They were wrong!

The world didn't end, although one could argue that my hangover yesterday was a symptom of the apocalypse. But it didn't happen. We're still here, and all the stuff I "put off" will have to be taken care of.
Like.... Laundry! I was really hoping to get out of that one. shooot.

Might as well be my basket. I've got laundry for days. 

Oh, and Bills! Yeah, I was hoping I could spend all of my money boozing and eating this last week. And put off paying those pesky Cable and Credit Card bils. 

Jokes on me!

Lastly, I was really hoping to get out of doing the rest of my Christmas Shopping. NO ONE wants to go to Walmart a mere 3 days before Christmas. No one. Especially not to my "neighboorhood store"

Way to screw me on this on, Mayans!

6 Cheery days until Christmas

6 days until Christmas, ya'll.  I cannot wait for a day of happiness, fingers crossed that it will be filled to the brim with happy and joy and wine. Lots of wine. I just have a little inkling with all the recent events that it won't be. It just won't. I've said it before, but my Family is cray. If I didn't feel protective over them, I would just screenshot all  the things my Momma and I have been dealing with and texting about lately for you to see just exactly how ridiculous it is.  But I'm too protective, slightly embarrassed that this is my bloodline, and just over it. Instead of focusing on all of that negative energy, I want to be happy.  I'm choosing happiness.  Please pick me back, happiness, I don't want this to be like the days of recess. #lastkidstanding

I digress
To reel this back into Christmas and Cheer, and everything nice...I'm linking up with Kristen from All in my Twenties to share my Christmas Card.  This is our first one as a Married couple, so I couldn't pass it up.  And, I scored these suckers for 60% off. Which I in-turn took those savings right on down to Old Navy to celebrate my frugalness.

I was 100% against using a Wedding picture on our card this year. Partly because I don't love them, and partly because I feel everyone is over seeing our Wedding pictures (they were on our Thank you cards!) We tried to do a makeshift photo shoot - Bailey in reindeer ears, Jason festive in a green polo, and me all in a Christmasy scarf. Cute, right? No! It was horrible. We tried outside, and it was at least 100 degrees out. Bailey kept pawing off the ears. We moved locations to get into a shady spot in Mom's backyard. While walking over, Jason stepped in Bailey poop...and then I threw in the towel on the photo shoot. Save that ish for the professionals, Ladies! Link up with Kristen and show us what you got!

Silence and Support

Our tree of memories

Our tree is up!

When we first moved into together and had our first "couples" tree, all of the ornaments were the generic red bulbs. Throughout the past three years, we've been trying to collect ornaments that are closer to our hearts. So that putting up our tree will be like taking a mini walk down memory lane.
We pick them up from our travels, most recently from our honeymoon in Jamaica (which I still haven't uploaded pictures or posted about)

It's a santa painted on a shell.
And, of course we have a memory ornament for every year. 

Do you have any ornaments that hold a special place in your heart?

"Thank you" doesn't seem enough

I don't think I've been able to respond to the comments and emails from Friday, but that is my goal for today. You ladies are the sweetest, most kindhearted people. I let Jason read them, and he's just been so moved by the outpouring love and support I wanted to take some time today and write a post of letters to share a little of my gratitude.

(Monday night's event) Dear my WPHS family, it's a rare thing that people are this close after high school.  Seeing people Monday night, coming to share their love, stories, and kind words, in the rain mind you, really was beautiful. It's sad that a tragdy had to bring us close again, but that was the amazing thing about Aaron. He brought everyone together. He wasn't in a particular "clique" in high school, and 10 years later it is still amazing to hear stories about how great of a friend he really was to so many people.  

To Jason's best friends, I could not imagine having a better set of stand up guys in our lives. You guys have been amazing and have been his rock. You've comforted him and made him laugh in the memories. and, To my best friends, you girls hold a special place in my heart. Thank you for coming out to be there for us last night, for sending us your mama's food or a giftcard to spare us from your cooking. Thank you for checking in several times throughout the weekend all the way from Dallas and from San Francisco. ...And, Wendy I know, I get really annoyed with the "Let's get everyone into one big group shot" photos that come out of every event. But I deeply love them so much. 
Dear the Other bar, you guys are Rockstars. Each and every one of you. Thank you for showing Aaron's family just how many lives he touched. I don't think they even knew that side of him. It was a beautiful thing.  Dear Jason, I'm so in awe of you. You have really made me so proud. This is hard. really hard. but you are making everyone in Orlando so aware of the situation. I know in my heart, your efforts will pay off. Justice will be served. Then we'll be able to properly mourn for Aaron. 

Gone too Soon

Today we lost a loved one, a friend and a great person.

Waking up to that call is a feeling I never want to have again. Jason's mom called to let us know that his cousin, Aaron, was driving on his moped home from work last evening and was hit by a car. The car left the scene, and left Aaron in the road. Aaron was too young. He had a whole life in front of him. Still working in the hospitality industry, he wanted to go back to school. To have a career, and to have a family. Unfortunately all of those dreams were taken from him in one minute. I''m angry, sad, confused, hurt and most of all heartbroken over seeing my husband in so much pain. Aaron was born one month before Jason, they were more than cousins...they were brothers.

Never forget to Cherish those people closest to you now and forever. Give them a big hug. Snap that picture Say "I love you" Memories are all that we have.  RIP Aaron. We will miss your laughter, your own little language, and the way you lit up every room. You'll forever be in my heart. I guess what they say is true "only the good die young' 10/7/84 - 12/7/12

Party-Rock the Holidays!

About 4 years ago, all of us girls got together and decided we wanted to do a Girl's only christmas party. Everyone brought over a dish b.p. (before pinterest), a bottle of wine and a $20 gift.  We collectively gave it the klassy name of "Ho, ho, ho" party!

 (I'm not to sure what my hair was doing)

Anyways...We held a wine competition, which if I do say so myself is the best game ever,  and had an absolute blast. 11 bottles and several shots later, we threw on our favorite high school jams (oh, hey Nelly) and started a dance party!

We've continued this tradition over the years.  Adding in boyfriends (now husbands) into the mix.  We still do our own little girl wine competition and dirty santa. but unfortunately with the boys there to reign us in, the dance party hasn't happened in quite a long time.
There's really nothing more I love than dressing up, reconnecting and laughing with my friends. This year's theme is Ugly Christmas Sweater. I put together this little outfit inspiration today, and now I'm on the hunt...is it not perfect?

I needz to find some reindeer leggings! 

Dear Santa...

I promise I've been really nice this year, and just to take the burden off everyone...I've turned to Pinterest to help put together my little wish list. Thoughtful little one, right?

It's a shame that my gifts get more and more practical as I get older. I'm still a little girl at heart and would LOVE for a little puppy...but that's a long shot.
1. Giftcards: As much as I loate gifting giftcards, I loveeee receiving them. It takes away all of my shoppers remorse when I step up to the line at F21 and swipe my giftcard. A girls always needs new clothes, amiright? The JJ's giftcard is for my work lunch breaks, it's my favorite lunch spot. 
2. Monogrammed Goodies: You ladies already know this, but I cannot get enough monograms in my life. A necklace is topping my wishlist (and I believe has already been purchased-eeek) but a monogrammed maybook planner is a close contender. With my friends getting  married left and right, I need something to keep track of all the fun! 
3. Bully Pup: Bailey needs a lil' friend. I need another scrunchy face to love on. That pretty much sums that up.
4. Home goods & K-cups: We need a Master Bedroom update - our current bedspread is so drab. We do already own this style for our guest room (in teal), and we L.O.V.E. it. It's so comfy! I'm hoping we can add this gorgeous champagne bedspread to our Master. The Mint Floor cleaner would be another amazing addition to our house. Our house is 90% tile floors. And let's face it, a bi-weekly maid service is one pretty pricey christmas gift! Lastly, K-cups...you just can never have enough of them.
5. Comfy & Cozy Slippers: I saw these bad boys at Target over the weekend and cannot stop drooling over them. p.s. They are pink on the inside. Yes, yes, and yes! I want to relax on the couch with them all day long. I think Jason took the hint ;)
So there is my little wish list. Of course, there are a few more things I'm swooning over... like these lovely ladies:

but we allllll know that's not going to happen.

What's on your Christmas list this year?

Blair Party of Two.

If you follow me on IG, chances are I blew up your feed. It was definitely a wedding for the books. Everything was so so gorgeous.  When I was in Miami for Steph's Bachelorette Party, I shared my love for Instagram and hashtagging with the girls.  A few weeks before the wedding, I saw a cute pin floating around Pinterest that shared the wedding hashtag for guests to tag Instagram pictures. 

Love this idea! It's such a great way to view all of your Guest's pictures in one place.  I brought this idea up to the Bride, and came up with a few ideas for hashtags. She loved #Blairpartyof2 and that's what all of us used during her weekend. The day was extremely calm, we woke up at a ridiculously early hour (ahem: 6:41am) because of someone's alarm. Went down stairs for a delicious breakfast and then moved on up to the gorgeous presidential suite to get ready! Stephanie was calm the whole day! I remember people telling me the same thing, but something about seeing a Bride just excited to marry her love and not stressing one bit...well it's a beautiful thing! My tears started flowing as soon as the photographers came (coincidentally right after my makeup was done) and started setting up her gorgeous dress. And not only was she calm, but she was absolutely stunning! I'm talking flawless. I'll let the rest of my pictures do the talking.

The wedding was exquisite. Every detail was so well thought out... the fall colors she picked were perfect. I wouldn't have expected anything less, this girl has amazing style and taste! 

Beautiful Wedding, Beautiful Bride and and even more Beautiful Relationship. I'm so happy to see what the future has in store for them. 

Congratulations, Steph and Blair!

Part two of Birthday Celebrations

Jason turned 28 last week, and I wanted to make this one super special. Complete with a cheesy "Happy Birthday to my Husband" card. 
I posted about his big Celebration already, but on his actual birthday I wanted to have a fun-filled day with just the two of us. 
I attempted to make Funfetti pancakes, they looked beautiful in the pinterest Picture.

Pintest picture via

Don't worry, I was successfully able to make pancakes and eggs. We didn't starve.

After breakfast, we headed out to Gatorland. Which is just a fun local attraction near Orlando. It was pretty chilly, but surprisingly a lot of the gators were out and about.

We ran home to change and opened presents,

When we were flying back from our honeymoon, we had a layover in Miami. There was a Shula's restaurant in the airport and Jason mentioned that he always wanted to try it. Imagine my surprise when I heard a Radio commercial for one just 20 minutes from our house. I booked the reservations a few months ago and kept it a secret. He was stoked when we pulled up.

On the reservation, I mentioned it was his birthday. The had a birthday card, signed by the whole staff for him.

It was a fantastic day. Cheers to many more!

What I did and didn't do during Thanksgiving

Just for fun, I looked back at my Thanksgiving post from last year (it's right here) and I'd thought I do this post in a similar fashion.  Thanksgiving was especially fun this year. So here's a little recap. I did have a whole week off for this holiday, can't say I hated that at all. I didn't do near the amount of housework I wanted to do, instead I ran errands and shopped. Oh, and caught up on the entire season on RHOM. judge away!

I did successfully spoil my husband on Monday. I didn't post about it just yet, but here's a preview of what's to come.

us at Gatorland I did enjoy 2 Thanksgivings on Thursday and one on Sunday. They were all so delcious, but I'm turkeyed-out I didn't have any family issues. HOORAY! Mostly because our "biggest issue" was sleeping through the whole dinner. Without her, it was very relaxing and drama free!

Mama's Turkey I (finally) did get to stand next to one of my best friends as she married her love. It was beautiful in every single way. I didn't trip walking down the longest aisle of my left. I was scared the whole way, just take a look.

It was absolutely beautiful. I'll be sharing pictures this week!! I did cheer on my Gators to a Victory. I didn't watch the game. Just received scoring handsignals from Jason during the ceremony and reception.  

He celebrated with an "Alligator drool" beer That is my little week(end) Recap. Hope y'all had an amazing Thanksgiving!

Gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving eve, Love bugs! I've been trying out this whole "real housewives" thing this week. I just wish I had my reality crew running around following me. Boo.
This is the time of year that we stop for a minute to give gratitude and thanks in between second helpings, football, parades and family fighting. Oh, the fighting is just in my house? dang.

This year I'm Thankful for...
A job that I love. It's a fun workplace, my co-workers are awesome, and I get to learn something everyday.
Chardonnay. Needs no explanation
Hilarious BuzzFeed articles to get me through my workdays.
Pinterest. Lord knows that I wouldn't know how to live my life without it. 
All these amazing Crockpot recipes on Pinterest. Those things make my heart go pitter patter.
Andy Cohen. Why? Because I'm pretty much obsessed with all Bravo shows and he's the mastermind behind all of the craziness. His Talk show too... WHHL has a drinking game, pretty amazing.
My beautiful friends. I've done a lot of growing this past year. Thankfully I've had a few friends that have been there every step of the way. I could not imagine my life without them.
Red Velvet Icecream. It's legit, yo!
And, my little family. I love coming home to Jason and Bailey every day.
Hope y'all have an amazing Thanksgiving. You can just call me TayTay tomorrow.

Birthday in the House

It's my favorite person's day of birth. Our first one as husband and wife.
I've planned a few things these past few days to make him feel extra special. Saturday we had his family birthday dinner, I was able to persuade one of my friends to come over while we were at dinner and decorate our house before we hit the town. Sidenote: Surprising someone when you live together is hard. Really hard. 
The house was decorated in his favorite colors (Orange and blue) and we had our pregame drinks in the form of a cake. 

Our family picture:

and then we went downtown to Jason's favorite country bar. It was a great time, minus the fact that this bar apparently didn't have a working AC. Let me just tell you, that is not okay in Florida. ever.  

Today is his actual birthday, so I've planned a day full of surprises. I woke him up to funfetti pancakes (which we're horrible, by the way) and bacon. We're getting ready to head out to Gatorland and then have dinner planned tonight.
Happy Birthday, to my lifelong best friend. You are my heart and soul, and I hope you feel extra special today.