#WeDo the Holidays!

December 2, 2014January 31, 2015 / LeopardandGrace

I’ve hinted at a linkup and giveaway that I’m participating in, and today it went live!

Please check out all the details over on Amy’s blog — and be sure to enter our giveaway while you are there!

We have lots of fun topics planned for this week – to help offer some inspiration and ideas this holiday season.

My post on Thursday is about creating holiday traditions. Hope to see you back here!

Coffee & Concealer

December 2, 2014January 29, 2015 / LeopardandGrace

I’m still a rookie new mom – barely seven months in! – and there are lots of things about parenting a little person that I don’t know, but I will tell you that I know plenty about how to look like I’ve got it altogether

1. Coffee – well, caffeine in general. I gave up soda shortly after she was born, and unless I’m sick and craving tea, coffee it is! My standard order depends on where I am getting coffee from, or if I am making it myself (which I rarely do!).

Starbucks: white chocolate mocha latte OR peppermint mocha latte (made with skim milk) if it’s in season. Love those red cups!!

Dunkin Donuts: french vanilla (iced or hot depending on the weather) with cream & sugar. During the fall, I love their pumpkin spice and during winter, peppermint mocha again!

Heav’nly Donuts: this is a local mom’n’pop coffee place in town but they have over 20 brewed (not flavor shots) flavors. My go-to is the chocolate cappuccino, with cream & sugar. Heav’nly is my #1 go-to spot!

I find that I can handle pretty much any meltdown, dirty diaper or my “no-nap ninja” much better if I’ve got a coffee in hand.

2. Concealer – and LOTS of it. As most new (ok any) mama can attest to, sleep is …. wait, what IS sleep again? I haven’t slept through the night in well over a year and with a little one who fights bedtime, I am in serious sleep deprivation mode. Not that you could ever tell, because I use lots of concealer. Fake it til you make it!

Mac Prep’n’Prime Highlighter – get this in radiant rose, it’s the best stuff!

MAC Studio Finish Concealer

Maybelline Age Rewind Under-Eye Concealer

It! Cosmetics Eye Lift in a Tube (this one is my favorite, hands down!)

On a daily basis I do wear 2-3 of these concealers, which sounds crazy but you would never know how tired I am by looking at my face

So if you have a friend who’s a new mom, do her a favor – get her a Starbucks giftcard and a Sephora giftcard. She will love you forever.

Our Weekend & Thanksgiving

December 1, 2014January 29, 2015 / LeopardandGrace

Man, do I love long holiday weekends! I love them even more now that I got a new job so I actually get time off around the holidays.

We had originally planned to host Thanksgiving this year, but the week we went to South Carolina we had some work done on the house.

A whole in the wall where there once was a coat closet!

The contractor finished up on the night before I left, or I should say, didn‘t finish up! This is how they left our new room:

View from the opposite side – there used to be two closets here!

When I called him to ask why they didn’t fill in the walls, he told me that it was “extra” and they left that part for the painters (us). I was furious, but since I was also getting on a plane ten hours later, I couldn’t argue with him.

So needless to say, our house was pretty much in shambles and it was impossible to host Thanksgiving dinner so we decided to head to my mother-in-law’s.

I made homemade cranberry sauce in the crockpot, a traditional green bean casserole and a not-so-traditional brussels sprout salad. It was all SO yummy!

Yummmmmm

Thanksgiving was such a relaxing day – watching football, drinking wine and spending time with our family. The holidays are already so much more fun with Gracie around.

Her first Thanksgiving

I am most thankful for them!

Keith spent the next three days working on that room. By Sunday night, it still wasn’t done but he’s made a ton of progress. I give him so much credit – he was not very handy before we bought this house and he’s slowly learning, one job at a time

Friday, I very successfully completed almost all of our Christmas shopping – you can find our Black Friday recap here.

Saturday, we were up early and ventured to the mall as soon as they opened so that Gracie could take her photo with Santa! I was so glad we went at 10:30, there was only four families in line ahead of us and she was so good.


I can’t even with this face!

Headband // Fur Vest (old, H&M) // Tutu & Onesie set // Tights (Instagram purchase)

The rest of the day was spent just hanging around the house, and starting to put up our Christmas decorations. It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!

Her first tree!

A little sneak peek of our decor

On Sunday, my father-in-law and his wife came over to visit with us for a couple of hours, and after they left we headed out to our town’s annual tree lighting event. Gracie and I went with our neighbors and their little boy Jake, and my girlfriend Tara came with her family. It was sunny and 50 degrees, the perfect day to be outdoors!