Stuff those stocking with Back to the Roots

As the kids I am gifting for are growing up, we are heading more into "activity" type gifts. The kids are busy with an activity that isn't a screen and the parents are happy for a little quiet time, win-win. Some of our favorite activity gifts include gardening and getting little hands dirty! Don't be afraid of a little dirt, folks, just have a proper set up and you'll be fine. My favorite kits to include in kids' stocking (ages 4-12, in my opinion!) are by Back to the Roots.

It's more and more important to teach our kids where our food comes from and simple kits like the mushroom farm and garden-in-a-can are great tools to get the conversation going. Check your Whole Foods, mine has these all stocked up and ready for gifting!

We are currently doing our mushroom kit and Jonas loved misting it each morning. We always see mushrooms in the yard that I tell him to stomp so it will be fun to explain that these are the kind of mushrooms we can eat! And a random side-note: do you watch The Bachelor/Bachelorette? I am guilty. Second question, did you watch Emily's season of the Bachelorette? Then you might remember the super cute mushroom farmer named Alejandro?

What about now? Yep, that's the same mushroom farmer that started this company, Back to the Roots! Was a fan then, am now a customer, thanks Alejandro and company!

Our Holiday Cards

We got our cards from Tiny Prints this year and I think they are my favorite yet!

We had to choose a Jonas-kind-of-smiling-but-not-looking-at-the-camera over a 

Jonas-not-smiling-but-looking-at-the-camera.

merry merry!

Merry Christmas to all my readers and here's to a colic-less New Year!!

Catch-up, Photodump, Hi, remember me?

Well the colic hasn't broke, but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. (As I write this, he is screaming his head off with Jon in the other room...) I had always wanted to take photos for our Christmas card this year but was worried about his colic and being able to get the shots we needed. Above is the money shot. That's what we paid for, basically. 7 weeks old and looking oh-so-cute. Because in between every decent shot he was screaming and we were bouncing him or blasting a radio or trying to show him toys in hopes of getting one or two good shots. It was a hectic and a kinda stressful afternoon, but I'm glad we did it.

Thanksgiving. Hey, at least his sweater is cute.

 We started him on probiotics (BioGaia) and I really have seen some improvements since day 3 of starting them. He is actually happy in the morning after he wakes up and we have been playing. I even heard his first laugh the other day! So much fun. And now he smiles all the time and we can get him to smile for us, before it was sort of random. Nothing better than seeing his smiling face.

As tempting as it was to get a cheap tree from Costco...babies first Christmas, blah blah blah. We bought an overpriced one from the tree farm. He slept the whole time in the Ergo. Family of 3, yo!

Holding his head up like a big boy. We are playing catch up on tummy time, since he wasn't a fan in the early months. He wasn't a fan of anything, actually. So in his few happy moments we weren't going to ruin it by putting him on his stomach. Trying to squeeze lots of TT in now.

We are loving baby clothes from American Apparel and Old Navy! Don't let his face fool you.

I miss this space. I miss all of you! I hope to not let so much time pass before another post. 

Holiday Scenes

Christmas Eve breakfast for one. Morning Star veggie patties rule.

The cutest little stocking for my sweet niece. 

Check out her stylish pants!

Let's not forget this stylish dude, too. 

Woah!

Happy babies make Christmas dinner better. 

This crazy house in my parent's development. It's been like this ever since I was a kid, with the last maybe 5 years being more extravagant than ever. And I almost don't want to post the next door neighbor's house because I actually love all these lights, the creativity and the effort, but...

Lame!

What I Wore: Christmas Eve

Dress: Lulu's. Necklace: Vintage. Prescription glasses: Lookmatic.

Weekend Scenes

The holiday parties are coming back to back and on top of each other now and while I love it, coming home and getting cozy is also that much better. Here are some moments from our weekend before Christmas.

 

My handiwork this year. Kraft paper and Japanese masking tape. With a little twine.

Pizza cut up in strips becomes flatbread which becomes a great appie. 

Dinners are always better with your own little pot of cream. 

We cleared out our dining area table in anticipation of our new Crate and Barrel dining room table...which never came. So beyond bummed. Crossing our fingers we get it before Christmas!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Our most controversial card yet. See, this year we didn't say 

"Happy Holidays" and busted out "Merry Christmas". See that? :)

The only other card we sent out, in 2009. 

Christmas Decorations 2011

Of course everything isn't all set in it's place, but I just couldn't wait. 

I tried to change it up and keep it fresh and different from last year.

Our mantle. Missing two trees and fairy lights, but you get the idea. 

It's a little forest. :)

 

I don't think I will ever tire of bottle brush trees. 

That vintage Santa actually lights up. So this is my first Santa item. 

And we don't have kids. What is wrong with me?!

Fake snow!

Another Santa I picked up at this weekend's Alameda flea market.

I bought it because my mom has the same one. 

The backside is creepily painted- like face paint.

Getting less and less scared of using red to decorate for this holiday. I got this banner on ebay after being inspired by this epic mantle. This was still in it's original packaging from back in they day when it fetched 29 cents. 

Too delicate to hang on a door, I laid it on a coffee table and stuck a candle in the middle.

Lately

Hopped on that bandwagon. I didn't really get it at first. I was super happy

with my first Stylemint shirt. Anyone else have good experiences?

The prettiest little stock pot there ever was. It is called Dijion. 

I kind of want it to live on my stove and not hidden away in a cabinet.

Vintage Japanese ornaments from Ebay that I paid too much for. Tell me they're cute?

Homemade wedding present that I have been dying to display. 

Now I just need to find a spot worthy of it. 

Upcycle those Shiny Brites

Frankly, I was tired of using my Shiny Brite ornaments by putting them in fake snow in glass hurricanes. I think I did it a few years in a row. When I saw Emily Henderson's holiday special and she made a huge peace sign out of round ornaments, I couldn't wait to get started.

Peace on earth! Christmas decor without being obvious. I'm in love.

From the Shiny Brite wiki:

The demand for glass ornaments waned as plastic ornaments became more popular, ultimately bringing the Shiny-Brite company to close its doors in 1962.

 Boo! Boo to plastic.

Keeping it real. In the unstyled built in. It was the perfect decoration to go in the gap. I got a 26" floral wreath wire circle, and hot glued the crap out of those Shiny Brites. There were many causalities in the process. More glue=for the better.

Holly and Jon get a Christmas tree

This weekend we got our tree! I love love love this time of year and having a pretty tree all lit up is one of the best parts. We went to the tree farm we have gone to for the last 4 or 5 years.

 Blue skies. Gotta love Christmas time in California.

 First time as husband and wife!

We decided to not mess around this year and got a pre-cut one. 

I think once we have kiddos we will go back to cutting our own.

Trimmed!

In the dark

{lights in a jar in my family room}

I have so many things to photograph to put up on this blog, but I can't because it's so dark before and after work! I know, first world problems. One of the things I can't wait to show you is the most frustrating craft I have done in a long time. In other news, I finally caved and joined Pinterest. Come find me.