It’s Friday…which means it’s time for my favorites and I’m linking up with Erika to bring them to you!

first favorite:

It’s December!!!

Who isn’t happy that the most wonderful time of the year has arrived?? Our first week of December has been wonderful so far…we have a few Christmas traditions each year that the boys are excited about:

1.) Our Elf on the Shelf, Buddy (I know, such an original name) has returned to our house. The boys are pumped and obviously love looking for him every morning. I even heard James show Buddy his loose tooth which totally melted my heart.

One thing about Buddy you may be surprised to hear is that he doesn’t get into any mischief during the night. No spilled boxes of cereal or fishing in the toilet or building a car out of legos with the Ninja Turtles.

Nope.

He’s pretty lazy.

He just sits there.

And I’m fine with this.

2.) We have 3 advent calendars to open every morning: A beautiful one with an ornament inside to put on a tiny tree; a faithful one with little books/ornaments that tell the story of Christmas that we put on another tiny tree; and one where we glue a white puffy ball thing on Santa’s beard each day which was a gift from someone in Caleb’s class. This keeps them busy and excited for about 1 minute every morning.

Then they are off to the next thing.

3.) That’s it.

We really don’t have any other actual traditions other than Church on Christmas Eve and then dinner consisting of the most random elements ever: tamales, lox, bagels and cream cheese, and potato latkes.

I know.

It’s so random.

So this year, I thought it would be fun to start some new traditions with the kids. We are going to see the Ice exhibit at The Gaylord in Grapevine. And I have scheduled a carriage ride through Highland Park. I really want to go to the symphony for Christmas Carols, but I waited too long so that’s not happening now.

Anyway, I’m excited about the Season and celebrating the birth of Christ!

You can see my December Newsletter here.

second favorite:

this one

I posted on Insta this week a picture of James on ‘the best day of his life.’ He was so stinking excited on Monday, he could not stop smiling.

All day.

He was excited to go back to school after break.

He was excited because he turns 6 in a few days.

He was excited because his bday party is on Sunday and is a Football theme.

He was excited because it was the last day of the month which means I take him lunch at school. (Sonic, so double score)

And he was excited because he has his first loose tooth.

It was good to be James on Monday.

third favorite:

Lorie Fangio!!!

Y’all if you didn’t catch my post yesterday, you HAVE to click here and read up!

Lorie is an incredible chef, culinary instructor and leader of A Taste of Paris where she takes a small group to Paris for cooking classes several times a year. She was also gracious enough to share the most beautiful, delicious holiday treat with us: French Chocolate Bark!!

Please read up on Lorie and definitely check out her foodie blog for details about A Taste of Paris and on her PAs with Good Morning Texas.

…which brings me to my

fourth favorite:

Lorie Fangio’s Holiday Treats Cooking Class!

Sadie and I attended Lorie’s cooking class on Wednesday about preparing and wrapping Gifts from the Kitchen. Wonderful time! Lorie is so knowledgeable and her recipes are gourmet but very approachable. Here are a few of my favorites:

Cranberry Salsa

Maple Nut Mix

Apricot Jam made with Vanilla Bean Paste (that’s what the black stuff is)

Chocolate Truffles

The Pizelles were my favorite!

Very Berry Martini

Click here to take you to Lorie’s blog–a hub of foodie recipes and information about her upcoming trips to Paris, classes, demonstrations etc.

fifth favorite:

The Metallic Dress!!

The Metallic Dress is my Style Wheel Big Deal this month…a must-have garment that I show you multiple ways to style. The one above is from Cupcakes and Cashmere, but you can find metallic dresses everywhere right now. Get to shopping and check back with me next week for the first look!

Happy Weekend!

-ciao for now-

lauren