home.

It's hard to believe that a year ago we drove into El Paso.

I'll never forget the sunrise over the mountains or the feeling of being so far away from home and now a year later, we've made it just that. Home.


Happy New Year Lovies!!! what are your plans? i went out with friends last night and celebrated because today (on the actual day to celebrate) me and Max are going to enjoy a quiet evening in, dancing in our pajamas with our three dogs while listening to songs on the record player. i can't think of a better way to ring in 2012.




PS. i remember driving into El Paso the same day as the Sun Bowl game {right now my husband's alma mater Georgia Tech is playing Utah. GO YELLOW JACKETS!}. The man i married dresses up as the sun for his Sun Bowl forecast. i had to snap a photo on my phone! awesome.

i am a blessed girl.

i realize Christmas is not about material things etc. etc. but i have to say... i was pretty spoiled this year. :) and because i want to remember it all, here goes the "materialistic" post.

Christmas morning started out perfect with the gift from my parents (coffee in the morning just got easier) paired with the locally made blueberry jam from my brother and his girlfriend.

Santa Husband even remembered our dog babies...

 i can't even tell you how much i love my husband.

Christmas Aftermath 

some of the things i got this year :

since i have a jersey with my maiden name, my husband surprised me with a cowboys jersey (from their vintage collection) with my "updated" last name. i love it!

(speaking of sports, it was nice to have Dirk Nowitzki back on my telly)

out of all the nice things his parents sent (including the softest flannel sheets), i had to show off these shirts they got us that made me giggle-- a joke on my texas. 

i also got wonderful gifts from dear blog friends (thank-you beautiful alyssa, athanasia, kary, april, and gracie!) 

along with my cowboys jersey and record player... my darling husband also threw in one of these. i am a blessed girl, indeed. 

but the sweetest and best christmas gift was opening a framed photo of my little niece/nephew to-be, my brother Marco's first baby. 

what was the best thing you got this year? 

ps. what did we ever do before skype? since we didn't get to go home for the holidays, i was thankful to get to video chat with both of our parents and my seesters. 

xo

Happy Birthday Jesus! 

bits of christmas around casa di M.

1. seeing all the christmas cards that made its way to our mailbox {many from you darling lovies} reminds me how incredibly blessed we are.

2. our little tree filled with hanging memories/presents (ornaments). do you spy my Rockin' Elvis Cocoa? a delicious gift from Erin who knows my love for the King. As an ornaments girl, i may have to get a bigger christmas tree next year and chance the fact that we live with three dogs.

3. is there anything better than brown paper packages?

4. "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care..." 

our stockings : Bubbles, Stella, Mavericks (our three pups) mine & husband's.


Happy Christmas Lovies! Happy Birthday Jesus xoxo

from my family to yours, we wish you a magical day full of love, laughter, blessings, and endless kisses underneath the mistletoe.

happy things to end the week with.

♥ waking up to a winter wonderland {the view from our back porch in el paso, texas} on to my second cup of coffee while playing this in the background.

♥ these delicious cookies my mother-in-law made and sent with our Christmas package. i have the best parents (his + mine)

♥ they were so delicious, i made a batch for husband to bring to work-- while wearing my new but vintage christmas apron {a darling gift from my ginger Alyssa}

pic

♥ the CRAZY season finale of DEXTER!!! did you tune in sunday? i had so much fun texting Kary after we both watched it. we are so distraught we have to wait so long for the next epic season!

speaking of kary! they got my christmas pressies and i just had to show you what i got my sweet miguelito... 

a fur trapper hat so we can match!!! how darling is his smile? i love it!!! 

♥ one of the gifts kary & miguelito sent me is this genius reusable anti-bottle to take to pilates. i'm a HUGE fan! xo

can you believe christmas is nearly here?! 

Happy Friday Lovies!!! what happy things are you ending the week with?

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo

5 a.m.

this morning i awoke right before 5 and couldn't get back to sleep.

what's a girl to do when insomnia strikes? this one takes a warm bubble bath while reading some Salinger, followed by eating christmas cookies while browsing the virtual world.

and i stumbled upon this.

and at 5 a.m. this morning, this love letter made me weep.

that last line struck a chord with my heart. 

Winning!

every time i win a giveaway, i feel like i'm walking on sunshine {because usually i'm the girl who never wins anything}. I've been meaning to blog about two giveaways i've recently won and to thank the wonderful hosts!

first up was Beca's Mustache on a Stick Giveaway from Something's Hiding in Here to support Movember. I chose the barber. 

such pretty detail (also, that's the nail polish i was telling you about)

here's Beca with her stache....

and me playing with mine!

thank-you Beca & SHIH! my barber mustache is going to provide so much fun in photo ops.

can you believe i was lucky to win another giveaway? Megan had a springtime giveaway and my lucky number was chosen! i am now the proud owner of this pretty pink number by ASOS (perfect pop of colour, no?)

thank-you ladies!!! again, i always feel like a million bucks and am always so grateful when my name is chosen for anything. 

have you won anything recently? do tell or share a link. 

Ornament Exchange Check-In.

i know many of us are busy with last minute Christmas shopping, but I wanted to touch base with those lovies who signed up for my Ornament Swap. Ornaments were supposed to have been mailed by November 26th. 

It's my hope that nearly all the ornaments sent are currently hanging on your beautiful Christmas trees. Some of you have sent me photos of them or like Erin, Marianne, and Phoenix-- you've already blogged about the gorgeous baubles you've received. 

Unfortunately, some of you may be waiting on your ornament to arrive. 

swaps are a lot of fun and can be an amazing way to become friends with another blogger... but only if you participate-- because why else would you sign up {i promise that's not meant to sound ugly but it's the truth, no?}

that said, i know life happens and if that's truly the reason, hopefully you at least let your swap partner know. i bet she's pretty wonderful and would understand (i would). 

so please dear ornament exchangers, let me know if you never received your ornaments or as the sender, of any delays etc. 

if you've blogged about your ornament exchange, i'd love to see! + please leave me a link below + i'll be sure to include it in a follow up post. 

thank-you so much lovies!!! this is my third time hosting and so far i haven't had problems... knock on wood! xoxo

image above : ornament i sent my vintage soul sister (it's so her). the photo is from her sweet blog post. amanda wasn't my swap partner but this was a surprise thank-you for the adorable ornament she made me and my husband. 

happy things to end the week with.

♥ remember last friday when i told you how excited i was about sarah's jewelry party? well i'm happy to say my red velvet cupcakes were a hit (kary, you would've been proud)! it was a fun, wine-filled night of girl talk with sarah's hand-made jewelry line "pretty you and me". i love everything i bought, but especially these feather earrings i had to have.  Aren't they gorgeous? they are my new statement piece.

♥ did you hear who's going to my beloved Dallas Mavericks?! me and Kim can really be bffs now. 

♥ speaking of sports, if you know my twin sis then you KNOW 100% what a smitten kitten she is over former Texas Rangers "Ace" Pitcher C.J. Wilson. Now that he's pitching for the Angels... guess what four blog girlfriends in four different cities are going to do in May? details on twinkie's blog but i am SO excited! these girls and sports-- it can't get any better.


Happy Friday Lovies!!! what happy things are you ending the week with? 

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo

i love you s'more.

s'more dates in my flannel snowmen pjs (a Christmas gift last year from his mama) with my husband in front of our fireplace can make any thursday night feel magically delicious.

{of course that's my dallas mavericks stocking hanging on our mantle. the furry dog who needs a haircut is not a stuffed animal but the real maverick watching for any graham cracker spills}

The Lumineers.

i can't get this song out of my head {thanks Hart of Dixie, my favorite guilty pleasure}


"i belong with you, you belong with me


you're my sweetheart"

happy things to end the week with.

♥ I recently -and finally- put The Catcher in the Rye under my read list which inspired beautiful Jo (i think we both agreed on how we felt about it). I'm pretty excited that after the suggestion from Claire, we're going to read Nine Stories together. Here's to getting lost in a book: dog eared pages, underlined sentences and coffee stains.

♥ what i wore on a dinner date with sarah. brick oven pizza and girl talk? my favorite.

♥ these are perfect for those mornings you want to bake something for breakfast but don't have the time- delicious you won't believe that all you do is add water.

♥ cashing in one of my anniversary massages and feeling healed. It's so nice to have a random tues off (and a husband! ha) btw, this was the envelope my card was in... yup, max put those stickers on it all on his own. 

♥ i really want these fashionable band-aids

♥ and finally, i'm super happy with who my darling husband randomly picked as the winner of the Shine Project Necklace Giveaway:

and Leanna, your answer touched my heart! please email me your mailing address so i can send it along to Ashley. xo

Happy Friday Lovies!!! what happy things are you ending the week with? 

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo

i'm off to make red velvet cupcakes for sarah's jewelry party tonight (i can't wait!!!)

red & gold.

part of my apple & tin collection // my fun italian christmas flats
(i wear them with black tights and a LBD)  // all thrifted

my favorite colors to combine during december


{last day to sign up for the shine project necklace giveaway!}

happy things to end the week with.

♥ the most delicious pears by Harry & David delivered to our doorstep thanks to my dear friend (and once upon a time) joel. thank-you jolie! we loved them. xo 

♥ my momma makes beautiful crochet doilies (like the one i use as my little tree's skirt) and sent me this necklace she made just for me. My momma's so cute! She was so excited about it and i couldn't love it more!

♥ i've been wearing milani jewel FX nail polish in gold - perfect for the holiday season! the possibilities are endless, but i've been wearing it over nude nails just to give my hands a bit of sparkle (like this photo)

♥ i can't stop playing this song! it got me through my work-out on the treadmill yesterday. just the name of the song is one of those perfect simple sentences that hold so much weight {not to mention how hot is the video?}

♥ having a friday off is def. a happy way to end the week! except it feels like chicago instead of el paso outside-- the wind is insane! but i have to take advantage of this day off and get some christmas shopping done... husband's fur trapper hat to the rescue!

Happy Friday Lovies!!! what happy things are you ending the week with?

+please leave a link below if you do post-- i'd love to share in your happiness xo


***also, if you haven't entered the giveaway, please do so! winning a pretty necklace for free while supporting a great cause? seriously, why haven't you entered yet?! :)