New Years Resolutions/Goals

The new year is here and that means that it is like to reflect on the past year but also plan for the new year ahead. I know a lot of people don’t like to make new years resolutions because they never stick and people make up ridiculous goals that they won’t be able to meet. But for me, I like to set goals and have something to work towards. I like to look at the new year as a fresh start, especially after the stressful holiday season.

⁃ Be healthier: as in take better care of myself in many different aspects such as

taking better care of my skin. This is something that I have really struggled with but I am determined to work on getting this under control, by having a scheduled skin care routine and sticking to it. Something that isn’t too hard but also is enough to actually work. I also want to make scheduled dermatologist appointments, I used to go to a dermatologist, but it was really far away from my house and was hard to get in to so I am on the hunt for a new one that is closer to my house.

⁃ Be smarter with my money: This is something that I really struggle with but there are so many sources out there that can help you with this problem. One of the websites the can help is personalcapital.com. This website has financial tools such as helping you to find hidden fees and figuring out if you are on track financially. There is also a retirement planner section that is so important to start planning for your retirement early.

⁃ Work harder: I mean this as in work harder in school and in life. You can always do better and keep achieving new goals. For me, that's through school and my blog. Also in relationships with everyone in my life, I think it is so important to have a good relationship with the people in your life. They should be there for you and you should be there for them.

Let me know what your new year's resolutions are! Happy New Year everyone I hope it's filled with lots of success and joy. 

New Years Eve Outfit Ideas

Dress 1 | Dress 2 | Dress 3

My favorite part about New Year's eve is the attire that can come along with it. It's a time to dress up and celebrate and that usually calls for sequins which I am all about. I picked out a few dresses that I thought are perfect for the celebratory night. Express is always my one stop shop when it comes to going out attire, they have literally the cutest night out clothes, my friends and I are obsessed. 

Outfit: Sleeveless top | Faux leather pants | Glitter wristlet | Lace up heels | Tassel earrings

I am loving the look of leather pants right now I think these are so cute and this sleeveless sweater is amazing tucked into these leggings. I am also loving these lace up heels they are so cute!

I hope that everyone has an amazing New Years Eve and I will talk to you again in the new year!

My Christmas Day

I hope everyone has an amazing Christmas with lots of yummy food and family time!

This is my last blogmas post so I want to take this time to thank you for supporting my blog and I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. 

Merry Christmas from my house to yours.

Evelyn Henson photos

Friday Finds (Christmas Edition)

This video of the police giving gifts instead of tickets: I love this video, I actually saw this video a few years ago and it always puts me in a good mood. I love to see the looks on the faces of the people when they receive the gifts. Everyone looks so shocked and so happy I love it! 

These target Christmas PJ's: Every year my mom, my sister, and I get matching Christmas pajamas and these are the ones we picked this year. I think so far these are my favorites. You can see my blog post on these pajamas here. 

This article about surprising facts about White Christmas the movie: White Christmas is one of my favorite movies. I love all the singing and dancing, and the costumes that the girls wear are absolutely amazing!  Did you know that Geroge Clooney's aunt is in the movie, her name is Rosemary Clooney and she plays Betty's Haynes. This article says that the two did not get along very well. There's a lot of interesting facts in this article, it's definitely worth a read if you are a White Christmas fan.

Mini Hallmark Christmas Ornaments: I love Hallmark ornaments and I especially love the minature ones I think they are so cute! I have an entire tree dedicated to just the miniature ones. You can see my favorites from this year here.

Last Minute Gift Ideas

I can't believe that we are this close to Christmas. It is now crunch time, where we have to get everything we need now, or never. I came up with a few items that I thought would be perfect for that last minute small gift to grab for someone. I usually keep the people that I don't really now, like coworkers or distant friends till the last minute because I am never sure what to get them. 

Starbucks Ecard | Visa gift card | Target gift card 

I think that gift cards are always a good idea. Target is my favorite to get people, because there is something for everyone in that store. This cute Starbucks card with the gingerbread man on it is an e-card that you can send someone online and I also think that's a great idea. This is a good idea for a long distance family member or friend. 

A thousand wishes | Warm Vanilla sugar | hand sanitizer set

I personally think that bath and body works is always a good idea. I love these little gift sets because they are so easy and already look so cute with little effort! I love the hand sanitizer set, this is a perfect teacher gift because you can never get enough hand sanitizer working in a school. I also love the variety of the warm vanilla set. 

Cocoa for Santa mug | Christmas sweater mug | Santa mug

How cute are the Christmas mugs!! I am obsessed with these mugs I already bought a couple for Christmas gifts and actually used one in my work grab bag. The lady that got it said she was going to make her french cappuccino in it which I thought was so funny and so cute! I love the Santa face one, they also have a reindeer one which is equally as cute!

New Years Eve Inspiration

Banner | Champagne balloon | Crowns  | 2017 Balloon | New years eve movie

I love the idea of New years eve, but I feel as though the night is so glorified and at least for me I always want it to be more than it actually is. But I am determined to have a good night this year no matter what happens. One thing about New Years that I do love it the decor that comes along with it. I love these 2017 headbands, I think they are so fun, I have to get some to wear out this year!

Some things to do:

- If you are over 21 going out to a bar with a few friends to have a couple of drinks.

- Stay in and watch movies, I love the movie New Years Eve and it is perfect for the occasion. 

- Throw a party, this way you have an excuse to buy all the cute decor.

Even though there are high expectations for this night, it's supposed to be a night that is fun and to bring in the new year no matter how you celebrate.

Favorite Hallmark Ornaments

Honeysuckle angel | Guardian Angel | Santa's Tiny Timekeeper | Sweet little mouse house |

Poppy Holidays | A little frosty fun

I love the collection of miniature ornaments that Hallmark has, these ornaments are so tiny but so cute! I have way too many, so I thought I would share some of my favorites you with guys. This year hallmark made "magic" mini ornaments, which just means that they light up, but I think it's pretty cool. The magic ones are the popcorn machine and the gingerbread house. I have an entire 4' tree with all of my mini ornaments on it and I have to say putting together this tree makes me so excited for Christmas every year! 

The honeysuckle angel one is for membership holders only but I found the link to one on amazon. This is a mini version of the first in the mary's angels series (I am very serious about my Hallmark mini ornaments😂  ).  I would have to say that my favorite this year is gingerbread one because I think it is so cool that it can light up!

Let me know what your favorite ornaments are!

Christmas PJ's

Christmas Pajama set 

One tradition that I have with my mom and sister (My dad and brother don't get into it) is that we get matching Christmas PJ's every year you can see last years here. These pajamas are from target and I have to say that these are my favorites so far. I love the saying on the shirt because it is so true lol!

These are also so soft I am not going to take them off all day on Christmas and then I am going to live in them after that! 

 I love that I  did this post with my mom and sister because it was so much fun we didn't stop laughing. But also because you can see these pajamas on three different people and see how cute they are on each of us! Let me know what your favorite Christmas tradition is!

Homemade Christmas Stockings

First we cut out the pattern, this pattern had two different sized stockings, a gift sack, and a Christmas tree skirt for only 99￠. This was slightly difficult because the pattern had so much stuff on it and it was so big that it was difficult to maneuver around it.

Second we folded the plaid fabric in half and cut out two pieces to make the outside of the stocking. We cut around the outer of the pattern to make room to fold the inside in.

Third, we cut out the lining which was soft and fuzzy but super hard to cut. We also folded this fabric in half to cut out two pieces and the sewed the plaid and the linings together to make two halves and then sewed each half together. Next, we cut out a new piece of the lining to make the top piece that folded over.

My favorite part about Christmas morning is seeing what's in my stocking when my brother and sister and I were little my mom made us matching homemade stockings that have all of our names on them. This year I noticed that Kyle didn't have one, so I thought it would be fun to make him one. I thought it was going to be super hard but thanks to Kaitlin it wasn't hard at all. The worst part was cutting the white fuzzy inner lining. We got a pattern and the fabrics from hobby lobby all for under 20$. It was actually really fun to do and we made Kaitlin one too so now we all have one!!

A big thanks to Kait I couldn't have done this without her!

Christmas Through The Years

 Baby me!

 This was our family Christmas card of 2007 my mom and dad like to get 

creative with our cards. My little sister (in the middle) is now 14, she looks so little in this picture, she was and still is so adorable, my brother too.

 This picture was taken in Wildwood New Jersey where we went every year for the first 

15 years of my life. We also took a picture of the three of us buried in the sand with our Santa hats on which I can't find at the moment. Everyone kept walking past us telling us how good of an idea this was.

 So this Christmas card was taken in 2012 and for the people who know my sister will tell you that this picture describes us perfectly. She is a spitfire who is full of energy and craziness that also does not stop talking no matter how much you might beg her. But she is also the sweetest and caring girl (she wins awards for how nice she is.. not even kidding.) The caption of this photo was "Wishing you a silent night. 

This was last year Christmas card, we wore our ugly Christmas sweaters and look at my sister's face can you say sassy?? We already have our plan for this years card so be on the lookout for that in an upcoming post.

Christmas Cookie Recipes!

One of my favorite Christmas activities is baking Christmas cookies (who doesn't love it?) sneaking cookie dough behind mom's back and the smell that consumes the house are my favorite things. My mom always makes a ton of cookies and gives them away to various people but also makes a ton for my family. Her specialties are Italian lemon cookies, snicker doodles, and peanut butter blossoms. 

Recipes:

Italian lemon drop cookies: 

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F, for cookies, cream together sugar and shortening and eggs and lemon extract and beat well. Add flour, baking powder and salt; mix well. The dough will be soft and sticky. With a small cookie scoop, drop dough onto a slightly greased cookie sheet, spacing them about 2-inches apart. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until firm or lightly brown. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and allow to cool completely on wire racks. 

For frosting, combine confectioners' sugar, water and lemon extract and mix until smooth. Frost the tops of each cookie with a metal spatula and allow cookies to dry before stacking. 

Snicker doodles:

1/2 cup of butter flavor Crisco

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt 

3 teaspoons milk

1/4 sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Creme together Crisco, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt, add butter to mixture and then milk. combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Refrigerate dough for 15 minutes roll into balls about 1inch, dip in sugar and cinnamon place on cookie sheet and bake at 375. 

Peanut butter blossom cookies:

1 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

 Preheat oven to 325 and combine all ingredients into a bowl. Roll dough into 24 balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Press down with a fork bake for about 15 minutes. Add a Hershey kiss on top.

(All recipes can be found on food.com)

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