happy new year!

via thelastmermaid

It's the last few hours of 2013. Ebert and I are on a plane to Puerto Rico to celebrate our 5-year anniversary. I'm sure there will be lots of reflecting on this trip, not only of this past year but of the past 5 years. I know it's a bit of a cliche to say but seriously where has the time gone?

I'm really looking forward to a new year with new opportunities for creating my happy and doing all things with love. 2014 I'm expecting lots of awesomeness from you!

Happy New Year, friends! May this new year be filled with love and happiness for each one of you.

yule log

via watchyulelog

Ha! "This is not your parent's Yule Log". That's for sure. Yule Log 2.0 is all sorts of awesomeness. I think I'm more mesmerized by the sounds of the crackling yule log than I am by the images, but some of the videos have definitely made me laugh out loud. Just listening to the yule log makes me want to sit by my Christmas tree surrounded by the twinkle of its lights and the glow from computer, drinking a glass of eggnog and being completely zoned out. Now that sounds like a nice night!

puerto rico

via caborojopr

This is why I'm excited about the end of the year…in less than four weeks Ebert and I are headed to Puerto Rico to celebrate our 5-year anniversary. I can't believe it's going to be five years since we said "I do". Where has the time gone? Anyway, it's going to be an amazing trip! We're looking forward to escaping the cold, wintery streets of Chicago in exchange for the warm, sandy beaches of the Caribbean. We leave on New Year's Eve so we'll be ringing in the New Year in Old San Juan. After a couple days in the city we'll head to the west coast, then drive to the east coast and make our way back to Old San Juan before heading home. It will be an epic journey around the island of Puerto Rico.

seasonal stove simmer

A Beautiful Mess recently had a great post about making homemade stove simmers. I tried my own version the night before Thanksgiving and it made the apartment smell delicious. I used fresh cranberries, orange peels, lemon slices, fresh rosemary and a cinnamon stick. I kept it simmering throughout the whole night, adding more water when needed. At one point I threw in some fresh ginger and apple slices. I love this idea because you can really make it your own- you can simmer just about anything that you think might smell good.

This is a similar idea for the fireplace. I'm going to make a few to take to my in-laws house since they have a real fireplace and we only have a gas one. It's going to smell so Christmas-y!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

especially in our apartment! We started out the holiday season today by getting our Christmas tree. It's a little Balsam Fir that we've lovingly named 'little tree'. It's only four feet tall and I think the stand is bigger then the tree, but we love it! It's our very first tree together and we've decorated it with just five ornaments. We also hung some lights on our mantle to make it extra pretty in our living room. But the best part of all this festive merry-making was watching White Christmas- my all time favorite Christmas movie- while stringing lights and hanging ornaments. I think we have a new tradition.

I hope you had a happy first day of December, friends! I still can't believe it's already Christmas. This year has flown by. I'm planning on kicking some creative ass this next month but I'll admit I'm really looking forward to the beginning of 2014. I'll share why I'm excited in a couple days.