Merry Christmas to you and yours xxx

Merry Christmas to all of my friends, family, followers and fellow bloggers!  Happy Holidays to those of you who celebrate different faiths and festivals.  It really is the most wonderful time of the year :)

Gift Wrap Organization & Storage

While department stores and other retail vendors quickly shuffle out their Halloween stock and start filling the shelves with all things Christmas, the rest of us might feel that it's a wee bit early to be celebrating the season!  That being said, there is one thing that really shouldn't be left until the last minute (yes, I am speaking from experience lol) - and that is getting our Christmas wrapping stations set up and mailing dates organized.  

We have family overseas and though we still have time to get our cards out (Canada Post recommends that we have them stamped and through the slot by December 3rd), we're already running late with any parcel posting - as their suggested date for guaranteed delivery is October 25th!  

As I am already falling behind - I looked to the blog world for inspiration... thank goodness someone is on the ball! 

Here is a how-to if you would like some tips for setting up your Gift Wrapping Center extraordinaire!  

And here is some photo inspiration:

{Source: Country Living}

{Source:  Martha Stewart}

{Source: hi sugarplum}

{Source: Better Homes and Gardens}

Mini-break!

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but my 'main' job (after wife and mother) is working as a notetaker for hearing impaired college students.  It's a fulfilling position that I truly enjoy.  

Here comes the 'but' :) BUT... I have a little secret:  I LOVE College reading week.  It's a week away from classes for the students and therefore a week's holiday for me!  (albeit an UNPAID week... :/)  Still, a week off is a week off and hubby and I usually choose to do something exciting for that week.  Soooo last week we hit up our favourite haunt.. LAS VEGAS!!  

Now, full disclosure, this was like our 10th or 11th Vegas trip.  We got married there on our first trip and can't stop going back!  Since hubby is a lucky gambler (seriously... horseshoe must be hidden somewhere on his person), we were offered a room at the Bellagio free for 3 nights.  Yippee!  We did the 'twenty dollar trick' and got upgraded to a fantastic fountain view room.  

{The view from our room}

The "twenty dollar trick" has been a fantastic upgrade tool for us!  Basically, when you check in at the hotel you just slip $20 between your credit card and driver's license and ask if they have any complimentary upgrades!  Last time we got a nice suite, but the Bellagio's main attraction is that fantastic fountain show and so we specifically asked for a fountain & strip view room and got one!  

The hotel lobby was dressed for autumn with massive urns of pumpkins and gourds.  

And the ceiling was decorated with giant pine cones and multi-coloured leaves made of blown glass (sigh).

Whenever we go to Vegas we like to visit Wolfgang Puck's restaurant 'Spago' - where we had our wedding night meal many moons ago :)  This time we also managed to score reservations for Gordon Ramsay's Steak in the Paris hotel.  Oh.  My.  God.  It was the best meal we've EVER had.  From the crazy delicious bread plates (think 'pinwheel fig & pancetta' with butter & volcanic salt), to the perfectly cooked filet mignon and braised short ribs, to the real piece de resistance - the sticky toffee pudding dessert.  H-E-A-V-E-N.  It was served with  brown sugar ice cream shaped like a stick of butter... and a container of caramel to use at our own discretion.  Seriously, that's what the server said.  Ha - we had no discretion!!

             

 

If you're headed to Vegas we cannot recommend Ramsay's enough!  (The man himself is actually quite nice when compared to his TV persona - didn't see him at the restaurant on this visit but I had a meet & greet with him a few years ago with my son, at a book signing, and he took time to take pictures with us and kept calling my son his little buddy!)

It was a lovely 'foodie' trip (not planning on facing the scales this week!) and we topped it off by going to see Cirque du Soleil's 'O' - a performance that defies explanation except to say it was mesmerizing, beautiful, and stunning!

College reading week is now over, but wow - did we ever make good use of it! And hey... Christmas break is right around the corner ;)

A Sweet Ending to a Sweet Baby Shower!

Hey guys - I'm finishing off my mini blog series on my sister's Sesame Street themed baby shower by sharing the sweetest bit last - desserts!

Alongside the yummy buffet provided by the 'cast of the Street,' we had a separate table holding all things adorably delicious!  

Character Cake Pops

Cake :)

Elmo Fruit Tray

Big Bird Fruit Tray

And a yummy chocolate chip cookie thank you gift for the shower attendees! 

We had a great time throwing this party and now I'm really looking forward to meeting my little nephew and telling him all about it ;) 

Om Nom Nom...

Continuing with the Sesame Street theme for our sister's co-ed baby shower (see decorations here if you missed them yesterday!), my sister Kandice and I had a great time preparing the food for the guests!

We started by creating a buffet, sponsored by the cast of the 'Street.'

My husband made 3 different meat pies, that the Count brought along ;)  

Snuffy brought pizza - his/her? favourite!

Grover took the healthy route, providing nutritious 'grains!'

We had fun with some - Big Bird provided chicken wings and drumsticks... and Bert & Ernie brought the salami.  Some people will get this joke, some won't ;)

But my absolute favourite was our 'Pickle Me Elmo'... gosh, aren't we brilliant? lol  (see the 'broccoli oscar' in the background?!)

We made individual cups of snacks, covering styrofoam cups with tinfoil to make mini 'garbage cans!'

To wash it all down we made a fabulous punch!  (rubber ducky you're the one... you make bath time lots of fun...)

Learn how to make this beautiful punch here @ Tidymom.net!  Everyone raved about it - it was delicious!

Deets about dessert in my next post!  

B is for Baby Shower!

I recently blogged about the baby shower that my youngest sister, Kandice, and I threw for our SIL Monica - here.  Well, we've been at it again - this time for our sister Kristie (the middle sister) - who is due to give us a nephew in November :)  So exciting!

Since Monica was having a girl (my gorgeous niece Madison was born September 1st!), there wasn't much leftover from that baby shower that we could use this time around.  Everything was pink and frilly!  

So once we had decided on the theme - Sesame Street - we lived and breathed muppets and puppets for 2 months... though I'll admit to leaving most things 'til last minute!

This baby shower was a co-ed shower, my first ever (both attending and hosting!) and so we wanted to create an event that even the guys would enjoy.  I'm pleased to say it was a smashing success! 

We created 'Character Fluffs' - that we later strung from ceiling fans and lights!

As the dad-to-be is a 'first-timer' we set up a special area where people could leave advice on an alphabetized card for him - pertaining to the letter they chose.  My favourite was from the soon to be big brother, my 9 year old nephew, Malakai:  C is for Crying - the baby will cry enough to fill the Atlantic Ocean!

 We played the old favourite 'guess the baby food game' - of course we renamed it 'Grover's Gourmet Guessing Game!' to fit our theme!

Winning a prize, meant digging through garbage - as we put the prizes (gift cards) in individual mini 'garbage bags' around Oscar's trash can!

We went wayyyy crazy theme-ing the food, and it turned out to be ADORABLE, so I'll be back to blog about that tomorrow :)

This blog was brought to you by the letter Q (for Quirky!)

Phlog Friday #4 - Lines

There are various ways that lines can impact a photograph.  A great way to use lines in photography is to add emphasis...

The diagonal lines of the guard rail in this photograph help give a perception of depth. That the lines grow narrow (converging lines) as if to meet at a far off point in the picture draws they eye down a path to that imaginary intersection.

The vertical lines of the tree trunk are also converging, drawing the eye upward and emphasizing height and a sense of grandeur.  

{source}

Lines don't need to be 'straight' in order to significantly impact a photo.  In fact, one of the most pleasing 'lines' to the human eye is the S-CURVE (which derives it's name from the 's' like shape).  An s-curve winds through a picture, taking the audience on an adventure... 

Lines can be found in almost every photograph, but deciding to use them as a way to convey something is when you are *composing* your photograph, rather than just snapping one!

Get those shutters clicking!