I don't know about you but the idea of this link up just brings a smile to my face. When Jamie, Courtney, and I got together to host this last year, our original idea was just Christmas Cookies & Desserts, but we knew we could make it just a little bit more fun, so...
the Christmas Desserts & Tacky Sweaters Link Up was born!
Honestly, it has been making me laugh ever since we landed on it last year. Just look at those fabulous sweaters above! If that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit then I don't know what will. And this year, we're lucky enough to have Whitney co-host with us!
Here are the details of the link up...
Get in the kitchen and whip up one of your favorite Christmas desserts! Don't have one? Don't worry! Find something that looks fabulous and new to try or even go the semi homemade route and decorate some store bought sugar cookies. Anything goes!
Take lots of pictures to share and if you are up for it, snap a picture of you in a delightfully tacky Christmas sweater showing off your dessert as well. Write up a recipe post so we can all try it for ourselves, and then come link it up with either Jamie, Courtney, Whitney, or myself on December 3rd. The link up will open at 6am EST on Dec. 3rd and close just in time for Santa to make his rounds at 11:59pm EST on Christmas Eve. And don't forget to share those yummy recipes on social media as well using #sweetsandsweaters15 !
Don't forget to make a little extra so you have some to leave out for Santa to try too!
Not sure if you feel like shopping for a tacky sweater? No problem! Doctor up a sweater you already have and have fun with it! It doesn't have to be anything complicated, the point is to have a little Christmas fun with it. But, not to worry about if you'd rather not, you can absolutely link up just a Christmas dessert recipe - no silly sweater required!
I'm back with another installment of Disney cruise updates! We're on to Day 4 now, Cabo San Lucas. If you missed Days 1, 2, and 3, you can find Day 1 here, Day 2 here, and Day 3 here.
On Day 4 of our cruise, we stopped in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. While Seth and I had both been there before, we still decided to get off the ship and explore. We went in 2009 with Seth's mom and aunt and while we did go zip lining, we didn't really explore as much as we wanted to.
Our day started VERY early...so early in fact that we had to set an alarm (the horror!). Our excursion was set to meet at 7:15am so we could all disembark together, so we had to get up, dressed and fed by around 7:05am. No tour should ever start so early on vacation, but nevertheless, we made it (barely - Seth had to run back down to guest services to get a new Key to the World card since he somehow lost his between leaving the room and getting to the meeting place - luckily it's easy to get a new one)!
Now Cabo was different than Ensenada. Due to the cove being too shallow for the cruise ship to pull in and just the way that the dock is situated, the cruise ship had to "dock" in the middle of the ocean. It's kind of hard to explain, but we were close, we just had to take little shuttle boats to get to the land. They pulled up right next to our ship, there was a little walk way, and we got on the little boat. It was a short 10 minute boat ride to get to the actual dock in Cabo. Now, this is the part where if you get sea sick, you might have an issue. It was BUMPY or turbulent, or whatever you call choppy water. I was a little worried about Mason because we didn't know if he would get sea sick or not, but turns out, he's perfectly fine!
Our ship with the little "shuttle ships" taking people to the dock
So we got to the land, got off the boat, and headed to our meeting place for our tour. The tour that we signed up for was two parts - one by sea and one on land. We started off with a little harbor cruise on a yacht like boat (it was smaller than the cruise ship but bigger than the shuttle boat). I'll be completely honest. I was a little disappointed in this part. The boat ride was literally maybe 30ish minutes and took us to one side of the arch and then the other (as you'll see below). I thought maybe they would give us some history on Cabo while we sailed, but it really wasn't anything special. The view though, almost made up for the lack of "entertainment" from the boat staff.
Once the harbor cruise portion of the tour was done, we made our way over to the bus stop area to get on a bus for the land portion of the tour. Now this tour was pretty great. Our tour guide, Armando, knew tons of information about Cabo and about Mexico in general and was super informative. It almost made up for the lack of information on the harbor cruise. The land portion of the tour was roughly an hour, maybe a little longer, and took us to a couple different stops. Our first stop was a restaurant/hotel that over looked the ocean. This was definitely one of the highlights as the view was GORGEOUS and... they gave you free booze! Haha. Each person got a ticket for a free drink and when we got there, we exchanged the ticket for a small beer. Unfortunately for Mason, he is not old enough to drink, so I gladly took one for the team and had two beers myself.
After we spent some time taking in the views, we were back on the bus and on to our next stop - a glass factory. Now, while I think glass factories are big in Mexico and they make some amazing products, I kind of felt like this stop was a ploy for us to buy stuff. I mean, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how they make the different glass products (they showed us how to make a vase), but after that, we were just given time to walk around... aka shop. We didn't end up buying anything and headed back to the bus to wait for the rest of the passengers.
Make yourself comfortable!
The selfie king.
At this point, the tour was pretty much over and they took us back to the bus station. We ended up hanging out in town and having lunch at Señor Frogs and walking around to do a little shopping while some of our other family members went swimming with dolphins.
Around 2:30pm we headed back to the boat as we were told that we had to be back by 3:30pm so the ship could leave. We got back on the ship, got cleaned up, and got ready for dinner. Dinner that night was themed - Pirate Night!
Now with all our adventures that day, you may notice that Mason never napped. Keep this in mind...
After we finished getting ready, we took a few pictures, and then made our way to the restaurant that we were having dinner at that night - Triton's. Though we ate there on night 1, on this night, all the restaurants had the same "pirate" themed meal so we were simply in that restaurant just for convenience.
The dinner started off fine, everyone was doing well, Mason was a little cranky but nothing I didn't think my phone couldn't fix until... all of a sudden he put his head down on the table and we didn't see him moving for a few minutes. THE KID FELL ASLEEP AT THE DINNER TABLE. No nap - 1, Mason - 0. Uh oh. He was fine for a few minutes, we were even mean and put a pirate hat on him, and then all of a sudden, his arm slipped off the table and he almost fell into my nap and he was not happy.
I put him on my lap and he fell back asleep and we tried to finish our dinner, but Seth ended up taking him back to the room after a little while.
He ended up waking up shortly after they got back to the room, Seth ordered some room service for Mason, and I came back shortly thereafter (with an extra dessert that our waiter basically made me take to Seth since he missed dessert - not that I was complaining). I also made Seth take a picture of me in my pirate outfit since we didn't have a chance to really take pictures since Mason fell asleep.
We ended up missing the show that night, which was a comedian/juggler, but since Mason had a little power nap, we were able to go outside for Mickey's Pirates of the Caribbean Party. I'm so glad that Mason woke up for this party because he had an absolute blast dancing to the music and enjoying the show and the fireworks. And we even got to see Mickey fly through the air!
After the party was over, we called it a night. We went back to our room and got ready to go to bed in preparation for Day 5!
As some of you may know, a couple months ago, I joined the Savvy Sassy Moms team as a Product Scout. So far I've gotten to meet some amazing ladies, try out some awesome products, and today, co-host Week 1 of our holiday blog hop! This is the first week in a five week series of fun holiday themes and I'm really excited to share a delicious recipe with you today.
This appetizer is seriously so easy and perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas... or really anytime you're hosting guests! My mother in law first introduced me to this and I quickly fell in love. This combination is my personal favorite but you could always switch out the cranberries for cherries or raisins and the macadamia nuts for pecan or walnuts!
Ingredients :
- dried cranberries (I used craisins)
- caramel
- brie cheese
- macadamia nuts
There are no exact measurements in this recipe which I feel like makes it easier. You are totally free to customize how much you like!
Directions :
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Unwrap the brie cheese and put it on a piece of tin foil.
3. Pour desired amount of caramel over the top of the brie cheese.
4. Put desired amount of craisins and macadamia nuts on top.
5. Close the tin foil so the cheese is completely covered.
6. Put on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 15-25 minutes or until cheese reaches desired level of gooey-ness.
7. Pair with your favorite crackers and enjoy!
In this case, I chose include the brie as part of a cheese platter.
The brie is definitely the star of the cheese platter, but this way it gives guests options in case brie is not their favorite. Add some salami, different types of bread/crackers, and some fruit and you have the perfect appetizer to hold your guests over until dinner time!
So, hop around and check out my other blog hop co-hosts appetizers and side dishes. With Thanksgiving being next week and Christmas not too far away, you can never have too many ideas of what to serve. Have a recipe you'd love to share? Link up with us all week so we can check it out!
All you need to do is :
- Link up your favorite holiday appetizer or side dish by putting your URL and name of your blog post into the InLinkz widget below.
- Then visit 3-5 other blogs in the Holiday Blog Hop and leave a comment on their posts.
- Share this Holiday Blog Hop with your friends and readers on social media using the #SavvySassyHoliday hashtag.
- And then... week 2 next week is sweet treats! Don't forget to check out Savvy Sassy Moms next Sunday and check out all the drool worthy sweet treats that are posted! With my sweet tooth, you know I'll be checking it out!
Happy Friday! I don't know what it is about this week, but I'm super excited that it's finally Friday and that the weekend is almost here. We're going to a birthday party on Saturday and have some plans with friends (that include a donut breakfast!) on Sunday so it's shaping up to be a good weekend! But before we get too far ahead of ourselves... here's my weekly five!
I love love love when I see people's Elf on the Shelf ideas. In fact, Andrea from Momfessionals kills it every year with her elf adventures and her North Pole breakfast elf introduction. I want so badly to do Elf on the Shelf myself but... I'm not sure I have the creativity and time and energy for it. Plus I'm not sure that Mason would really get it, at least this year, so I may hold off until next year? At least now with my new job, I have some extra time in the mornings which actually makes it feasible. With my old job, we'd constantly be rushing out the door in the mornings and he wouldn't even have time to enjoy it. We'll see! Thoughts? Elf on the Shelf? Yay or nay?
TWO. Straightener recommendations?
I'm pretty sure that my straightener is about to kick the bucket. It's pretty old and just doesn't seem to be getting as hot as it used to. Anyone else use a straightener and love it? Recommendations please!
I recently went to Old Navy for some things for Mason and came out with some jeans for me. Ever since I got some straight leg jeans in my second Stitch Fix and got skinny jeans in my first fix, I've been interested in the styles. Since I can't go spending $78 on every pair of jeans, I thought I'd browse Old Navy the other day when I had some super cash burning a hole in my pocket. I tried on a couple pairs and was able to find some that I loved - one pair in blue and one pair in black! And now? I'm not sure where skinny jeans have been my whole life! I've been wearing them with my Toms and with my new Conversealmost everyday!
I found this pin on Pinterest yesterday and found it to be so helpful and insightful. I knew a couple of the tips already, but some of them were new (and genius!) to me!
FIVE. This.
I've been seeing this floating around the internet lately and think it's hilarious. And so, so true. I swear it hit 60 degrees the other day and I thought I was going to freeze to death.
And with that, we're back to 80 degrees this weekend (or so the weather forecast says). Fall, come back!
And we're on to Day 3 of our cruise - our first full day at sea! In case you missed it, you can find Days 1 and 2 here : Day 1 and Day 2.
Day 3 was our first day at sea and surprisingly we had a lot planned! It started off with some silly pictures as we were waiting for Daddy to finish getting ready so we could head to breakfast. I just die over this picture. I mean, look at how he's holding his little hands. So proper!
After Seth was finally ready, we headed to breakfast and then it was time to meet the princesses! When we boarded the ship, we were able to sign up for a day to see the princesses. You see, the princesses were special. You couldn't just walk up to them and see them like the other characters, you had to get (free) tickets to see them. These tickets also included Anna, Elsa, and Olaf, which you already know are always highly sought after. Luckily for us, some of our family members were smart and checked in earlier than I did and got on the ship about 3 hours hours before us. They were able to register our whole party for the meeting of the princesses and so we were able to meet them on the first day at sea.
I apologize for the quality of these pictures. The lighting on the ship was HORRIBLE (probably on purpose so you'd by their pictures but I was too cheap to buy their $20.95 8x10's so this is what I've got!). Mason, as you can tell, was less than impressed with the princesses.
Rapunzel... she's ok.
I'll teach you to take my picture with a princess, I'll stick my finger up my nose! Oh wait, we're still taking pictures?? Not happy!
Belle... she's ok too.
But Cinderella?? NOPE. No way. Get. Me. Out. Of. Here!
Yeah, don't like Olaf, Anna, or Elsa either, Mom!
Tinkerbell? Ok, she's ok too.
After the traumatic princess encounter, we went back to the room to get ready for Mickey's Halloween Party. (Already re-capped, if you're interested in reading, you can find it here).
The party was super, super fun and definitely got us in the Halloween spirit! When it was over, it was time for lunch, so we went to the top deck to have some lunch by the pool and of course, have some more frozen yogurt.
At this point, it was now time for Mason to take a nap. My mother in law super generously offered to watch him and let us go to the pool. So we went back to the room and got ready and then headed back upstairs for some pool time.
A couple hours later, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. It was Halloween themed night, so we all put back on our Halloween costumes and prepared for dinner at the Parrot Cay restaurant. We noticed that Goofy was having a photo opp on the deck before dinner, so I went early to get in line and Mason and Seth met up with me a few minutes later. Goofy he actually liked!
Mickey bars for dessert!
After dinner and before the show, we met Donald. He was ok with Donald. Then we headed over to the theater for that night's show - a musical of Toy Story. This night's show was excellent and though I say it about every night, Mason LOVED it!
We came back to our room after the show and found this guy waiting for us.
At this point, it was time to head to bed and prepare for our port adventures in Cabo San Lucas on Day 4!
