Invitation Alternative

Call me Emily Post or the etiquette Nazi, I am very old fashioned when it comes to etiquette. I don't believe in email thank you's. I don't believe in evites for an engagement party or save the dates. And I don't want to receive a Christmas card by email either.

People may argue that online greetings are a greener option. Although I am all for saving the planet I think we can spare a few pieces of paper to put something personal back into our lives. Nothing makes my day more than to open the mailbox to find my address handwritten on the front of an envelope. A card from a friend or family member, an invite to a special occasion or a letter of appreciation lets me know that I matter to someone.

As I sit here putting together a last minute New Year's Eve party, I realize I don't have time to send invitations. Invitations are one of the most important elements to planning an event. They set the tone for your party and get people excited about what is to come. A great invitation usually means a great party.

With no time to mail anything, I decided to research online invites. I found this great website called Paperless Post ( I have no affiliation with this website and I have not been paid to write this blog ). Their online invites look like something I would purchase from a stationary store. I am very anxious to try this website out. Although I would never do an online invite for a formal occasion, I would use these for dinner parties or last minute New Year's parties. The downside is that they cost money. 30 stamps cost $5.00. Compare that to a $15 box of 10 invitations that I only need to use 5 of, I think it is a pretty good deal for the quality of the invites. If you are inviting enough people to use 30 evites, there is a pretty good chance that you should be sending paper invites anyway.

http://www.paperlesspost.com/

On Holiday

In honor of my Dad turning 60 Christmas Eve, the whole family took a short cruise to the Bahamas. It was so much fun. I expected it to be a good vacation but it was a great vacation. We played games, saw shows, ate lobster and steak. It was amazing and the price was great too. 

Ben and I love to travel. I used to be against cruising, but this trip changed my mind. Cruises are a really great value if you're looking to relax and have a little fun. We had breakfast in bed, ate steak, lobster and foie gras and had mexican buffet at midnight. We also napped in beach chairs and were runners up in the cornhole competition. No other all inclusive trip out of the country would've cost less than a hundred dollars a day. We're thinking about another cruise next year!

Bon Voyage!                                       Beautiful Day for a Cruise

Nassau on the horizon

Dad and a beautiful bird.

Flamingos everywhere! You couldn't get too close though. 

Secret to the Perfect Christmas Cookie

I may have mentioned before that I love to bake. Cooking.. eh.. Baking.. yes! Another reason I love December is that I don't have to have an excuse to bake. Cookies are easy and everybody loves them. They can be as simple as a roll of dough from the grocery store sliced and slapped in the oven. I discovered baking mats a few years ago. I have a Silpat mat and a Professional mat. I get the same result from both and I can't live without them. They are a little hard to clean but your cookies won't stick to the sheet. No more burned cookie bottoms. Try one! I got one from Williams Sonoma and the other from Bed Bath and Beyond.

 

  

Atlanta Botanical Garden Holiday Lights

This holiday season we took a visit to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I really enjoyed walking around and looking at the lights. It was much more romantic than riding in the car. We bought a smores pack and roasted marshmellows. We also had Apple Cider and Hot Buttered Rum. Yum!

Santa Mantis

Kicking off Christmas

My favorite time of year is finally here. I love the holidays and to kick them off, Ben and I took a quick trip to New York. We were on Mission Christmas. We ice skated in Central Park, ate chestnuts in Rockefeller Plaza, sipped frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity and saw the Radio City Rockettes. It was everything I dreamed New York would be at Christmas time.

Beautiful Lights in the City 

 

Ice Skating in Central Park

Columbus Circle

Macy's windows and Santa's sleigh at Santaland.

Christmas Overload at Santaland in Macy's

Candy Canes and Radio City Music Hall 

A little Teuscher chocolate in Rockefeller Plaza. Amazing!

The tree!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I may sing Andy Williams the entire month of December, but October is my favorite month of the year. The weather is perfect and the trees start to turn. Since it has been a rainy week in Georgia, I thought I would share some pictures I took for a photo contest last October at the Decatur Cemetery. I think old cemeteries are really beautiful and the Decatur Cemetery is a great place for a walk on a fall afternoon.

Coming up this weekend: The Decatur Beer Fest and zip lining at Historic Banning Mills.

Ellijay Apple Picking

Ole Miss is off this week so I convinced my husband to head up to Ellijay to pick some apples. I found out only recently that Georgia had apple orchards. I guess I thought the entire state grew peaches and that's is. It was a beautiful day in Ellijay, but sadly the leaves haven't really started to turn yet. There were some really beautiful sections of color down "Apple Alley" but mostly it still looked and felt like summer. 

It took us a little while to figure out that you had to go under the trees to see all the apples. We ended up coming home with 24 apples of Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, and Arkansas Black apples. We also sampled apple cider, fried apple pies, and peach cider slushies. 

We decided to be silly and stand in line with all the kids to shoot the apple cannon.

 My husband loves apples so much, he requested I put a link to the Despicable Me banana short movie on the blog. Papple!

 I was in awe of the turkeys on the farm. I have never been so close to a turkey that was all puffed up like this. They were beautiful, but they looked a little mean so I tried not to get too close.

On the way home, my husband took me to this really amazing Christmas shop in Cumming, Georgia. I know it is only October but I'm not ashamed to pick up a few things and put them away for two months. He could've been complaining about how he was missing the LSU-Florida game but he didn't. This is a just a reminder I have the best husband ever.

Outfit of the day

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I wear jeans almost every day. Fortunately my job allows that. However, as a Southern lady, I never get out looking like I'm bumming around the house. I love a good pair of dark jeans (Michael Kors, my favorite at the moment). I have bootcut, wide leg, straight leg you name it. I own one pair of good black pants, tons of dresses and not a single pair of Khakis. I love shoes and accessories. That's my style. What's yours?