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Alright peeps. I am back with Friday Favorites. I took a little bit of a hiatus during the Christmas season… mainly because I blog Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and I had too many posts for Christmas and had to bump Friday Favorites. I guess I could have blogged even more frequently, but this is a hobby for me, not a job!
Let’s get started…
Barbour coat…
I got a new Barbour coat for Christmas! I am so excited about it! My old raincoat was falling apart. This new jacket is wonderful and much warmer than my old one. It is a Barbour Beadnell jacket… it is made of a waxed cotton that allows the rain to drip right off and it has a corduroy collar at the top to draw the mist away from your face. I got the Rustic color, as seen below in the next two pictures…
As you can see, Princess Kate (okay, I know her title is actually the Duchess of Cambridge, but if you marry a prince you’re a princess in my book!), anyway, Princess Kate wears one too!
Apple Watch
Ok, I had a very good Christmas. I got an apple watch too. My favorite part of the watch is the simplest part… the Mickey Mouse face. Mickey dances by tapping his foot to every second as he keeps time. Every time I look down at my watch I smile! Plus, the health apps are pretty cool too. I like how it tells me to stand when I’ve been sitting too long. This is perfect if you have an office job!
The exact one I have is below, the rose gold sport version. The band is a little more purple in real-life. To be honest I think I’d rather have a navy band or a different color, but this one came with it so oh well!
And now… TV shows I’m watching (BESIDES Downton Abbey, which I wrote about HERE earlier this week).
Galavant
Returning with its second season to ABC, the musical comedy fairy tale is about a beautiful hero named Galavant, who embarks on his quest to marry Madalena. But he loses Madalena to King Richard. Madalena has overthrown King Richard and now Galavant and King Richard have started on their own journey…
BASICALLY… if you liked “Robin Hood: Men in Tights” You will like this show. That’s the short version.
Mozart in the Jungle
This show is only on Amazon Prime. It is about a new conductor coming to the New York Symphony and also an up and coming oboeist. If you like symphonies, you will like this show. I love all of the classical music in it!
Don’t forget to follow me…
I use bloglovin’ to read all of my blogs that I follow… follow me on bloglovin
I frequently use instagram to share a snap or two… follow my pretty pictures on instagram
Tweet tweet, follow me on twitter at Le Petit Macaron
Follow me on pinterest… I have a gazillion boards.
And follow me along on google plus. If you don’t use google plus, google gets you more hits than I think any social media site because… google search engines put google plus searches up first!
I’m sharing my Friday Favorites at the following link parties… link away and have some fun!
Friday Favorites with A Little Bit of Everything, Five on friday at A Liz Adventures, Oh Hey, Friday! at September FARM
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
I will admit that January is my least favorite month. Why? The nights are still long. My house isn’t lit up with my pretty Christmas trees. It is cold outside. But what I have been looking forward to for the past several Januaries is… Downton Abbey!!!
Unfortunately this is the last season for the show. No!!
Did you watch the season premiere this past Sunday??
If you haven’t had time to catch up, Go watch it now!
Let’s look at some of the pretty fashions from this season’s show…No spoilers (to my knowledge)
I’ll admit some of my favorite outfits from the show are of Lady Mary’s hunting outfits.
How chic does she look here?
I like lady Edith’s dress below…
Lady Rose always looks so nice in pink.
I could use this big hat for my trip to Hawaii…
I love this dress below!
Lady Mary looking like a fashionable flapper both above and below!
Do you watch Downton Abbey?
If you do, you might like some of my other Downton Abbey posts…
I wrote about my trip to a Downton Abbey castle!
I had a tea party and made coconut scones and include the yummy recipe here
A look at some of the fashions from seasons 1-4.
linking up at: amaze me monday The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else Best of the Weekend
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
Happy New Year!!
I am back from a very busy holiday season! We had a total of FIVE Christmases! While I LOVE Christmas, it was a LOT of Christmases to have! We had two of them at our house.
For the first time EVER in my WHOLE LIFE I finally was able to celebrate Christmas at my own home on Christmas morning. That has NEVER happened ever. It really meant a lot to me. We had a nice break-feast as my husband and I coined it… a feast of French toast and yummy breakfast potatoes with a homemade eggnog latte. It was the best. I hope this is a tradition we get to keep doing!!
Well, in prepping for posts for the next year, I thought I’d take a glance and see what my top posts of the past year were!
I wrote about my parents’ pretty bathroom remodel, you need to check it out.
You all loved this early Fall centerpiece… I did too with those sunflowers!
As you know, we went to France this past April and had a blast. I had so much fun reviewing our trip and writing a gazillion posts about it. Here are your favorites…
Carry-on travel essentials for that long plane flight…
A day trip to Chateau de Fontainebleau
I had been dreaming of visiting the Laduree Tea Salon in Paris since I first heard about it… I blogged about my experience here.
Did you know buying a Louis Vuitton is cheaper in Paris? WHAT! Doesn’t mean it’s a steal, but I wrote about it in this post.
I wrote about my favorite places to shop in Paris.
I wrote about baking Orange Blossom macarons following Laduree’s recipe. These were my FAVORITE macarons to eat in Paris!
You all liked my Thanksgiving table. It was my #1 tablescape of the year! I loved it too!
I was a bit surprised how much you like my Fall 2015 outfit suggestions!
And now, *drum roll please*… The top post of 2015 was…. Taupe, Greige, and Grey Kitchen Trends!
linking up at: amaze me monday The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
Have you been enjoying all of my Christmas trees?? Today I’m sharing with you the last one… the woodland themed tree. I love this tree! You can also see it from the street as it is in the front window
The ornaments on this tree are mostly made from natural materials, like this raccoon below. We added pinecones and pomegranates to the tree too, you can spot them if you look hard enough!
The tree is full of owls and deer. There is a little birdhouse too…
What I like about this tree are the cute deer resting below it!
A close up of another ornament, a lot of the ornaments on this tree are snow globe type with a little woodland scene!
One last look…
That ends the Christmas posts… wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I will resume blogging January 1… see you all then!!
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
Are you enjoying this week’s parade of trees?? On this small table in the dining room sits the table top animal tree! The ornaments on the tree are mainly Steiff animal ornaments.
New this year is this little Steiff snowman! Took a few years to find him on eBay at a reasonable price… but we finally got him!
This snowman is also new, with his red hat! I know the picture isn’t the best, I took it at night. Oh well.
Another view of the tree… isn’t it fun? The animals must be little plush ones, preferably the Steiff mohair ones! A collection in the making… and some of them aren’t ornaments, just little stuffed animals stuffed into the tree… like the little cow hiding below.
If you were reading the blog earlier this month I accidentally published this post on Wednesday with my Christmas tree post! Oops!!
This year I got this cool new toy that lets me make these cute little spritz cookies… it’s this neat cookie press. Have you ever used one before? It’s super easy to use. These cookies took 1 hour from start to finish and I made a TON of them!
You can make them in all sorts of different shapes. I made them in a Christmas wreath, tree, and snowflake. I didn’t think to add food coloring to them until I was on the last batch of Christmas trees.
Ingredients
Directions
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
What? I thought you said you only had four Christmas trees? Well, today there is a 5th one I’m sharing. This one is in the guest house and my Mom decorated it. Her theme was a German themed Christmas tree.
Her ornaments are almost all wooden and handmade in Germany. A lot of the ornaments include people dressed in traditional Bavarian outfits, trolls, deer, snowmen, cuckoo clocks and bright red mushrooms.
Below is my favorite mushroom that clips on the end…
I just love this pyramid ornament… she found it in Germany this year. I’ve never seen one like it!
Below is a witch ornament, a la Hansel and Gretel…
Oh, she hid a few non-ornaments in the tree too, like this super cute bear pulling another bear on a sled!
She also has lots of cute little snowman ornaments, my favorite is this one on a cookie!
She also hid this smoker in the tree, isn’t he cute? No, we didn’t light it while it sits in the tree!
I think her tree is incredibly cute!!! I just love themed trees!
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
I finally put together the table for a Christmas tablescape! Come on up and have a seat while we take a look.
The tablecloth is new this year and I just love it! I love Santa and his sleigh flying over a gingerbread house and a Christmas tree… it’s so much fun! The cranberry topiaries were used for Thanksgiving and transitioned into Christmas…
Some fresh cedar garland twists across the center of the table, adding a nice aroma too. The room is dark, so we will light the candles when we dine here. I like the tabletop tree in the back providing some ambient light.
The china pattern is Juliska’s “Country Estate Winter Holiday”. I just LOVE these festive plates! Bought the matching punchbowl too and filled it with ornaments. The punchbowl sat displayed in the china cabinet during the rest of the year, I couldn’t put it away last year! Yes, I know, I have a Juliska problem.
The napkins match the tablecloth but you can’t quite see the pattern on the napkins when they are folded up.
I had so much fun decorating the table…. I walk by it every morning when I wake up and smile.
One last look… I liked how the glow of the candlesticks looked on the silverware in this picture.
Thanks for stopping by and having a look at my table! Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite things.
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’ and Tablescape Thursdays Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
Ho Ho Ho! Come on in for a Christmas House Tour!
Outside is a faux-greenery wreath that we put some little mushrooms in and added a bow.
At night some lit presents and a tree add some glow to the porch. The topiaries and statues all have their Christmas bows on.
The view you see when you come inside… love the santa and reindeer garland!
But first you turn around because the door jingled with sleigh bells when you closed it shut! The bell door hangar is from this wonderful company. The bells sound so authentic, as if Santa and his reindeer were just pulling up to your house!
Take a turn and you see my gingerbread advent calendar …
In the front window of the formal living room sits the woodland tree. I love this tree and you can see it at night from the street! More pics of this tree to come in another post!
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| Woodland tree |
Okay, let’s head back to the dining room… a glimpse at the table spruced up for Christmas… details to come in a future post…
Mr. Swan is decked out with poinsettias, my DIY acorns, and a boxwood wreath with a Christmas bow! I love the federal-style feel of this Christmas display.
The tulipiere holds holly berries and some super cute Santa smokers…
And to the left in thee dining room is the animal tree, mainly filled with Steiff ornaments!
Now, off to the living room, where you see the grand tree! Isn’t she pretty? A noble fir that stands up to its name!
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| Christmas Tree 2015 |
We like to sit next to the fireplace at night and watch tv. I love our garland, wreath, and new stockings!!
Off to a bedroom, where the nativity sits…
And in the hallway sits my NEW antique French buffet! J’adore!! I love the carving on it. I put up some white house candles, a garland, train, and banner!
A closer look at the Christmas decorations… I think I’ll write about this buffet in a future post next year… The candles are from Pottery Barn years ago, the banner from Bethany Lowe, and the train from my childhood.
Ok, into the kitchen… On top of the cabinets is the German Glitter Putz House village… you can see a close up of the village in this post here…
A wreath sits on the pantry door next to our Christmas card display… You can see how I made our Christmas card holder here.
And the other side of the kitchen is a bunch of Christmas decorations… 2 trees, a Christmas platter, and a sleigh full of jumping reindeer. I know it’s hard to tell in the pictures!
Tucked in a nook are some nutcrackers!
Some other nutcrackers and smokers sitting on another table…
And what’s that? MORE nutcrackers. Yes, I have a nutcracker problem. So?? It’s not the worst problem to have. The boxes in the corner below are themed to the 12 days of Christmas!
The breakfast table is decorated with nutcrackers… and I hung some fresh greenery in the chandelier!
I love lighting the pyramid and watching it spin as we eat…
A look at the garland… it was really easy to do. We bought some fresh cedar garland at Costco and wrapped it around. We added a few faux berries to add some color.
Well, I’m off to bed… here’s our master bed decked out in Christmas sheets. I believe the toile quilt and shams are from Pottery Barn years ago. The tartan sheets and shams are from Williams-Sonoma, got the idea from Between Naps on the Porch. My Christmas throw in red and green is a wool throw from Pendleton.
OK! I hope you enjoyed my Christmas home tour… I have more I didn’t even take pictures of… almost every room has something Christmas in it! All of the pictures in this post are taken by me.
Leave me a comment or a link with your Christmas home tour!
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, such pleasure do you bring me! I love our Christmas tree this year!! This year we got a *real* noble fir and it is wonderful! It is also huge! I think it is 8 feet with like a 6 foot base! I love how it smells!
I trimmed the tree with garland and tons of ornaments. For me, the more ornaments on a tree, the better. I love just layers of ornaments… it creates a feast for the eyes! Yes, I know the below picture is blurry but I’m sharing it anyway.
A look at a few ornaments… love this little church in the glass dome. Also to the right is part of my 12 days of Christmas santa ornaments…
I love the candy cane ornament and new this year is this little moose ornament! Isn’t he cute?
A look at “the witches house” below… supposed to be like hansel and gretel. Along with a giant sparkly reindeer!
Love this little mouse!
This ornament contains our wedding cake topper, aren’t they a cute little couple?
The ornament I have the most of which brings some unity to the tree is this cute Juliska one below… I love the sparkle and the plaid ribbon!
A last look at the beautiful tree… I love the light from it at nighttime!
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
Here is our Christmas mantle this year… We have a wreath with faux oranges and lemons. The garland is with pine with magnolia leaves. There is a pretty string of lights in the garland too.
This year my Mom with her awesome sewing skills made us new stockings! I just love them! I love the classic Stewart tartan on them. I didn’t take a picture of the back, but the back is red velvet to make it more sturdy.
She has this fancy sewing machine that can monogram with really ornate embroidery! I just love the details here with the gold, red, and green threads!
I can’t wait to share with you my other Christmas decorations… just takes me a while to take pictures and upload them with the slow country internet!
Now, I think I’m going to go enjoy some nice Christmas tea…
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
On the second day of Christmas… I share with you a tree!
My mom had this brilliant idea of doing a chef-themed tree for the kitchen island. AND I LOVE IT! We stuck mainly with German chef ornaments… made either by Ulbricht or Steinbach. I’m sure you’ve seen some of these cute little wooden ornaments on your shopping adventures at Homegoods or Tuesday Mornings!
Underneath the tree sits some chef nutcrackers and smokers!
I especially love the tiny pig chef above.. he’s actually a smoker and when you use him the smoke puffs out of his nose!
Some of my favorites ornaments include the mouse chef, who I’ve named Remy, after the tiny mouse in the Disney movie Ratatouille.
It makes cooking in the kitchen super fun, you can look up and see all of the cute ornaments!
A closer look at some of the ornaments… a pig chef, a Thanksgiving chef, a heart chef, and a mini wooden gingerbread cookie!
I don’t have a tree topper… I had put a chef hat on the tree but didn’t like how it looked. Guess I’ll have to keep shopping…
I like the natural wooden ornament below and the red gingerbread house too!
Initially we were going to mix up the ornaments with food themed… but then when we got all of these chefs on the tree we thought, oh! We’re sticking with the chefs. I *may* have hidden a cute little pink macaron ornament in the tree. I saw it and couldn’t help myself.
I had never done any themed trees before, but my Mother-in-Law has all of these cute themed trees all over her house and I just loved it… so the chef tree was born! Plus, it’s an excuse to put up more Christmas trees. This year I have FOUR. I’ll be sharing them with you one by one…
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
I’m back from a busy Thanksgiving week with my first Christmas project! This year I made pomanders… they smell so wonderful with the fresh orange and clove scent!
They look pretty dang cute too! They are really pretty easy to make.
Materials needed:
-a bag of oranges (I picked mine from one of our orange trees, love living in California!)
-a whole bunch of cloves (buy them in bulk, it is a LOT cheaper)
-pretty ribbon
-something to poke holes in the oranges (I used the end of a corn-on-the-cob holder, but the end of a fork or a tooth pick could work too)
Directions
1. Poke holes in the oranges and then put a clove in the hole. DONE.
helpful hints: put the cloves a little bit further away from each other otherwise the orange will split. Also, check routinely for mold and make sure the oranges stay dry!
It’s fun thinking of different patterns… you can do whatever you think of!
Tie some ribbon around them… you could easily hang these in a tree as ornaments!
They are drying here on a plate… but I put them in my bread bowl! They can look pretty in a bowl, in an arrangement on the table, hanging as ornaments in a tree, nestled in a garland… wherever you want to put them!
linking up at: The Scoop! Metamorphosis Monday’s Inspire Me Tuesday Wow us Wednesdays! Share Your Style Thursday Favorite Things, Home Sweet Home Feathered Nest Fridays Foodie Friday & Everything Else Sunday’s Down Under
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
This is going to be my only post this week. I am super busy shopping, cleaning, and baking! We’re hosting Thanksgiving this year so I’ve got a lot going on.
I’m rounding up my Thanksgiving recipes… if you are looking for some last minute ideas you can look here!
Starting first with our family’s favorite Thanksgiving appetizer… caramelized apple, onion, and gruyere tart bites!! OM NOM NOM
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| Apple, onion, and gruyere tart bites |
Another appetizer choice is pear, blue cheese, and anaheim pepper bites… they are topped with toasted walnuts!
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| pear and blue cheese bites |
The easiest option of these three bites are these cranberry, brie, and thyme bites! I love the Thanksgiving flavors in these!
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| cranberry, brie, and thyme bites |
If your oven is full, try making this cranberry salsa. It’s tangy but sweet. It’s also my #1 recipe pin on pinterest.
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| Cranberry salsa Recipe
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These homemade onion rolls were a hit last year. They are good! You can make the dough beforehand.
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| Thanksgiving Onion Roll Recipe |
This is a nice healthier alternative to plain ol’ mashed potatoes. It’s mashed cauliflower with a potato or two thrown in. Although, I still prefer mashed potatoes 😀
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| Healthy Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes |
This is a nice vegetable side dish you can serve. Plus, it adds some pretty color to your table!
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| Autumn Roasted Carrots |
If you’re one to serve salad at Thanksgiving, this is a nice Fall harvest salad. It has cranberries, apples, pecans, and a honey mustard dressing.
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| Fall Harvest Salad |
If you’re a soup person, this is a nice soup to serve for Thanksgiving. It could also be the “main dish” for your vegetarian friends.
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| German Pumpkin Soup (Kurbissuppe) |
If you serve multiple pies at Thanksgiving or are not a pumpkin pie person, this is a GREAT apple pie. It is so so good, I highly recommend it.
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| The Best Apple Pie Recipe |
Or, if you want to try something different, make pumpkin pie (aka pumpkin cheesecake) macarons! These are best served the day AFTER you bake them … which means you can make them ahead of time!
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| pumpkin pie macarons |
Hopefully you found a recipe you want to try this year!
Written at http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!
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