is it time yet?

Dear Christmas Vacation, You are now less than a week away.
Could you please come just a couple days sooner?

I am ready to be curled up here ...

Drinking peppermint hot chocolate out of this mug ...

With a plate full of these ...
Totally taken captive by the pages of this ...

Yes, it has begun. Last night I realized that I have quickly become addicted when I thought "I need to go to sleep, but I just want to keep reading." Or this morning, when I brought it to work with me, even though I knew that I would have no time to read it before I got home!


Are you also dreaming of a cozy fireplace this holiday season? Sad that your house is missing a place to hang your stockings with care? Simply click here!

i need your help

Here's your mission ... if you know where to buy either of these things ... then comment and let me know! I am totally clueless as to where to find them, but with your help, I am sure that we can make it happen. Also, if months from now you see one of them and think "ohh Rachel was looking for something like this" ... then please let me know. I may still be looking. Tell all of your friends to be on the look out as well!

Assignment #1 - Vintage Lockers

I am in the process of dreaming up plans for our future kitchen. I want to use vintage lockers as our pantry, but I have no idea where to find them! Got any ideas?

Assignment #2 - Metal basket

What basket right? Click here to see what I am talking about. I don't want to be too picky, but I pretty much want the basket to look just like this. A couple of musts ... deep, rounded edges, and rectangular shape. I want to use this basket for the exact same purpose - a light! Isn't it super fun? I'm in love.

Thanks for your help bloggers. I truly appreciate each of you.

sunday pretties

and the winner is...

This week's giveaway goes to AUTUMN! She is the lucky winner of the adorable Havelock Blue Bird on Cherry Blossom Pouch! Congrats to you! Don't forget to stop by Joom this holiday season ... and don't forget to stop back on Monday as there will be another giveaway. This might be your lucky week. Thanks again to all the sponsors and readers for your amazing support. This whole thing would not be nearly as fun without each of you :)

i'm ready

{like the charlie brown effect? that's what happens when you don't have a tree skirt! we do have a much larger & real tree, but I am waiting for the weather to clear up before I take a picture of it. don't worry I will share soon. this is what E and I consider our travel tree. each time were travel somewhere new we buy an ornament from that place. my parents do the same thing, and it is so much fun looking at all the ornaments are remembering all the fun trips we have taken together.}

{i was going to make the bed before I took this picture, but then I thought "no, this is what it really looks like. maybe some of you will take comfort in that?}

{i usually don't love poinsettias, but these are super glittery and i was sort of drawn to them. the little red accents in the bathroom reminded me of how cute mint and red are together. maybe i will use those colors for gift wrapping inspiration next year.}

{please pretend like you do not see the super sad microwave stand. i believe i have already told you about the desperate remodel our kitchen is in need of. oh well, we are still SO blessed.}

{instead of a white Christmas, I am dreaming of painting these cabinets white and taking off the doors on the top ones!}

{i added a little scrapbook paper behind these simple metal cookie cutters. it really helped them stand out.}

brown paper packages tied up with string

All of my Christmas gifts are bought ... and as of last night they're wrapped as well! This year I opted for the simple brown craft paper. I love the warm and comforting look at craft paper, and I love even more that it only cost me about $3.00 at the dollar store.



One other thing that I love about craft paper, is that the ribbon and bow combinations are endless. I tried to use a wide variety of textures, and I am really happy with the way they turned out. Think outside of the ribbon isle. Take a stroll in the floral, yarn, or scrapbook section.

For the "to and from" part, I used a little detail stamp I picked up at Michael's for $1.00.

A work in progress

I get pretty excited about wrapping Christmas gifts, but this little girl got even more excited. She was way too pumped up about the paper and ribbon, so unfortunately she had to watch from a distance ... still has a lot of puppy in her. How long will this last? I am still waiting for that two year mark.

pumpkin roll

I know it is a little late in the season to be making pumpkin roll, but better late than never right? Pumpkin roll is one of E's favorite desserts, and last weekend I finally adventured out a made it. Something about the roll intimidated me, but it really was easy {other than one little mishap}.

A couple brief and easy instructions

Beat 3 eggs on high for five minutes.

Stir in 1 cup of sugar.

Fold in 2/3 cups of pumpkin {if you have a pup, you can feed the leftover to them, they will love it}

Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 3/4 cup of flower, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Spread on well greased and waxed papered jelly roll pan. {This is where the mishap occurred. It's sort of embarrassing, but I will share so that you do not make the same mistake. Make sure you spray the oil on top of the waxed paper and not under it. In my first attempt I sprayed the pan, and then put down the paper. After baking, the pumpkin roll was completely stuck to the paper ... silly me. So repeat after me, wax paper and then spray!}


Bake on 11 X 15 pan at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. After baking, turn onto a towel.

Roll up and slightly cool.

For the cream cheese filling:
Beat 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 8oz package of cream cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, and 4 tablespoon of margarine together until smooth.

Spread on unrolled cake. Roll again. Refrigerate or freeze. Enjoy the yummyness!