[Want, Need, Wear, Read] A Gift Guide for the Mama + a HUGE $1,000 Stitch Fix Giveaway!

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

For some reason, I always feel like answering the question "what would ____ like for Christmas?" is the hardest to answer about myself. I literally could name off a million things that Mason wants and close to at least ten (ha!) things that Seth wants. But for me? I draw a blank. It's silly really. I mean, I should know myself the best, right? Apparently... wrong. So, I got smart this year and started a list on my phone so when people asked, I knew just what to tell them!




WANT

If you follow me on Instagram, you'd know that this would be a definite winner for me for Christmas - a Starbucks gift card! Seriously, I am addicted to those Chestnut Praline Lattes. I wasn't sure after my first one, but now I'm hooked. It's going to be a sad day when the red cups and the holiday drinks are gone. As long as they don't take away my Peach Green Tea Lemonade, I'll still be a happy girl!

The new iPhone 7 came out a couple months ago and since I wasn't eligible for an upgrade, I tried to ignore it. Well, now, I am eligible for an upgrade and I'm DYING for the new iPhone 7 Plus! I never thought I'd want a Plus because I thought it would be too big, but now I think I need it for the amazing camera. I mean, I don't have a real camera, so the camera portion of the phone is very important to me and I hear the 7 Plus's camera is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the regular 7. So maybe this should be under the need category too? ;)

I'd really love a dutch oven. My mother in law has one and makes the most amazing meals in it and I'd love to recreate them at home so we could have them on days other than Sunday family dinner night. They are super expensive so I guess I wouldn't consider it a need, but I really do want one.

NEED

I'm just going to file this as a need - a Target gift card! I mean, what don't I need at Target? The answer is nothing - because I need everything! This would be a definite win if I found one of these in my stocking!

We are in desperate need of new pots and pans. The ones we have have definitely seen better days. These ones get great reviews on Costco's website, but I'm always open to suggestions!

I'm sure this should fall under the want category, but hey, everyone NEEDS waffles, right? Right. As much as Mason LOVES Eggo waffles (the blueberry kind to be exact), I'd love to have a real waffle maker to be able to make waffles on the weekends! No toaster kind for me!

WEAR

I've been DYING for a Kendra Scott necklace for forever but just couldn't pull the trigger and spend the money. This is kind of a cheat since I already bought it for myself (err, well TWO! Ha.) when they had a Black Friday sale last week, but I was so excited when Meghan helped me find this pendant necklace without the tassel! I mean, I love the tassel, but I feel like the tassel makes it more fancy, and well, I'm just not very fancy, so I was so happy to find out that they still sell the necklace without one! So happy in fact that with their 20% off sale, I bought two. I mean, free shipping and free returns? Why not?

Ok, this is kind of a cheat too (apparently I'm bad at buying myself presents and/or waiting until Christmas!), but I loved my brown Lucky Brand flats so much that when I saw that the black ones went on sale (on Amazon!) I had to buy them! They arrived yesterday and are pure perfection! I know these will get a lot of wear.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you probably know that I love Stitch Fix. I got a gift card for my birthday last year, ordered my first fix, and have been hooked ever since. I mean, the fact that someone can send you jeans that fit PERFECTLY blows my mind and keeps me coming back. I mean, I can't even buy myself jeans that fit this good!

If you haven't tried Stitch Fix yet, I highly suggest you add a gift card to your Christmas wish list! Heck, just a $20 gift card will get you a free styling fee and then you can decide if you want to continue the service after you get your first box. (I was hooked after one box and actually JUST got my first 5/5 (!!!) after switching stylists recently. I can't wait to share that with you soon, but that's a post for another day.) Stitch Fix gift cards make excellent stocking stuffers!

READ

I'll be honest, I'm not a big reader. I don't think this comes as a surprise to most. But, I do love a good cookbook. This Mix and Match Mama Eats Cookbook or the new Skinnytaste Fast and Slow look amazing! Or, even though it would probably take me a year to read the whole thing, I'd love The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines!



Oh! And one more thing... to go along with the wear category (and quite possibly the want and need categories too!),  I'm super excited to be partnering with some other Stitch Fix bloggers to bring you one of the biggest Stitch Fix giveaways yet - a chance to win a $1000 Stitch Fix gift card!

Never tried Stitch Fix before? Why wait! This is the perfect opportunity to get yourself started! Already love Stitch Fix? Then you know just how good this giveaway is!

Enter on the rafflecopter below. Good luck!

This post contains affiliate links but, as always, all opinions are my own. If you use my affiliate link, I may receive a small commission.




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[The Great Christmas Round Up] 25 Christmas Dessert Recipes

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

It's finally and officially the most wonderful time of the year! And judging by how much money I spent on Black Friday, pre-Black Friday, and Cyber Monday... it's also the most expensive time of the year as well. But as much as I love shopping (online shopping to be exact), I love being all cozied up in my house, watching Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate (with lots of marshmallows!) and baking Christmas treats.

Once again Pinterest has sucked me in and I've become a Christmas dessert pinning crazy person.


Grasshopper Mint Chocolate Bark // This one is tried and true! I made it a couple years ago and brought it to Christmas for dessert and people couldn't believe how easy and delicious it was. I seriously emailed out this recipe to at least five people.

White Chocolate Oreo Peppermint Bark // This one is also tried and true! I made it last year and everyone loved it. This one was just as simple as the Grasshopper Mint Chocolate Bark, but had my favorite extra ingredient in them... Christmas Oreos!

Andes Mint Cookies // Andes Mints. Need I say more? I haven't tried these yet, but they look and sound AMAZING.

Oreo Penguins // These are seriously the cutest! I love Oreos and when you make them in to these cute little penguins, it just makes them THAT much better!

Christmas Swirl Sugar Cookies // A fun twist on the original sugar cookie -- colorful and with the addition of Christmas sprinkles!

Grinch Cookies // The perfect snack while watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Peppermint Mocha Cookies // The cookie version of one of my favorite holiday Starbucks drinks!

Ugly Sweater Cake // I have NEVER seen anything like this! It would be the perfect addition to an ugly sweater Christmas party!

Santa Hat Cheesecake Bites // I make some awesome strawberries filled with cheesecake for a regular dessert and these are a fun twist on that idea, especially made for Christmas.

Hot Chocolate Fudge // I love fudge and I love hot chocolate and these babies are topped with marshmallows AND made in the microwave. Pure perfection.

Mint Hot Cocoa // If you couldn't tell from all my mint recipes above, I love mint! I also love hot cocoa, so this would be the perfect match. I'm thinking maybe it would be a little something like a peppermint mocha minus the coffee? Perfect for after dinner so it doesn't keep you up all night.

Disney Themed Christmas Cookies // I mean, how cute?! For those Disney lovers in your life, these are perfect for Christmas!

Christmas Light Cupcakes // My pet peeve is when things look so good but the taste doesn't measure up. These cupcakes are perfect because you can make the cake whatever flavor you want it to be and then you just add some vanilla frosting, some frosting gel for the strands, and then M&Ms for the lights. You know the taste will measure up to the cuteness!

Peppermint Brownie Bars // I love brownies and to add a little peppermint to them just makes them so festive!

Peppermint Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting // Don't like chocolate? These peppermint sugar cookies are a great alternative to brownies!

Pretzel Hugs // Pretzels, Hugs, and M&Ms. Melt. And that's it. Perfection!

Christmas in a Bowl (triffle) // This triffle includes peppermint mousse. I'm sold.

Christmas Crunch // I love popcorn (especially kettle corn!) and anyway to make it fun and festive and kick it up a notch is so fun! I love that this is something that Mason would be able to help with also!

Chocolate Salted Caramel Fudge // I mean. I NEED to make this! I love fudge and I love caramel and the addition of a little salt on top just makes it totally decadent!

Thin Mint Cookie Cups // Have a craving for thin mints when it's not Girl Scout cookie season? Try these!

Grasshopper Cookies // They don't technically sound Christmas-y, but they're green so in my world, it works.

Hershey's Kiss Smores Cookies // They had me at smores! I need to make these too! I'm a sucker for anything smores!

Snowman Cake Pops // Kick the cake pops up a notch and stack them to look like snowmen!

Chocolate Dipped Oreo Snowflakes // If you can't tell by my theme going on here, I love mint and I love Oreos. And the only thing better than double stuffed Oreos? Double stuffed Oreos DIPPED IN CHOCOLATE. Yes. I need to learn how to make these!

Fruit Candy Canes // Want a healthier alternative to all the sweet desserts? These banana and strawberry candy canes fit the bill!


Goodness, all these recipes sound amazing! I'm not usually the one who is in charge of Christmas dessert, but I always try to sneak something in there (since I love festive baking so much!). I don't know how I'm going to decide what to make this year!





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[DIY] Beer Advent Calendar.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Last year, on December 1st, I shared how I made my own DIY beer advent calendar for Seth for Christmas. A BUNCH of people shared that they wished that I had shared it earlier so they could do the same for their husbands so I thought I would re-share it again and earlier this year! I would have shared earlier last year, but it was a surprise for Seth and I didn't want him to know about it before he got to open his first beer on December 1st! But now that his advent calendar has come and gone, I can re-share it now without worrying that I'm ruining a surprise!

A little back story on how the beer advent calendar came about... a few weeks before I even had the idea in my head last year, Seth and I were at Costco and we came across a pre-made beer advent calendar. I had never seen or even thought of one of those and I thought it was genius... and perfect for my beer loving husband! I had asked Seth if he would like it but he took a look at the beers in it and decided that he didn't think he would like enough to make it worthwhile. Plus it was pretty expensive, so if he didn't think he would like the beers, I didn't want to try it. BUT when I shared about seeing it in a blog post a few days later,  Desiree casually commented that I should make my own. And an idea was born! I absolutely LOVED her idea and couldn't believe I didn't think of it earlier, so I immediately got to searching Pinterest (because duh) for how to make one. To my surprise, I could barely find anything! How had this not been done before? I was shocked. So, without Pinterest's help (*audible gasp*), I made Seth a beer advent calendar for Christmas!
Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

Going in, I had NO clue how I wanted to make it work, so I did what anyone would do... I headed to Hobby Lobby and hoped for inspiration to pop out at me. And luckily for me, it did! I literally walked around the whole store twice before I landed on this idea. I found this Merry Christmas trunk, googled how tall beer bottles are, and guesstimated that I could fit 24 beer bottles in the trunk. So at 50% off, I picked up the trunk, some crinkle paper for packing purposes, and some Christmas paper. If I were to estimate, I'd say the total came to maybe $15-$18 for these three things.

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar
Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

Then came the actual wrapping of the beer bottles so he couldn't tell what they were. I knew I needed to wrap the main label but then some had additional labels as well as a cap so I had to get creative. 

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

For the top label on the neck of the bottle, I cut a strip of paper and had planned to wrap it around and call it a day. But I ended up not liking how that looked, so I cut a little off and wrapped it a little tighter and liked that look better.

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

To cover the top, I made numbers. These numbers let Seth know which beer to open on which day.

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar
Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar
Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar
Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

And at this point, I was pretty much done! It was pretty easy but was very timely. If I had to guess, I'd say the whole thing probably took 2-3 hours.

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

I put the bottles in the trunk and added some crinkly paper for packing purposes.

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar

Chasin' Mason : Beer Advent Calendar


See full, detailed directions on how to make your own Beer Advent Calendar here or pin for later here!

And there you have it! A DIY beer advent calendar! I'm very happy with how it turned out and Seth was SO excited to find out that this was his gift. 

Each day, I let him "open" the beer in the morning so he could see what it was and then put it in the fridge to cool so he could have it with dinner. I didn't really know what I was doing and am definitely no beer expert, but he ended up really liking the beers I chose! I actually had him do a little recap on the beers, so if you need some inspiration, check out this post and see which his favorites were!

Basically, I just went to Total Wine and More (they have a giant single beer selection!), looked in the section for the kinds he likes, and picked top rated, cheap-ish beers. And by cheap-ish, I meant they all cost between $1.99-$3.99 per beer, so if you're trying to plan, total I probably spent about $65 on this gift. 

And overall? It was a HUGE hit!







[$10 at Target] November.

Monday, November 21, 2016

I'm excited to be back again today co-hosting this link up with Becky and some other fabulous ladies!  If you posted today as well, don't forget to link up with us below and then hop around and check out how the rest of my co-hosts (and everyone else!) spent their $10!




For this month's $10 at Target, I went kind of random. You will notice that I went almost all in the food category - or drink, to be more precise. I don't know what prompted me to go that route, but they looked good and I could get a lot for my money! I also randomly added in a new eye lash curler because I needed one and I love the other ELF products, so I hoped I would love this one too!



I was a little unsure of the eye lash curler at first. When I first used it, it seemed to be at a weird angle (or at least a different angle than my current one), so I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But the more I used it, the more I loved it, and I've since thrown away my old one and only use this one now.

The drinks... most were good, but most were also something I probably wouldn't buy everyday. My boss had left a bai drink in the fridge at work when she left to go home so I thought I'd try it. I had heard other people talk about how good they were, so I thought, hey it's free, why not? It was a peach one and it was super good! So when I found these at Target, I thought I'd try them. Most flavors were pretty good, even the bubbly ones, but I don't know that I'd buy them regularly.

The market pantry ones were pretty good and were more just like sparkling, flavored water. All the flavors were good and given how cheap they were and how much I got, I'd say, I'd be interested to get them on occasion when I wanted to switch it up from my normal boring water.

So, how'd I do on my budget?
Since I bought these along with some other items, I don't have a receipt to show, but here's the breakdown.

Bai drinks: $1.89 + $1.99 + $1.99 = $5.87
Market Pantry sparkling waters : 3 x $0.69 = $2.07
CRV for all drinks: (3 x $0.10) + (3 x $0.05) = $0.45
Eye lash curler: $2.00
Tax (8% - only on eye lash curler) : $0.16
Minus RED Card discount : ($0.50)
Total : $10.05

Just barely over budget! I gave myself a pat on the back for this one (lol)!


Becky at bybmg // Instagram // Facebook // Pinterest
Elizabeth at Chasin' Mason // Instagram // Facebook // Pinterest
Stephanie at Wife Mommy Me // Instagram // Facebook // Pinterest

Next month, we'll be sharing our hauls on Monday, December 19th. Mark your calendars, get your shopping on, and link up with us on the 19th and show us what you got!






Friday Favorites with Tiny Prints.

Friday, November 18, 2016

I'm SUPER excited to be partnering this year with Tiny Prints for my holiday cards. While I've never used them for my cards before, I've definitely swooned over all their different designs as well as all the different ways you can customize your cards. And this year, I'm super excited that I actually get to have some of these cards for myself.

I know Christmas cards are something that people typically get in the mail and then toss after the holidays are over, but to me, holiday cards are very important. In fact, I actually have last years card in a picture frame on our picture ledge above our TV. Every day I see that card and every day I am still in love with it. Last year I went with a different company and this year I'm excited to see if I can top the love I have for last year's card with this year's card. It's going to be tough -- but I think I can do it! ;)

While I don't plan to show you what our card looks like until after everyone has already received them (no spoilers!), I did want to show you some of the top contenders. From Foil-Stamped Cards (available in gold, silver, rose gold (!!!) and red foil) to Glitter Cards (!!!) to Laser-Cut Cards (with beautiful designs ranging from fun and festive shapes to elegant and graceful motifs) to Ornament Cards (doubling as cheerful décor on your loved ones’ trees) and even NEW! Personalized Foil Cards – there is definitely something for everyone!

And that's not even all!

For families - get your kids in on the holiday action with kids’ color-in cardsHave a new bundle of joy this season? Announce your little one’s arrival with your holiday card. Beautiful year-in-review formats let you tell the story of your family’s entire year. 

For newlywedsLooking for something to do with all those gorgeous wedding photos? Announce your wedded bliss with a newlywed holiday card collection!

For travelers Show off the year’s adventures with these holiday cards specifically formatted for all those gorgeous travel pics. 

For millennials Make use of all those #selfies in your Insta feed. Their millennial-focused holiday cards are perfect to send to friends, family, roommates and coworkers. Maybe throw in a #tbt or two!

And quite possibly my favorite thing that Tiny Prints does...

Baby2Baby PartnershipTinyPrints is passionate about helping parents celebrate their children as they grow.  That’s why, for the past three years, they’ve partnered with Baby2Baby, an organization that’s provides low-income children with the necessities they deserve. For every birth announcement or holiday card from the Baby2Baby collection purchased, they donate a portion of the proceeds to Baby2Baby.  They’ve also designed an exclusive holidaycard collection and holidayornaments to honor their incredible mission.

With so many options to choose from, how did I pick which ones were for us? Well, it was a hard decision! I've narrowed it down to a few contenders...










Aren't they gorgeous??? Seriously I could go on forever sharing all the different cards that I loved. Some people say that taking the photos is the hard part and the designing the cards is the easy part, but for me, taking the photos was easy, choosing which photos I loved was hard (because I loved them all!) and choosing the card is even harder because there are even more card options that I had picture options. Goodness. And then there's envelope liners and return address labels (and even FREE recipient addressing on any custom envelope!) . The possibilities are endless and the amount of time it took me to decide which cards I wanted seemed to be endless as well. Lucky for me, I use 'Happy Holidays' since we have family that celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah or the decision would have been even harder (since I only had to choose from the 'Happy Holidays' cards rather than both those and 'Merry Christmas')! 

But I think I've finally picked a winner!

As you can probably tell from the examples above, I like the picture on the card to be the star of the show. They definitely have some super intricate cards with beautiful borders and such, but that's just not me. I want my photos to shine through and have some words on there with our holiday wishes.

So, which one did I pick? You'll have to wait until December to find out!

PS As always Tiny Prints is offering free shipping when you spend $49+ with code FREESHIP49!

Disclaimer : I was provided free product from Tiny Prints in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.





The Guys Behind the Blog // November 2016.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Welcome to November's Guys Behind the Blog link up!

As most of you might know, Betsy from Heavens to Betsy and Laura from According to Laura Jean hosted a series on their blogs called The Guys Behind the Blog. I used to link up as often as possible ever since I found out about the series - I think I only missed one month in the past year and a half since I found out about it. I recently went back to Betsy and Laura's blogs to find out what the questions were for August only to find out that they weren't hosting anymore - July was their last month. I was SO bummed! I truly loved interviewing Seth each month and seeing what questions they came up with. So, I decided to email Betsy and Laura and see if they would mind if I continued on their series. Thankfully they said they wouldn't mind and would be happy to see the series continue on. Crystal from Hall Around TexasEvelina from Fortunate HouseJamie from Cocktails and CarseatsJessica from Secrets of a Stay at Home Mom, and I are excited to continue the series on! 


For November, we decided to focus our questions on the theme of Thanksgiving. Here are this month's questions and answers:


1 // What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? What is your least favorite?

My favorite Thanksgiving dish? Definitely mashed potatoes. And my least favorite? That cranberry? cherry? Jello $h!t that my mom makes (sorry mom!).

2 // What is a Thanksgiving tradition you liked growing up that you want to continue with your family?
For example: Do you eat super early around 3pm or regular dinner time around 6pm? Do you watch football? Do you all go to a particular family member's house? Do you nap after the big meal?

We didn't really have any specific traditions besides having all the nearby family get together, spend the day together, and eat dinner together. I like that we still continue to do that now.

3 // What are your thoughts on Black Friday shopping? Yay or nay?

Seth: glares at me.
Me: laughing.
Seth: enough said?
Me: enough said.

(He hates shopping in general, but REALLY hates the idea of Black Friday shopping.)

4 // If you had it your way, would you set up your holiday decorations (Christmas tree, Hanukkah menorah, etc.) before or after Thanksgiving?

Seth: glares at me.
Me: laughing.
Seth: enough said?
Me: enough said.

(I think he'd prefer to never decorate (but he never wins that argument), so we just wait until RIGHT after Thanksgiving when I make him take us to get our Christmas tree.)

Seth: I like these questions! They're easy. Let's keep them going!

5 // What are you most thankful for this year?

Me before I read the question : Ok, you actually have to use your brain on this one.
Seth: Sure I do.
Me: Rolls eyes. Reads question.

Seth: Spending time with my family. I know my job is getting more and more demanding (he just got a promotion a couple months ago) so I truly cherish the time we get to spend together on the weekends.

Seth: Darn you and your making me think question.
Me: Wait, what? I was right?
Seth: Oops, sorry, going through a tunnel.
Me: Rolls eyes.

***

December's link up will be back on the last Thursday of the month, December 29th, and the questions will be:

1 // How do you spend the holidays? Any favorite traditions that you had growing up that you like to share with your family now?

2 // Do you prefer to have a real tree or a fake tree?

3 // How old were you when you stopped believing in Santa? Did someone ruin it for you or did you find out on your own? Do you play Santa for your kids?

4 // What's your favorite Christmas movie?

5 // Office holiday party - take it or leave it?


Bonus Question:
6 // New Year's Eve... quiet evening at home or go out and party?

We hope to see you back here on December 29th to link up with us and share what your significant others have to say! (Also, feel free to grab that first graphic to add to your posts if you'd like!)




***

A HUGE thank you to Betsy and Laura for letting Crystal, Evelina, Jamie, Jessica, and I continue on their series. It's an honor to be able to continue on what they created.

You can find the original series on Betsy's blog here and Laura's blog here.

Thanks for playing along again, Seth!







[Words on Wednesday] Confessions.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016


I must confess...

... that every time I give Mason a banana I get worried. I'll hand it to him, turn away to do something else, and then IT'S GONE. Did he eat it? He ate it right? WHERE IS IT??? Let's just say we had a certain incident once in the car and I found a banana in my purse a day or so later, so I have good reason to wonder if that banana was really eaten or is hiding somewhere in my house.

... that it annoys me to no end that I can't keep my windows open at night because one of my neighbors smokes pot around 8pm. I was unaware of this fact since it was so hot and we were using our air conditioner so much but the other night, it was actually cool, so I opened the windows only to walk downstairs to find that my whole downstairs smelled like weed. I then proceeded to yell to Seth (who was upstairs) to close Mason's window (which was also open and his room also now smelled like weed) because someone was smoking outside. And then I slammed the windows shut. Yep, no shame.

... that it also annoys me to no end that my other neighbor was ridiculously loud talking and drinking and laughing out on his back patio (which backs up to my living room window as well as Mason's bedroom window upstairs) until well past 11pm one Friday night a couple weeks ago. ELEVEN PM. Yes, I know that makes me sound old, but when I have a four year old that goes to bed at 8pm, that is NOT ok. Not only is it not ok, but it's also ridiculously rude. And I have zero patience for that. Do people not have any common courtesy anymore?

... that I'm super happy that I got married when I did. I used to wish that Pinterest was around when Seth and I got married, but now I'm glad I didn't have access to 178236752 different wedding types, inspiration photos, cakes, dresses, you name it, you can find it on Pinterest.

... that it annoys me when I click on a post to read it and all I can see are sponsored things - ads on the side bar, ads that pop up and block my view of the post, ads that pop up on pictures and block me from seeing the whole thing. It's the BIGGEST turn off. I'd say it mostly happens on things I find on Pinterest, but I've literally clicked away before because I just can't handle the spam.

... that I went to Chick-fil-a the other day for lunch with Mason and we were going to go through the drive thru and the person in front of me literally almost hit the person in front of them because they were both trying to get in front of one another and neither one wanted to stop. I mean, I know CFA is good, but it's definitely not worth getting in an accident over.

... that I had a cut on the tip of my right hand thumb the other day so I put a bandaid on it. Let me tell you... it made it INSANELY hard to text! I know that sounds really dumb, but I was getting so mad that it kept pushing the wrong buttons and leaving out letters. I contemplated taking it off JUST for texting. #sadbuttrue

... that I was slightly more annoyed that I think I should have been when I purposely went to Starbucks on the release day of the Red Cups and they gave me a... GREEN CUP. #firstworldproblems . I mean, I get it, they were probably trying to use up the rest of their green cup stock, but when you announce that it's red cup day, I want a red cup! Needless to say I've more than made up for it in the past few days... oops.

... that I had actually planned to do a "Readers Choice" Stitch Fix post on Monday where you all could help me decide what to keep from my latest Stitch Fix box, but I just didn't love enough to really make it worth it. I ended up keeping one thing, but I think I may change it up and ask for a new stylist next time and then ask for your feedback! Stay tuned :)

And that's all my confessions for today!
Can you relate to anything I confessed?


Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Chip Cookies + a Giveaway!

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

I was perusing Pinterest the other night when I started coming upon a bunch of different holiday cookies. Most of them were your typical peppermint chocolate chip cookies or maybe even mint ones that were green in color. This got me thinking... what kind of cookies haven't I had in a while but would love to try? And the answer was something with white chocolate chips (my recent fave!) and dried cranberries! I typed in the search bar "cranberry white chocolate chip cookies" and up came this recipe. Let me tell you. It DOES NOT disappoint. I measured out all of the ingredients that we would need and then I let Mason help me mix the ingredients (he actually did a GREAT job!) but then I put them on the cookie sheet myself (I did learn something from the last time). He was SO excited to help that he ran and got the chair from the dining area and brought it into the kitchen all by himself. I don't know what's gotten into him lately but he totally has the baking bug and is totally the best helper!

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Macadamia Chip Cookies
Recipe found here or pinned here.


Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts



Directions:

Beat the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.





Add flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and beat until just combined.

Stir in the white chocolate chips, dried cranberries and chopped macadamia nuts.





Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.



Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden on the bottom, 12-15 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.











Servings: 20-24 cookies

Prep Time: 45 minutes (includes dough refrigerating time)
Baking Time: 12-15 minutes
Total Time (start to finish): 1 hour

Looking for more holiday cookie recipes? Pop on over to these ladies blogs and check out the recipes that they shared! I mean, looking at the graphic below, they are bound to be delicious!



And that's not all! As if cookies weren't enough, I've also teamed up with some blog friends to host a holiday PayPal cash giveaway... for $150!

Giveaway runs from midnight on November 15, 2016 to midnight on November 22, 2016. Winner will be verified and winner will receive funds via PayPal.

Enter through the rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

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