Christmas Card Photo Shoot

I just realized I never posted the pictures from our little Christmas card photo session back in December. We had to reschedule once due to all the snow and ended up picking a day that was bitter cold, so we had to take turns running back inside and warming up in between shots.  Caroline (from A Better Story Photography) was patient with us, as always, and braved the elements to make sure we got some great shots for our Christmas card this year.  She even rushed the processing so I could order my Christmas cards right away.  Bless your heart, Caroline - thanks again for going above and beyond.  

We started off at home, since I wanted a family photo of us all with the dogs, but they were less than cooperative and Mac was very confused about what the hell was going on. 

It's funny and not anywhere close to perfect, but I love this photo below.  Both dogs refused to look at the camera and Mac is totally scowling, but I think it's hilarious.  This is life!  

After that flopped, we decided to head into town to our local Farmers Market, which they had set up as a tree lot and Christmas shop.  This is where we got our tree and we spend a lot of time (and money) here, so it's a special little place to us.  

We got a few cute shots and then headed inside where it was nice and warm.  We checked out all the Christmas goodies - ornaments, decorations, baked goods, flowers, plants, candies, lights, etc. 

And then back outside quickly to get a couple family shots in the trees.  Of course, Mac was less than thrilled to be there and didn't want anything to do with smiling or looking at the camera.  I'm honestly shocked that the photos turned out as well as they did, with him being so sour and cranky that day.  Excellent job, Caroline!  

One more quick stop inside to warm up.  I had to bribe Mac with a giant sugar cookie.  That finally made him smile!  And there's the money shot...this photo made the front of the Christmas card!  Pure happiness! 

We ended up heading back home to see if we could get one or two more good shots of the little guy.  He was still a bit fussy, but excited to get close to the Christmas tree and play with the ornaments that he'd been eyeing.  :)  I love the mischievous twinkle in his eyes in these photos.  Like he's just waiting for him moment to take down the entire tree.  

All in all, I'm thrilled with the photos!  They are very "us" right now and I'm so glad we had a chance to work with Caroline one more time before she moves to Texas (cue tear).  If anyone in the Houston area is looking for a family photographer, she's your gal!  Best of luck to you, Caroline.


Photos: A Better Story Photography
Outfits styled by: Dacy of Mindful Closet (I have an entire post on this to come)

Pillsbury Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are you guys getting hit hard by this incredible January snowpocalypse, too?  We've got 12 inches of snow and the high yesterday was -5 degrees!  Holy COLDNESS, Batman.  I've spent the last three days trapped indoors with a restless husband and a wild-animal of a toddler.  There are only so many times a day I can play trains around the same tiny track or watch the first 20 seconds of Chuggington (and only the first 20 seconds on repeat) before I want to rip my hair out.  I think Ryan shoveled the driveway six times yesterday, just to get out of the house for a few minutes and I was insanely jealous.  I tell you, I've never been so excited to go back to work.  

However, the Arctic polar vortex outside did give me plenty of opportunity to do one thing...eat!  We had a pretty glutinous weekend, which was both disgusting and marvelous at the same time.  If you're going to be stuck inside for three days, I highly recommend stocking up on milk, cookies and vodka.  Must haves.  

I am so excited to be working with Pillsbury again this month to introduce their new gluten free dough products: chocolate chip cookie dough, pizza dough and pie/pastry crust.  I have a couple friends with a gluten intolerance and I'm always worried about having food on hand that they can enjoy.  I feel like a bad friend because I know little to nothing about gluten or what products it's in and how to avoid it.  But after sampling the goods this weekend, I will make sure to have a tub of this cookie dough on hand at all times.  So come over and have cookies with me, please!!     

Mac and I started off by making the cookies plain...just to make sure they were good.  And the verdict was an astounding YES.  They are good.  Very very good, actually.  And simple as can be.  

So then we started experimenting with some leftover holiday candies, which we incorporated into the recipe.  I wanted to use caramels and Mac wanted to use candy canes, so we whipped up two different recipes using those ingredients.  I figured everyone probably has a ton of candy canes laying around the house after the holidays and caramels are something we always have on hand (and both are gluten free!). 

Gluten-Free Caramel-Centered Chocolate Chip Cookies

Directions: wrap Pillsbury Gluten Free Cookie Dough around a piece of caramel and bake.  

I'm not sure if it can possibly get simpler than that, people.  If you mess that up, you probably shouldn't be in a kitchen using large appliances.  

2 ingredients, 14 minutes to bake and you have warm ooey gooey chocolatey caramel deliciousness.  I highly recommend you eat these right away while they're still melty.  

Preferably over some caramel-swirl ice cream with gluten free caramel sauce.  

I did.  

This was gone in 22 seconds flat.

I don't regret a thing.

Is your mouth watering yet?

Gluten Free Peppermint Bark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, now this one gets a little more complicated with THREE whole ingredients, instead of two.  I think you can handle it though.  I have faith in you, reader.  Don't let me down.

So, we took the plain baked chocolate chip cookies...

...and added a dollop of melted white chocolate to to the top and then sprinkled on some smashed candy cane bits for a peppermint bark flavor.  

That's it!  

How easy was that?

Now please go try these!  

You can thank me later.  

And make sure you check out the rest of Pillsbury's gluten free dough, which is now widely available. Check a major grocery retailer near you in the refrigerated aisle.

*This post was sponsored by Pillsbury.

 

5 on Friday - Volume 9

This whole year-end-new-beginning time of year always has me looking back at how far this little blog has come and makes me wonder where it'll go in the future.  With the answers to those questions being: (1) a long way; and (2) I have no idea.  :)  It's been such a fun ride and I hope it stays that way, as I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.  So while I'm in this reflective state of mind, I thought I might look back at my some stats about my posts over the last few years.  

So this 5 on Friday edition is going to be my Top 5 Blog Posts of all time.  If you haven't been reading for years (and probably not many of you have been), please feel free to go back and check some of these out. 

1.  DIY Upholstered Headboard - This is by far my most popular post.  I still love this post and love our headboard.  I think I still get questions weekly about the headboard, the process, the fabric and my unhealthy obsession with the jigsaw.  

2.  Master Bedroom Makeover - Going right along with the headboard is the full master bedroom makeover post.  This was such a fun post to do because I'm so proud of the way it all turned out.  I love our bedroom and I think we've done a great job of making it a calm, relaxing, peaceful place.  It's always full of sleeping animals and dirty clothes, but it's still one of my favorite rooms in our house.  

3.  Gallery Map Wall - And then there's the gallery map wall in our upstairs hallway.  Again, I'm pretty proud of the way this turned out.  It's the very first bright, colorful and fun home project that I attempted.  I think it paved the way for my love of using color in Mac's nursery and in our playroom.  I was blown away by all the wonderful feedback I received on this project, since I know it's a little over the top and probably not in everyone's taste.  But i was so much fun to do and I still love looking at our beautiful maps everyday.  

4. Celebrating Baby's First Christmas - I put this post together last year as we were getting ready to celebrate Mac's first Christmas with him and while it didn't get much traffic at the time, this holiday season it got a lot of hits from Pinterest.  I think it's a great guide to all the fun ways you can celebrate and document your first Christmas with your new addition.  

5.  Hunting Widow - This really surprised me that a post about hunting is in my Top 5 posts.  Maybe I underestimated the number of hunting widows out there.  Or maybe people really like hunting cartoons.  Who knows.  

And while they're not in my Top 5 most popular posts, I still love THIS POST about lamb cakes, THIS POST with Mac's newborn photos, THIS POST recapping our wedding day and THIS POST about superheroes.   

What's been your favorite post?