DIY - Christmas Napkin Rings

Last night I was feeling in the Christmas spirit and rather crafty so I decided to make some Christmas napkin rings. I found out this past Monday that Trey and I would be hosting Christmas Eve dinner on the Cuban side with my Abuelos and I was so excited!!! I finally have a chance to use all my fine china, crystal stemware, and fine linens. But, when I set out to get all my things ready I realized I only had 6 silver napkin rings from my registry. I could've swore we got all of them as gifts, but I guess I was mistaken (good gift idea for Trey for something next year ;)... Anyway, I thought a cheaper and more festive alternative would be to make some for myself. So off to Michaels I went and $5.00 and a little scissor and glue gun action later... Voila!

They were so easy and fun to make!

Step one: Cut strands of garland ($1.00 garland ribbon (marked down 50%))

Step two: cut rings off the mini ornaments ($1.50 for a pack of 8 ... also 50% off)

Step three: use hot glue to attach the rings and place the ornaments on the rings... and that's it!

Christmas Time is Here and I'm feeling Bold!

It's the most wonderful time of year and it has just come and almost gone as fast as this year flew by. Gosh, where did 2011 go!? It feels like yesterday that we were looking forward to Christmas last year. I guess time flies when you're having fun and trippin' it around the world. I haven't posted anything this season so I thought I'd share one of our super buy tree (only $30 from Costco and it nearly touches the ceiling!) and our first fire.

And of course had to share a pic of my annual gingerbread house -this time made with the help of my nieces Handley and Harper who came over last Sunday to share in one of my favorite holiday traditions (in place since I used to make them with my best friends Kelsey and Maggie in high school). I can't wait to make it a family tradition!

And last but not least, I have been feeling rather blah about my hair lately. Ever since Trey and I got engaged I have been trying to grow my hair long. That resulted in about 3 haircuts over the last 3 years! (yes, I know... horrible!) But, despite the length achieved I had been feeling that it was looking rather weighed down and just boring when I'd leave it straight. So, I went for it today and decided to get some bangs. I hated bangs as a kid and that was the last time I ever had them, so I took baby steps tonight and just went for the side swept bang. They're hanging sufficiently down in my eye to make this a real challenge for me, but I think I like the change... we'll see when I actually have to dry them myself, but it's always exciting to make a little change. Who knows maybe next time I'll go for highlights for the first time - ooh, how bold!

"Fall"ing in love with Asheville!

Last weekend Trey and I made a trip up to Asheville to see the Biltmore and the Blue Ridge Mountains. We had been wanting to go up for a few years and were excited to make it happen just in time the see the last remnants of all the beautiful fall colors and the first weekend of Christmas at the Biltmore.

It was the perfect weekend getaway and we had such a relaxing and fun time! Took too many pictures to post but here are a few highlights. Excuse all the edited shots. I was having quite a time with my new iphone (which I absolutely LOVE) ;)

Here's the one picture I was able to take inside (no photos allowed). This was a shot of the Grand Hall dining room. You could smell it from the entrance because they had the biggest fraser fir tree. It put me in the Christmas spirit! I can't wait to get our tree this year. I love that smell.

Biltmore Estate - it was so big and so pretty!


Biltmore Bass Pond - there were all these trails leading from the house. We took a 20 minute hike to get here but it was well worth the view. We just couldn't get over how big the estate was.

One more shot driving out...
and another...
and another...
and another...

Saturday night we headed from the Biltmore winery to downtown Asheville for dinner then over to the infamous Grove Park Inn. It was so impressive that such a place could be built 100 years ago. Just look at one of the fireplaces in the lobby - it was huge! We ended up hitting up the dueling piano bar at the hotel and had such a good time.
The next morning we went back to the Grove Park Inn for brunch in the Blue Ridge dining room. It had the most beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. That view never got old all weekend.

View from brunch...
Back of the Grove Park Inn near the famous Spa (Trey said we can try that out next time... I'm going to hold him to it) :)
All the Christmas trees at the Grove Park Inn had different themes. They were so pretty!
Next stop on our way home we drove a little bit of the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked up Chimney Rock. The view was amazing.

Happy Halloween!

Last night Trey and I threw a Halloween party at our house. We had a good turn out with some great friends. Everyone had the best costumes and it was such a fun night!

Captain Nelson and Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie

Trey, Robby, Me, Carrie Beth, Jen & Justen, Sarah and Bryce

Wakefield Neighbors

L-R: Back row (Sheena & Goran, Sarah & Jon, Us, Lisa & Brian)

Front row: Ryan and Stephanie

Jen, Lizzi, Me, Lisa and Carrie Beth

Ashley, Katie, Me

Jamie and Katie (plug and electric chord)

Pac man

Franzia wine (yes- they actually had wine in those boxes)

Clowns

Robby was a tool bag (hilarious!) Carrie Beth was a tool girl.

Late night dance party

Pumpkin Carving

I love Halloween! To get in the spirit I've been decorating our house the past few days adding a few touches here and there. I can't wait to finish everything for our party this coming Saturday. To add to the festive atmosphere, I carved one of our pumpkins tonight. It turned out pretty good, if I dare say so myself. Even Trey was impressed :)

Cape Cod & Boston, MA

What a weekend!!! Trey and I had the BEST weekend in the Cape and Boston. It went by like a flash but we sure did pack in as much as we could. We had so much fun seeing all there was to see and I loved all the history of the area. We were so sad to leave Sunday night, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. Can't wait to hopefully go back one day.

DAY 1- Plymouth, Cape Cod (Falmouth), Martha's Vineyard

We started our morning at Plymouth Rock- site where the Pilgrims landed and had their first Thanksgiving.

The Rock they hit was encased behind these pillars.

The Mayflower II (replica of the actual ship the pilgrims sailed on from England).
Entering Cape Cod- about 10 minutes before the downpour (boo)

We stopped at the BEST seafood restaurant in Falmouth before heading for the ferry to Martha's Vineyard. I got to try some Clam Chowder for the first time and it was absolutely delicious! Apparently- Trey says it's the best he ever had. We were dreaming of that meal the rest of the weekend. Nothing in Boston quite compared.

Welcome to Martha's Vineyard! Too bad the weather didn't hold up for us. We could tell it would've been a fun place to visit.
Downtown area in Vineyard Haven.


There wasn't really that much to do in town since it's off season (and was rainy) so we just strolled the shops and stopped for some coffee before heading back to the ferry.
Mocha Mott's was apparently voted the best coffee in town.... Perhaps because it was the only coffee shop in town? Hmm... I'm just sayin. But- it was good!
The clouds slightly broke up for us right before we got back on the ferry. You can tell this is beautiful place when the weather's right.

DAY 2- BOSTON!!

We started off our morning hopping on the Old Town Trolley Tour that conveniently picked us up right across the street from our hotel in Back Bay.
First stop- TREY's highlight of the weekend... Fenway Park! (we have a ton of pictures b/c Trey literally took 50 pictures in the hour we were there.


Trey loved being in the press box.
Sitting in the Green Monster seats




Boston Common
We saw some protesters getting ready to head to the Occupy Boston sight (ugh)

From Boston Common it was off on our Walking Tour of the Freedom Trail which highlights all the major sights from Boston that led to the American Revolution and its first battle at Bunker Hill.

First on the Freedom Trail- a stop at Granary Burial Ground - the resting place of such giants as Paul Revere, the victims of the Boston Massacre, Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Tomb of the 5 victims of the the Boston Massacre. Yes- they considered 5 people a massacre.
Old South Meeting House- where the colonists met to hear speeches and get ready to revolt against the British. It was here that colonists got riled up after listening to Sam Adams and headed to the port to dump tea into the Boston Harbor in protest of taxation without representation... aka Boston Tea Party.
Old State House- the headquarters for the British leaders and site of the Boston Massacre
Paul Revere's House
Bunker Hill Monument- site of the first major battle of the American Revolution. The British won, but the colonists fought back valiantly and caused serious damage to the British troops proving they were serious about their fight for freedom.
View from the top of Bunker Hill (294 steps! quite a feat at the end of 8 hours of walking around the city- we were exhausted at the end)
So... after leaving Bunker Hill we treated ourselves to a drink at Cheers. We forgot our camera that night but we ended up eating dinner in the North End (Their version of Little Italy) in a delicious Italian restaurant. Then we headed to Harvard to see how the Hah vahd kids party. We were so exhausted from our crazy day though that we only ended up having one drink in a bar and headed back to our hotel. Disappointing, I know ;) Man, those Harvard kids look so young! It was funny though because Trey and I kept looking at people getting off and on the subway on our way to Harvard and would speculate whether they were students or not. Some you could just tell right away. Then some we'd look at each other and just give a look as if to say, no way!

DAY 3-

Our last day we tried to do as much as we could before heading to the airport. So much do see, so little time!

First up, Harvard Square... reminded us of North Campus on UGA

My picture got mixed up but our last stop stop of the day before racing back to the airport was a stop at the U.S.S. Constitution "Old Ironsides"- survived over 40 battles during the War of 1812. Pretty neat.
From Harvard we headed to JFK's Presidential Library right outside of Boston. It was pretty impressive and so pretty right on the water. Definitely glad we made the trek out there.

From JFK we headed back to Boston Harbor to catch a Harbor Cruise. The cruise was included in our Old Town Trolley Tour ticket and took us to the USS Constitution. Seeing Boston from the water just gave us another reason to love this city. It's amazing. They really have it all there.

And that's all folks. Until next time... hmmm, Asheville, Charleston, Thailand? We shall see.