Holiday Soundtrack
/Hobby Lobby has Christmas things 50% off and the radio starts playing Christmas jams well before Thanksgiving, but Mr. Heid has a rule that we can’t purchase Christmas things, decorate for the holiday, or listen to Christmas music before Thanksgiving is over. Don’t tell him, but I sometimes sneak a few songs in.
The moment Thanksgiving is over, I fill our house, my car, and my office with Christmas music every day! I do worry, though, that I’ll overplay some of the music and get really tired of it by the time Christmas Day actually rolls around. To avoid this, I’ve created a few different lists that I rotate through.
Deck the Halls — This list has ev.ery.thing festive to ring in the holiday season.
Deck the Halls | Chill Christmas — A low-key holiday playlist perfect for an intimate gathering — no highs and lows, all steady.
Deck the Halls | Classics — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Burl Ives, Bing Crosby… you get the idea.
Deck the Halls | Instrumental — All instrumentals! Best paired with wassail, a cozy fire, and holiday wrapping.
Deck the Halls | Keira’s Favorites — All of my favorites so that I don’t miss out on hearing those during the season (because there are so. many. Christmas. songs out there!)
Deck the Halls | Punk — For when you really just wanna skank through the holidays! This is work-in-progress, so if you have any songs for this playlist, send them my way!
Whatever you need a Christmas playlist for, I hope one of these works or inspires you to build your own!
Cheers,
K
Old School Valentines
/Happy almost Valentine’s Day everyone!
Remember the days of going to the store and having to pick out Valentines cards for your whole class? I always wanted something that reflected my interests and that my friends would appreciate, but also that didn’t allude to kissing — couldn’t have those gross boys getting any ideas! Oh, elementary school days — haha!
Nowadays, I pretty much send Valentine’s to two people. The cheesiest card I can find for my fiancé, Mr. Heid and a fun card for my bestie/wifey. Even though she doesn’t celebrate Valentine’s day as part of her own relationship (which I totally respect — we should make love a priority every day), I send her a v-day card every now and then. It reminds us of the days when we had no responsibilities and could hang out all. the. time. *aaahhh*
I decided this year, that I wanted to get those cheesy little Valentines of our youth for my lady friends, so I set out for Target. In the land of pink and red that is the Valentine’s section, I came across this mom begging her little boy to pick a set of Valentines. With every box she pointed out, he had a reason not to get them. “Those don’t have candy. Transformers aren’t cool. No, not pencils.”
While he was having the most difficult time deciding which boxed cards to get, I was thinking about how they’ve stepped up Valentine’s offerings — glow sticks and gel clings, what? After sifting through all of the options, I found these Etch Animal Valentines and I was sold (though I’m sure Target kid would not approve). These cards were mostly punny (someone gave up on the sloth pun) and they were coated in the black material that, once scratched off, would reveal a rainbow of color.
I don’t know about you guys, but I used to cover my paper in crazy colors and then go over the entire thing in black crayon just so I could etch rainbow pictures in the black. So, yea, these were basically perfect. Even childhood me could agree — again… something I like, my friends could appreciate, and didn’t allude to kissing boys.
I found one-sided solid pink cards in the dollar section and went home to color some envelopes! I actually had fun putting all of the cards together (so those of you ladies that received one best be etching those babies out ;)).
So if you’re in need of some last-minute love notes for your co-workers, your family, or whoever tomorrow, I definitely recommend chatting with your inner kid and picking up a boxed set.
xoxo,
K
Snow Days, Gingerbread Houses, and Small Bites — Oh My!
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We went to bed super late on Saturday to a dusting of snow and woke up Sunday to about three or four inches of snow (which is saying something in this area). Keiko was unsure about going out in it this year, but once she trotted a little ways, she was soon zooming and frolicking around and didn’t seem keen on coming in.
We also woke up to no power, so Mr. Heid and I ventured out into the world where most things were closed (because the South is never ready for winter weather), ate brunch at Cracker Barrel (thank you for being open for those of us without power), went to Academy for rain boots and socks (I was loooong overdue for new rain boots and this was the perfect excuse), ran into Publix (for cookies, not water and canned goods), and then picked up Keiko to head to my sister’s house where she had power.
So in true Southern fashion, schools and many businesses are closed today, which means I have a snow day (and power again)! So I’m checking some things off my personal to-do list and decided I’d pop onto GSD to share with you guys! Let the sharing commence!
The other week, I invited some of the girls over to assemble and decorate gingerbread houses. I don’t know about you guys, but one bite of gingerbread can tide me over for the whole year, so I thought this would be less detrimental to my health than decorating sugar cookies. Not that my health was truly considered because I also created a big small bites spread…
My mom had given me a few cheeses that she wanted to try, but ended up not liking. I loved them, and decided to incorporate them into this spread. So I looked around to see what else I had that could go in the spread, made a list of what I wanted to include but needed from the store, and assembled this mock of where everything would go.
Let’s be real here, we didn’t need this much food, but I’d never put together a large spread before and really wanted to do it! So what wasn’t eaten, I sent home with the girls or saved for the following week’s meals.
It’s super easy and you can do it too! This spread includes (left to right): Ritz Vegetable Crackers, From the Ground Up Cauliflower Crackers, Boars Head Pepperoni, Boars Head Salami, Girl Scouts Honey Roasted Peanuts, Lance Wheat Crackers, Townhouse Sea Salt Pita Crackers, smoked gouda, Super Seedz Spicy Pepitas, Fudge Dipped Oreo Thins Bites, chocolate covered and plain peanut butter pretzels, yogurt covered pretzels, pepper jack cheese, Beemster aged gouda, aged cheddar, cranberry cheddar, Townhouse Italian Flatbread Crackers, pork rinds, bell peppers, ranch dip, more peanuts, Smuckers Cherry Preserves, goat cheese, cucumbers, leftover squares of Mr. Heid’s pies, carrots, broccoli, more pepitas, and Pawley’s Island Palmetto Cheese.
It was so good! I shared what I used above, but you can use any small bites items you want. Just remember to have a good balance of sweet and salty!
Did you know there are like a bajillion gingerbread house kits? After perusing my options, I grabbed two kits with the most candy selections, bought some Christmas M&Ms, and we teamed up to make these beauties (if I do say so myself).
Turns out there’s a fair amount of waiting in the gingerbread building game. You have to assemble the sides and let them set for 15 minutes before assembling the roof. And then you’re supposed to let that set for another 15 minutes before you decorate it, buuuut we were impatient and started decorating anyway. One of the houses collapsed (oops!), but we rebuilt and continued on.
None of us liked the idea of eating them, but I also couldn’t just toss them. So they now adorn our dining room table for the holidays. I only wish I had a cake stand so I could cover them and place them somewhere else in the house (and it’d look fancier haha).
Alright, off to finish the rest of my tasks! Hope you’re having a great Monday!
xoxo,
K
