Ho ho ho!

I'm browsing for Christmas gifts.. My siblings and I do secret santa every year (there are 7 of us now.. yikes.) and Mama Jae just sent me the name of who I will be shoppin' for. Enter Vintage Faerie. Custom jewelery with a great message that looks super cute. The entire site is adorable but I think my favorite so far are these rings:

A great reminder to the wearer (aka whoever is lucky enough to have me as their secret santa this year) to love and live! I'm a fan... Now if only I could have had a ring to remind me to take the banana bread out of the oven sooner.. It's not burned, just extra tan.. Right?

Hope you're having an awesome week so far!

-Em

Swanky Yankee Holiday Giveaway!

Who doesn't love the warmth of a candlelit room (photo credit)?

To me, even more delightful than candlelight, is a warm, candlelit home, boasting a delicious aroma.

Enter the SWANKY YANKEE giveaway!

We're so excited to be hosting our first giveaway here at Advice Gals, and to start it off, we're giving away a Yankee Large Jar Candle in an irresistibly festive scent. I know, right?

Here are the deets:

How to Enter (there are two ways to enter - if you do both, make sure to leave two comments, and you'll get two entries!):

1. Become an AdviceGals follower (just click on the "follow" widget in our sidebar!), then leave a comment telling us you're a new follower!
2. Follow @AdviceGals on Twitter, then tweet about the giveaway, with a tweet like this, "@AdviceGals is doing a Yankee Candle giveaway! Enter here: advicegals.blogspot.com!", then leave a comment linking to your tweet!

Giveaway ends Sunday December 5 @ 6:00pm Central.

Winner will be chosen at random.

Woo hoo! Let the giveaway begin!

Cee & Em

Giveaway sponsored by the Advice Gals.

the perfect christmas tree

Have you found yours yet?! Finding the perfect tree is each Advent season's great challenge.

MyMan and I joined Em and my family this weekend on their tree-farm trip, and we're pretty thrilled with the result.

We decided on "the one" three different times, before finally finding the ACTUAL one.

"ok, sweetie... you saw; i'll supervise."

season's greetings,

Drool..

Excuse me, can someone remind me why I don't work at Etsy? Yes, this is their headquarters.

So obviously, in case I'm missing another calling, I must ask the question- what is your dream job?

Ciao!

Em

(photo via swiss-miss)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes

We're excited today to participate in Pretty Mommy's Holiday Recipe Exchange! The recipe we've decided to feature is a favorite in our family around this time of year, and boasts rich chocolate and savory peanut butter. A killer combo, if I do say so myself.

Without further ado... the RECIPE.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes

An AdviceGals Family favorite

3C Rice Krispies cereal

1 stick melted butter

2C peanut butter

1lb powdered sugar

Mix together then add powdered sugar 'till it makes a big ball (**hint - this is where your Kitchen Aid mixer really shines!).
Make walnut sized balls (**we love to use a small ice cream scoop as seen in the photo above) and refrigerate until firm, then dip in the following:

1 large chocolate bar (go Godiva or go home, right?)

1 6-oz. package of chocolate chips

1/8 lb of parafin

Melt parafin in double-boiler, then add chocolate bar and chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Keep hot while dipping balls. Coo, then ENJOY!

Thanks for stopping by, and make sure to check out Emily over at Big Moon Sky's recipe tomorrow!

Seasons Greetings,

The view from here

Hey all!

I'm blogging from my iPhone, enjoying the view here in the Terminal at MSP airport. I've not done the blog-from-a-mini-iPhone-keyboard thong... uh, **thing** before, so let's all just take a deep breath.

Ok.

Hi again.

My flight this morning left at an ungodly hour. No, seriously. I haven't been up this early since finals week in college, and at that time, it was so early I hadn't gone to bed yet. My connecting flight is slightly delayed, but I'm enjoying the time to myself, just enjoying the view.

Like many of you, flying is not all that new and exciting to me. I do it enough so that there is no need for clenching of fists, gum chomping, or feeling under the seat to make sure there actually is a floatation device. Not that any of that's ever happened.

Annnnyway. Every time I fly, and am seated in a window seat (EVEN though i logged in last night and chose an aisle seat, ahem), the view *of* the earth, *from* the sky completely captures me. There's something about those houses, those highways, those lakes, and those freshly cut farm grasses- that are so big when I'm on the ground- yet so mini from the sky- that makes me think about perspective. So big, yet so small.

We have much to be thankful for, no?

Warm thanksgiving wishes to you and yours...
Cee

Recipe Exchange!

Happy Monday, lovelies!

This holiday season, we're super-duper excited to be participating in Pretty Mommy's Holiday Recipe Exchange!

Our recipe will be featured in the coming days, but we're equally excited about the other ladies who'll be sharing. It's like a potluck, except without the crock pots, and minus the church basement (how lovable they are)!

Today's featured recipe is over at A Place To Share, and Torrie is sharing a oh-so-good-looking version of Turkey Gumbo. Oh dear me. Oh. Dear. Me.

Enjoy... and make sure to check out the recipe schedule over at Pretty Mommy!

'till next time,