TINY BITS OF TRUTH.

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE: PAPER

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Another round-up of all things fabulous for the paper lover on your holiday gift list.  I am loving the 2013 Paper Fashion calendar, definitely take a look at the rest of the prints over on  Paper Fashion because they are all fabulous! I also love the fill-in-the blank card to send to someone as a sweet reminder that they rock at something, and who doesn't love getting snail mail?  Do ya'll have any other paper favorites you've got on your list this year? Have a fabulous Thursday!

INSPIRING ME THIS WEEK.

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Hope ya'll are having a good start to the week! A few things I've come across that are inspiring me this week. And that quote, I'm certainly guilty of standing in my own way more often that I'd like to admit, and think I'm going to put this up on my bathroom mirror for the week to hopefully serve as a daily reminder.  I tape quotes to my full length, bedroom, bathroom, and hallway mirrors, not to mention on the refrigerator and even framed in the living room (ok, so maybe I go overboard with the quotes, but they really can be motivators!).   Do ya'll have any quotes or favorite words of wisdom you tape somewhere you'll be certain to see on a daily basis for inspiration?  If so, I would love for you to share them with me, because (just in case you couldn't tell), I absolutely love the power of words and quotations. 

HOLIDAY SPIRIT.

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This is by far my very favorite time of year! With Thanksgiving feasts behind us, that only means one thing, it's officially the holiday season.  Time for holiday parties, festive drinks, decor, christmas trees, holiday music and more. There truly is no better time in NYC than during the holidays, and I'm so excited to enjoy the lights, decorated store windows, and take in all that this fabulous city has to offer to put me in the holiday spirit over the next few weeks!  Just a few of my favorites for this holiday season.  I am absolutely loving these cute Mr. & Mrs. Holiday Cocktail Glasses and these Cheers! coasters would be perfect for your holiday soiree. Another favorite is the cute Jingle Bells pillow, think it would bring the perfect amount of holiday cheer to my sofa, wouldn't you agree?  Would love to hear if ya'll have any other holiday must-haves you've come across!

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE: FOR THE GUY IN YOUR LIFE

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Hope ya'll are enjoying a relaxing and fabulous Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday! Tomorrow happens to be Cyber Monday which all but guarantees to be a great holiday shopping day online if you are in need of a few holiday gifts, these are a few of my favorites for the guy in your life.  I hope to get up a few other holiday gift guides in the coming days, so make sure to check back for those this week! Happy Sunday & enjoy the last bit of your weekend!

TINY BITS OF TRUTH.

ADVENTURES IN COOKING.

Now that is a fabulous mindset to have, isn't it? Hope ya'll had a fabulous weekend & Monday yesterday to kick off Thanksgiving week. This weekend, I made the most AH-MAZING Grilled Cheese Sandwich and if you're anything like me (and consider yourself a cheese-ologist) then this recipe will be sure to light your tastebuds (or your oven quite literally) on fire.  I'm not what you would call a seasoned chef, heck, I'll be honest, I'm not even a decent cook unless you are referring to picking up the phone and ordering delivery (sorry, mom, it is true).  Now baking, I can do, but a real meal, not gonna happen without something going terribly wrong. 

Craving a delicious grilled cheese, I thoughts surely this recipe would be no problemo to whip up for a quick meal.  AND to spice things up (or in the words of Emeril, kick it up a notch) I decided to go rogue and add bacon (the oven-baked, crispy, delicious kind).  After pre-heating the oven, I put the bacon in, set the timer, and began to work on the red onions.  About 10 minutes later, Boo Radley began frantically sniffing and pacing in the oven/kitchen  area-to be honest, I'd go ahead and call it the living room/bedroom/hallway area as well.  I really didn't think anything of it until the smoke alarm started blaring over & over getting loud with each repetition.  Well, I opened the oven to check things out, & found in the bottom, underneath the sizzling bacon, what used to be one of Boo Radley's squeaky tennis balls, now engulfed in flames.  If you're wondering how one of her toys ended up in the oven, your guess is probably better than mine because I have no clue.  In an attempt to shut the smoke alarm off, I decided to wave a towel in front of it and in doing so, knocked off the hallway sconce which shattered into a million pieces throughout the front hallway and bathroom.  DISASTER.  Moral of the story, always check your oven before turning it on, you never know what you might have hidden inside.  Would love to know what you think of the grilled cheese... guarantee it will not disappoint...and highly recommend adding bacon.

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TINY BITS OF TRUTH...

WINTER LOVELIES.

Happy Thursday, and day before the weekend, ya'll!  I had to share with ya'll a few things inspiring me this week.  With the cool temperatures and countdown to Thanksgiving (which honestly, I could skip right over and celebrate December for two months if I had it my way!), it has me more excited than ever for my VERY. FAVORITE. MONTH. EVER. This is not an understatement, with all of the most fabulous things happening in December: Boo Radley's birthday, MY birthday, Christmas, New Year's & the holiday spirit in general.. what's not to love about the most fabulous month all year long?  Wouldn't you agree? Working on several fabulous gift guides, and not to mention a VERY exciting blog design update, with a new logo and all, can't wait to share these with you in the coming weeks! 

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HURRICANES & HALLOWEEN & HOW YOU CAN HELP.

HELLO AGAIN, WORLD. Wow. While there really are no words to describe what the past few days here in NYC have been like for those of us in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, to say that I am immensely grateful and lucky is quite an understatement.  If you turn the corner one block, 25th Street and essentially the rest of downtown NYC, remain in the dark, without power for the 3rd day today. Miraculously, my street was the cutoff point with those to the south losing power, and I've never appreciated electricity more than the past three days.  As someone who has seen and lived without electricity in Ghana, a third world country where clean drinking water was not an option much less electricity in the area of the country I visited, I've never imagined life without this luxury in the United States. It has served as an enormous reminder of how dependent we are, all of us, on electricity to function in everyday life.  Yes that might seem an obvious observation, but honestly it is frightening to think about how much Americans depend on electricity to function in everyday life.  And furthermore, the stark realization that Mother Nature, can and has proven she will, at any given moment, strip us of these essentials, and we must find a way to continue life as normal as possible.  It is impossible to ignore the fact that these natural disasters that used to be so rare and monumental have now become a common occurrence and we have to to address these harsh conditions, rather than ignore them.  Also, please remember if you would like to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy, you can donate to the Red Cross.

Love this video which seems to be the best so far that I've seen showing the true impact of Sandy on Manhattan and the moment the lights went out in the Big Apple, pretty incredible when you stop to think about it...

      

A litte Halloween inspiration.... Do ya'll have a fabulous costume in store for Halloween? Any fun plans? Would love to vicariously live through your fun plans as due to quite the chaotic week here in NYC, I'm going to make it a low key night. 

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{Side note: Had this ready to post yesterday on Halloween, and due to a glitch in my internet  wasn't able to post it, so better late than never, right? Hope ya'll had a very Happy Halloween!}