My Latest Obsession

C + M at their piano recital (can't get over how grown up they are looking these days!)

My little helper (making our annual Carr Christmas Cookie jars)

Off to the Nutcracker 

Happy Friday! This was one of my favorite days as a kid = the last day of school before holiday break = parties in your classroom and holiday concerts! This morning I had CMC's holiday party at school and soon GMC and I are off to MMC's school for her holiday concert. Can't wait. It's been a week of cookies, parties, and concerts!

Tonight we are stuffing our holiday cards. I ordered them so early this year and they have been sitting in the box ever since. I love getting holiday cards in the mail! So fun. Tomorrow the girls are off to ski for the day and I'm hoping to use that time to organize some of their Christmas gifts. Tomorrow night PFC and I are heading to dinner w/ some dear friends we have not seen in a LONG time. I'm excited to check out Charlatan for dinner. After dinner we are heading to my sister and her husband's house for a holiday party. Festive!

I'm SUPER excited on Sunday to head to the Music Box Theatre to see It's a Wonderful Life. I imagine that we'll be making this a Christmas tradition. Our favorite lines from the movie =
Little Mary: Is this the ear you can't hear on? Little Mary: George Bailey, I'll love you til the day I die. What is your favorite holiday movie?

Last Christmas we headed to my mom's in AZ. We had such a wonderful time. This year we are staying put and my dad is coming out to visit. We are excited to hang w/ Big G!

Have a wonderful weekend! XO - d2

Some of my latest faves...

• Kate Middleton lost her mind when she met Jenna Lyons. Cute. 
• Good read = lasting relationships rely on 2 traits. 
• Check out Tom Cruise's mansion in the mountains. Pretty fabulous! 
• 2 great gift ideas under $30 = Zoku ice cream maker and these cute wrist warmers. We got both C + M one of the ice cream makers. They love the original quick pop maker. We use it all the time. 
• Might have to splurge on these low fat chocolate chip cookies! 
• This year we are hosting Christmas Eve. My dad will be in town. I've been thinking about our dinner menu. Beef tenderloin is going to be our main dish. I'm thinking of cooking it this way = slow-roasted. I'm thinking of making these individual chocolate molten cakes for dessert. They look awesome! You can make the batter up to a few days in advance = perfect! For sides I'm thinking about these balsamic roasted brussels sprouts and these truffled mashed potatoes. Here's some inspiration for a Christmas dinner table. 
• Ralph Lauren is opening up a restaurant in NYC. Exciting! I love RL in Chicago. 
• 10 habits of polite people. 
• Are you visiting out of town family/friends over the holidays? If so, this would be the perfect gift to send them when you leave = build your own sundae kit. 
• Christmas breakfast = dutch baby pancakes with apples = yes, please! 
• Cute holiday card = be merry reindeer. 
• We're making PFC a 2015 calendar from Artifact Uprising. They have such cool stuff. 
• Animal House style sweatshirt for your kiddo. Pretty funny. 
• 30 movies to watch w/ your family. 
• I was w/ some of my girlfriends last night for our annual gift exchange. This game was a popular gift = Cards Against Humanity. Have you played it? I haven't played it yet but heard it is a riot. Read about the 8 high school friends who created the game. Pretty cool! 
• We've been making our own holiday version of these Cowgirl Cookie Jars for the holidays. We pass them out to neighbors, friends, family and teachers. GMC is my #1 helper on these. My mom makes poppy seed loaves for friends and neighbors. The cookie jars are our version of her homemade gift. But wouldn't these coca-cola and hot chocolate gift boxes be fun to make?