House Pics - 5 Months In

Here are some pics of the house 5 months in! We've painted all but the office (which will be a grey-blue color) and the guest bathroom (which will be a sand color).

2nd Dish of Christmas 2010 - Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Biscotti

For my second dish of Christmas, I made chocolate dipped peppermint biscotti (basically a twice baked cookie) from the kitchn website. This was a really easy recipe and I'm pretty interested in the other biscotti recipe listed in that post. I bet it smells great!

The smell of the peppermint extract in this recipe is still lingering in our kitchen 10 hours after baking. The smell + Christmas tree and stockings mean Christmas is in full gear at our house! For our tree, I stuck with the mini tree I have been using the past few years and am going with a silver/gold/white theme. I already had some silver and white ornaments from prior years and picked up a few gold ones today. Mike got a camera ornament from Laura and my mom brought us a "new home" ornament over Thanksgiving so we are all decked out! Next up is to decorate the outside for the neighborhood contest :)

Christmas Decorating Part 2

Here are some of the cute tree decorations I've seen around Anthro and Paper Source! Who knows what will end up on our tree!

Christmas Decorating - Part 1

Ok, I realize its not even Thanksgiving... but, I've been seeing such cute holiday things in stores that need to be shared. New house = new decorations right?? Well, Mike and I have totally different styles. I like things to look good together and flow (my mini tree has white lights with white and silver decorations) whereas Mike likes random things on the tree... any color, any shape, any style. We'll see how our new tree actually turns out! While I'm searching for trees, ornaments, and outdoor decorations (seems like our neighborhood is into decorating so we've got to get on the ball!)... here is some adorable wrapping paper I'm loving from Container Store!

bear snow angels

arctic friends

wiener dog reindeer

jeweled snowflakes

tartan plaid... for ann!

Guest Room Inspiration

Here are some things that are inspiring our guest room! (This is the first room we are starting and will use it partially for unpacked-box storage while we get the other rooms painted and organized.) More than anything, I want our house to be comfortable. Nothing too fussy. However, I do want this room to have a little bit different feel than the rest of the house since this is more or less where I'll have my extras and Mike's stuff will be in the office... I imagine myself doing a lot of reading and some keyboard playing in this room so I want it to be a relaxed room with some bold spots.

Phlox Martha Stewart paint from Home Depot (walls)

Purple Elderberry Martha Stewart paint from Home Depot (accent)

Daybed with white linens and white pillows in multiple textures (WestElm)

clear nesting tables (CB2)

adorn the walls with a couple of mike's black and white prints and one bold black and white graphic or text like this one from littlebluedeer.com

And, here's an outfit from this season's Mondo on Project Runway that I've got in the back of my mind while looking for things for the room...

We've primed the room and are ready to paint the phlox color on the walls. Pictures coming but might be a short while. The actual move won't happen until we get back from our honeymoon!

Any ideas or inspirations - share in the comments!