getting into the holiday spirit

A much needed break is finally here...and I can't believe it's because the holidays are already here. But I'm so thankful they are! I'm up watching Justin Beiber on the Today Show, drinking hot apple cider and thumbing through some holiday catalogs and magazines. I'm usually already fully into holiday spirit mode by now, but for some reason it's been slow coming this year.

To help get myself in the holiday spirit, this past Sunday I headed out shopping to pick up my favorite holiday candle, Anthropologie's warm gingerbread {I became obsessed with this candle three years ago and get the new edition every year}. The crowds and the Christmas music in the stores definitely help make it feel a little more like the holidays.

I noticed they had changed things up so I took some snap shots of the new decor.

It never fails to impress me how they come up with all this. It's like a little creative museum.

I also went to Lowe's to pick up some chalkboard paint for a holiday project. While I was in line to check-out, I picked up the December issue of Real Simple. The smell of the gingerbread candle while flipping through it quickly made it feel a little more like Thanksgiving holidays are here and Christmas is not far behind. The Michael Bublé Christmas CD I picked up at Target helps too!

zig-zag and stripes

I love zig-zag and Anthropologie is carrying zig-zag in the form of "bath baskets".

There is just something about the zig-zag look...and then there's stripes.

This black and white coat is from ASOS and it is a great one!

weekends are a breath of fresh air

Weekends are like a breath of fresh air in between long five-day work weeks. It's so nice to be able to relax and unwind for two whole days. I don't know what I would do without them! Getting a break away from the office, deadlines and work clothes is like recharging my battery for the next week lying ahead. I feel so much more productive when I've had the opportunity to take time just for friends, family and fun.


Wesley actually started his weekend early Friday afternoon to play a round of golf. I stopped by my parents house, and then went home to meet Wesley and we then rushed to meet these two for dinner at a new restaurant in town:

Luckily, they didn't get tired of us and still wanted us to spend Saturday afternoon with them out at the lake.
We spent some time out on the boat, but mainly the girls were laying out while the boys watched the World Cup.

And then it was approaching evening and it was still smoldering, so we called our outside activities a wrap and parted ways to cook out at our own homes in our PJs.

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We made it to early church for the first time since our church started back at two services {which, early church isn't all that early; 9:30 is actually very doable!}. And we may never go back to the second service again. The whole day was awaiting us when we got out! Wesley went out to the golf course after brunch and I eventually made it to the pool. When I couldn't take the heat any longer, I went on the hunt for some shorts. I have been searching high and low for some comfortable, preferably discounted, white shorts. I found two winners but in gray and navy {no white available} at Anthropologie. They met my criteria of comfortable x 100. After trying on, I eyed the Anthropologie decor and pretended like I could get it for our house.

And for some reason this chair was calling my name.

It would be a fun one to have. A trip to Anthropologie never disappoints even if I didn't find anything that I was looking for. Now I'm ready for another work week. Kind of.