Eggnog

Even thought Christmas is over, Eggnog is still a festive drink that will carry us through the new year.  Though I've never attempted to make this yummy beverage from scratch this recipe from Taste of Home seems easy enough.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Photo from Taste of Home

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!  Let's not forget the reason for the season :-)

Have a look at this fab Christmas tree I saw in Target at the beginning of the holiday season.

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BBQ

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to Lexington, NC to order a bridesmaid dress for a wedding I am in and take a look at a bridal salon that carries the dresses I was interested in for my bridal party.  On our way out of town we decided to stop for lunch, you can't go to Lexington in not have BBQ!!!  Next time you're in town, you stop at Bar-B-Q center for a delicious meal!

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Free State Silhouette Printables

I saw this cute printable on ETSY and had to have it.  Determined that it was a DIY craft, tried my luck at finding a silhouette of North Carolina.  After a pretty simple google search I found this gem from a fellow blogger and proceeded to doctor up the silhouette in Photoshop.  How did I do?

This would be an awesome Christmas gift for someone near and dear, all you need is a little time and a cute frame.  Originally I was planning on framing this and hanging it up, but I think I just might incorporate it in our wedding, so stay tuned!

From Etsy

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Tortellini with Pumpkin Alfredo Sauce

In the cooler months, Pumpkin is one of my favorite things to cook with.  The tortellini recipe was simply divine and super flavorful.  It is perfect for the pasta lover everywhere!

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COLOR INSPIRATION: Black & White

Black & White is a timeless and elegant combination for any wedding.  It can be formal, relaxed, fun and elegant.

Picture from Green Wedding Shoes

Picture from One Wed

Picture from The Skyline Tent

Picture from  The Two Love Birds

Photo from Love Your Wedding

Pumpkin Pie

I know it's past Thanksgiving, but I don't think it's ever too late for pumpkin pie!  If you enjoy pumpkin like I do throughout the fall/winter season this is a must try recipe!

Photo from Very Best Baking website

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup original Bisquick mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9-inch pie plate.

Stir all ingredients until blended.  Pour into pie plate.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 30 minutes.  Refrigerate about 3 hours or until chilled.  Store covered in refrigerator 

*Serve with whipped topping if desired.

OUR WEDDING: Wedding Party

I just have to say, I'm super excited to be blogging about our upcoming wedding!  As a planner it's been a little difficult for me balance the joy of planning with Kimili and the "know-how" I already have.  I always tell my couples to collect or e-mail me pictures of any inspiration they find online.  Once they have amassed a collection, and they go back through it most often their "wedding style" pops out at them.  What kind of professional would I be if I didn't follow my own advice?!?!  The look on Kimili's face was priceless as I literally dropped this stack of inspiration on him one night ...

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After his initial shock, one of the first things we did was decide our wedding party.  Wedding parties are a part of a wedding that I very rarely deal with until the rehearsal day, so this was a fun new exciting part of wedding planning for me personally.  After a lot of discussion we settled on 8 members on each side (he still thinks that's way too many!), 3 hosts, 3 ceremony participants, a minister, and escorts for honored guests (parents and grandparents).

Since we LOVE entertaining, it is really important to us that our wedding not only celebrates our marriage  but our guests as well.  They always say invitations set the tone so, I wanted to come up with a unique special way of asking the special members of our bridal party.  Thanks to my inspiration pile, coming up with something for my girls was easy!  Though I opted not to do inspiration boxes since we would be sending them thought the mail, I loved the style of the cards in this brides DIY project on the Wedding Chicks site.

For the guys I had to get a little creative!  Kimili turned down most of the idea's I found through searching and Pinterest, but I think our final idea was a winner.  He is a basketball coach, in fact we met while we were both managers for the women's basketball team in college.  So for his invitation we created a media guide, which is like a booklet, that professional, college and high school teams publish with stats, team bios, schedules and expectations for the season.  His media guide included preliminary information about our wedding, attire, names of the groomsmen and important dates.  Since most of the groomsmen are heavily into sports as well, I think a media guide was meaningful and recognizable to everyone involved.

For the remaining members of the bridal party we opted to do hand written notes using a save the date template found here on Wedding Chicks site again.  Everyone was super excited to get their personal mail and LOVED the sentiment and thought put behind the invitation.  We are just as thrilled that these amazing people will be apart of our ceremony!

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Personal Photo from Bridesmaid

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