Holiday Happenings

It is hard to believe Christmas is over. You spend so much time preparing for, getting excited about & trying to soak in every single happy moment & then it all comes to an end far too quickly! It was absolutely a Merry Christmas full of family & lots of laughs. Wrapping gifts is one of my favorite things to do. Hunting for the perfect wrapping paper & gift tags & making them as pretty as possible then watching everyone rip them open. I made a mental note to only get Joey a roll of wrapping paper as a gift since he loved tearing it apart.

 Nate finally got his beer brewing kit, I got my pretty white dish set, my youngest sister gifted the entire family with a DVD of family videos, my other sister gave everyone handmade gifts & hopefully everyone loved their presents just as much as we loved ours. My uncle also gave the entire family shirts for the Omaha Storm Chasers since my cousin just got his first grown up job with them! :)

Most serious dog ever...

(My parents tree)

I was given the game Cards of Humanity & was excited, mixed with a bit of nervousness to play it. The nervous feeling went away rather quickly as it became apparent that my family is a bunch of naughty minded individuals. It was one of the funniest games to play & we all highly recommend it to anyone who is not easily offended.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday & has an even happier New Year! Nate & I are traveling to New York City for New Years Eve & we are sooo excited!

Happy Monday friends.

Fun Gift Guide

I have always loved giving gifts more than receiving them. I enjoy the challenge of finding the perfect gift that is unexpected, unique or sentimental & I love watching faces light up when they are opened. But there is also nothing I love more than giving a gift that will bring a good laugh.

Mini Beer Pong | Poo-Pourri | Selfies Photo Album | Beer Beard Prank Box | Cards Against Humanity

What fun gifts do you have up your sleeve this year?

My gift to you all this Christmas? This FREE print that is sure to add that extra touch of holiday cheer! :) Simply save it to your desktop & print.

This is a 5x7 hi-res JPEG, but you can print it larger. This is for personal use only please.

Happy Friday!

Our Weekend

We had such a festive weekend getting ready for the holiday! Friday night we went to get our Christmas tree... in the rain. We usually cut our own tree down, but since it was rainy, muddy & cold we opted for a pre-cut tree instead. The proceeds went to scholarships, so that made us feel a little better about the whole thing! Saturday morning we did a 5K run that benefits the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. It was still raining, but we dressed up in our holiday finest & ran our butts off. It was a fun time & the first run as a "family". Later that day we went shopping for gifts & got a good dose of Christmas music along the way! On the way home we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner & to watch some football. When we got back we watched more football, while simultaneously listening to more Christmas music as we finally decorated our tree! 

The most serious dog EVER.

Sunday we did a little more Christmas shopping & made our own little Thanksgiving-ish meal. We do it each year since we get a free turkey from the grocery store. We also did Christmas word searches & cross-word puzzles for our advent activity to top off the weekend!

I may hold off a few more days on making Christmas cookies after watching those gorgeous women on the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show last night... #guilttrip

Hope everyone's week is great so far. :)

Advent Calendar

Since we are officially in the countdown to Christmas I thought I would share the activities we will be doing for our advent calendar. This is the first one either of us have ever done & I decided to make my own calender. I found some super cute ideas on Pinterest (obviously), but then I totally ditched those since we're short on space.

I planned these activities in advance, knowing some plans we had going on during the month. I simply bought some miniature envelopes & printed each activity on a slip of paper. Here is our list! :)

25. Make a Christmas chalkboard

24. Make paper snowflakes

23. Drink hot chocolate

22. Decorate outside

21. Listen to Christmas music

20. Get our Christmas tree

19. Get Christmas cards ready for mailing

18. Do a Christmas word search

17. Shop for charity gift

16. Make peanut butter pinecones for the birds

15. Eat by candlelight

14. Wear ugly Christmas sweaters

13. Go to Hershey Sweet Lights

12. Make Christmas goodies

11. Package Christmas treats

10. Visit animal shelter to deliver goodies

9. Make Christmas themed breakfast for dinner

8. Walk around the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights with Joey

7. Go to the bookstore to pick out a Christmas book

6. Camp under the Christmas tree (for real)! 

5. Read our Christmas book

4.Open our stockings

3.Drink holiday coffee

2. Attend Christmas Eve mass 

1. Kiss under mistletoe

Sometimes we just get so busy & forget about the spirit of the season. Nate & I don't have any kids at the moment (unless you count fur babies), but I hope some of these activities bring the magic of Christmas into our home this year! :)

Merry Tuesday! 

Our Holiday Weekend

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We had such a nice weekend with family! Friday we just relaxed since we were so stuffed from all the yummy food the day before! We watched Christmas movies & ate leftovers all day while snuggling with all the puppies. :) Saturday Nate & I went on a wine tasting with our families (minus a couple). It was such a fun time! :)

Now we are back in Hershey & finally starting on our own Christmas decorations! So excited! Nate & I fill mini stockings for each other each year before we travel home for the holiday. It's a little something special that just the two of us get to do. I have put together a few his & her stocking stuffer ideas.

Bottle Opener // Socks // Whiskey Rocks
Candle // Lipstick // Ring Dish

I just ordered one of those candles in Amaretto Nog & I can hardly wait to get it in the mail!
Plus you can't forget about your pet for the holidays! I know Joey loves opening gifts!

Happy Monday! :)

PS. today is the last day to use code BLACKFRIDAY in my shop for 25% off your order.

Thanksgiving... is for the Bird(s).

It's hard to believe Thanksgiving is already upon us! We will be traveling home tomorrow for the holiday & we can hardly wait (although there is now snow in the forecast...). I love watching the Macy's day parade each year! A few years ago my family and I went & it was such a great experience, but definitely more cozy to watch in the comfort of your home! Each year Nate & I have to stuff our faces twice at each of our family dinners. It's a lot of running around, but so worth it so that we can see everyone! I am baking pies this year for each of our dinners. Pumpkin for my family & apple for Nate's. My pumpkin pie was a hit last year, but this will be my first time baking an apple pie! 

We will have a gigantic turkey to accommodate everyone, scalloped corn, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes with marshmallows & cinnamon & a relish tray. We always have a relish tray at all our holiday gatherings & I probably fill up way to much on them! I love pickles & olives & cream cheese filled jalepenos! Yummy. 

For anyone interested in some last minute Thanksgiving decor, here is a free print! You can save this file directly to your computer & have it printed at a photo shop or at home on cardstock. This is NOT a hand drawn chalkboard, but I think it will do just the trick! :) Plus, you can always check out my shop for Thanksgiving prints. They are sent directly to your email for download! :)

What are your favorite Thanksgiving dishes? I hope you all have a wonderful, family filled, turkey stuffed Thanksgiving day!

P.S. follow my instagram feed @meggie.ann for a special treat on Black Friday! 

Holiday Style

I can't believe how quickly Christmas is approaching! With holiday cheer having filled the stores extra early this year, I've been thinking of the holidays non-stop for a few months now. I've already started listening to Christmas music daily & I've been tempted on more than one occasion to watch Christmas movies! Once that big beautiful turkey filled holiday is over, Christmas will be in full swing! :)

One of the seemingly big trends this year is buffalo check. I personally love it & would buy everything imaginable in that pattern if I could afford it. This style is perfect for holiday parties & the night before Christmas!

Skirt / Pants / Coat / Shoes / Blanket / Pajamas / Slippers 

I'm absolutely obsessed with the pajamas at Victoria's Secret. They have onesies & leggings galore. I would love for my husband sisters & I to be matching Christmas morning & I think those PJ's above would be just the fit.

I also found these super cute festive sweatshirts. The best way to spread Christmas cheer....

What is your favorite holiday trend? I will be sharing some stocking stuffer ideas soon!  And don't forget I have stocked my shop full of Christmas goodies! Be sure to check them out! :)