It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

It seems as if I am always making entries like this, but I wanted to say that I'm still alive and apologize for not posting in a while! As you all know, December is just a crazy busy month and, honestly, I haven't done much cooking so far! Mostly, I've been whipping up simple, quick dinners for me and Mr. JY and that's about it. Nothing at all blog worthy. Please don't tell the foodie police, but we ate Velveeta Shells and Cheese that I doctored up the other night for dinner!

Also consuming a lot of my free time is my office's cubicle decorating contest. I know, I know. What a nerd I am! I've been decorating mine like a gingerbread house and I'm going all out. I am defintely going to post pictures here when it's done. The judging is next week.

I'm also a bridesmaid in my best friend's wedding this Saturday, so I've been preparing for that and I'm totally excited! This is my first time being in a wedding (besides my own).

Stay tuned, though, because I've got some exciting things coming up! First off, I am planning on doing some holiday gift baking next week - so be on the lookout for that. Easy, foolproof, yet impressive recipes! I am planning on doing 2 types of candy, 1 cookie, and maybe a brownie.

Also, at the end of the month I'll be posting about my very first Daring Bakers challenge and boy is it a doozy! But I can't wait to tackle that one.

Also, I've been planning the menu for Mr. JY and I's Christmas Eve dinner. We visit family on Christmas day, but I am doing our own very special dinner just for us. Any ideas for me?

Thanks for reading and I hope the rest of your week is wonderful!

Christmas Etsy Finds

I love, love, love Etsy. I could spend hours and hours browsing the unique handcrafted creations there. It's a also a great source of kitschy vintage items that I love. Today while browsing I found some fantastic Christmas items. Here's a few I'd like to share with you. Maybe it will bring you some holiday inspiration!

1. Classic Christmas Advent Calendar from AllThingsArtsy, $35

How incredibly adorable is this? It's a muffin pan with magnets covering each cup. I was almost afraid to post this one, because I really am thinking of purchasing it myself. Imagine how fun it would be to fill each cup and remove the magnet together with your kids or with your spouse. So fun, and a great way to start a holiday tradition together. I am sure it would be easy to make one of these yourself, but this one is just so cute and it would defintely save you time and effort in finding and pairing all of these adorable things together. I love this!

2. Cream Feather Christmas Tree from brandywine, $12.50

I just love this cream feather Christmas tree from Etsy seller brandywine. I imagine it would be so lovely with vintage broaches clipped on it for a modern, elegant take on a Christmas tree. I love the box with antique ledger paper. This would look lovely on any tabletop, and really compliment a vintage Christmas theme. Check out brandywine's shop for other beautiful vintage-y Christmas items, including some beautiful tag and stocking decorating kits.

3. Vintage Postcard Garland from VintageScraps, $14.00

What a wonderful, simple, and beautiful idea! Vintage postcards strung together to make a unique garland. Check out VintageScraps' shop for more unique uses of vintage papers and other materials.

**EDIT: I am not sure why the alignment of my text and pictures is so wonky, but hopefully I'll get it fixed soon. Please bear with me. Thanks!**