Friday Favorites #142

Happy Friday Foxy Friends! Happy Friday! How is it December already?! Crazy pants...that means in 25 days I'm going to have a 7 year old (oh yea and Christmas too), queue the tears...waahh!!! Today is my day off, and I'm off to the gym, and then maybe some shopping...cause who doesn't want to shop on their day off while the kids are in school. I have 4 hours to do what I want...yeah. So let's get this started, warning picture heavy.

In case you missed it this week:

Monday: How To Decorate a Fancy Christmas Tree
Tuesday: 3 Holiday Party Looks
Wednesday: Black and White Outfit
Thursday: 5 Reasons You Need To Do Holiday Cards

It's been so long since I've done a Friday favorites, I'm lacking on my catching you up on daily life. I guess we'll start with before Thanksgiving. We took the kids the Polar Express and the North Pole experience out in Arizona. I've been waiting to do this for over a year with them. I found out about it in September of 2016, but it was too late to go last year, so I made sure we got the reservations and the tickets for this year. We left on Friday after traffic died down and the kids did fantastic! 

We stopped in this random town called Needles to eat at a diner. I curled her hair, and she was feeling super sassy. They had a game on all the tables for the people to play.

We met up with some friends and ate dinner.

While driving there, we realized that we were only going to be an hour away from the Grand Canyon, say what?! Of course we had to go, so Saturday morning, we ate breakfast and headed out there.

The view was stunning! We didn't plan very well, so we took a short mile walk to a museum, and enjoyed the view then headed back after a couple of hours walking around.

Wow was it cold, and holy cow we were not prepared AT ALL!

One of my favorite pictures. Too bad Baby Fox was looking down, but I promise he was looking at it.

Knocked out on the way back home.

That night we did the Polar Express and boy was it a blast! Just like the book, dancing waiters, hot chocolate and cookies. The kids just loved every minute of it.

We had heard that sunrise at the Grand Canyon was amazing...we asked the kids if they wanted to wake up super early to go, and they both screamed YES! So we woke up at 5am, and drove out there to watch the sunrise.

tip: If you decide to go watch the sunrise, so does a hundred other people, so be prepared to wait at the gate to get in...could take a while, so go WAY earlier than you think you need to go. We were running from the car to the canyon. We made it.

It was so freakin' cold. We were not really prepared clothes wise. Luckily Mr. put this jacket into the car last minute. You're welcome Mr. for me making you put that in there, you would have been even more cold had you only had the sweater that you originally had.

Sleepy heads.

After we got back we hung out at the hotel for a bit, and then got some lunch and headed to Bearizona, if you haven't been there, you HAVE to go. You drive your car through animal sections and you are getting up close and personal with them. Case in point...

At the end of the drive there is a zoo for you to go to. It has smaller animals, but the kids loved it.

Our little animal lover, couldn't get enough of the "petting zoo" section.

They had an amazing bird show.

After we got back it was time to head to Flagstaff for the North Pole Experience.

In case you wanted to know our shirts say "Together we can do anything #FamilyGoals"

The North Pole Experience is working in Santa's workshop, they first helped dress bears for Santa.

Notice the upside down shirt on the bear. So dang cute.

Then we headed to get milk and cookies at Mrs. Clause's Bakery.

Then we headed to Elf University, where the kids were made honorary elves, cause when you help Santa out you become an elf. Of course my kids are in the front row.

Afterwards we headed to the mail room to write letters to Santa.

And of course we got some one-on-one time with Santa himself.

Monday morning the kids were beat...case in point, she's hugging a ketchup bottle.

We had the most fantastic time, so much so we already booked our trip for next year!

I feel like I haven't done one of these in a while, linking up with The Blended Blog for Friday Loves.

Have you read Abbie from Grumbling Grace? She is so dang funny and I just LOVE her newest post from yesterday. 10 Gifts to give parents that to annoy them. Go check it out and get ready to laugh.

If you ever wonder how to to beachy waves, go check out Annie's tutorial, where she is sharing how she does her hair and what her favorite products are. I can't get enough tutorials. She even put together a YouTube video and rumor has it, she has a make up tutorial coming out soon too!
 

Shea always comes up with such great link ups, the one she has going this month is pretty awesome too. It's called Live Your Best Life For Less, where we try to remember the reason for the season, try to slow down and look around a bit more. Really enjoy what we have and those people around us.

Here are the prompts for the month.

Here are some things I've been loving around the internet lately.

I love when this couple puts these videos out, so fun. This is a blast from all of the old TV shows. You can't help but sing along.

These look so good, and really you could put anything on them...there are so many yummy things out there in FB land, I want to host a party where we just eat all of the yummy things we see on FB...who's with me?

This is super interesting to know how the Rockettes learn this. One day I'm going to go to this.

What are you up to this weekend? I hope to finish decorating for Christmas, I just need to do it already...maybe I'll buckle down tomorrow while the kids are in school...we'll see.

 Linking up here

5 Reasons To Buy Holiday Cards

 Thank You Shutterfly for providing me product. As always all opinions and thoughts are my own.

Hello Foxy Friends! Today I'm sharing one of my favorite things to do each year. Holiday cards. Between me and all of you, Mr. loves sending out cards just as much as I do. Each year he helps me pick them out. Actually this year, while I was cooking dinner, he sat down went through the hundreds of options and picked out his top 5 picks, and then together we decided on the final product. Last year I told you how to pick out your cards, this time I am sharing 5 reasons you need to get yearly holiday cards and why Shutterfly is the best place to get them!  

| ONE |

Memories. Isn't that why we do anything? I keep them all, if you have ever sent me a Christmas card...scratch that, if you have ever sent me any card I still have it. I keep them all by year for random cards, and then the Christmas cards get their own bin. I love seeing how much the kids have grown each year.



Note: I came up with a fun way to store all of these cards I've gotten over the years, besides in the baggies that they are currently in...click here to see how to store your cards.

| TWO |

You know you like getting cards from people and seeing how their kids have grown up. The same can be said about your family. People want to see how much your family has grown. I know I look forward to Christmas cards each year, and when the new year rolls around, I'm sad to have to take down our cards. Full disclosure, one year we kept them up until mid-February.

These are the cards I've gotten over the years.

| THREE |

Feeling connected to friends and family. I know this one seems silly, but everyone is so busy all the time. You mean to see that friend or that friend, but time seems to go faster and faster the older we get. I like getting cards from friends, it lets me know, hey I'm thinking of you and even though we haven't talked in months, I still cherish our friendship. At least that's what I tell myself each time a card arrives in the mail. That and I haven't made it off their Christmas card list yet, and that makes me happy too. So even though you might not talk to them often, know that they always appreciate being thought of and you taking the time to send them a card.

| FOUR |

Shutterfly makes is super easy to pick out your cards. You can choose how many pictures you want, insert pictures, write sentiment click buy and off to your house they come. You say that you don't have time to send them? Shutterfly will do that for you too! Give them your addresses, they put them on the envelopes and send for you, you don't even have to do anything!

Tip: I use the same sentiment every year. Year after year I would scour the internet to try and find the perfect sentiment, and when I found it I decided you know what? I don't remember what someone said last year...they're not going to remember ours, so I use the same one each year.

| FIVE |

Shutterfly always has some sort of sale going on. Heck I have 4 coupon codes at home right now. So if you need one, email me and I'll send it right over! The prices are pretty good for the quality of the card that you are getting. You don't need to spend a lot, Shutterfly has a range of prices, something for everyone. Here are some of my favorite cards this year.

Card #1  

Card #2 

 Card #3 

 Card #4 

 Card #5

You're going to have to wait to see our cards this year until we send them out. Yep I am that person that takes family photos in September/October and then doesn't show anyone anything until after Christmas cards have gone out. Anyone else like that too? Just me? Figures.

So if any of you want to send me a card, know that I'll keep it for forever....then one day in 10 years, you can ask me...hey what did we do for our card in 2017 and BAM I got ya covered.

 Linking up here

Black And White With a Little Leopard

Happy Hump Day Foxy Friends. I finally put together the outfit that I have wanted to put together for a while. I had wanted a white blazer for a while, and finally I found one! I ended up having to buy it twice, but finally I got the one that fit.

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.

Top / Jeans / Blazer / Shoes

I love this clutch, if you could only buy one clutch, but this one. It seriously will pretty much go with any outfit you pick out.

Yep you see it right, I am actually wearing a choker and not feeling like I can't breathe. This one is actually really light weight and comfortable. I would link it, but I got it as a gift and I don't know where they bought it.

Short and sweet post today. Thank you for continuing to link up with us to make this fashion link up a success!

An InLinkz Link-up

3 Holiday Party Looks

Hi Foxy Friends! Today is day 5 of Blogmas, and today I'm sharing 3 party looks for all of those Holiday parties coming up. I thought it would be fun to do an outfit for a fancy party, a casual party and an ugly sweater party. Something for everyone! Let's get started! We'll start out with the Fancy and work our way down.

*Some of the links are affiliate links and I will  either receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you click on it or if you make a purchase from one of these links, I may also receive a commission on the sale of the product. Click here for my disclosure page.

I love this off the shoulder dress for a party, if I had a party to go to, I would definitely be wearing this pretty thing.

Dress ( similar here and here) / Choker (similar) / Heels 

I could see wearing this out with girlfriends for a girls night out, or my case Mom's night out. I just love the lace heels, so dang feminine to go with the moto jacket.

Velvet Tank (similar) / Black Jeans / Moto Jacket (similar) / Necklace / Heels

To tell you the truth I've been to one ugly Christmas sweater party, 8 or 9 years ago, and I don't even know what happened to it. I love that everywhere now sells them, we had to hunt all over town for the ones we got.  Anyway, in case ugly Christmas sweaters aren't your thing, but you have to go to a party, then pick sweater option #2. Sweater option #1 is just fun, who doesn't love a good Christmas tree with pom poms on it...but #3 is the one that's going to win you that ugly sweater contest.

 

#1 Sweater / #2 Sweater / #3 Sweater / Jeans / Mules

Linking up here

How To Decorate A Fancy Christmas Tree

Hi Foxy Friends! For my fellow American friends I hope you had a great long weekend. Today is day 4 of the 12 days of Blogmas.  Today is all about Christmas Decorations, I thought I would share a post I did last year for The Blended Blog, where my mom, the decorator, shares how to get your Christmas tree to look like one from a magazine. You know the fancy hotel or magazine trees and you think, I want that in my house, well my mom is giving you the tips and tricks to do just that.

So, let's just pretend for this exercise that you have found your perfect pre-lit tree and that you also have a tree skirt.  You need to find your garland and do that first. Starting from the bottom. My mom got this red feathery garland at Home Goods last year and loves it. As she adds each length she's watching for even spacing around the tree.

Step back and make sure that it looks good from far away.

This might seem crazy, but then add another row of garland.  Be sure that the second garland is of a completely different consistency from the first.  The first garland was long and feathery, the second is airy, small berries.  It's all about creating interest with different shapes and textures.

She could have stopped here but had this button ribbon from last year and just wanted to enjoy it again.  As she added the ribbon she used the berry garland to keep the ribbon in place.  Just twist as needed.

 

Now for the top.  She is using picks of berries and poinsettias and holly.  Up the ladder, back down the ladder, again and again.  Checking the look and the balance~ how far up, how far out and how close to each other do I want it?  Totally subjective.

She added picks throughout the tree and used greenery with small pine cones and red flower branches.  Always checking for a balanced arrangement.

Now come the ornaments.  Birds are the theme here. white and red ones.  Some she just pushes in, some are on metal 'feet' and some she just push onto the tip of a branch, in through the hole at the top of the ornament.  

TIP: A spool of wire is great to have to put your ornaments on your tree.  You'll get much better placement with it rather than trying to use those little pesky ornament hangers. Cut the wire to the length you'll need, feed wire through the loop on the top of your ornament half way.  Now you can attach the ornament to the tree at any length drop you want, twist wire as needed around the branch.

And here is the finished product.

Have fun with your Christmas tree decorating this year! I know easier said then done, but really, just do it. Buy some stuff with these guidelines and start decorating. See what does and does not look good, return what doesn't look good and keep what does. You got this!

Don't forget to go enter our giveaway for $1500 worth of goodies! 

Linking up here