Looks & Life Lately {12} Christmas Break

The "looks" part of looks and life hasn't been key in these posts lately and I promise to change that and do better next time and maybe even just throw a few fashion posts in on other days just because.  I also promise that after today they'll be back to the shorter usual posts - this one is definitely photo heavy.

Today, it's all about the past two weeks and Christmas Break.  This first week is dragging by and I'm already itching for the weekend to curl up under a blanket and get back to my normal routine from break… naps!

Other than heading into the office one day to finish up some year end stuff, I was off all week to rest, relax, take bubble baths, get the house tidy, walks with Stella along with skipping a few workouts (oops) and endless amounts of college football.  I also had a not too terrible cold which gave me an excuse to lounge even more.  A few date nights, lots of family time (I think I saw some of my extended family about four different occasions), time with friends and some nights in.  One Saturday I don't even think we got out of bed until 11 - it was the best to be home the entire break.

Christmas Baking:
With some extra time I enjoyed trying some new recipes (which I'll be sharing very soon) and made sure to get in a few trusty favorites that I like to make each year including holiday chocolate pretzels, thumbprint cookies (the easiest!) and peanut butter blossoms.





December 26th: 
I'm going to try to go in order because I love remembering these little parts of the holiday, but the 26th is still a holiday - in my mind.  A lazy, lounge around in your pj's, re-look & organize your gifts under the tree, do some Christmas baking and enjoy a delicious dinner kind of holiday.  We enjoyed our final day at my parents house just lounging and doing what we each wanted.

Instead of rushing it all in before the holiday, I like to get some baking done after Christmas especially since we've always got events to go to during the following week.

I think I've talked about this before but for those who are new here, our family has a football bowl pool.  About 20 or so members of the family make their picks for all the games, put their points on each team and it gets so competitive! We all spend so much time watching the games. 

Throughout the football, Mom made us up some pasta fagioli soup along with these delicious (and festive) appetizers - cucumber/tomato bites, antipasto, peppers and dip and a new pepperoni dip (loved it - recipe coming soon).  As if that wasn't enough Mom made up some manicotti in homemade sauce after - did I mention I love being home? Give me all the food.

My favorite spot at home - the little sitting room off the kitchen.  I love curling up on the couch alone to read or watch TV next to one of the few trees of the house and of course, sip some wine.

Stella ate up the attention.. from everyone…

Sunday we made a recipe that's been in my family for years - candy cane cookies.  They turned out delicious but not so pretty - it's quite hard to work with the dough when it's too warm out and given the extremely crazy Christmas temperatures, it was hard to put them together.  Then it was time to hit the road for home.

Family Christmas Night:
For the second year in a row, Derek and I hosted my extended family for one of our Christmas gatherings - throughout the week we try to have a couple events.  We did some festive type appetizers to start - peppers and dip, cucumbers and tomatoes, cheese skewers, pigs in a blanket and a family favorite - clam dip.  Baked ziti is a favorite of mine when hosting and I served it with meatballs sliders and salad.





New Year's Day:
We ended up with an impromptu football viewing day (what else - have to track our brackets!) and had some people over to our house for a very relaxed late afternoon/early evening of comfort food appetizers (and crockpot potato soup along with buffalo chicken sliders.  We tried to polish off the Christmas cookies too.





Taxslayer Bowl:
Going into the game, I was sure we'd win.  In the first quarter after Hackenberg got hurt, I knew it was over.  Although, at least the team made quite the comeback and didn't make us look too bad - I thought we might have had it there at the end but ultimately lost 24-17.  With my favorite hoagies, pasta salad, clam dip and a few chick fil a nuggets, it sure did taste like a tailgate.



The weekend brought final glass of wine in my Christmas glasses taking in the view of the glistening tree.  We left everything up until Saturday because why not and as much as I miss all the decorations it is nice having a clean and tidy house again.

Enjoying her edible dog card that Steve found for her

I think this sums up the Alamo Bowl - how crazy was that game???



Starting to take advantage of using holiday gift cards.  Or in this case a gift card from our anniversary.  Three months ago.

And just because an update isn't complete without these shots… 

Linking up with Jenn & Jessi for "What's Hap-pinning Wednesday"

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A Look Ahead: January

2014 marked the last year of "resolutions" for me as last year I just picked a few key things to focus on or look forward to or hope to accomplish during the month ahead and it worked much better.  I'm more of a see it to remember it do it kind of girl.  No, no resolutions for me this year :)  Just some general wishes for 2016 then onto the month ahead.

I hope we keep building and each year continues to be the best yet.  I'm planning on 2016 being filled with lots of travel but also many low key times at home.  Last year with schedules that had us on the go constantly, we made a "two free weekend" a month rule and we did pretty good until the fall hit but now I'm dead set on having our (at least) two weekends at home each month with no huge plans on the calendar.  I want to be more present in everything I do - drop the phone and social media when with family and just enjoy - not worry about the future and focus on the present - etc.  Focus on less shopping and a more quality over quantity mindset.    And you know, the little things too like actually remembering to use moisturizer on my face.

Now, on to this month…

Book our winter vacation and plot out our trips for the year ahead… 
We're experienced travelers, I pour way to much time into our trip planning and we know our likes/dislikes.  One thing I'm guilty of is booking a trip way to close to our time of departure (just yesterday my best friend asked for tips about a location and when to book the trip and looking back at my notes I booked ours… exactly one month out!)  Once this winter vacation is booked I hope to organized for the year and give myself more than enough time to properly plan without getting in a crunch.

Hydrate:
No time but the new year to focus on one of the best, right?  I'm the worst about drinking water.  It's not that I'm drinking things that are bad for me all day long, it's that I'm not drinking enough liquids at all.  I've already mapped out when/how much to drink and yesterday I made it half way - hoping to get into the groove soon!

One to Three Free:
Coming off the busy holiday season and multi tasking like crazy this one shouldn't be too hard.  When I get home each night I want to focus on getting miscellaneous house tasks and work at my desk done so after dinner I can have (1-3) free hours to relax, watch TV and actually watch it not just listen in the background, browse Pinterest, search other blogs, lounge and talk with my husband, etc.

Knitting:
Call me an old lady, but I've wanted to give this a try since probably the end to last winter.  I might hate it, I might be terrible at it, I might love it but I want to give it a go.

Make the Bed:
This would never have been one before but things were so busy in December I got into such a (bad) habit of running out the door with the bed unmade and pillows all over the floor.  This needs to be broken and back to normal as soon as possible.

Looking Forward To:
I don't miss the holidays being over but I am looking forward to the quiet that this month brings! Lazy nights at home, date nights that aren't based around a Christmas errand, home cooked family dinners to see everyone, etc.  We're making our first trip back to State College since football season for a hockey weekend and I'm looking forward to the quiet of town and getting to hit some restaurants and stores that we don't go near on a busy football weekend.  Derek's parents are visiting this weekend to celebrate the holidays and it will be a fun new tradition.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't looking forward to little things like the National Championship game, The Bachelor being back (definitely finished everything up by 8pm last night, lit my candles, grabbed my hot chocolate and didn't move from the couch until bedtime), and trying to get back on my twitter game.

Welcome, 2016

Eeek - I can't believe it's already January 4th and a whole new year.  I've had the best time spending much time with family, celebrating the holiday on repeat, enjoying time off and being lazy these past two weeks but today it's back to reality.  I can't wait to share what we've been up to and get things back to normal later this week but today I think I'll ease in with a short and sweet New Years recap.

First, if you're a Lilly Pulitzer fan and missed my post yesterday, you can check it out here for tips and details on the After Party Sale which goes live at 8:00am this morning! 

We aren't huge New Year's Eve people and are not fans of crowds so having "huge" plans never matters to us.  Originally we thought about taking a little trip for the long weekend but ultimately decided to enjoy a low key break at home (and I'm so glad we did - we were so lazy but also caught up on a few things).  After weighing out some options - an overnight to a town close by, dinner out in the city, staying in alone, etc., we had pretty much decided on a night out with friends in the city.  We kept dragging our feet with the hassle of getting in during the holiday craze and since I'd had a cold that kept me dragging all week when my parents mentioned they might do a surf and turf dinner, that sounded like a winner to us!

Derek and I headed over late afternoon on the 31st to get there in time for both the college playoff games and watched with my parents and brother before they hosted a fabulous New Year's Eve dinner.  We even got to see my aunt, uncle and cousin later on in the night and I snuck away to watch some of the New Year's Eve special on TV - so many times I'm too busy celebrating to actually watch and pay attention.

We started off the night with appetizers including a homemade caesar salad (my parents always make this and it's amazing - I'll have to get the recipe from them soon), shrimp cocktail and a tortellini bar with tortellini skewers to dip in marinara/vodka/alfredo sauces along with parmesan cheese.

I was too eager to fill up my plate then grab a picture of the meal but we enjoyed filet mignon, lobster tails, scalloped potatoes and broccoli for the main course and it was all delicious.  Perfect meal to close out the year.  No New Year's Eve is complete without a champagne bar, right?!

For dessert (which was served right after midnight) we went simple with comfort items - peanut butter blossoms, cake truffles and holiday bark - all recipes coming soon.

It was the perfect way to ring in the new year - I'm not sure that I'll celebrate any way other than in a smaller setting again in the future - I find it much more enjoyable this way.  I'll leave you with a couple casual snapshots of the night.

It feels good to be back! Looking forward to all that 2016 has in store for Christina Lea Loves and continuing to grow this place bigger and better each day.  Thanks for reading! 

Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale - Tomorrow! {Tips & Details}

Sunday posts are rare around here but with a Lilly Sale, it's hard to refuse.  I'm re-sharing my exact post from last year (well, with a few updates) before the January sale with tips and tricks on how to succeed with all your wanted items.

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Tomorrow kicks off Lilly Pulitzer's After Party Sale and you won't want to miss out.  I kind of miss the days when Lilly wasn't as popular because now-a-days these sales are crazier than crazy and sometimes not worth it to me.  (I mean, I'll obviously still log on to check it out)

Lilly only has two sales a year - one in January and one in August and unlike in past years the sale will only be lasting one day.  It starts at 8:00am so log on as soon as you can!  The sale is also available in stores at corporate locations - this isn't always the case but I've already convinced Derek that a dinner date is in order right next to the mall so I can run in! 

A few helpful tips for your sale shopping needs… 

Create an account: If you don't already have one, create a Lilly Pulitzer account.  It takes just minutes to do but it can save you precious time when your checking out so you don't loose any of your key items (hopefully!)

Know what your looking for: If you're a Lilly fan, you know your favorite styles and patterns.  If your new, just pick some key categories to look for and focus on those first.

Check your tags:  Personally, my sizes in Lilly differ - I can be a certain size in a top, certain size in a dress and a different size in shorts - Especially since some items are 4/6/8 and some S/M/L so check your shorts/shirts/dresses/peasant top sizes ahead of time to be ready.

Get your favorites first:  In the past this use to be easier because you could just log on and on and on but in August they started using the virtual line (even if you log on RIGHT at 8:00 it could take you a half hour or so to be able to "shop") which is fair but you've got to move fast. 

Free Shipping: That's why I said above to get your favorites first, so many times at sales I take my time looking and get everything I want in my cart and I go to check out and it's all sold out already..  there is no bigger bummer than that!

Final Sale: Items are final sale so check your order (quickly) and check it twice (even quicker) because there's no going back or returning once you've clicked "order."  I've gotten caught up in these sales more time than none so I'll only pick something tomorrow if it's really a "must have." 

*hence the reason I'll be doing some resale Lilly in the new year - be on the lookout 

Like any big great sale - their site might be moving a little slow, especially first thing, just keep trying and maybe have your laptop AND iPad out and ready.  Actually, in more recent years with the growing popularity, the website most always crashes early on.  At the end of the day it's just a sale and there will be plenty more Lilly items on sale in the future so have patience.

It's a great time to stock up on trust  favorites and new items you'd been eyeing but didn't want to pay the price tag.  If you don't get on right at 8:00am, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of shopping for later in the day - I usually check back a handful of times before the sale is over.  

For more tips from the Lilly Website for Frequently Asked Questions: here

Happy Shopping!!

Be sure to let me know tomorrow what you pick up! 

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