Girls Gift Exchange!

Last week McKinsey hosted her 5th Annual Gift Exchange! The night was so fun. Maybe too fun. And all 19 girls walked away with amazing gifts.

The gifts were all so good and we had a record number of steals this year. In fact, the first opened gift, The Ultimate Plush Throw, was immediately stolen three times in a row, which kicked off the exchange in a competitive spirit! Side note, this blanket was passed around the room and everyone ooh'd and ahh'd over the softness. The day after the exchange at least three of us scooped up the popular blanket on major sale ($30) at Restoration Hardware. Highly recommend.

I won't go into all the gifts but some of the most popular presents were the Basic Shawl Vest (similar), the Corkcicle Canteen and the Nest Candles. There were also several necklaces that were made at local bead shops that were stolen till frozen too.

This year I brought a Volcano Candle and J.Crew Earrings, which were stolen twice! And Laura and I both went home with Nest candles. See?! So many amazing gifts! You really couldn't go wrong with what you ended up with.

  Another super fun and successful gift exchange!   Previous Gift Exchanges (clearly poorly documented - oops) 2015 Gift Exchange 2013 Gift Exchange

Five on Friday!

I have a random assortment of things for you today -- recipes, school pics, and more!

one. A few weeks ago the kiddos had school picture day. Normally I don't buy the photos but this year I caved and purchased a few digital prints. Side note, can we talk about how absurd the digital and print photos cost? My goodness. Anyway, these were too cute not to buy...

Yep, totally worth $35 for this one.

I cannot get over how much they've changed since last year's school pictures. Pass the tissues!

two. Over the weekend Caroline helped me make some Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup. This recipe was SO easy and the whole family loved it. Highly recommend!

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

Ingredients

1 bag (30 oz) frozen hash-brown potatoes
2 cans (14 oz ea) chicken broth
1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup
1/2 C chopped onion
1/3 tsp ground black pepper
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
Garnish: minced green onion, Cheddar, shredded, and bacon

Instructions

In a crock pot, combine potatoes, broth, soup, onion, and pepper. Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese, cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until combined. Garnish with green onion, and/or Cheddar and bacon if desired.

three. We finished our New Year's Marriage Resolution strong with an incredible night out last weekend. This was definitely one of my favorite date nights of the year. For December we decided to check out a cozy bar in our old neighborhood -- The Workman's Friend. Our goal was to not be rushed through dinner and instead snuggle up next to the fire with beers in hand for a long night. 

Throughout the evening we ordered almost every appetizer off the menu, from brisket sliders topped with quail eggs to the goat cheese beet tower, the food was absolutely incredible. Back in April we stopped here for a drink after our Comida date night and made a note after seeing the food to come back to Workman's Friend for dinner...and I'm so glad we did!

four. I recently put together a really fun family movie night Christmas gift. I started by personalizing a large bowl (using a Sharpie Paint Marker) as well as small bowls for each family member. Then I added in a box of candy per person, a box of popcorn and a movie. The trickiest part was picking a movie for a a family with five kids ranging from ages 3-8 (yes crazy -- two sets of twins!) that everyone would enjoy. The family loved the basket and appreciated that everyone got the same blue bowl so there were no disagreements over which kid got which bowl. Ha!

five. You may have noticed that Caroline is really into accessories right now -- necklaces, scarves, etc. So for Christmas I've been looking for a necklace to hide in her stocking so I asked my neighbor, who is the owner and designer of White Sapling, to design something special for Caroline. I was SO excited to receive this adorable necklace for Caroline that I had to shout her praises from the rooftops! If you are looking for unique, beautifully custom made jewelry, make sure to check out Melissa's shop! 

Happy weekend, friends!

SANTAAAA || 2016

Earlier this week Santa made a quick trip down from the North Pole to visit my office. I love that my firm hosts him each year -- no line, not germy, free professional photos and I happen to know Santa. So Matt and I scooped the kids up a bit early from daycare to visit Santa. I cannot even describe how anticipated this visit was for Caroline. For days she's been talking about seeing Santa at mommy's office and discussing her Christmas list.

The first 8 seconds (as documented by video above!) went exactly how I had hoped. Caroline was thrilled to see the jolly bearded man. And of course, Thomas wasted no time crawling right into Santa's lap (for the second year in a row!), petting his beard and rubbing the fur on his coat in utter amazement. However, Caroline was NOT having it and immediately fled the scene and hid between Matt's legs for the remainder of the 2 minute visit...

Trying to coax Caroline over to Santa's lap..."See! He's so nice!" Meanwhile, Thomas was ready to get down to business with his list.

After awhile Matt was able to inch near Santa for a few traumatic seconds for a family picture.

I've never seen Caroline cling to her daddy tighter. This girl was terrrr-iiii-fiiiiied.

But worry not! Just as we were walking away (through sobs) Caroline asked Santa for a helmet. Yes, a bike helmet. She is totally her daddy's daughter. And since we had trekked uptown for a 2 minute Santa visit we decided to walk across the street for some tacos, which was clearly Caroline's favorite part of the night.

Previous Santa Visits

2015 Santa Visit

2014 Santa Visit