my kitchen floor is mopped. Whew!

I should be able to do a few posts today, if everything goes as planned. Check back later for at least one more post (featuring shutterfly!).

Friday Finds

Here's a preview of this year's Christmas photo. Anyone know of a good program that adjusts white balance? We got a little too much sun!

Can you believe it's friday already? I feel like this week has flown by. I'm glad it's the weekend, though! I'm looking forward to spending some time with my Hubby, and then seeing the Frames in concert in DC on Sunday! Woohoo! Alright here are some goodies I've collected from the interwebs this week:

How adorable are these "I love you more than..." prints? If I could draw, I'd do a series of my own for Emmaline!

I didn't do a Foodie Thursday post this week, so here is a recipe for cinnamon bun pancakes. You're welcome.

Desire to Inspire is one of my favorite blogs. This post is all inspiration from designer Nickey Kehoe, and I love it! Pay close attention to the bathroom (complete with a sofa and peacock roman shade), the earth tones, and ruby shades (bright pink, purple, turquoise) as accents.

custhom design

Custhom Mixed Media Design is a London based collective with a primary focus in digital embroidery and silk screen printing. I originally came across them on another shade of grey,  and loved what I saw when I looked at their site.

You should definitely check them out! (Plus they ship to the US!)

made in the USA

My sister, Jen, as photographed by me.

Since I'm still not feeling great, I'm not going to be posting today. Instead, I'd like to direct you to my sister's blog, where she posted today about buying Christmas gifts made in the US. She's got some great ideas - go check them out!

Sick day...

Emmaline is feeling better (we think she's teething as she had a rough day yesterday), but I'm sick. So Emma and I are spending the day cuddling and watching A Very Long Engagement. We're about halfway through and loving it (even though it's subtitled - aren't you proud, Jen?)

d*s house tour

{all images via}

I know, I know - I'm supposed to be furiously working on my holiday budget. But that's boring, and Emma's having a hard day, and since she's sleeping now I'm giving myself a break! Plus this house tour from design*sponge is too cute not to share. Enjoy!

They built the headboard themselves. I love it!

The house came with this tree house already built. How cool is that?

I am so envious of this beautiful platform bed, built-in by the previous owner. 

budget time!

{via}

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I spent Saturday with my Mom and sister while Bran was working on his truck, and on Sunday we had lunch at Bran's Nana's house. It was nice to relax!

Today I'm working on our monthly budget from now through Christmas. We'll be doing lots of traveling (to the Outer Banks in NC!) and gift-buying, and we want to make sure our budget is ready. Do any of you do big budget planning for the holidays? If you do, share your secrets!

Friday Finds

I love her freckles {via}

Hello everyone! Can you believe it's Friday already? This week flew by for me, what with our weekend vacation to West Virginia,  Karen's accident, my sister-in-law's 16th birthday, and my husband putting in after-work hours on a kitchen renovation side job he's doing for friends of ours. It was a busy week!

Incredibly tired of the "keep calm and carry on" trend, I'm loving this "You are the cream in my coffee" print. What a sweet alternative.

Have you seen these clothbound penguin classics? I'm getting Peter Pan for my 9 year old sister-in-law for Christmas.

If you need some cooking inspiration, you must check out this article. They include recipes for 6 classic recipes everyone should know how to cook. I'm definitely going to try them out, especially with things like chicken noodle soup and chili on the list!

As a high school graduate of a Liberal Arts centered school and having completed two years at St. John's College (where, had I not gotten married and dropped out, my degree would have been in the Liberal Arts and Humanities), I laughed at this little cartoon.

Loving the pops of color in this very white Danish home, featured on desire to inspire.

These felt flowers are adorable. If I were more crafty I would definitely attempt them.

Have a lovely weekend! I'm hoping to return on Monday with a new header for the blog!

New Favorite

{from West Elm, via}

This photo is seriously making me want to give my bedroom a big makeover. I'm thinking wood floors, architectural detailing on the wall, a new bedspread and lots of white. Yes, please!

Foodie Thursday, Cookbook Edition

I saw this cookbook while browsing Anthropologie yesterday and thought it looked amazing. Simple recipes in plain English (!) with beautiful pictures to boot. The $40 price tag made me shy away from it, but then I found it on Amazon for almost half the price. It just might make it onto my Christmas shopping list....

oh, hi there!

{via house beautiful}

Ok so I've had a hard time getting back to the blog after our little vacation last weekend. But here I am! In an effort to stir up some inspiration in myself, here are some of my favorite things of the moment:

{via}

This makes me want an iphone {via}

Jonathan Adler ornaments... adorable! I'm thinking I might get one for Emmaline.

We're home!

After a fun weekend in West Virginia for my sister's birthday, we're back home and getting settled in for the week. Here are some photos of what we've been up to:

I'll post more about our fun filled weekend later!

A year ago today I was 6 months pregnant and balling through Dear Frankie... time flies!

Just letting you know that you won't be hearing from me until Monday... I've got something fun going on tonight that I'll be planning for all day, and then early tomorrow morning my family is headed to West Virginia for some r&r. Have a great weekend!

Foodie Thursday

{via}

I'm definitely a pasta lover, but my favorite thing about this recipe is the gorgeous photos taken by Karen from Our Life in the Kitchen. Love it! Find her Fettuccine Carbonara recipe, along with more photos, here.

whew!

Hey folks! Sorry for missing my normal "party inspiration" Wednesday post yesterday. It was a hectic day that started out happy as I was busy celebrating my dad's win, turned scary when Karen, the amazing mother-in-law I've mentioned on here before, was in a head-on collision, turned happy again when we spent the evening at my in-laws celebrating my sister-in-law's birthday. (Karen is doing well - no broken bones, just bruising.)

It was a bit of a day! But I'm back today with lots of great stuff for you, starting with these awesome prints. I want one for my bathroom - it needs a facelift!

{via here, buy them here}

Kayla & Newton

I love her shoes.

Wouldn't expect any less from 5 soccer fans!

{all images via}

This may be my favorite set of wedding photos yet. They're beautiful! For more photos, including lots of their gorgeous ceremony, click over to Elizabeth Anne Designs.

real-life irony

Owen Glidersleeve is a designer and illustrator based in London. He did this {beautiful} two-part illustration for a magazine spread about the recession. The sad thing is that ID Magazine folded before the spread was printed. Talk about an ironic bummer.

good things

{via}

The new issue of Covet Garden is out! See the goodness here.

They always do a little product roundup at the end of an issue, and this month's was the best one yet. I was especially happy that they brought these to my attention:

Puffin is celebrating their 70th anniversary with limited editions of some great books. This one is beautiful, and I want this one on my bookshelf.

Did you know moleskine made an ipad cover? They have one for the iphone, too.

Can you believe it's November already? It'll be Christmas before we know it!

I want this laundry room

{via}