Clink Clink Cheers! My Perfect NYE Party Outfit

I'm so excited to be partyin' today with Sam and Khala as we prepare for New Years Eve!

The best part for me is picking out what to wear ... and it has to be absolutely fabulous, because at midnight I'm officially a birthday girl! I think having a January 1st birthday is one of the most fun birthdays of the year. Think about it ... friends, sequins, champagne, a day off work, collards, black eyed peas. Perfect.

Today's link-up topic is the perfect NYE party outfit. I put together two different looks, one for those bumpin' it up as I am this year, and one for those who are not scared of drawing attention to your waistline (ha).

Maternity dress: ASOS, $32 (sale)

Lace dress: ASOS, $70 (sale)

Nail polish: OPI All Sparkly And Gold, $9

Rhinestone earrings: Topshop, $15

Heels: Tory Burch, $245 (sale)

I featured ASOS dresses due to the free shipping and returns -- the only way to shop online. Who wants to hit up a mall around this time of year looking for a dress? Not this girl!

Thank you to Sam and Khala for a fun theme today! It's not too late to link up today or for the two future link-ups!

Thursday, December 19th- The Perfect New Years Eve Party Outfit 

Thursday, December 26th- New Years Eve Party Ideas & Decor 

Thursday, January 2nd- Hopes, Dreams & Resolutions for the New Year

Our Christmas Cards (Well, One Of Three Designs)

I may be strange -- but I always end up ordering a few different versions of our Christmas cards. (Are any of you similar?!)

Sending out cards this year has been, ahem, a work in progress -- meaning some have gone out, but not all. That sort of drives me nuts. The remaining ones to mail are the ones that require address updates. And spare time. Both of which I do not have.

The reason why I have a few different versions this year is as follows:

+ Shutterfly ran a deal for 10 free cards in October, so I pounced on that.

+ Then I bought a Groupon deal for 40 cards from Zazzle for $19.99.

+ Then Ian told me he wanted to send cards to his doctors so I purchased 20 more cards from Walgreens (using their 40% off deal).

Below are the cards from Walgreens which were actually way better quality than I was expecting, and you can't beat same day pick-up! They are glossy, but they are not printed on traditional photo paper, which I think makes them even nicer.

We used a photo from our photo session in Paris with Stacy Reeves. I went with a pretty classic design and photo for this card since it was heading to doctors' offices.

I have to share with you my favorite trick for addressing pretty envelopes!

I like doing calligraphy for the card addressing, but I'm fairly particular about making sure it looks fabulous. Here is where an index card and a Sharpie will be your best friend. I trace the lines on the index card (they don't have to be perfectly straight, but follow the lines as well as you can). The card is then slipped inside the envelope, and you should faintly be able to see the lines through the front of the envelope. Then, just grab your pen and start addressing, pull out the index card, and you are set! No more slanted or caddywhompus addresses.

Now, please tell me I'm not the only one with some Christmas cards remaining to be mailed?!

I'm so excited to be linking up with Faith of Walk With Me By Faith for her sixth annual Christmas Card Carousel. Visit her blog to see other fun Christmas card designs from fellow bloggers!

Week 20 Pregnancy Journal

How Far Along? 20 weeks, halfway there sweetpea!

Size of Baby: A small cantaloupe (6.5 inches). That seems large -- a lot larger than the heirloom tomato last week.

Gender: Baby girl!

Weight Gain: Up two pounds this week, so +4 from my normal pre-pregnancy weight, +7 from my lowest pregnancy weight.

Maternity Clothes: I stopped at Goodwill to look for a tacky Christmas sweater and ended up spotting a maternity rack -- no shame in my game! I found a hardly-worn pair of Pea In The Pod khaki bootcut pants for $3.99! And they have a full tummy panel which is so comfy on me. They are in the wash now and they will be perfect for the work travel I have coming up in January and February. When you see how much stores charge for maternity pants, you know how much of a steal this is -- most Pea In The Pod pants are $85 and up.

Nursery: Still an office.

Movement: Baby girl moves around quite a bit, especially when I eat something sweet or change positions from standing up to sitting down. It's so dang sweet. Love this feeling.

Symptoms: Besides this growing belly, not many symptoms to report upon. No wonder people love the second trimester!

Sleep: Sleeping really well and loving my Snoogle pregnancy pillow.

Cravings: I still love sweets. Ordered Belgian waffles with bananas and walnuts for breakfast Saturday morning when we were in DC and they were the jam. Not exactly "normal" April, though. I typically would have gone for an omelet!

What I Miss: Can't think of a thing. Well, maybe an occasional glass of champagne. ;)

Best Moment This Week: Talking about baby girl with Ian's grandparents! They are so excited and happy. I can't wait for them to meet her.

Looking Forward To: Deciding on a name. Ian and I have knocked a few ideas around but committing to a name is certainly overwhelming! For someone who has always kept a running list of baby names in her phone, you'd think it would be easy for me. :)

A Christmas Washington DC Visit

We had the most magical weekend visit to see Ian's grandparents in DC.

I can't describe how fortunate I feel to have these special people in my life. Grammie introduced me all weekend long as her granddaughter. I haven't been referred to as a granddaughter since my sophomore year of college when I lost the very last of my grandparents. She and Grampa Jim call Ian and I "our Will and Kate." The love we feel from them is just so heartwarming.

Ian slyly tried about eighteen dozen times this past weekend to sneak the restaurant bills from them, but his grandparents were on him every single time like hawks, insistent that "we were theirs for the weekend" and our money was no good in DC. It was just so sweet.

I arrived Friday afternoon, and after lunch I went with Grammie and Ian's sweet cousin Megan to Tyson's Corner for a little holiday shopping. Ian arrived later that evening due to an afternoon case in Charlotte he had to attend for work. That evening we ate at home and took it easy. We had a busy day planned for Saturday!

We had a great breakfast at a nearby family-run diner that Grammie and Grampa Jim visit every Saturday morning. The true highlight of Saturday, though, was seeing the Washington Ballet perform The Nutcracker at the Warner Theater. We had great tickets to begin with, but we received a last-minute upgrade to VIP tickets which included premiere seating and drink tickets. I know you are so jealous that I got a free ginger ale. :) Almost back to the champagne days, almost. Only twenty more weeks.

The theater was so lovely, and I loved the DC spin that this ballet corps put on the traditional Nutcracker story. I teared up at so many points in the ballet just reminiscing about the days when I used to dance in The Nutcracker and the wonderful people I miss from the ballet school. 

Following the ballet, we braved the 37-degree temperatures and rain and headed to the White House to see the National Tree. It was a beauty!

They also have trees set up for each state, so here we are with the North Carolina tree. 

That evening, we were treated to a fantastic dinner out. I had a steak with lobster mac & cheese and roasted brussel sprouts with prosciutto and a mustard sauce. We came back to the house afterwards and sat around the tree, just chatting. Grammie brought out a tray of decaf mandarin orange tea and homemade cheesecake slices. 

All of that food + a growing baby equals one large tummy.

I'm still smiling as I reminisce upon the highlights of the weekend and the unconditional love I feel from these beautiful people.

I hope your weekend was filled with loved ones as well. This is a great time of year to reflect upon the important family members and friends in our lives. Cheers!

Five On Friday

I'm so excited for this weekend -- Ian and I are flying to DC today to spend some time with his grandparents. We need another term for what they are to me; "grandparents-in-law" sounds just way too formal. I call them Grammie and Gramps, the same thing Ian calls them. I don't have any grandparents left and I miss them so very much -- so this relationship that I gained through our marriage has been such a true blessing.

Plus, Grammie and I are pen-pals which is the most awesome thing ever.

So I hope you will excuse me as I save my five for next week, but this girl has a plane to catch! I'll still be reading your five on my Bloglovin' app, so link up along with us!

I hope you will join this link-up along with me and my wonderful co-hostesses -- Darci, Natasha, and Christina. Playing along is simple!  Just write a post about five things on your mind today, anything goes really, post the logo below on your blog, and then enter your post address below in the link-up section. It's a great way of meeting new friends and getting more eyes on your cute blog :)

Christmas Ornaments: Our Blogger Swap + My Faves!

One of my most favorite parts of the holiday season is delicately unwrapping all of our Christmas tree ornaments and displaying them on the tree. And moving all ornaments that Ian hangs up to other, more appropriate, areas of the tree. Ahh, bliss.

I don't really have too many "filler" ornaments ... all of mine have been collected over the course of ten or so years and I usually treat myself to a few each year and receive some additional ones from girlfriends and family members.

One might say that I like ornaments with ... panache.

Here are some of my favorites that are in stores now!

Top Row:
Pier 1 Natural Deer Ornament, here
West Elm Felt Mistletoe, here
C. Wonder Crackle Glass Ornament, here
Pier 1 Pickle, here

Bottom Row:
Nordstrom Diamond Ring In A Box, here
Z. Gallerie Honeycomb Ornament, here
Bloomingdales Christopher Radko Nutcracker, here
CB2 Boxes Ornament, here

It's so nice to have an ornament tied to special memories which is why I absolutely love the diamond ring ornament above. It's currently on sale for $24, so a bit more than I would typically spend on an ornament, but I think this is a really cute gift idea for a girlfriend or sister who is newly engaged or married.

Ballet was a big part of my life through my junior year of high school, so the most expensive ornament above, the Christopher Radko nutcracker ornament for $59, is definitely a splurge, but this would be treated as a true keepsake and would deserve a special spot on the tree or maybe just an ornament stand. 

The rest of the ornaments listed are in the $4-8 range -- now that's my real style. As you very well know.

Last night Classic Annie was so sweet to host a large group of Charlotte bloggers at her home for an ornament swap! Her house smelled fantastic (a reminder to me to purchase another Nest holiday candle!) and it was decorated so lovely for the holidays.

Here I am with Dee. Thank you to sweet Mindy for bringing some Fre non-alcoholic wine so I could partake with the other ladies!

We split into two groups to do the ornament swap due to how many girls we had there! It was so much fun unwrapping new presents and stealing ornaments from each other. ;) All in good fun!

The ornament I ended up with, which was no easy feat mind you, is adorable. This puppy was opened by someone, stolen by me, stolen from me, later stolen back by me (and there's the three steals -- meaning, it was now mine!). The first thing I did last night upon getting home was walk it straight over to the tree!

Beautiful ornaments and crazy fun girlfriends ... you can't get a better mix.

I hope your holiday is filled with both!

Week 19 Pregnancy Journal

How Far Along? 19 weeks, wow, time is flying!

Size of Baby: An heirloom tomato (6.0 inches -- length of a dollar bill)

Gender: Baby girl!

Weight Gain: Up one more pound, so +2 from my pre-pregnancy weight. Let it be known that what I weigh now is what I weighed as a sophomore in college (my heaviest) so anything more that I gain from here will be the most I've ever weighed. Bring it on!

Maternity Clothes: Charlotte has a cute store, Pickles & Ice Cream, that was on Groupon the other day so I purchased that Groupon voucher and can't wait to spend it! Also, thank you to everyone's comments on my maternity clothes post Monday -- I loved hearing about where you love/loved to shop while pregnant.

Nursery: Still an office.

Movement: Loving it. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does it gives me so much reassurance that all is well. A coworker described it perfectly ... she said it's like feeling a fish in your belly. Mine is much more like that than a butterfly flutter feeling.

Symptoms: Lower back pain at times, especially after exercising.

Sleep: Sleeping really well but with super-vivid dreams. Had a nightmare the other night that we lost the baby and an ultrasound confirmed it, and my coworker assured me that this -- while very scary -- is normal.

Cravings: I'm eating like Buddy The Elf. My sugar intake is higher than ever before. I try to keep it in check but it's a daily challenge!

What I Miss: To be honest? Nothing. Loving it all.

Best Moment This Week: Mom and I had such a great time at the Junior League Holiday Market in Columbia -- especially when we saw cute smocked dresses and we could just oooh and aaah at the fact that baby girl will be wearing those clothes this time next year. Also, later that evening on the phone, my mom gave me one of the sweetest compliments ever about how I look. That whole day was just one big highlight of the week.

Looking Forward To: The holidays have really kicked in and I'm so excited for the upcoming parties and get-togethers!

An Easy Southern Supper

I have to brag on my dinner last night.

Delicious!

Even better, I wasn't sure what I was making until about 6:00 last night -- so this meal goes together quickly and easily.

I had split chicken breasts and kale in the fridge and a can of black eyed peas in the pantry to work with. I used this Pinterest recipe for "Man-Pleasing Chicken Thighs" and although the name is a bit silly, it certainly lives up to the hype! The sauce was so easy to put together. In a pinch, I substituted red wine vinegar for rice vinegar. Ian just raved about the chicken. Make sure to spoon lots of the sauce over it before serving!

Kale is something I really love the idea of for the health benefits but I just hadn't found a recipe that makes me CRAVE it yet. Well, the day has come. I found the recipe.

I bought several stalks last week to toss some into soup but had quite a bit left over. Last night I tore the leaves from the stalks, washed them in a colander, and let them dry a bit. Then they went into a pot with some olive oil in them for a quick saute. After letting them wilt down a bit with the lid on the pot, I seasoned the greens with salt, pepper, and a few splashes of apple cider vinegar. 

They tasted similar to collard greens and they were absolutely divine!

I've been trying to do more with dried beans rather than canned, but last night I went for the can since I hadn't soaked any dried beans. These BEP's were simmered for about 45 minutes on low with some Worcestershire sauce and a few rosemary sprigs thrown in as well as a little salt and pepper.

Ian asked if we could have this exact same meal every single Monday night.

I can't say that will be happening, but it was a heck of a compliment.

Bon appetit, ya'll!

(Also -- I received a sweet email from someone last week about low-carb cooking ... when I went to reply to it, I could not find the original email! If you sent this to me, would you mind forwarding it to me? I have lots of thoughts to share, and while you can see that we don't dodge carbs completely, we do use healthier versions on weeknights. I'm so sorry for misplacing your email!)