Ramdom...

I haven't been surfing around much lately, but last night I got a few minutes to myself after the kids went to bed and came across this completely lovely chandelier from West Elm. If I didn't love my drum shade pendant I have in my dining space already, I might just spring for this one.

This space has obviously nothing to do with the photo above, but I am diggin' all the elements of this space. The perfect wall color, and the bit of pattern on the ottomans to the pop of color in the lamps. I am completely a sucker for a gawdy mirror these days too!

What can I say I am a always drawn to stripes and these are no exception. They really make the space. I would be tickled to death to have a space like this to pen my grandmother (because you know she does not have the internet).

Hope you all have a safe New Year's Eve!

Kitchen Love...

 Swoon baby swoon...

What's not to like?

This reminds me so much of my friend Shannon and her super sense of style!

New Year Inspiration...

I hope you all had a restful, and jolly Christmas. I have enjoyed having about a week off with the kids. Every year is more fun with them at the holidays. I especially love hearing them say "Happy Birthday baby Jesus"! And now it's over, already...gosh time really flies. Here we are at the end of the year. I have been thinking about the upcoming New Year for sometime. I am so inspired by some fellow blogger friends, Amanda and Laurel, who have been getting their running groove on.  And by my husband who also is an avid runner. It is time for me to get back in a consistent groove of running. I always look forward to a new year (I turn 30 in a few months, so excited!) and a fresh start. And am really wanting to strive

towards making some changes in our diet, and moving to a more vegetarian lifestyle, and in making more time to run. One day at a time. One meal at a time. One run at a time.

Do you have somewhere or someone you draw inspiration from?

Every year we sit down and watch the Ironman. Have you ever watched or possibly competed. My love for this competition grows every year. I cry watching it, seeing personal stories of strength. It is so moving.

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Have you been thinking of goals for this upcoming New Year? What inspires you to do more?

Have a lovely Monday!

Merry Christmas...

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy all of the excitement of the season.

From our family to yours,

Merry Christmas!

New Blog Design...

I want to send out a huge Thank You to Kelly at Fabulous K! She is responsible for my cute new blog design. She has such a wonderful design sense and nailed my style dead on! Thanks Kelly!

Peacock Feathers...

I am really loving this chandelier made of ornaments. What a fun way to mix it up for the holidays. Peacock feathers are so pretty and such an elegant way to add a new element to your tree or in this case your dining area.

{via Redbook Mag}

Nativity...

I have had my eye out for a nativity scene as you know from last weeks post. And look what I came across on Etsy.  And what a super sweet seller. She has some beautiful things in her shop.

Cards By Cheryl

I love the simplicity of it.

Christmas or Anytime...

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! Happy Weekend Ya'll!


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Party On...

Does your company have a Christmas party? Being self employed doesn't qualify me to have a yearly par-tay! But, if it did, I might pick something like this. I love the pockets on this first little number.

I adore everything about this one too. Good thing I don't need to choose between them. Especially her lil touches of gold. I have had a love for this metal lately.

{Both looks found at Francesca's}

Top 10...

Do you have things you use every day? Things you hope you don't ever have to live without. Well I thought I might share a few essentials I love.

1.) Dolce & Gabbana l'eau The One

I flat iron my hair almost daily and that can really be hard on it. So my favorite reconstructor of all time is Joico's K-Pak. It truly makes such a difference in repairing damaged or dry hair. A must have!

Another hair fave is the Chi Silk Infusion. You can apply this wet or dry or both. Provides shine and protection from heat.

I did not buy jeans last year, so when this winter rolled around I was hurting for pants. I had seen these Miss Me jeans and thought I would give them a try. The BEST thing I ever did! Worth every penny... really! The fit is perfect, with just the right amount of stretch. So comfortable you could sleep in them.

What more to say than a tape measure. I carry one in my purse. Yeah, it is a bit heavy, but a girl has to have one at all times. I am thinking of looking for an app for one on my iphone. Do you know of one?

No, I don't have one of these Canon's yet, but I have a decent camera. And have to have it with me all of the time. One day I will be able to step up and get me this beauty.

Pearl earrings! I wear them almost every day.

Bare Minerals foundation. I have been using it for probably 6 years and am a complete addict. The best stuff for my sensitive skin.

I really did try to spare you a photo of me, but I just couldn't find another photo of a cute black and white scarf. I picked this up at target and have worn it to death already this season.

Last but not least is my iphone. I really babied my last phone along. So much so it took 3 tries to get my #9 to work. We had been shopping around trying to decide if iphones were the route we wanted to take and in the end they won out. Let me just tell you I am very happy with it, too.

Nativity...

I have been loving this Willow Tree nativity set for some time now and still have not purchased it. Maybe this year...

After all, he is the reason for the season!

We Have a Winner...

Today is the day to find out the winner of these super cute vases brought to you by All Modern!

And the winner is...

Marianne at Haven and Home!

Send me an email at

interiorsgirl@gmail.com

so I can get your shipping info.

Congrats!


Thank you to all who entered!

Homemade Gifts...

I LOVE homemade gifts. And would be tickled pink to receive one of these embellished journal. {hint hint} So many possibilities with this too. You could do the recipients name or a simple monogram. I have a pretty paper fetish. Isn't this a cute idea?

Would you like the how-to? You can find it here.

Something I am doing this year is family photos. Although I am not framing them. But if I were, I think these are so pretty. They are mounted on a lovely textured fabric. And again the possibilities are endless.

Find the how-to here.

I hope your checking things off your holiday shopping list. I have a gift card or two left to get and then I am finished.  YAY!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway. Today is the last day to enter!

A Giveaway...

Yippie, we are going to have a little giveaway here at Good Girl Gone Glad. While browsing for gift ideas I came across this super cute vase set from AllModern and they were so gracious to offer it to us in a fun giveaway. To enter just leave a comment. For an extra entry in the contest, post about the upcoming giveaway on your blog.

The contest will close Monday December 14th.

The winner will be announced Tuesday December 15th

Because of shipping charges this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.

Good Luck!

Monogram...

I am going to have to have one of these huge letters for my front door. But not just for Christmas, for all year long. I love how good that gold looks against the black door. I'll just have to figure out what color I want my letter to be on my newly painted grey door.

The doggie is cute too!

Rhett turns 5...

My oldest son turns 5 today! I can hardly believe it. He is the type of kid that makes parenting easy. So emotionally intelligent. I love you Rhett, with all my heart!

Here he is with his birthday cake. He has been into the crocodile hunter a lot lately. So we thought a crocodile cake would be fun! Rhett said "It was a beaut"! LOL

No I didn't make the cake either. A sweet friend of mine who is also a caterer made it. It was soooo yummy!

White Christmas...

I La La Love this all white palette! And maybe next year I can do some table decor. This year I am just counting myself blessed that the kids haven't pulled the tree over. Last year the twins, who had just turned two, didn't know their own strength and pulled the tree over 3 times. Yikes, I know. I always thought whose kids do those kind of things and then I had the twins. LOL!

Dress Love...

I am LOVING this dress from Francesca's. To bad I really don't have any where to wear it.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Time For a Cookie Break...

A yummy recipe tested out by 3 little munchkins who give it a thumbs up. Hope you enjoy it too!

Chocolate- Toffee- Granola Cookies!

{Recipe and photo via southern living}

Hands-On Time: 10 min., Total Time: 50 min.

Break up large pieces of granola before stirring into batter.

Yield: Makes 16 servings

Ingredients

• Parchment paper
• 1/2  cup  I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S NOT BUTTER! Cooking & Baking Sticks, melted
• 3/4  cup  firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/4  cup  granulated sugar
• 1  large egg
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1 1/4  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4  cups  granola cereal
• 3/4  cup  semisweet chocolate morsels
• 1/2  cup  toffee bits

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8-inch square pan. Line bottom and sides of pan with parchment paper, allowing 2 to 3 inches to extend over sides. Grease parchment paper.

Whisk together melted cooking-and-baking sticks and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk in flour; stir in granola, chocolate morsels, and toffee bits until combined. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Carefully lift bars from pan, using parchment paper sides as handles. Cut into bars, and serve warm or cool to room temperature.

Boy, Oh boy...

OH this boy is giving me heck. Every time I ask him to not do something his response is "you always so mean to me mama". Or "why you so mean to me"? And then he shows me that pretty smile and melts my heart.

What am I going to do with this ornery boy?

Cozy Breakfast...

Gotta love a cozy breakfast nook. This one is certainly on the top of my love list.

{via decorpad}

Fab Finds...

Tis the season to be shopping, here are a few fun shops to check out along with a few holiday decor items to swoon over.

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Thankful...

I want to wish you all a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving! Extending blessing to you and your family!

Tablescapes...

While I will not be hosting Thanksgiving at my home, I do appreciate a beautiful tablescape. Maybe one of these days I'll stop the madness that comes from trying to be so many places in one day and host our own Thanksgiving. Then I will give one of these lovely tables a try. Do you host or travel to be with family on Thanksgiving?

Yum, Pumpkin...

Do you need a good dessert for your upcoming Thanksgiving meal? Do you like pumpkin? This recipe is fantastic. I made it last week just to test it out. It was a big thumbs up. It was gone in a day, between Josh, myself and the kids. Hope you enjoy it too. {Found at Southern Living}

Pumpkin Pie Spectacular:

• 1/2  (15-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
• 2  cups  crushed gingersnaps (about 40 gingersnaps)
• 1  cup  pecans, finely chopped
• 1/2  cup  powdered sugar
• 1/4  cup  butter, melted
• 1  (15-oz.) can pumpkin
• 1  (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2  large eggs, beaten
• 1/2  cup  sour cream
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground ginger
• Pecan Streusel
• 7  thin ginger cookies, halved
• Ginger-Spice Topping, ground cinnamon

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Fit piecrust into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate according to package directions; fold edges under, and crimp.

2. Stir together crushed gingersnaps and next 3 ingredients. Press mixture on bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of piecrust.

3. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes).

4. Stir together pumpkin and next 6 ingredients until well blended. Pour into prepared crust. Place pie on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

5. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle Pecan Streusel around edge of crust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until set, shielding edges with aluminum foil during last 25 to 30 minutes of baking, if necessary. Insert ginger cookies around edge of crust. Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Dollop with Ginger-Spice Topping; dust with cinnamon.

Pecan Streusel

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  all-purpose flour
• 1/4  cup  firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  butter, melted
• 3/4  cup  pecans, coarsely chopped

Preparation

Stir together flour, brown sugar, melted butter, and chopped pecans.

Ginger-Spice Topping:

Ingredients

• 1  (8-oz.) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground ginger

Preparation

Stir together thawed whipped topping, cinnamon, and ginger.

Breath of Fresh Air...

I need to get away. I would love a little trip to...

{Lake Austin Spa Resort}