Feel Good Friday 102

Happy Friday! Are you getting into the holiday spirit yet? Usually, come November 1, I am the girl blasting Christmas tunes, baking cookies, and stringing lights. This year has been one of the hardest of my life and I am struggling to get into it. I’ve ordered a couple of new pieces and plan to start my decorating this weekend and I am hoping it inspires me. As a fried pointed out to me, it’s also OK to have an off year and I may just embrace it for what it is. Time will tell. In the meantime, here are some of the little things adding some much needed light.

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Tree-t Yo’self

I’ve been trying to get excited about holiday decorating and the season in general by allowing myself to get a few new pieces to add to my collection. We had a $75 credit to use at West Elm from purchasing our sectional recently so I decided to put it to use. When I saw these giant champagne colored bottle-brush trees, I knew they’d be perfect on the mantel. My plan this year is to go a little simpler, modern, and more neutral in this space with black, white, browns and golds. I just ordered these candles to put in my candleholders you see there.

I also brought in that rusty brown with some new velvet pillows from World Market. I love how they look with my existing pillows and the green Holly Jolly velvet one I found last year. (Note: I also ordered black plaid from West Elm that I’ve already added, but you’ll have to wait for my Christmas tour. Again, these can be used not just at the holidays, which makes me happy!) (Also, here’s a cute affordable green velvet holiday pillow.)

Oh Sheet (pan)

I am a big fan of sheet pan dinners because they’re so easy and clean up is a breeze. I had broccoli and sweet potatoes from the farmers market and salmon in the freezer so I looked for a recipe including those ingredients plus other things we already had on hand. This maple glazed salmon dinner was the winner. It was delicious and simple. I paired it with a salad of greens, apples, toasted walnuts, red onions, cranberry goat cheese from Trader Joe’s and a maple dijon vinaigrette I made up. Chris loved the salad especially! I should have written down what I did for the dressing, but I know it was olive oil, maple syrup, dijon mustard, cider vinegar and salt and pepper.

Burning Question

This week, I took my boy mom squad (friends from Wilder’s pre-K) to my favorite candle shop, Scent Workshop. Needless to say, they all fell in love with the store and its concept and I fell in love with the new candle scent I created: Gingerbread Latte. You need to wait a few days to burn after creating, so I can’t wait to light mine this weekend! You can also order kits to make candles at home. These make awesome gifts.

Holiday Romcom

Emmy and I couldn’t wait for last Friday night. Netflix had just released Love Hard and we were anxious to snuggle up and watch it. We loved the movie itself. The story and humor were fantastic. The only thing that bugged me was that there was zero chemistry between the characters who were supposed to be falling in love. Other than that, a feel-good Christmas movie worth watching. Check out the trailer:

Rainbow connection

Last weekend, I had a special moment with a rainbow and shared it with my Facebook friends. It was so special that I decided to reshare it here. If you aren’t aware, Sarah is my friend and old business partner who passed away on October 4. Sunday would be her 44th birthday.

New Poetry Book

Oy, it’s been a while since I’ve read a book. I honest to goodness have barely had time. When I do, I get 10 pages and crash and the book I’m reading currently is over 600 pages. But this week, my new Kate Baer book that I pre-ordered arrived and I love what I’ve glimpsed so far. She has a way to say what we’re all feeling.

Life’s Little Moments

This week, life had a lot of special little moments and in the end, they really add up. Don’t they?

My neighbor and baker extraordinaire invited Emmy over to teach her to decorate cookies last weekend. It was great for Emmy to get out of the house since lately our weekends are spent at home with Wilder and no Chris around. It can be a lot and she’s a huge help to me. I felt like she deserved a break doing something fun! Apparently, she’s a natural, too.

I was invited to speak on a panel with three other local women in business this week. It was an honor to be asked and I really enjoyed the experience. I do like to talk. 😉 Mostly though, I was inspired by the women who spoke and all of the women in attendance. Something truly special happens when women come together in support of one another. We should all be cheering each other on in our endeavors. One of the hosts of the event offered to take quick headshots before, so here I am! Thank you, Madalyn!

And speaking of photos, this week Sawyer had his X-country banquet (outdoors) and we received the photos we ordered. Can someone please explain to me how my first-born baby became a man overnight? I am utterly confused.

And now for a couple of moments with the littlest in the fam. Emmy got some bubbles when she was trick-or-treating so she passed them on to Wilder. We had a beautiful week, so we spent time outside blowing his new bubbles.

Wilder and I also have a favorite late afternoon/post-nap activity. We take the dogs together for a short walk. Wilder plays in the leaves, chases squirrels and points out all of the fun decorations. Lately, he loves to be the one to walk Snowball. She’s small and gentle, so the perfect “dog-walking-starter-kit.” Ha!

Well friend, that’s all I have for today. Please tell me how you’re getting into the Christmas spirit this year, because I could use some help. I thought maybe eating cookies would help, but so far 57 in a row has done nothing for me.