{post christmas craziness}

{Jack and Mommy in DC}

Hey everyone! Sorry about the unannounced absence from my blog last week - we had Christmas with different family members from Wednesday until Monday. It was a busy week! I hope everyone had a wonderful time with family and friends. Our first Christmas with Jack was wonderful (he wasn't so into the gifts and food, but he was definitely fun to snuggle). Emma was adorable opening everything in sight (whether it was for her or not....) and Bran and I had a great time just getting to hang out.

On the Monday after Christmas I took the kids to DC with my mom, sister and her hubby, and my cousins Alex and Joey.  We went to Bobby's Burger Palace for lunch, then headed to Georgetown to walk around. It was great, and the weather was beautiful! I'm loving how warm it's been!

Bran had LASIK surgery yesterday so we're spending New Year's weekend hanging close to home. What are your plans?

I'll leave you with this quote from one of my favorite authors:

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.” — G.K. Chesterton

Happy New Year!

{ordered!}

Think I'll be able to get them out before Christmas? We'll see! Here's a preview...

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

 

Are you sending out cards this Christmas? I love shutterfly. They are definitely my go-to for any kind of photo cards (I've used them for Christmas cards, announcements, and even a valentine's day card the first year we were married!). Who do you like to use?

{new look and a video!}

Hey everyone! Finally got around to updating the look of the old blog and I'm happy with the results :) I'm still threatening to switch over to my own domain (I own marriedlane.com, but haven't gotten a chance to mess with things to make it all pretty over there yet!). But for now I thought some vintage photography and new colors would be fun.

I'm totally in love with this clip. I hope it brings some summery warmth to your cold winter day (plus I'm totally going to try these next summer).


S'Meaches from Claire Thomas on Vimeo {via} .

{b&w}

{woodland baubles; £25.00}

{via}

I'm always looking for new ways to use color, especially when it comes to Christmas. I'm not a fan of the typical red and green, which is impossible to avoid in some cases (NOT going to have a white Christmas tree). You can imagine my excitement when I got the latest catalog from Niki Jones and the featured colors were black and white! I'm thinking about doing some black and white with pops of color to add some variety. Would you use black and white to decorate for Christmas or are you too traditional for that?

{console tables}

{via}

{via}

Aren't these console table displays just gorgeous? I'm dying to find a place for one in our home, but am at a loss with no real wall space. Plus we've got those annoying baseboard heaters that make it so nothing can be flush with the wall.... so for now I'm filing these under "someday"!

{leftovers galore}

We had a TON of leftovers after Thanksgiving this year (as in, thanks to there being 2 turkeys and a ham at Thanksgiving dinner, we got to keep our entire 18 lb turkey for leftovers!). So now I'm on the hunt for some yummy leftovers recipes. Here are some I want to try:

{Turkey Reuben sandwiches via Real Simple}

{Turkey and Corn Enchiladas via Real Simple}

{Turkey Noodle soup via Martha Stewart}

I think for lunch today we'll do turkey sandwiches with leftover cranberry sauce spread. Mmm! Do you have any go-to recipes that use leftovers in a new way?