Christmas is Coming... The Goose is Getting Fat

Thanksgiving has come and gone in a flash this year! It seems like just yesterday I was up 'til the wee hours of the morning because the turkey had not thawed in the recommended two + days it had been in the fridge. (It might have had something to do with J not thinking the fridge was cold enough and turning the thermostat to nearly freezer temps. OOPS!)

While we had a few mishaps (guests arriving two hours late and our not-old-enough flat screen deciding to go to electronic heaven during the football game), the day was filled with laughter and fellowship. I was almost thankful that the tv decided it had had enough because we spent much more time just enjoying being together.

I tried not to make too much food this year, as J was leaving town on Saturday, and was pleased to see the leftovers were out of the fridge by the time he left. On Friday, we went to the forest and cut down a tree-- the forest service issues Christmas tree permits here to help get rid of beetle-kill trees. After pulling all of the decorations up from the crawl space, I had very little motivation to get into the holiday spirit. I did manage to get our holiday cards in the mail this morning. But, I'm really having a hard time believing that tomorrow marks the first day of December and that the day after that, my baby brothers turn 21. Time surely flies!! I hope to get off my booty to put the decorations on the tree tonight while listening to some holiday music. There's nothing like music to get you in the mood! (And sweets, but I made sure to bring all of those in to work for others to eat instead!)

Let the Sales Begin!

Stop by one of my favorite sites for some discounted shopping Friday and Monday. Happy shopping! (The pic links to the site.)

Another One Bites the Dust...

Did you hear that InStyle Weddings is closing too? It seems as though the magazine world just isn't what it used to be.

If I Had a Million Dollars...

(If I had a million dollars)... well, I'd buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress, that's cruel). For some reason, I've had this Barenaked Ladies song in my head for weeks. I'm thinking it's from all of the window shopping I've been doing lately. (I like to call it "abandoning my cart" because I stuff my cart on the internets just to see how much the bill would be.) Every time I see something I like, this song starts streaming through.

Just a few of the items that have caught my eye on Etsy lately:

^source

^source

^source

^source

^source

^source

^source

^source

^source

^source

I could go on forever, but I don't have a million dollars.

Speaking of Photo Books...

Shutterfly is offering 40% off your entire order right now with the code SAVE40. Don't forget-- you can get an additional 15% off if you log in through Ebates! Now would be a great time to make a book for your parents, grandparents... or even a guest book for your wedding!

Hurry-- offer ends Monday!

Vendor Spotlight: Adrienne Beth Photography

Do you live in the Cincinnati area or Northern Kentucky? Are you looking for a photographer? Look no further than Adrienne Beth Photography.

Adrienne is a fellow blogger who's fascinated with weddings and football. Check out the pics she took of this little kiddo at a recent game.

Do you recognize the girl in this pic? She's none other than Jessica from Tying the Knot! Give Adrienne a shout to find out her rates-- she's up for couple's sessions, engagement pics, kiddos, you name it! Mention you heard about her on my blog, and you'll get 10% off!

Christmas Shopping- Check!

Usually, I have all of our Christmas shopping done long before November. The key to being done so early is buying throughout the year. The problem with that-- sometimes you forget what you've bought! I've always been really good about keeping four large baskets on the shelf in the spare bedroom closet to house all of the purchases I've made for others. I have to admit that Christmas shopping has thrown me a bit off this year. I had begun my usual process of picking items up as I found them, but then we decided to give our family members albums from our wedding instead. We understand that not everyone wants to see a bunch of pics of us, but we've received so many picture requests from our immediate family that we thought photo books were the best bet.

I started compiling pics on Shutterfly and Kodak Gallery last month-- believe me when I say the process takes quite some time! Putting together an album takes quite a bit of thought. I decided the best layout for us was in a timeline fashion that depicted the wedding week as it took place. After creating a book for my grandparents who weren't able to make it to Colorado, the book for my dad and step-mother was a lot easier to picture. I'm still in the process of putting together the other books, but they're so time consuming that I have to take little breaks here and there. I had the most fun including some pre-wedding festivity pics that ranged from the riding the alpine slide, hiking, rafting, and horseback riding to mani/pedis, J's baseball game and our rehearsal/rodeo night. It was nice to look through all of the pics with fresh eyes and see how much fun everyone had. (I have to post a few just because!)
*Our flower girl/niece had just commented on our matching boots, hence my skirt being pulled up.
We made our first two books through Kodak Gallery because, at the time, the price was a bit better than Shutterfly. Now, the situation is reversed. But, the best part of the deal-- Ebates is offering 15% cash back on Shutterfly purchases and 10% cash back at Kodak Gallery. I seriously do not buy anything online unless I check Ebates first. I'm honestly bummed that I didn't find out about the site until after I purchased my wedding dress on Ebay! That extra moolah would have come in handy.

Holiday Cards- Check!

I grew up sending holiday cards and have kept up the tradition ever since leaving home after high school. J and I noticed that over the past few years the number of photo cards we were receiving was growing exponentially. After writing the umpteenth note in our cards last year, J swore that we'd only send picture cards from now on. I have only really been a fan of the photo cards that had very professional-looking pictures, so I wasn't really excited to send out photo cards unless we had a really good picture of us. We had hoped to get a great picture of us and our dogs in the snow, but the weather didn't come upon us this winter as quickly as we'd expected... so, we went with a wedding pic, much to J's chagrin.

We saw that Tiny Prints (the sister company of Wedding Paper Divas) was having a sale on their holiday photo cards, so we pulled the trigger. (Use code TPSHIPSALE to save up to $30 and receive free shipping on your order!)

These were the finalists:

This one was my favorite.I told J he could pick his favorite, so we ended up with this one. Very traditional, but I like the calligraphy-like font. Just because I can, I'm posting our actual pic for your viewing pleasure.

Have you ordered your holiday cards yet? Where do you plan to order them?

Gotta Love Non-Pro Pics

You may remember that I was a bit bummed that our photographer didn't capture quite a few of the details of our wedding. Well, we just received two CDs of non-pro pics, and I was ecstatic that we at least got a few glimpses of the details that were missing.

Kids' Place Setting (after a bit of interference from said kids):

Aisle Decor:
Entry table (pic was taken pre-ceremony--we put bouquets on here once the reception started; you can barely see the bags we had for the centerpiece take-homes):

It looks awfully plain in the pic, but with the flowers, it was pretty. We still didn't get any of the drink table, but I'm slowly getting over it. It's fun to be looking through new pics nearly 4 months after the wedding. FOUR months! Time really flies.

Save 30% at Gap's Friends and Family Sale

Hello, friends! I'm sure most of you wouldn't mind saving a little bit of moolah at Gap, Old Navy or Banana Republic this weekend! Don't have a 30% off code? Shoot me an email (from my profile), and I'll send an email with the code to the first 15 people to email me. (There's a limit to the number I can invite, hence the low number.) Happy shopping!