… snow in the North, South, East & West always means a day off work and unnecessarily wonderfully, gloriously large marshmallows bobbing in cocoa.

Whimsy & Spice

… dessert arrives on something fluted, pedestaled, and minified promptly after breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Jeanette Zeis Ceramics

… bath time is celebrated with aplomb aplum acherry.

Fairy Bubbles

… lunch is picnic-ed in springtime Central Park, 365 days a year.

Art Shark Designs

…wine bottles never catch …

I love buying and giving gifts. It is honestly one of my favorite things about the holiday season. I’ve never read the book or taken the quiz, but I would guess it is my “love language.” Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve been told I’m a fantastic gift giver. My friends are typically delighted when I remember that one item they saw earlier in the year or treat them to something they wouldn’t normally buy themselves.

Despite my gift-giving …

November 15 was my second wedding anniversary, and this year I decided to give Chris a present that followed the more traditional gifts that are outlined by year.  For the second anniversary, tradition follows that the gift be cotton.  Since we don’t actually live by any cotton fields, and a cotton ball is a little silly, I decided to get Chris a cotton sweater he can wear now that the days are getting chilly.

Here is a list of the traditional …

If you’re anything like me, December did a pretty good job of sneaking up on you… I still have a perfectly good pumpkin display on my porch, and yet, there are holiday cards popping up in my mailbox on a daily basis!

Yes, it looks like it’s officially time to engage in the December Mall Parking Wars (or, if you prefer, the Will-It-Or-Will-It-Not-Be-Shipped-In-Time-For-Christmas Quiz Show).   To help keep your holiday merry and stress-free, here are a few of my favorite …

On the morning of our first anniversary, we paid tribute to our Mexican honeymoon with chilaquiles. The dish typically consists of corn tortillas, green or red salsa or mole, eggs, and sometimes pulled chicken. We made ours with lots of tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro.

Following breakfast, it was time to exchange gifts. We both had fun following the paper tradition and added touches of our own.

For him: a hand-cut card from Etsy seller Storeyshop that paid tribute to our spontaneous wedding …

Our first wedding anniversary is quickly approaching – I cannot believe that its already been one year since we said “I do!”  {See the full wedding recap here, if you’re curious!}

{Historic Covered Bridge in Oregon’s Williamette Valley}

Our big celebration will take place during our week-long trip to Oregon at the very end of the month, but we still deserve a few small tokens to commemorate our very first year on March 28th, yes?

Yes!

While I’m not always a stickler for antiquated …

You know when you’re not physically ill but, for whatever reason, you’re just not feeling so hot?   My mom’s response to complaints of these sorts of general feelings of malaise is always the same:  ”Take a shower – you’ll feel better!”  I like to think of it as her version of Gus Portokalos‘ “put some Windex on it!”

Anyhoo, I used to roll my eyes at this suggestion, but – as with many things in life – mom’s advice works …

As Christmas approaches I’ve started to receive emails from readers who seem to mistakenly believe I am some kind of camera expert. :) I am most definitely not, although I do have some opinions regarding what cameras I think are the best bet for certain consumers. My recommendations for this post will all be Canon, as I think it’s a great brand and the one I’m most familiar with. I think Nikon has equivalents for each one of these, and …

Husband and I have a teeny tiny gift budget and so it’s important for me to get creative when Christmas rolls around. We narrowed down our list to the least amount of people I felt comfortable buying gifts for (there are few things worse than receiving a nice gift from someone you didn’t buy one for!), and I went to town coming up with ideas that wouldn’t break the bank. Here’s what I came up with. (And yes I take …

Nope.  I’m not talking about that list of qualities your fairytale in-laws possess in your dreams… You know, the dreams where eating organically isn’t considered “hippie” and you and your mother-in-law share the exact same tastes and shoe-size?  No?  Just me?  Humph.

I’m talking Christmas Wish Lists + The In-Laws… i.e.: Sticky Situation in the Making, right?

Telling Evs’ parental units what I want for Christmas continues to be awkward for me… This is definitely one of those aspects of marriage that …