StoryTimeSaturday: Bean boozled

We played "Bean boozled," over Christmas. It's an disgustingly awesome product by the makers of Jelly Belly. Essentially, there are different colored jelly beans and each color has the option of tasting like two different thing; one is delicious (like pears) and the other is revolting (like boogers). I took pictures as everyone bit into their selection, and it was so funny to see a) how people reacted and b) how quickly they realized whether it was dog food or chocolate pudding.

My almost-5-year-old niece Maia was an absolute hoot as she figured out she'd gotten rotten eggs and not banana.



Thanks to Jess for this post teaching me how to do my first GIF animation.

SaturdayObsession: Cuties

Cuties are my favorite Christmas treat. Screw the cookies and ham.



You'd think I'd weigh a little less after Christmas, but alas, I also ate cookies and ham.

FiveThingsFriday: 2011 recap

It was a big year — maybe my biggest to date —full of moments I'll remember forever. Here are five:


1. Jan. 1, 2011: I got married. In a giant blizzard.


2. April 29, 2011: My grandpa, and all-around greatest guy, died.


3. May 6, 2011: Got my iPhone.


4. Aug. 6, 2011: Went on my honeymoon to Paris and Berlin.


5. Nov. 5, 2011: Adopted Trudy.

Happy Christmas

I had a wonderful couple of days with my family and hope everyone celebrating this year can say the same.

I'm taking a couple of days away from my blog, but I will be back with a vengeance before the new year.

I will leave you with a little game of 'this is my baby' courtesy of my awesome family.

SaturdayObsessions: Gold glitter nails

I'm so in love with this new gold glitter nail polish.

FiveThingsFriday: make me smile

Christmas is almost here and I have to admit I'm in need of a smile. It's always so crazy going into the holidays. Troy is with his family on Christmas Eve because I have to work. I'm glad he was able to go but it makes for a lonely couple of nights at home. Alas, five things that made me smile today:

Source: 9gag.com via Heidi on Pinterest

Source: xojane.com via Heidi on Pinterest

Source: summertimedesigns.blogspot.com via Heidi on Pinterest

Source: puglypixel.com via Heidi on Pinterest

Source: epicurious.com via Heidi on Pinterest

PhotasticFriday: Displaying Christmas photos

I LOVE looking at Christmas photos. It's one of my favorite holiday traditions. Even today, looking through my mom's stack of holiday photos is one of the first things I do when we go home. When I was little, my mom would cover the entire front door with wrapping paper and stick on a ribbon to make it look like a giant present. Then we'd hang all of the holiday photos and cards on it as they came in the mail.




This is our first Christmas being married and really the first time we've sent out holiday cards, which meant we also received a bunch in return. I began hanging them on a piece of yarn with tiny clothes pins across our dining room windows.



It's super simple but a really fun way to display the photos.

Here are a few other examples I found around the web (All of the photos link back to the sources). I'm always up for some new ideas, so share 'em if you have 'em.

GiveThanksThursday: Christmas came early

I work this year on Christmas Eve, so Troy and I are actually spending it apart because he is going to see his family. Last night he surprised me with an early gift: an iPad! It was all I really wanted but out of the price range we usually spend for gifts. But he got it anyway. So sweet.

WeekinReviewWednesday: More Christmas prep

It's been another busy week in the lead-up to Christmas.



two holiday ales
a couple of furry christmas tree wreckers
friedy watches over tree / frosty watches over house
on a date day
new wheels and a cup of lipsticked joe

TuesdayTutorial over at Pamplemousse

Go check out my cake plate tutorial over on Maryam's blog, Pamplemousse 1983.

TuesdayTutorial: Easy Christmas tags

This is less a tutorial and more of a gift tag inspiration.



What you need:

• cardstock
• glue stick
• pen
• string

I made these Christmas tags one snowy afternoon last year, and they were so super easy and fun to create.

Go vote!

The Paper Mama has opened voting on her holiday photo challenge. I entered just for the heck of it, but there are some REALLY REALLY amazing photos on there. You can vote for three so go check it out.

Here's the photo I submitted:



And here's a random photo of my Christmas tree for your enjoyment:

MondayMust: My must-visit daily blog reads

Like many people who have blogs, I started mine because I loved reading others' posts. I follow what seems like a gajillion blogs, but there are a select few I impulsively check when I log on, regardless of whether a new post has popped up in my feed. Just to be clear, I don't do sponsoring on my blog, so these are truly my honest-to-goodness opinions.

Here they are:

The Paper Mama: I love Chelsey, her DIYs and photo contests. Mad props. And she always looks so darn cute. Check out her holiday party dress.

irocksowhat: Jess is an awesome mom with an awesome kid and awesome style. Both Jess and Chelsey (the Paper Mama) are amazing designers and photographers. They are attending the Alt Design Summit in January, which looks like such a blast.
 


Bleubird Vintage: I've followed this little lady for so long. She has three gorgeous kids and a fantastic vintage home.



A is for &: Amy is so adorably cute and so is her blog. Definitely check this one out, especially this new post on DIY fox gloves.



Sometimes Sweet: Danielle is another one of those bloggers I've followed for a really long time. She's cute and so is her family. She also posts from really frank entries about blogging and life in general. She and her husband Hank went to a Mad Men theme party this weekend, and the photos are great.

Ramblings and Photos: Ashley hosts a weekly Sunday Scavenger Hunt for photography, and it's been such a great inspiration to get me out shooting more again. I've slacked a bit lately in participation, but I encourage everyone to give it a try even if just one week. I just might even get some photos posted for this week's prompts.

say YES! to hoboken: Liz is one busy lady with all of her blogging. She has impeccable taste and fantastic project ideas. I think I pin pretty much every one of her posts. I am totally going out to get some paint chips to make these DIY paint chip ornaments today.

I'm sure I'm forgetting more than a few, but these are my absolute musts. What are your favorites? I'm always looking for new blogs to follow.