We might be a few months into our second year of marriage, but this year we got our very first Christmas tree!  Our new home needs a tree.  Clearly I had my priorities in the right order since the first order of business was to go purchase ornaments.  A couple years ago when we were registering for our wedding at Crate & Barrel I had seen a lot of cute ornaments.  Our first and only stop for ornaments was at Crate & Barrel.  Luckily for us there was a 30% off sale on all the ornaments!!  My husband and I filled up our basket with lots and lots of white, silver and red ornaments.  I was pretty sure we were buying too many, but figured we would return the ones we didn’t need.

It seemed like destiny as we drove up Massachusetts Avenue and right by a Christmas tree sale at the local church.  Instead of heading the Whole Foods or Home Depot to buy our tree we were going to get it from the church!!  They had a ton of options.  I am not really sure why we didn’t think of checking out the local churches in the first place.   At least we will remember this for next year!

After walking around the available “medium” size tree options a few times we quickly agreed on this guy:

Sorry for the crappy camera phone pictures.  It didn’t dawn on me to bring my camera … fail!  Anyways, after purchasing the tree we laughed a little at our lack of planning on how we were going to get the tree home.  It might have been December, but the convertible top when down and the tree when in the backseat of the car.  We made it home just before the rain started in.  Pretty good timing if I do say so myself.

We were home and had a tree and ornaments, but we were lacking lights and maybe more importantly a tree stand.  We threw the tree in a bucket and walked to CVS.  There we purchased a tree stand and 200 white lights.  Back to the house we went to decorate our tree!!

After a number of tries we finally go the tree straight in the tree stand.  The husband cranked the Christmas music and we spent the next hour or so arranging the ornaments perfectly.  Here’s a close up of a couple of the ornaments.

I am very happy with our final product.  Check it out …

What do you think??  I’m very pleased.  Our menorah and dradle looked great next to the tree throughout Hanukkah! Maybe next year we will buy a tree skirt and actually get some gifts under the tree :)  We did have a present under the tree for less than 24 hours.  Then I couldn’t wait any longer and gave my husband his holiday present prior to Christmas Eve.

Happy Holidays!

Don’t forget to leave your tidbit by commenting :)

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I don’t know about the rest of you, but my man is HARD to buy for.  He tends to purchase the things he wants/needs on his own. Anything else he wants is technology related and seriously buying computer gadgets or as he says “nerd books” isn’t that much fun for me.  Annnnddd clearly getting him a gift is all about me, right?!?! Hahaha.

Personally I am not a huge fan of giving (or receiving) big gifts on valentines days.  All I really want is a card and some roses, which is totally reasonable if you ask me. :)  Valentines day is the perfect time to buy something fun for your plus one.  Here are a couple of my favorites present ideas …

Collar Stays

I got the husband collar stays from red envelope for Christmas and all I can say is they were a BIG hit.  Kind of fun and flirty and oh so perfect for a holiday based around being in love.

Steampunk Cufflinks

The hubby gave these to his groomsmen at our wedding as bridal party gifts.  Everyone loved them and I’m convinced they would also make a fabulous vday gift.  There are a number of cufflink designs looks sold on Etsy.

Photo Credit: Korie Lynn Photography

Cordless Helicopter

Given to my husband by his parents for Christmas.  Unfortunately I can’t take credit for this gift idea. He definitively enjoys playing with the helicopter, but Sophi (the dog) keeps him from doing so more often than not.  Sophi barks at the moving object and then immediately runs for cover … it is pretty hilarious!

And some additional ideas:

Happy Gift Giving and Happy Valentines Day (soon)!!

xoxoxo

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Happy New Year to you and yours!!!

I was reminiscing with the husband tonight about last year and there were a number of favorite days that quickly came to mind.  By far the best of 2011 included getting married and honeymooning in Italy. :) Here is one of my favorite pictures from our honeymoon:

This was taken in Positano, Italy on the very first night of our honeymoon. I mean the view from our hotel room was AAAHH-Mazing! Right??

In Positano we had the best bruschetta and gnocchi I have ever had in my entire life.  Sorrento had some pretty fabulous gnocchi as well (close second … almost a tie actually). :)

YUMMY.

All the honeymoon and wedding talk made me realize it is time to share some wedding related tidbits with ya’ll.  DIY Escort/Photo Sharing Cards and Unique Bridal Shower gifts posts are coming up this week!

Happy New Year!

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This Christmas we traveled to Kansas City, MO to spend the holiday with Alex’s family.  There is no ambient light and absolutely no “city” noise, which is a nice change of pace from DC.  I’m not a country kind of gal, but I love our little mini vacations on the farm.

First and foremost here is my favorite picture from the weekend! We put Sophi on the barrels of hay and the farm cat (Kitty) jumped up for the perfect Christmas Card shot.

Here are the other highlights from our Xmas break …

Santa’s Whiskers Cookies


YUMMO and let me tell you I’ve had far too many cookies this week.  They are kind of addictive and I just adore how they have the holiday colors in them.  Besides the cookies I made a cheese cake and my MIL made pumpkin bars so there is no lack of sweets in this house to choose from.

The Farm Pictures




And of course it wouldn’t be Christmas without the tree and presents!!

I hope you and yours had a fabulous holiday weekend.

Happy Christmas!!

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Happy Hanukkah (or Chanukah depending on your spelling preference)!!!

This year my friend who usually hosts a Hanukkah party decided to go on a vacation with her sister and mom.  I mean really how dare she go away without providing me with potato latkes before she left. =)  So this meant I would have to make my own potato latkes for the first time ever.

This recipe is super easy and if you have a food processor / Cuisinart it is like a hop skip and a jump to the frying pan.

Ingredients:

2lbs (~3 large potatoes)
1 medium onion
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoons flour
vegetable oil

You will also need apple sauce and sour cream to serve with your potato latkes, and I guess if you are my husband then hot sauce should be on the table as well.  Hot sauce is new one for me and I would say skip it, but he insists it tastes good.

Using a food processor or a box grater shred the potatoes and onions. The food processor saved me a ton of time and makes it so easy!  I got to use one of the attachments for the first time, which is always exciting (it’s the small things, right?!).

Transfer them to a colander and squeeze dry. Mix the potatoes and onions with the eggs, flour and salt.

In a skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil. Drop about four tablespoons for the mixture into the skillet and press lightly to flatten them. Cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned and a little crispy. It should be about 6 minutes.

I found that a fish spatula worked really well for flipping these babies and not messing them up.  Just randomly grabbed it, but thought I should pass along the tip nonetheless.  Remove from skillet and place the latkes on paper towels to drain the oil.  It makes about 12 latkes.  And take a look … Voila!

Potato Latkes Recipe, holiday recipe, hanukkah | Life's Tidbits

MAKE AHEAD: The potato latkes can be at room temperature for up to 3 hours. Reheat on a baking sheet in a 350° oven before serving. If you plan to reheat them remember that they cook a little extra in the oven so don’t over fry them.

Just writing this blog makes me want to go reheat the extra latkes and eat them!  Anyways put some sour cream (I prefer light as it is less fat but still tastes great) and apple sauce on the table and serve.

Potato Latkes Recipe serve with a side of apple sauce and sour cream, holiday recipe, hanukkah | Life's Tidbits

And seriously how cute is that double serving bowl?  Thank you wedding guest and Crate and Barrel’s Registry.

Happy cooking!

signiture_nicole

 

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