eve

Merry Christmas Eve! I woke up around 6:30 this morning... I can't seem to to sleep in these days! The presents have now been wrapped, the house has been cleaned and a lot of the preparation for Christmas Dinner tomorrow evening is complete. I went around the house and shot some footage of the decor. Here it is if you're interested :) Enjoy!



Also, please take note of how clean my bedroom is. It feels so nice to be able to walk in here :)

Winter Wonderland

carpe diem

Last weekend I visited a friend in Minnesota. I've never been to Minnesota before, so I was very excited to not only see my friend, but see a new state (especially one that homes Mall of America). Her and her boyfriend drove me through Uptown and on through Downtown Minneapolis leading us back to their apartment where we watched Whatever Works. (If you haven't seen it, do. SO so good). We woke up earlier Saturday morning to head off to a volunteer center and inspect presents being donated to families in need. Six hours is how long we spent volunteering, which boosted my Christmas spirit immensely. Soon after, we put on our dresses and suits and headed off to Uptown Minneapolis for her boyfriend's work party held at an upscale sushi lounge called Seven. Our reservations were up on the rooftop -- no reindeers paws, but plenty of sushi, cocktails and good company. Later that evening we headed to Whisky Park, where we danced into the early hours. If my feet weren't sore enough from volunteering all day and dancing all night, we completed my weekend getaway with a day filled with shopping at Mall of America on Sunday. I heard a rumor that if you walk all three stories, you've walked 6 miles. Well, we walked 6 miles and more! Multiple Forever 21s, Victoria Secrets, Bath & Body Works... because who wants just one store when you can have two! Lunch was at Famous Dave's, a restaurant I've heard is everywhere BUT St. Louis. It was really tasty! Since we had time to spare, we headed down to IKEA since we don't have that in St. Louis either. I was in heaven. This would be my 2nd time entering the wonderful world of IKEA and it did not disappoint. Why does St. Louis not have an IKEA again? Sigh...

The weekend went by too quickly and this week came at me full force. Work has been incredibly busy, but I managed through and have found myself at another weekend. I'm looking forward to a few low key days with a lot of time spent with my twinkling white lights and oh so wonderfully smelling candle :)

brandi carlile in concert

Last night a friend and I went to see Brandi Carlile and Katie Herzig live in Columbia. The duo was the perfect combo for a night of strong female vocals! Wow. They both are so unique and addicting to listen to. Katie's commentary in between songs was funny as she took requests from the crowd. Once Brandi took the stage, the crowd went crazy-- definitely one of the loudest audiences I've heard in concert. She sang one song "unplugged" -- no microphone, no amp, just her and her guitar. The crowd sang along to every word and wow! This crowd could sing! Brandi was even impressed. One of my favorite moments of the night was her covering Creep by Radiohead. It has never sounded so good. She called Katie back to the stage later in the set and they sang along to one of Katie's tunes. So beautiful. They make a great duo! My favorite song of the night was "Keep Your Heart Young".  This was an acoustic concert, just Brandi without her band, so she sang a lot of her songs the way they were written and performed before the album edit. I prefer most music this way, so I'm definitely going to try and find these versions online to download. How do you prefer your favorite artists? Just them and their guitar or with a full band backing them up?

decor

It's been nice having a four (and a half) day weekend. But alas, it has to end and I'll be back to the office in the morning. My family spent the day decorating for Christmas. We changed some things this year -- new garland, new centerpieces... I believe it all started when we installed new light fixtures and the mood in the house changed. We are all very pleased with how things are coming together. Do you decorate for Christmas? What is your favorite Christmas decoration?

new beginnings

a lot of new things have been going on my life and my old blog just doesn't feel like me anymore. i'm starting over, a new beginning. "i'll take you all for a ride" and "dreamt the whole night long" both are lines from one of my favorite Mumford & Sons songs, Laundry Room.

if you ever have the chance, give it a listen. i think we all have had a love story that can relate to the lyrics at one point in our lives.

and with that, i will leave you with pie. because there really isn't anything better.

baked on thanksgiving and oh, so delicious