Family

As I reflect on 2015, I realize it has been a year of a lot of transitions. We moved back to Phoenix and slowly settled back into our lives here. I reconnected with friends and former colleagues. We explored some of the fun things to do around the valley with toddlers and visited some of the great nature Arizona has to offer.

My mom posted this cute DIY handprint Christmas ornament on her Facebook page and I thought it seemed like a really fun activity to do with the kids. So last weekend, we set out to try this DIY baking soda clay to create handprint ornaments the kids could hang on our tree. I used this recipe as the basis for my baking soda clay DIY Christmas ornaments.

Finding cool gifts for my husband is usually my biggest Christmas shopping challenge. I tend to give him sweaters or other clothes, which is just so boring. To find some inspiration, I searched all over to find unique gifts for men under $50. The list I developed has a wide range of options including things for outdoorsy, handy, or techy guys. When I showed it to my husband, he got really excited about the mini – drone.

I love the holidays for many reasons — spending time with family, decorating our tree, finding the perfect gifts for my loved-ones — but one of my absolutely favorite parts is finding and trying new Christmas cookie recipes.

I love December—full of holiday baking, parties and decorating. I also love the opportunity to buy a flirty and feminine holiday dress for Christmas parties or New Years Eve. At the same time, I try to find reasonably priced party dresses because I hate spending a ton on something I’ll probably only wear once or twice. Plus, most of us need to watch our budgets during the holidays with all the added expenses with buying gifts and traveling to spend time with family.

During the holidays, I always search for Italian-inspired recipes to try, as a way to connect to my heritage. Last year, it was Italian wedding cookies and Florentine lace cookies. This year, it’s homemade chocolate peppermint biscotti.

How this Green Bay, Wisconsin girl came to make Sock It To Me Cake from scratch is a bit of an interesting story. Jade and I were chatting about recipes that remind us of the holidays. He mentioned how Sock It To Me cake became a holiday tradition for his family because his mother loved it so much, his family often made it for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other special occasions. They even left it out for Santa one year!

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. I can’t believe it. As most of us are planning what we’re going to cook or bring to your family’s dinner, it’s about time you think about what to wear on Thanksgiving.

For me, Thanksgiving dinner is really about the sides. The turkey gets all the hype, but I could not care less about the bird (even though my hubby has a magical ability to make it really tasty). I’m a side dish gal all the way. As a kid, I would fill my plate with mashed potatoes (extra butter) and the fresh from the oven, still warm, dinner rolls. Yes, quite the healthy dinner plate.