winter lonny.

the new winter lonny magazine is out. look at it here. gosh, i wish this was in print so i could tear out every other page!

i swear everything jenna lyons touches turns to gold, including this bathroom at the new J. Crew Collection store in NYC that's featured in this issue. they also did a spread on the NYC Kate Spade store that makes me swoon.

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

we're having a christmas party tonight! lindsey, ellie and i decked the halls in our apartment and can't wait to celebrate the holidays with our friends.

you can't really tell, but mom and i got high on paint fumes over thanksgiving spray painting mixed nuts in metallic spray paint that are in the hurricanes with candles.

lindsey got his first REAL christmas tree. we had so much fun stringing the lights and hanging the ornaments. still searching for a perfect star for the top!

chain gang.

(please excuse the low quality photos. it was early in the morning, ok?)

found an old silver chain necklace in a jewelry box of vintage jewelry this morning and decided to turn it into something that i would actually wear.


i took some black satin ribbon and "sewed" it between the chain links. and, voila:


i think i may try another one with a more fun colored ribbon than black. whatcha think?

saturday morning breakfast.

my roommate lindsey always seems to be cooking for me, so i thought it was about time to pay him back and get my tush in the kitchen. i tore out this recipe from the williams-sonoma catalog about a year ago and finally got around to making this breakfast tart.

puff pastry + gruyere cheese + bacon = deliciousness.

while the breakfast tart was in the oven, i also made some of these pesto palmiers with the left over puff pastry and stuck them in the freezer to bake tomorrow with dinner. i'll let you know how they turn out.

if only i was this domestic all the time...

christmas time is here (almost).

i am having a very hard time recently restraining myself from listening to christmas music. i usually try to hold firm and not listen to any carols until i have fully digested my yearly tryptophan intake.

but this year this little album re-released on vinyl at urban outfitters has really got me tempted to start listening now. a classic christmas album in the melloy family rotation.

it just seems appropriate to listen to the a charlie brown christmas by vince guaraldi trio on the turntable and bake christmas cookies. (so if anyone is looking to buy me an early xmas present...hint, hint...nudge, nudge)

the district.

just returned from an amazing trip to washington, d.c. to visit my sister and bro-in-law. they were wonderful hosts.

i had lots of fun having them show me around their new city.

if forced to rate the weekend, it gets a 9.99 out of 10.

open road.

just drove back iowa yesterday. watched the sunrise over the open road. it was a great way to end a great weekend spent with loving family and friends.

highlights of the weekend:

holding baby will while he slept in my arms.

making grandma's molasses cookies with dad.

getting some quality sister time.

walking our pup teddy with my mom through the fall leaves.