Welcome Back, Regular Decor

All my Christmas decor has been packed away and it feels so good to have everything back to normal. :) 

Since I went very minimal with Christmas decor, it only took me 2 hours to pack it all away. After it was all put up, I did a little baking. I felt like I missed out on all the Christmas baking, due to the flu. So this was a fun afternoon for me. I called it my "New Years Baking." 

See that big book? That's full of dessert recipes I've been collecting over 30 years! When we first got married, I started out with a little recipe box. I quickly ran out of room in that little box and had to come up with a better (expandable) alternative.

On the left is my regular recipe book with main dishes, casseroles, appetizers, etc. and on the right is the dessert one..

These are just photo albums with the magnetic (sticky) pages. When I run out of room in a particular section, I just add more refill pages. I organized all my recipes a long time ago and it's been so helpful when looking for a particular one. 

I'm also getting some use out of my new mug...

I love how the house feels so fresh and clean after all the holiday decor is packed away...

This was my favorite gift wrap this year, so after Christmas, I sent my hubby to Hob Lob to get a couple more rolls. They were only $3.20 each!

Gotta love after Christmas sales! 

P.S. I'm working on another Favorite Things post, so stay tuned! 

Wishing you all a healthy, happy and prosperous new year! 

~Lisa 

Dry Shampoo, Boot Shapers and Reef Flip Flops

So I mentioned in my last post how I was grateful for dry shampoo and a lot of you emailed me and asked about it. This is the one I use...

Batiste Dry Shampoo. They have all kinds of scents, but I've always stuck with original. It's about $6. You just lift sections of your hair, shake the bottle and spray. Then massage in a bit, wait about 30 seconds then brush it out. It really helps when you don't have time for a complete shampoo job. It takes me about 40 minutes to shower, shampoo, double condition, towel dry my hair, apply straightening cream, blow dry and use the straightening iron. I don't always have time to do all that, so that's when this comes in handy. It'll buy you an extra day. :) 

So for over a year, I've been using two rolls of bubble wrap to keep my new boots upright. I know. I finally made a special trip to The Container Store to purchase bonafide boot shapers. Well worth it! 

My Hunters are stiff enough to stand up on their own, but these needed a little help to keep their shape. 

Speaking of footwear, I also got another pair of Reefs. I've talked about these before, but it's worth repeating because they're that good. 

Here are my new Reef flip flops...

I've had a pair for well over 5 years and worn them pretty much every day and they still look and feel brand new. I just wanted to add another color, so I ordered these. This version is called the "Sandy" and it comes in different colors. My size had been out of stock since July, but they finally got some in. They are my most comfortable shoes/flips. They have phenomenal arch support. I will seriously pack these when I know I'll be doing a lot of walking on vacation, shopping trips, etc. I wore them at SXSW because they were the only thing that held up to serious walking without giving me aches and pains in my feet. 

Click HERE to order these. 

I know it seems weird to wear flips instead of tennis shoes when doing a lot of walking, but these totally win over my tennies when it comes to comfort. 

And on the home front, these two are getting a little close, literally and figuratively...

And now that I have one dark colored kitty and one light colored, NONE of my clothes are safe from showing cat hair. Ha! 

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lisa 

Our Christmas 2017

Oh y'all...I had the flu right before Christmas and it was awful! I've never felt that bad in my life! I was basically on the couch for a solid week. (Thank goodness for dry shampoo!) It was terrible and the reason why I've missed so many of your posts. I finally started feeling better on Christmas day, and for that, I was very grateful. 

But leading up to the big day, my men had to do all the Christmas prep...all the baking, cleaning, grocery shopping and cooking. There was no way I could have accomplished all that with the flu. They did a really good job, without too much complaining. ;) 

Here's our Christmas dinner not prepared by me...

Texas Pecan Praline spiral sliced ham, hashbrown casserole, seasoned green beans with bacon and Sister Schubert rolls.

They even made all these desserts, including that almond torte!

 Christmas sandwich cream cookies, frosted sugar cookies and sand tarts. 

Delicious almond torte.

It all turned out really well and we had a great Christmas. I hope you did too!

Some of the gifts my boys gave me...

I've finally reached "Crazy Cat Lady" status, y'all! I'm so proud! Actually, I think I've been one all my life. :) 

And that Echo is pretty neat too. I'm always having Alexa remind me to do things. Much easier than setting an actual timer. Aren't we lazy these days?! What I'm not used to is my son talking to me through Alexa when he's not even home! Scared me earlier today when all of a sudden Alexa played her little tune and Logan started asking me a question. Ha ha! He uses the "drop in" on the Alexa app to scare me like that. He has an Echo in his room too and I can't wait to "drop in" and scare him as well. I think that's how I'll wake him up for school from now on. Ha ha! I have to admit, it is convenient and quicker than even texting. 

Wishing you all a happy new year filled with health and happiness!

~Lisa 

Christmas Decor 2017

I can't believe I got my Christmas decor out before December! I'm ahead of the game this year, even though I'm just now getting around to sharing it on here. :) 

I only put up one tree this year, instead of four and it feels so good to simplify! In fact, I didn't even put up the one tree, the boys did it all while I sipped coffee and watched. ;)

I went very minimal in the kitchen. One little wreath, some ribbon on my canisters, a cute little mug with candy canes and a snowman plate. 

Oh, and these red and green Lofthouse cookies, if they count. I'm sure they'll be purchased many more times this month. :) 

I kinda think my red mixer and greenery ball count too... 

Same thing in the dining room. Very minimal with a dough bowl filled with ornaments and our lighted houses. 

I even tried to get away with not putting out these houses, but my kids complained. It only took me 17 minutes though. Yes...I timed myself. Lol! 

I finally learned to use matte or sparkly ornaments so my reflection doesn't show in the pics. 

I spy Holly eating a snack. :) 

I even skipped putting wreaths on the backs of my chairs this year. 

I finally gave in and bought one of these cute snowbirds at Target...

This christmas tree with the jingle bells usually resides on an end table, but...#kitten. 

The "It's the most wonderful time of the year" sign is still a favorite of mine. Y'all probably remember it was a gift bag from the dollar spot. I just cut off the front and taped it on top of the glass in a frame.

Holly trying to decide if her vertical leap is going to be big enough to reach the top of the armoire. Spoiler alert...it wasn't. 

And here she is investigating the shelves. I thought about retaking these pics, but I think it's kind of funny how Holly photo bombed so many. :) 

 I took these pics before I made my DIY Christmas Tree Collar.  

Again with Holly trying to get inside the armoire. Wasn't there a similar pic of her doing this in my fall decor post? Those doors are usually open because our tv is in there. I guess when they're closed, she gets curious and wants to know why. 

And now Finn wants in on the action...

This is our family tree, the only one I put up this year. It's not fancy, but it's filled with all the ornaments my boys made when they were little, so it holds sentimental value. Although...I do think I need to add some bows next year. I'll look for some at the after Christmas sales. This tree also holds all our yearly ornaments. We use clear plastic ornaments and fill them with something significant that happened that year. We've been doing this for 27 years, since we got married. Some years represent vacations, new pets, new houses, etc. Last year was Dylan's College Graduation and his New Truck .

There's a pic of his truck on the other side. 

As you can see above, some years we could only find the clear ornaments with holes in them for potpourri. When we do find the ones below (without holes) we stock up. These ornaments come apart so you can fill them. I usually put a little batting inside to hold the things in place. Then I snap it back together and tie a ribbon through the hole for hanging and write the year on top with a paint pen. I bought a ton of that ribbon so they'd all match through the years. 

This year was Logan's High School Graduation , his SXSW Movie Premiere and the addition of Finn.

On the other side, there's a pic from his graduation and another one of Finn.

I spy a little sleepy Finn under the tree...

One more of baby Finn...

Do y'all like how I hide the cat tree behind the couch? I bet you didn't even know that was there. I'm sneaky like that. :) 

Thanks so much for stopping by! I wish you all a very merry holiday season!

~Lisa