Holiday Centerpiece & Our New Chandelier

Every year my Grandma has me do some centerpieces for our Christmas gathering at her house. The above centerpiece is what I came up with for the main, large dining table. I combined white david austin garden roses, spay roses, some Christmassy greenery, tulips and of course peonies, to make this holiday arrangement! I love how it turned out! I wish flowers never died :)

With the left over flowers from the big arrangement, I also did a little grouping of pretty blooms on my mom and dad's dining table, using mercury glass vessels on our West Elm runner.  It's a simple, yet beautiful centerpiece, especially below this stunning new chandelier we got for my parents' dining room. It truly is the crowning jewel of the room! It's officially done! You can see the whole living and dining room here. 

So if you need any last minute new years centerpiece ideas, find a few vases and arrange them in a vignette (grouping) on your table. It makes for a lovely set up! Also, how do you like our new chandelier? It's my favorite thing ever!

Happy New Years Eve!!! Have fun celebrating!
xoxo

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After Holiday Shopping Faves

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photo by Danielle Poff

Christmas has come and gone. I can't believe it! Thanks for your comments on my post yesterday. We had a wonderful time celebrating! I hope you did also.

Maybe you didn't quite get everything on your Christmas wish list OR maybe you got some shopping money in your stocking -- either way, it just might be time to bust out your Christmas money and spend a little chunk of it on YOU! Here are some of my favorite things that are on sale this week:

Anthropologie: Additional 25% off sale with code INAFLURRY
Nordstrom: Clearance Sale up to 50% off!
Sole Society: Up to 60% off with their after holiday sale

Let me know if you grab anything!
Happy Tuesday :) I'll be back tomorrow with a holiday (new years!) centerpiece idea!
xoxo

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Our Christmas Recap

Happy Monday! Have you all recovered? (Isn't it sad that we have to "recover" from Christmas?!) I can't believe the day has come and gone! In order to get back into the swing of things around here, I'm going to show you peeks into our week of Christmas.

We picked up my boyfriend in San Francisco on Monday night and headed straight for down town SF. Union Square is SO pretty at Christmas time-- the ice rink in the middle of the square, Macy's all decked out, and the tallest Christmas tree ever. We went to the Cheesecake Factory up at the top of Macy's with my family for dinner. It was delicious, and even more, we sat on the deck at the restaurant that over looks Union Square, so it was quite the view!

Next, we walked up to the Fairmont SF and saw all the gorgeous decorations. This is a stunning hotel any time of the year, but it really sparkles at Christmas. 

We took a family picture right outside the Fairmont in front of some beautiful twinkle lights.

Inside, they have a life-size gingerbread house. It was magical!

Next, I'm sharing our Christmas morning. It was a leisurely morning filled with fun gifts, laughter, family and the best thing of all, a reading of the Christmas story. Nothing is sweeter than my brother reading from the Bible over our delicious breakfast of egg casserole and coffee cake.

Hope loved her new "Teddy" that she found in her stocking!

Our stockings are some of my favorite Christmas decorations. My grandma cross-stitched each and every one. In fact, when my mom was little, she had my stocking. When I was born, my grandma ripped out her name and sewed my name on it. I love that my stocking has so much history!

Every year my mom makes a glorious coffee cake, egg casserole, fruit salad, and this year, we had mimosas!

(Yes, those are peonies! I found them at Whole Foods :))

Before we headed to my grandma's house to celebrate with the rest of the family, McCann was able to snap a family photo for us.  We couldn't leave out Hope!

On Christmas day, we had the new joy of little babes joining our celebration, as two of my cousin's just had babies! It was so fun to play with them :) (how cute is my grandma?!) 

That's a little recap of our week! How was yours?! I hope it was a sweet time with family and loved ones. 

Have a wonderful Monday!
xoxo

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The Best Gift

This, my friends, is the reason we celebrate. Christmas is often stressful and we can get caught up in the hustle and bustle, but I'm trying my best to make room for the true meaning of Christmas. I'm so thankful that God sent His son to the world to save us. That is the best gift of all!

I'm so excited that my boyfriend is here to celebrate Christmas with our family, so I'm taking the rest of the week off. Be sure to follow me on Instagram to keep up with what we're doing! 

Enjoy your week with friends and family! Merry Christmas!! :)
xoxo

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Two Christmas Cookie Recipes

My mom has been baking cookies for Christmas the last few days, and my dad, brother and I certainly are not mad about that ;) My all time favorite cookie is her peanut butter kiss cookies, so I thought I'd share that recipe, along with a white chocolate macadamia one as well.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies
Prep: 20 Min | Bake: 10 Min | Preheat 350

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
milk chocolate kisses

Directions: mix the peanut butter and sugar into one bowl, then once that's mixed thoroughly, add the egg and vanilla.  Roll the batter into small balls and place on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Once they're out of the oven, place a Hershey's kiss in the middle of each cookie.

This recipe is from my Aunt. They are some of my favorite cookies and always taste better when she makes them ;)

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Prep: | Bake: 10 min | Preheat: 375 

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup white chocolate baking chips (Ghirardelli)

1 cup chopped macadamia nuts (lightly salted type)

Directions: Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Beat butter and both sugars until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until well combined. Add flour mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in white chocolate baking chips and macadamia nuts.

  

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, on two ungreased cookie sheets. Bake until golden around edges, 10 to 12 minutes, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower oven racks halfway through baking. With wide spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

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Let me know if you try either of these! We are currently baking (as I type, I can smell them!) snickerdoodle cookies, so I will let you know how those turn out also. Our house is a cookied-out.We're ready for Christmas!

Have a wonderful Monday before Christmas!

xoxo

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Christmas Porch & Vignettes

I'm just so giddy with the Christmas spirit! I love putting up decorations with my mom. We usually spend most of our time decorating the living room, because the tree and mantel are in there, but we also like spruce up the rest of the house for Christmas, too. Today I'm sharing a few other nooks in our home, including the front porch.

For starters, we got a Snow Greens wreath (the same one as in my apartment in Michigan) to add some fresh greenery to our entry. The fragrance is amazing! Next, we set out our reindeer and adorned him with a little bow. He loves it ;)

  
Our Snowmen give a warm welcome to guests:

Poinsettias infuse color!

The buffet in our living room is kept simple and sweet. A little light up chapel covered in snow, candles, and a tray with a tree (for height), a picture (for a personal touch) and some sparkly pinecones (for texture) do the trick!

This is the bar cart in the kitchen. Adding a candy dish (I've been sneaking the contents of the jar way too often...) and a small poinsettia give it a festive feel. Trader Joes has the cutest mini plants for Christmas! Some even have glitter like this one:

In our breakfast nook in the kitchen, we just swag this berry garland on top of our mirror. I love this space!

The family room gets some love, too! We save the more colorful, playful items for this space. Filling a hurricane glass with ornaments is a great way to add some sparkle to your vignette. We always put out this little yarn Christmas tree on the left, because my mom's great grandma made it. It's a sweet sentimental touch! Finally, I placed some family photos in the middle and added some greenery. The wreath gives the table height.

We are hosting 3 guests this Christmas! My boyfriend, McCann, and my grandparents. The guest room is all set to go for our guests! Since it's a rather small space, we kept the decor simple and minimal. The nightstand has the CUTEST reindeer print from Elle & Company library (just subscribe and you'll find a world of adorable printables, Christmas cards, organizational tools, gift tags, and more!)

Then we accented with a vase of some greenery and berries and a snow globe with a golden retriever (she looks just like our old family pup!)

That's a little Christmas home tour in our house. If you missed other Christmas posts, here you go:

- Christmas Tree
- Mantel

Have a wonderful weekend before Christmas!
xoxo

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