HELLO WEEKEND

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Merry Christmas!

Happy Friday everyone! Are you in the Christmas mood yet? It's hit me HARD. Probably because I spent last weekend either on the couch or with my head in a bowl....PTL my flu is GONE. 

I watched The Holiday last night and cried approx 10 times....the old man walking, the cute little girls, the love, oh the love....it may be pregnancy hormones, but I don't even care, it was the greatest. 

This weekend I plan to do all the Christmas things I missed out on last week! There's a Holiday City happening downtown and I'm excited to hit that up on Saturday along with my church's kid's Christmas musical! And on Monday I'm planning to GET MY BAKING ON. I have not baked in sooo long and there are about 5 cookie recipes that I want to bake haha. 

I'm officially in the second trimester and plan on doing a 4 month preggers post to update you on all pregnancy related news...but I will tell you now that yesterday I found out when our 19 week ultrasound is (!!!) cannot wait to find out if Baby Liira is a boy or girl!!!!!

Our Christmas tree and stockings are up (photo above) and my new Christmas candle just arrived! So this weekend, I also plan to spend some quality time in our living room watching a few more Christmas movies....wishing I had these comfy joggers or these pj's (hint hint ;)

Our lovely students left yesterday and this morning and man it feels weird to have just James & I living in our house but I will not complain because we are going out for dinner tonight and we don't have to make sure anyone else has food (GLOOORRRRYY!!!)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the second to last weekend before CHRISTMAS!!!

XO,
laura

20 GOALS // MAKING A PIE FROM SCRATCH

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Apple pie 101!

Hello from the other side.....of the stinking flu! Wow, this flu thang had wiped me out since last Saturday but I am happy to report, I'm now in the clear! But the flu while pregnant = the worst!

 So remember when I made 20 goals to accomplish in my last year as a twenty-something? Well three months have gone by and I am proud to say I finally baked a pie from scratch! I've also accomplished a few others, but we'll get to those in a different post. 

My mum gifted my sister and I with a pie baking class for our birthdays and we attended it in November. It was taught by Chef Heidi Fink and I would definitely recommend classes by her!

Pie Making 101

We started out with a baking demonstration where she showed us how to make crust. Now the big debate is whether you want an all butter crust or butter and lard or butter and shortening. We did a taste test at the end and I preferred the all butter crust, which apparently most people under 50 do and most people over 50 prefer shortening! She also revealed how putting vodka (1/4 cup) in the dough helps keep it moist and more supple.

pie making 101

After the demonstration, we were off to do our own bidding. Ohhh another secret she revealed was when choosing your apples, you don't just want to go to the ol' granny smith route but you also don't want to go with strictly sweet apples either! The trick is to get a mix of tart AND sweet apples because tart apples go mushy and sweet apples stay hard when cooked so you need both to have your bricks and mortar! Brilliant hey?

While our pies were cooking away, we got to try the pies that Heidi made and oh my goodness, they were amazing. 

Pie Making 101!

Now my pie wasn't that pretty because honestly, baking a pie is pretty stressful but I'm excited to experiment in the kitchen and work on that lattice crust thang now that I know how to make pie (lols).

 

Well hope you have a great Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow with another Christmas gift guide :)

XO,
laura

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE // FOR YOUR BFF

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Oh my gosh it's DECEMBER 4TH! Have you started Christmas shopping yet? I've barely started but I plan to get some done this weekend! My favourite ppl to buy things for are ppl who like pretty things aka MY BFFS! So today's gift guide is all about that person...gift ideas for your BFF!

The perfect gift ideas for your BFF!

HELLO DECEMBER + PRINTABLE DECEMBER CALENDAR

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Printable December Calendar

Oh hello sweet sweet December!!! I can't wait to greet your beautiful self tomorrow. Last week was a crazy one...decorated the church for Christmas and preached at Adore but God is good and He always gives the strength that I need (why do I doubt Him when He always shows up??!) 

But now I'm ready to start decorating our house for Christmas. James put up our new mantle and I cannot wait to show you it! I want to go out ASAP and buy some fresh garland but he wants us to go hunt for some in the forest...so we'll see. 

And now it's time to plan out all the wonderful December festivities! Hello cookie exchanges, Christmas parties, church services oh and probably a work out or two..lols.

Hope you have a wonderful December filled with amazing memories with loved ones!

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE DECEMBER CALENDAR

XO,
laura

HELLO WEEKEND

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HELLO WEEKEND

Happy Black Friday everyone! I just did some shopping on the Indigo sale from the comfort of my computer chair, sipping tea and wearing my bathrobe OBVS...now that's my kinda shopping.

To be honest, with my changing body I don't really have the desire to go to a fitting room and try on new clothes right now, so I'll be avoiding the mall today....except I need new gloves because it's FLIPPING FREEZING OUT! These ones look cozy and they're on sale!  Ohh and also these cute joggers look real comfy. 

Who's ready for the weekend? Mine is a little crazy with Christmas decorating at the church and sermon prepping for Adore BUT my Monday is going to be spent putting up Christmas decorations in our home!!! James ordered our new mantle and it's ready today...hurrrah! Can't wait to decorate it with fresh garland. 

Well hope you have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday with a printable December calendar for you!

XO,
laura

ps. above photo by Rachael Alexandra Photography