Thoughts For Friday

We have a busy weekend coming up. We have house guests, my sister is in town, and the hubs is running a half Marathon in Kiawah. I desperately need to finish my Christmas shopping too!

This week I have been baking the Oreo brownies I blogged about Tuesday and assembling tins for my friends. I think they turned out pretty cute! Every year I always say I am going to bake treats for friends and never get around to it, so this year I started early so I would have time to get it done!

I am pretty much obsessed with the White Fudge Oreoas. They are amazeballs, knock your socks off good. They only come out at the Holidays so go pick up a box before they are gone. You will thank me!

This guy definitely loved the Oreaos.

My JCREW cobalt Blouse came and I love it. The sleeves are little more sheer than I thought but I still really like it. The fit is great, it runs pretty true to size for those wondering. I wore it to our girls Christmas Supper Club last night. I paired it with an old Bib Necklace from Banana Republic.

A few of you asked about the back view and how the buttons look- so here is the view from the back.

I just picked up Thomas Keller's Cookbook "Ad Hoc at Home." I saw a great special about him on the CBS Sunday Morning show a few weeks ago and have been obsessed with him ever since! This cookbook is so informative and has great recipes.

I hung my Sally Benedict Painting in Sterling's room and love it. It makes me happy every time I walk in there!

My little man is so ready for Christmas and loving the cooler weather!

Have a great weekend!

Tis The Season To Shop

I wanted to share with you guys a fabulous website and store (for locals) for holiday shopping or selfish shopping (which we all like to do). Novel. is one of my favorite shops in Charleston. They offer an amazing collection of hand curated and one of a kind finds. Such a wide variety of fabulous things from jewelry to fine paper to baby goods. They have it all at this store and best part all the items are made by 4 local girls (Lauren Lail, WayWay Allen, Jane Pope and Liza Cleveland)! I have the pleasure of knowing WayWay and is she is a real doll- she has a fabulous blog filled with family, interiors, food, and her designs. It is one of my favorite daily reads- Check it out HERE You will be hooked!

But back to the important thing, shopping! The website www.novel.bigcartel.com is only up for the month of December, but the store, Novel. (341 king st. suite b) is permanent! New products will be added to Big Cartel throughout the month of December so keep checking back in for the latest and greatest! For all you locals there will be a holiday show December 15 with discount coupons for the first 20 people as well!!!! So go get your shop on in store or online ladies!

Here is a little sneak peek at the goods from each of the 4 lovely ladies who contribute to this store. I showcased my favorites and they are all available online! I just ordered the Custom Silhouette for Sterling! Love it! I really want the Vintage Gucci Purse too but I guess I do need to be shopping for others right now...

Jane Pope Cooper-Balboa Jewelry and Jane Pope Collection




Lauren Lail-Library: Archives of Fashion (vintage clothing and accessories)




Way Way Allen-blue chickadee (custom art and hand painted baby goods)





Bon Vivant-Liza Cleveland (custom stationery and paper goods)




Hours for Novel. are Monday through Friday 10:30 to 3, but if you can't come by the showroom during regular hours, the girls would be happy to meet you by appointment. So no excuses not to shop!

Obsessions

Happy Humpday!

Here is what I am currently obsessing over!

CUSTOMIZED POUFS
I saw these on Etsy and was smitten. $75 for a customized Pouf is a real steal! I love every fabric choice too!

THIS QUOTE
So true! Sometimes I need to remind myself of this when I get stressed out about little things.

ESSIE MINK MUFFS
My mom just gave me this nail polish last weekend. I painted my nails last night and love it. Great color for fall!

JCREW BLOUSES

JCREW is slowly becoming my go-to for inexpensive gorgeous blouses. Here is another recent find. This is my favorite color color, love me some Cobalt! Best part they keep having an additional 30 percent off purchases.
Silk Pin Tuck Blouse

GOD GAVE US CHRISTMAS

This is the sweetest book ever. When Sterling was born a friend gave me "God Gave Us You." I loved it so much I bought Sterling this book for Christmas. He loves it, every night he pulls it out and says "Bear, Bear." A great book for kids with a story about the real meaning of Christmas.

Don't Hate Me...

Don't hate me for sharing this recipe because it's like crack it's so addictive. Can you imagine anything better than brownies mixed with Cookies and Cream ice cream with Oreos baked in the middle? Yeah, me neither. This is one dessert you are definitely going to want to make. I have been baking these and putting them in cute Christmas tins to deliver. Except sadly Matt and I keep eating most of what I bake. Your waist line might hate you but your stomach is gonna love you. Enjoy!

Cookies ‘N Cream Oreo Fudge Brownies

1 box Brownie Mix

eggs & oil (as called for by the brownie mix)

1 heaping half cup (6 oz) Cookies & Cream ice cream

1/4 Cup hot fudge topping (chilled or room temp)

Preheat oven & spray an 8×8 baking dish generously with cooking spray. Combine brownie mix, eggs, and oil as directed on the back of the box, but do not add the water. Add ice cream and hot fudge to the brownie batter and stir to combine. Pour half of the brownie batter into the baking dish, layer with Oreos, then top with remaining batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes or as directed on the back of the box.

Green Smoothie + Ninja

While I was home my mom's friend Ruth let us borrow her Ninja Blender to try out. I want a juicer for Christmas and she wanted us to see how this works. It is not a juicer but it will puree anything. It was pretty amazing. It has six blades in it so you can fill it to the brim and it chops it all, unlike my current blender! The Ninja worked wonderfully. Apparently it also can be used as a food processor and to make bread. I highly recommend!

I decided to try out a recipe for a Green Smoothie I found on pinterest ( big surprise right? I'm addicted to that site).

GREEN SMOOTHIE
Bananas
Frozen Peaches
Frozen Mangoes
Fresh Spinach



The smoothie was delish and tasted so healthy. It just might become a morning standard in my house. Sterling also loved it which is great because I am having a hard time getting him to eat veggies these days! At least I know he's getting a green veggie when he drinks this! Next time I might add a few pineapples for added sweetness. Anyone have any other great green smoothie recipes? Please do share!

Feeling The Holiday Spirit

After finally getting our house fully decorated and getting some Christmas shopping accomplished this week, I am officially ready for the holidays! There has finally been some colder weather down here which really makes it feel like Christmas. So this weekend I will be enjoying Hot Chocolate, listening to Christmas music, and of course watching all the cheesy Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies on TV!

Have a great weekend dolls!

all images via Pinterest

Thoughts For Thursday

I am home visiting my parents this week since I didn't get to see them for Thanksgiving. I always love coming home because normally I am the one taking care of everybody but when I am home my parents pamper me and take care of me. It is lovely. Here is what we have been up.

We took Sterling to see Santa for the first time. This did not go over so well....

But how priceless is this picture? I can't wait to bust this out when he is older!

We did some Christmas shopping and my mom picked this fabulous leopard dress up for me at JCrew. I absolutely love it! Leopard print is my favorite! I can't wait to wear this gorgeous number, I think it may be my NYE dress. Versatile enough to wear many times over!
JCREW JULES DRESS IN WILDCAT PRINT

It also comes in a blouse version which is equally as fabulous but I went with the dress since I have so many blouses already.
JCREW WILDCAT BLOUSE

We enjoyed sushi from The Cowfish and ladies if you live in Charlotte you have to eat there! They have burguish which is hamburger sushi, truly amazing. They will do the rolls in brown rice per request which is always an added bonus in my book. We had the Marks Roll, The Surf and Turf Roll and the Blackened Tuna Roll. DELISH!

Does anybody ever feel like this? Sometimes I look in my full closet and still can't find anything to wear!

I get to pick up my first original abstract by Sally King Benedict on Monday! I am in love, I am pretty sure this beauty is going in Sterling's room! I am so excited to own a piece of her artwork!

She was just featured in Elle Decor this month- how cool is that? Her painting is in the home of Ashley Stark and it is truly gorgeous!

That's all I have for today. I am off for a lunch playdate with a dear friend and to visit my grandfather! xoxo