my top ten christmas movies

{source}

believe it or not, before i started dating ryan, i had never seen national lampoon's christmas vacation.  it's a tradition in ryan's family to watch it every year for christmas.  (his entire family can pretty much recite the movie line-by-line because they have seen it so many times!)  after i saw it once, it was hooked, and now i can't imagine a christmas going by without watching it.  here are some of my all time favorite christmas movies that i love to watch each year . . .

1. national lampoon's christmas vacation

2. love actually

3. meet me in st. louis

4. home alone
5. home alone 2
6. the holiday 

7. the santa claus 

8. deck the halls

9. the nutcracker
10. elf

ryan loves a charlie brown christmas too!

what are your favorite christmas movies?

buttermilk belgian waffles

when i was little, my mom always made waffles in her heart-shaped waffle iron.  i loved that waffle iron so much because it chirped like a bird when the waffles were ready.  it looked like this and made waffles like this.  ryan and i have been using my mom's heart-shaped waffle iron for the past several years, and i was so sad when it finally died a few months ago.  

ryan's brother and sister-in-law recently bought us a new waffle iron that looks like this.  it flips around (like the waffle irons at hotels) and it makes big belgian waffles.  unfortunately, it doesn't chirp like a bird when the waffles are done, so i have to keep a close eye on them and make my own sound effects.  on sunday, we made buttermilk belgian waffles.  i can't think of a better way to start a sunday morning!  

buttermilk belgian waffles
prep time: 5 minutes
baking time: about 5-7 minutes each
yields: 4 Belgian waffles

ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter

directions:
preheat your waffle iron.  melt the butter in the microwave.  in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, buttermilk, and eggs.  mix the melted butter into the batter.  pour approximately 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of batter into your waffle iron (depending on the size of your waffle iron).  cook until the waffles are golden brown on both sides.  serve hot with maple syrup.

enjoy!

love, laurie 

snapshots from our weekend

this weekend was a whirlwind that was jam packed with activities.  we finished up our christmas shopping, visited ryan's parents, took a quick tour through historic bethlehem, attended a christmas concert, worked on perfecting one of our waffle recipes, wrapped gifts, decorated our front porch with christmas lights, tried a new restaurant, and watched home alone and home alone 2.  i can't believe it's monday already!  here are a few snapshots from our weekend . . .

{main street in bethlehem, pennsylvania}

{moravian stars for sale at the moravian book shop}

{a little shop that lets you taste all of the olive oil that they sell}

{sunday morning homemade waffles}

{a late lunch at a new restaurant by our house}

{ryan's old vhs copies of home alone and home alone 2}

chocolate peppermint wafer cookies

a few weeks ago, i said that i love to bake something special and bring it into work whenever one of my co-workers has a birthday.  last time, i made everything cookies.  for my co-worker's birthday this week, i wanted to make a festive holiday cookie.  so, i ended up making chocolate peppermint wafer cookies.  after all, what's better than a sugar cookie dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes to kick off the holiday season?!

i followed this recipe, which calls for the cookie dough to be refrigerated for one hour, and then rolled out and cut into small squares.  instead, i decided to use my wilton cookie press to give the cookies a cute little detail.  since i used the cookie press, i did not have to refrigerate the cookie dough or roll it out, which saved a lot of time!

the cookies turned out great, and they were a huge hit a work.  by the way, it's impossible to eat just one of these!  ;-)

 {the cute little detail that the cookie press gave to the cookie dough}

 {cooling the cookies after baking}

{melting the chocolate on the stove}

 {dipping the cookies into the chocolate}

 {sprinkling the cookies with crushed candy canes}

 {chilling the cookies in the refrigerator to let the chocolate set up}

{plated and ready to enjoy!}

bits of happiness {by ryan}

today's holiday-themed happy list is from my husband! 

here are . . . 

ten things currently making ryan happy:

10. looking forward to christmas vacation

9. visiting friends and family for the holidays

8. christmas music . . . everywhere

7. baking desserts that make the house smell amazing

6. holiday-themed wallpaper on my iphone

5. watching christmas movies 

4. decorating with my new snowflake christmas lights
3. sipping a warm peppermint mocha latte

2. holiday-scented candles around the house

1. cuddling on cold nights

thanks for sharing ryan!
{photo of us taken at a friend's christmas party last year}

. . .

what is currently making you happy?

love, laurie

bead bash

this past friday, my mom and i went to a "bead bash" that a local jewelry maker held as a fund-raiser for an elementary school.  participants paid one fee and made all of the bracelets and necklaces that they could in 90 minutes.  there were over 500 pounds of beads on the tables!  i have never seen ladies beading so fast in my life.  we had a ton of fun, and i walked out of the bead bash with 9 bracelets!  

has anyone ever done anything like this before?

{beads galore . . . beads of every shape, size, and color}

{an endless supply of beads}

{my mom beading a bracelet}

{my bracelets - i plan on taking some of them apart to make earrings}

hau'oli la hanau . . . that's hawaiian for happy birthday!

this weekend we threw my mom a surprise 60th birthday party at our house.  the party was hawaiian luau themed, and guests dressed in hawaiian shirts and leis.  we made all hawaiian themed food, complete with hawaiian wedding cake for dessert.  my mom was so surprised, and everyone had a really good time!  what's better than a luau in december?!

happy birthday!

to my beautiful mother,

on your birthday, i wanted to say thank you for being such an amazing mom to me!

thank you for letting me sit on the kitchen counter when i was little to help you bake.

thank you for sharing your love of dancing with me.
thank you for driving me to school instead of making me take the bus.
thank you for being "mom taxi" for so many years.
thank you for showing me how to have fun.
thank you for camping out in the living room with me every weekend.
thank you for continuing holiday traditions year after year.
thank you for being open and honest with me.
thank you for always talking to me and treating me like an adult.
thank you for teaching me how to balance a checkbook.
thank you for making me take risks.
thank you for reminding me not to take myself too seriously.
thank you for feeding me the right way, and keeping me healthy.

thank you for never settling for "good enough."

thank you for being so giving of yourself and for putting me first.
thank you for continuously being supportive of me.
thank you for all of the little things that you do.

thank you for being the best mom ever!

happy birthday, mama!
love, laurie

xoxo

up and over it!

dancers often mark choreography with their hands, but this duo has taken it to a whole new level.  world-class irish dancers suzanne cleary and peter harding performed in riverdance, but now they have become a world phenomenon with their "hand dancing."  the two call themselves "up and over it!" and they have choreographed and performed several routines with just their hands.  they have appeared on both america's got talent and britian's got talent.  maybe you have seen them in this mcdonald's commercial.  i might just be guilty of watching this video a few to many times.  doesn't it make you just want to break out and dance?!

happy friday!

love, laurie

bits of happiness {by tanya}

i love reading everyone's happy lists because it makes me feel happy!  i hope you enjoy them too.  to kick off the month of december, here is a great happy list submitted by tanya from mr. taylor and his lady.  be sure to head on over and check out her lovely blog.    

here are . . . 

ten things currently making tanya happy:

10. the newly scented christmas decorations i have added to my house.  adore everything christmas!

9. early morning back rubs

8. looking at old pictures that bring back great memories

7. fireplaces and hot chocolate

6. looking stylish while feeling absolutely comfortable

5. finding new music to become obsessed with

4. being productive

3. skype dates with far away friends

2. that first big snow fall of the season

1. being married to your best friend

thanks for sharing tanya!

speaking of #8: above is a picture of tanya 

and her husband, eric, circa 2007

. . .

what is currently making you happy?

love, laurie