How was Your Weekend?

Happy Monday! We had a wonderful weekend which included a mystery dinner party. It was Hollywood 1950's themed and I played the role of Grace Killy, a talentless actress who came from wealth. Style-wise, I was meant to be a mash-up of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. It was great. The hubs played the reporter so he could snap plenty of pics. Him in the first act and me in the second. Up until my most unfortunate death, I was calling everyone "darling" and competing for the next big movie role. It was pretty great, but then I died. Hmph.

There ended up being four killers and I guessed one. Ha! Guess we know who should not be a detective. Me.

It should also be noted that I was totally in character and even wore a girdle that night. Yes, my poor character died in a girdle. I think getting down to the floor was enough to kill me in real life. Those girdle and corset wearing girls have my respect. They had to be some seriously tough ladies!

Earlier in the day on Saturday I was also able to take my favorite advanced power yoga class and go on a jog before it started. Needless to say, Saturday was a pretty busy and pretty fun day- which left Sunday for relaxing! Our local Pottery Barn (right across the street now!) was having a Christmas decorating workshop that I was able to attend yesterday morning. It was pretty fun and gave me tons of DIY ideas along with a discount that just had to be used. All pillows and throws were 30%-50% off, plus I got a 15% discount on anything bought the day of the workshop! Yes, our has has plenty of new pillows now and a few holiday decs starting to show.

Since I was in the holiday spirit, I followed in a good friend's footsteps and started wrapping presents this weekend as well. Five are done and only about a billion to go! Wouldn't that be wonderful, though, if we could have all gifts wrapped by Thanksgiving? I think it just might be a holiday goal of mine this year.

Wrapping also seems a bit more cumbersome than usual because we have opted for a classic Christmas theme this year with browns, grays, golds, white, and green. This also means all gifts are getting the brown paper package treatment and binging finished off with simple string. It is so pretty, but brown paper is quite thick. If anyone has any suggestions for wrapping with thick paper, I am all ears! 

I am also thinking we will have a how to decorate post in the days leading up to or just after Thanksgiving. There are a few DIY workshops that I am signed up for as well and cannot wait to share the info with you!

As for workouts, yesterday's post did not get out for some reason, so I will fill you in real quick today. Sunday was a rest day since last Saturday my hot power yoga class did 108 sun salutations and I was sore until Thursday. Monday was a simple 2.5 mile jog in the morning followed by hot power yoga that evening. Tuesday was a 1.5 mile jog. Wednesday was this yoga flow which was great! Thursday was a break for our anniversary, and Friday was a simple bum workout that I will have to share on the blog soon!

Also, I was going to add a motivation bit on to this, but think the post is quite long enough already. Let's get some motivation in tomorrow instead! It is going to be one of my favorites and a mantra for the holidays!!

This Week in Pins

Goodness, can you believe that Christmas is less than one day away?! I hope you have some amazing holiday plans in store. The hubs and I both have a rather extensive family, so for us, the family Christmas events started last night. Really though, hat I am most excited about is Christmas morning. We have a big family, which I am so incredible grateful for, but every year since we got married, Christmas morning has been the time to wake up when we want, eat a yummy brunch, and spend some relaxing time together before the family craziness. It is wonderful.

Since everyone out there, including myself, has had Christmas on the mind, most of the pins of last week were almost completely Christmas related... But I will definitely be doing/making/buying one or two of these throughout the year!

I have been meaning to do this one forever. Hopefully, this week will be the week of DIY's!

Hmmm, this may be the beginning of a gold dipping pandemic.

For all those cookies.

Oh, how I want to do this to every piece of glass in our home.

Finally,  little something from me to you for Christmas!

An after Christmas, what else than the New Year... This is a great article that I will definitely be taking some pointers from in 2014!

DIY Wreaths

December has rolled in and so has my undeniable hankering for all things crafty. My hand is begging to hold a hot glue gun and all of my current Pinterest trollings include words like "DIY", "craft", and "Christmas". Let's get this month's worth of craft-a-paloozas started with the good ol' fashioned wreath.

About 50 million of my friends (yes, that many) are ridding the wreath DIY hype and continually posting the most incredible pictures of wreaths they have made. In my life I have made four wreaths; all of which are hanging in our home now. One of these had me sacrifice the tip of my finger in the making. It was a messy process, but I have learned. Note, aim scissors for things you want cut. It grew back and the mental scarring has healed. On to the wreath DIY's!!

Feather Wreath

If you live out in the forest or have a log cabin, please make this wreath. Something tells me this will look perfect at your house. One of the best things about this one is that the feathers can be any color your heart desires. Blue, you got it! Red, perfect! All white, it's like you are in my mind reading my thoughts. Yes, I do believe this wreath in white will be joining our Christmas decoration arsenal quite soon.

Sparkle Wreath

I love this wreath. It is simple, clean, and would look great in one of those modern homes that decorates for Christmas with pale tones and simple lines. This is also sure to alleviate that crafting bug for a bit without driving me to my wits end. The sparkles make it super fun, but if you are like my husband and hate glitter- apparently they are crazy bad for our skin and respiratory system, I am sure you can use glitter free leaves instead. Oooo, I am seeing some super trendy metallic leaves! Yes, yes, and yes.

The Pink One

Ok, yes. This description does say that the wreath is for spring, but really, I think it could be used all year long. In fact, I distinctly remember a certain Emily Henderson doing some Christmas wreaths very similar to these last year. If I was a single girl living in an adorably cliche cottage (think Kate Winslet in The Holiday), I would totally make this, hang it, then reward myself with some white wine. Aaah, dreamy.

Snowball Wreath

From spring colors to the dead of winter. This wreath is a bit reminiscent of those cotton ball crafts we did as children, but a touch more refined. I also completely love the bit of whimsy added with the single evergreen at the bottom. Yes, this wreath had me at the tree.

Nature Made

Sooo, this is not exactly "nature made", but it sure does look like it could be. This is gorgeous and huge and makes me smile with childish Christmas joy. I mean really, do you see how pretty it is?! Ahhh, the pretty-ness makes my eyes hurt! What this wreath lacks in ease and price, it makes up for in pretty.

The Simple One

If the idea of making an entire wreath or hanging something so extravagant in your home seems like crazy talk, then you may just love this wreath. 1) the shape is stellar 2) DIYing this is easier than tying shoes and 3) I am pretty sure that you could make this for free by stopping by the scrap pile at your local Christmas tree lot.

Rosemary Wreath

Don't you just love rosemary for decor? Me too! This little herb and olive branches are two of my personal favorites. A perk of the rosemary is that it will smell great and last the whole season long. I am also super thankful to The Pretty Blog for introducing me to the cutest Christmas tradition EVER.

Stretching with Stress Relief

Ok, so I am very excited about this post because of the post, of course, and because I have a few holiday house-keepings to get out of the way. This past week I have been getting completely in the holiday spirit and have so many great holiday related posts coming up, that they will not fit into the usual 5 post per week layout. So, for the next few weeks leading up to Christmas we will be doing six posts per week with the extra falling on Saturday. The extra post will be completely holiday related and will mostly entail something that you would not normally see on P+K! Oh goodness, I am excited about this... Nothing like gifting some extra holiday posts to get into the holiday spirit! This week's will be some great holiday DIY how to's that, literally, every gift-getter can use. Can't wait!!

Now for the stretching...

Last week we started a stretching series that will be continued today, but with a little two-fer. This time of year can be so busy for people and stress can creep in unexpectedly. To help with both these plights, I have decided to share a yoga how-to that will be great for an all-out post workout stretch and for decreasing stress. Nothing like cutting two carrots with one knife, especially around the busy holiday season!

This how-to is not from me, but is from a yoga instructor that has all of my yogi respect. Tara Stiles has some amazing podcasts and videos and travels around the world teaching yoga. She is laid back, but very knowledgeable and fantastic about sharing what she knows. This De-stressing guide is about 10 minutes long and covers some great leg, arm, torso, and back stretches along the way. Enjoy!