Have you ever seen one of those mailboxes on the side of the road that made you stop and check it out?  When I lived in Virginia, and even a couple times since moving to California, I would come across all sorts of neat and unique mailboxes and address plaques. I would gather all sorts of inspiration from them and, at one point, I even gathered my own materials to add a little style to my own mailbox and house numbers. We moved before I could actually put them up, of course, but the dream is still alive. One day, I WILL have one of those adorable address signs!

One of the coolest, and definitely most efficient, accessories  you can add onto an address plaque is a solar light! These awesome lights are powered by the sun during the day and illuminate your address numbers or sign at night. This is great for when people are trying to find your house in the dark. The fact that you use no electricity is also great because you get constant light at night outside of your door, without jacking up your electric bill and unnecessarily spending money.

With the new year only days away, I think that checking out some house address plaques is definitely going on my “To Do” list. We’ve moved to a new home and what better way to make it our own than to put up something pretty that I’ve been wanting to do anyway!

Well, Christmas this year was definitely different than any Christmas I’ve had before!  Aside from the hustle and bustle that already comes with this hectic holiday season, I can honestly say that this year was the best year I’ve had in quite some time, probably ever. I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy all those Christmas dinners where the family awkwardly gathered around {this was usually the one time a year we’d see most of the family}, but this is the first Christmas I’ve had where it was genuinly about family and friends,  not just about the fact that it was Christmas and we were being “forced” to be around each other. I enjoyed the company I was around and we definitely grew closer over the holidays.

One of the most exciting aspects for me was the cooking. I teamed up with my roommate {I’m still working on his sur-name for the blog LOL} and we created quite a feast for the family. The table setting was beautiful and I was pleasantly surprised with how much positive energy was flowing through the house!

First up on the dinner menu was, of course, the prime rib roast. Let’s start with just the BUYING process:

I stupidly decided to put off grocery shopping until Christmas eve. I will NEVER make that mistake again, I promise you that, as the only grocery store for miles was PACKED!! The upside, though, is that I went there to get an unbelievably expensive cut of meat, prime rib roast, and walked out with an entire cart load, including the roast, for under $200!  The meat itself was supposed to be $128, but it was ringing up at $40. The manager came over and tried keying in some different numbers. It didn’t work, so he looked at me and said,

“You know what? Merry Christmas, ma’am!” and I got the roast for $40!!!

After dealing with the thousands of morons who were out shopping on Christmas eve, getting a roast for 31% of its original price TOTALLY made it worth it!

After Little Man woke up and opened his gifts, there weren’t many to open, we started on dinner. It was supposed to be done around 3, but we ended up finishing everything around 5 or 6. WORTH THE WAIT!

About a half hour before dinner was done, everyone retreated to their separate corners of the house and got dressed up. I, the “all-natural” girl who never wears make-up or dresses up, let my roommate do my hair and make-up. I felt so silly at first, I never wear make-up, but after the reactions I got from the family, I really started walking around with my head high, posing whenever the occasion called for it {and even when it didn’t LOL}. I snuck off to the bathroom so I could take a picture without looking like TOO much of a dork {although I’m sure that made me look like an even bigger one!!!!}:

The food was DELICIOUS and it was awesome having someone else take the reigns for a day. I’m always the one who cooks and bakes, so it was awesome to be sous-chef for a day and just do all the little tasks my roommate needed to make HIS job easier. The simple, yet unbelievably tasty, dinner menu include:

• Prime Rib Roast {slow cooked to perfection over hickory chips on the grill}
• Creamy Mashed Potatoes
• Hickory Smoked Carrots {we ran out of oven space and ended up just wrapping them up and throwing them on the grill}
• Green Bean Casserole
• Rolls
• & a Variety of Red Wines {I wish I could tell you which they were, but I’m totally not a sommelier LOL}

All-in-all, I have to say, this was one of the best Christmas experiences I’ve ever had. It came at a great time, too, because the sudden move we endured recently really drained Daddy and I. I’m extremely lucky that I got the Christmas shopping done BEFORE we moved, because I really wouldn’t have had the energy to get it done during all the chaos recently.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and I can’t wait to see what 2012 brings {aside from the obvious “End of the World” scenario everyone keeps talking about}.

If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan like myself, then you’ve probably set aside at least one day {okay probably more} where you watched all of the movies, back-to-back, refusing to even stop for a bathroom break until you have to get up and change DVDs.

Okay, don’t everyone stand up at once!

Anyhow…

From the moment The Return of the King released in December 2003, Lord of the Rings fans of all types have been anxiously awaiting the 4th installment – The Hobbit. Yes, the book is in pretty much every library, but who reads these days?!  {That’s one of my biggest pet-peeves, by the way – when people complain that they want to know what happens next in a story and don’t take the time to go read the book!}

While The Hobbit won’t be out until this time next year, you can still check out the trailer thanks to FirstShowing.net! CLICK HERE

 Soooooooo – what do you think??

I’m psyched!

Now that we’re in our own place and I’m finally getting things settled down and back to “normal”, I’m really starting to realize my lack of interior design capabilities.  I’ve always admired those people who could look at a room and instantly visualize what would look best and how to achieve those looks.

No matter how hard I try, my brain just doesn’t seem to process those little features that completely bring a room together. Honestly, I think this theory works on my wardrobe, as well!

Whenever I need some help with interior design ideas, I always turn to the internet. Somehow, looking at pictures where other people have so beautifully designed a room gives me inspiration. While I may not have the furniture or pictures they have in their rooms, seeing how they’ve assembled the different elements of the room definitely gives me ideas on how to assemble my own things.

Have you ever had issue with putting together a room in your home? Right now, I’m just concentrating on my bedroom and can’t seem to figure out what I want to do! During the move, we had to give up a lot of furniture and unfortunately, I used a lot of the furniture we gave up. That’s why I’ve been focusing on doing the best I can with what I have.

Any advice for the novice interior designer?

Have you ever come across a picture and instantly known that it belonged up on the wall, perhaps over the mantel or bed? When you find a picture you absolutely MUST display, a custom frame is the way to go!

When you have a photograph or painting that you really want to showcase, a custom frame is the best way to go! Not only can they be completely customized to perfectly suit your artwork, but they can be fitted with any type of backing you want;  from clips for the wall or a fold-out stand for a counter top.

Picture frames come in whatever shape, style, and color{s} that you can think up. Whether it’s a simple frame to fit a special shaped picture, or a big elaborate frame to match the picture inside, there is no end to the possibilities with custom framing. NYC to CA, there’s a style for everyone.

The holidays are right around the corner and who wouldn’t love the gift of picture frames?!  They’re unique, personalizable, and something the recipient will surely be happy to receive. If you’ve got a photographer on your gift buying list this year, or maybe just a friend who would value a photograph of their family in a custom frame, picture frames {NYC} are an excellent gift idea!

I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog for custom framing nyc and was compensated. However, the views and opinions are my own.

As a Mom who cooks every meal from scratch for her family, it’s no surprise that I LOVE the Food Network! There is no better channel to watch when you’re looking for meal ideas and tips on how to spruce up your dinner recipes.

Some of my favorite shows on Food Network are the ones where the seasoned chefs compete against each other for the honor of “best chef”. When you get chefs who have been professionally cooking on television for many years, they’re always whipping out some of the most unique and unusual recipes and concoctions. That being said, I’m super excited that Food Network’s Rachael Ray and Guy Fieri will square off against each other in an upcoming Food Network competition!

Starting January 1 at 9pm ET/PT, Rachel and Guy will coach 8 competitors through a tough competition where only one will gain the culinary bragging rights and a $50,000 donation to their favorite charity. The competition will span over 6-episodes and feature some eclectic contestants in fun and competitive tests of their culinary skills.

If you’re a food fan, make sure you mark your calendar for the upcoming Celebrity Cook-Off! Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri are two of my favorite chefs and they both make cooking extremely fun and easy. I’m anxious to see what crazy food ideas they come up with! Remember – January 1 at 9 sharp!