A holly jolly Christmas

December is here -- which means Christmas is coming upon us! I love Christmas. Well, I love holidays in general, but I love Christmas. I love the music, the movies, the decorations, the "cheer" that I feel because of all of these things.

Here is what I am loving this Christmas season:

DIY yarn snowman

glittery table decor

intimate table. love. 

Christmas lemonade! 

glittery trees for table decor       

if I lived in the far-out country

Thanksgiving dessert! YUM!!!

In my last post, I talked about how how I love decorating for holidays, and I discussed what this year's Thanksgiving inspiration was.

This time, I want to discuss food. Well, dessert to be more specific. I love food, but I loooooove dessert. The Hubs is always having to help me with my portion control because honestly, who can have just one slice of pie or cake? Who can have just one cookie?! Not this girl....

While I normally like to make my traditional pumpkin pie and pumpkin bars every Thanksgiving, this year I wanted to try and switch it up a bit and try a couple of desserts that are Thanksgiving-ish, but also a bit different too. While perusing pinterest, I came across this and decided to give a few of these a try.

I've decided I still want to do my regular pumpkin desserts, but I am also going to make:

Pecan Cheesecake Pie

Sweet Potato Cupcake w/ Marshmellow Frosting

Mini Pumpkin Cakes

Don't these all lok delicious?! I can't wait to make them! 

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving desserts to make -- or just to eat?! 

love,

Emma 

Thanksgiving planning

I love Thanksgiving.... I love the fact that our family all gets together and shares delicious food, and that's ALL it is about. It's not about presents, it's not about having to rush around the mall and boutique stores trying to find that perfect gift. It's about being together with the ones you love. Period.

Ever year as Thanksgiving is upon us I always get so may great ideas to decorate the house because I absolutely looooove the fall decor that comes around Thanksgiving time! The colors are so warm -- all the red, yellow and orange hues -- are beautiful.

This year I am really trying to focus on my table settings around the house. There are so many great ways to dress up a table, not only the day of Thanksgiving, but for the whole month leading up to the holiday. I know for me personally, getting out holiday decorations in the beginning of that holiday's month always gets me in the mood for that holiday even more!

Here are some of my decor inspirations this year:

I love everything about this picture

I am LOVING banners this year! 

great kids table! 

how great are these items?! 

How about all of you? What is your Thanksgiving inspiration this year?! 

love, 

Emma 

Embracing the life you have...

Life. It starts, continues, and ends for each of us. But life as a whole goes on. And on. And on. 

Our moment in this world is but just a tiny spec of the history and future of life. We deal with hardships, and we get to celebrate accomplishments and the good times we have. Regardless of the cards we are dealt, we only get one life to live. That's it -- just ONE. 

we only get one

So how do you plan to spend your one life? 

I consider myself to be one blessed lady. I come from a great and supportive family. We had our struggles and challenge but we always got by. I have a wonderful group of friends that I consider to be as close and important as my own sisters. I met the man of my dreams and got to marry him. He is known as Hubs and I adore him. Our "child" is Jackson, our golden retriever who goes with us everywhere. Someday we'll have kids of our own, but for now, we are just enjoying the ride we're on. 

Life is complicated. It's messy, it's hard, and it's not always fair. But it's also beautiful. It's inspiring, challenging and wide open to however we choose to live it. So how do you choose to live it? How do you choose to live this one precious life that you have been granted?

love,

Emma