A couple weeks before Christmas I headed over to my Mom's and we had a full day of cookie baking to prepare for Christmas Eve. Including some of what we made as separate items here because I have links to the recipes, the others I'll just add at the end. Here's an Instagram post I did of our baking day:
Christmas Lofthouse Cookies
You know those horrible sugar cookies at the grocery store that you can't resist and enjoy eating anyway? Well these are a better version of that!
Spritz Cookies
My Mom needed a new spritz recipe this year becasue the one she used the past couple years never turned out right. We went with Sally's recipe and they came out great! After they came out of the oven we added the cute star sprinkles (last year we put them on before baking and they melted, haha!)
Turtle Thumbprint Cookies
I've made these a couple times before and they're always tasty! They also look very impressive and they aren't that hard to make. It was definitely easier to have someone help this time though. Rolling them in the pecans is always a little tricky with one person. With help I was able to coat them in the egg whites and my Mom got the pecans on. Way less messy!
Others we made: Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, Rugelach and Biscotti! We also made Snickerdoodles
Snowflake Shortbread Cookies
I used my snowflake shortbread and cake pan again, this time to make shortbread. They came out with much more detail than the cake I made with it last time!
Blossom Cookies
We did a cookie swap at my Mom's the Saturday before Christmas and I made these fun kiss cookies. The recipe has 3 flavors but my brother is allergic to peanut butter so I didn't make that variation. These are chocolate, sugar cookie and gingerbread!
Christmas Light Hostess Cupcakes
I made my version of Hostess Cupcakes with some M&Ms to look like Christmas lights for our Christmas Eve celebration. I used the cake recipe I have used in the past which is a couple recipes mashed together and then baked in cupcake tins instead of cake pans. Funny going from cupcakes to a cake inspired by those cupcakes and then back to cupcakes with the inspiration recipe, hah!
Chocolate Mousse Cake
Happy 2024! I hope everyone's year is off to a good start. Mine has been lowkey, as usual. Spent a few hours with my parents on New Years Eve and headed home around 11pm and played Animal Crossing and Dreamlight Valley on our Nintendo Switches in bed until midnight and promptly went to bed.
Let's flash back to Christmas Eve and what I wore. Decided to wear my patchwork Saint Laurent blouse because it's been way too long since it has had an outing. I paired it with my comfortable purple velvet J Brand jeans and Lanvin city sandals. I also just realized I wore these pants for Thanksgiving too, haha! Guess they're becoming part of my holiday staples. I forgot to grab accessories before heading over to my parent's house so this was a super easy look.
Blouse: Saint Laurent silk patchwork blouse (eBay)
Pants: J Brand Maria High Rise in Purple/Aubergine Velvet (The RealReal)
Sandals: Lanvin studded leather 'City' sandal (The RealReal)
First, a backstory: Back in 2011 I did a "Dream Outfit" for what I'd wear to the Christmas Tree Farm for our Christmas Tree hunt. It featured a really fun Stella McCartney polar bear sweater, red coat, suede leggings and boots. Being a dream outfit, I never imagined I would own it. However, in 2013 I was able to buy the Stella McCartney sweater from The Outnet for $229 (vs $1145) in their Summer sale and it has been a holiday season staple ever since. I love that it will never really go out of style because it's a statement piece.
Fast forward to this past weekend and visiting Marijane Boutique in Guilford. Lydia works there so I've been meaning to visit for over a year - whoops! Christian and I decided to visit a little farm store in Guilford so I figured it would be smart to kill two birds with one stone and stop by after. The store is on a super cute street on the green and is filled with all types of treasures. As I was going through the coat rack I stumbled upon a holy grail - a Burberry wool coat! It was red and very similar to the coat I used in the dream outfit. I actually think I had this coat on my wish list years ago but never bought it because of the price tag. Based on my research it was either $795 or $995 retail, I snagged it for $230 at Marijane Boutique and it is in perfect condition!
Of course the first thing I paired my new bright red Burberry toggle coat with was the Stella McCartney polar bear sweater! Dreams really do come true, especially for those who wait. 11 years later and I was finally able to pull it off! I don't have a red hat yet, but maybe I'll find one. I decided to break out my beloved Chanel for the occasion. Why not feel super fancy for the day, right?! It's crazy to think that this bag has at least doubled in value since 2012 - yikes!
Coat: Burberry Brit Wool Minstead Duffle Coat In Military Red (Marijane Boutique)
Polar Bear Sweater: Stella McCartney 'Polar bear intarsia wool and alpaca-blend sweater' - similar version (The Outnet)
Leggings: old
Boots: Audrey Brooke 'Mirie' (DSW)
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop
Bag: Chanel Classic 2.55 Double Flap (Madison Avenue Couture)
I love a good holiday themed sweater. When Christian and I were visiting his family in Missouri for a couple weeks I needed a bit of "home" so we ran into Marshalls for a quick walk-through one afternoon. We weren't intending on buying anything but the men's section had some great simple not-ugly Christmas sweaters. Christian got a half-zip one with polar bears and I got this one (the only one that they had in a small, haha!)
Funnily enough, the main pieces of this outfit are all from Marshall's. The bag and sunglasses are not. I haven't worn these boots in a while. Partly because I haven't really had an occasion and also because the insole is crumpled up so I feel the wrinkle on my foot, haha! I guess that's why they ended up at Marshalls years ago, a small but annoying glue defect. But I deal with it because they're gorgeous.
Sweater: Aspen reindeer Christmas sweater (Marshalls, men's department)
Jeans: Mother Denim 'The Rascal' c/o Marshalls
Boots: Gianvito Rossi 'Finlay' lace-up boot (Marshalls)
Bag: Emm Kuo 'Calle Bahia' (Roundabout)
Sunglasses: Ray Ban 'Erika' c/o Shopbop
It's Christmas Eve Eve and I still haven't decided what I'm wearing for all our Christmas celebrations. Now that we're all vaxxed and boosted we're having a more "normal" Christmas this year with a Christmas Eve celebration at my parents and Christmas Day at Grandmas.
I thought I would take a glance back at old Christmas looks to see if they spark some inspiration.
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| Christmas 2019 |
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| Christmas 2018 |
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| Christmas 2017 |
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| Christmas Eve 2017 |
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| Christmas 2016 |
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| Christmas Eve 2016 |
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| Christmas 2015 |
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| Christmas Eve 2015 |
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| Christmas Eve 2014 |
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| Christmas Eve 2013 |
