Christmas Cheer & Other Holiday Ramblings

The aforementioned cookie swap went well! All us ladies crowded around my coffee table, drank spiced cider, ate buffalo chicken dip, and just chatted (with my Christmas tree sparkling in the background). Plus, HELLO, tons of amazing cookies! My only wish is that others could have come (5 ladies showed up though, which was more than enough for a successful hang out party). I'll definitely do it again next year, no matter where we are.

All my Christmas shopping is DONE! I have a few more packages to send out to friends and family, and maybe a couple small things to put in my husband's stocking but for the most part everything has been completed. It's definitely taken some of the burden off by being able to give some homemade gifts. I spent a lot of the time my husband was deployed hanging around the Farmer's Market and whipping together some preserved treats, as well as making lots of Christmas ornaments. Last week I also made a batch of dog cookies to give to my husband's aunt and our friends in Florida who have some four-legged children.

This year Christmas is a bit bittersweet; we've decided to nix any travel plans and just spend Christmas here in North Carolina with some friends who are staying as well. I'm excited to start our own Christmas traditions and spend it with our own little Marine Corps family but I'm a little sad to not spend time with our family back home (especially our parents).

Other than that I've just been trying to plan out our Christmas menu. My best friend and her husband will be returning from a cruise so we'll be feeding their tummies as well! I'm trying not to stress too bad but I'd like to do something remarkable. Making Christmas memories and all that jazz.


Well, that's it for now. A merry Christmas season to all!

xoxo Stacie

The lost art of the cookie swap...

I was daydreaming about Christmas cookies yesterday, specifically the cookie walk at my great aunt's church. You paid three dollars, they gave you a coffee can covered in pretty paper and you walked down the huge table of cookies and pointed at which ones you wanted in your container. Every year I looked forward to this event when my mother and I visited all the Christmas church fairs. It was the best feeling to walk out the door with a can of home baked cookies without having to bake an entire batch of each one. Surely, I thought, I could do something like this and get back that feeling of tradition?

I answered, COOKIE SWAP! My friend and I ran to Wal-Mart for a few things and I found the most perfect paper for invitations (gingerbread men!). Last night I wrote them up (including rules, of course) and my husband was pretty impressed. Sometimes he forgets my momma raised me on Martha Stewart. So now I, although excited, feel a hint of anxiety because this is the first "get-together" I've hosted as an adult. I've invited about 8 women and I hope they all come and have a great time. I'm just glad to have my apartment filled with wonderful people enjoying the Christmas spirit and the smell of cookies.

Now...any tips on what to do with my husband from 1:00-4:00 on December 4th?

xoxo Stacie