tequila holiday cocktail

Tequila may not be your first go-to liquor for Christmas.. or ever... but this little concoction is one worth going for. It's festive and you can't even tell there's tequila in it, which can be dangerous. Caution: drink slowly.

Oh, and if you were looking for a reason to make apple cinnamon simple syrup  -- look no further.

I don't know what it is about Christmas time and the winter but I could seriously  bake and create in my kitchen all day every day. I find myself reaching for the sugar jar daily and buying more sugar and butter in one week than I do an entire year. It's very likely at this point that I've developed diabetes with all the sugars I've been consuming lately. Totally worth it. Totally worth it...

Ingredients for one drink

1 shot of tequila
1 1/2 shots of apple cinnamon simple syrup (see recipe here)
Blenheims ginger ale (or any spicy ginger ale/ginger beer will work)
3 rosemary sprigs
lime

How to

in shaker, mix tequila and simple syrup together and 2 rosemary sprigs. pour over ice in short glass. add ginger ale (probably about 1/2 a cup). squeeze in lime and add a sprig of rosemary (feel free to reuse the ones you used in the shaker... I always do). Drink up and enjoy.. with friends, in front of a fireplace!

Apple Cinnamon Simple Syrup

Whether you're mixing cocktails or making goodies, this simple syrup is one you'll want to add to your collection. Or it would make a cute gift. Bonus, it makes your house smell ah-maze-balls.

Ingredients for one batch

two apple peels
two cinnamon sticks
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of water

bring water and sugar to boil. let it melt and turn down heat. add apple peels and cinnamon. let simmer for 30-45 minutes. 

Memorial Weekend + Friday Fancies

Heck yeah, it's Friday! And, we've got a three-day weekend {thank you Memorial Day!}. What better way to kick-off the weekend than to coordinate an outfit for your weekend's adventures!

bbq, beer & babes by charrigo featuring denim shorts

One of my bestest friends ever and her husband are coming to stay the weekend with us. We've celebrated Memorial Day together for the past three or four years. I've lost track. Either way, it's our tradition. SO much so that Lauren and Joe HAD to come back from their year traveling in New Zealand and Asia JUST to spend Memorial weekend with us... right??!! You should check our her blog.. her travels are awesome {and hilarious...}.

I can't wait to see them! The last time we hung out was at our wedding back in September -- too long ago! I am secretly going to con them into moving back to Raleigh. Lauren, ignore I just said that.

Lauren taught me what true friendship was -- what it meant to be able to depend on someone, confide in, trust, be loved unconditionally by, laugh uncontrollably, tell deep secrets to, be completely open and honest with. Our friendship is rare and awesome. And, if I haven't mentioned this yet, I am SOOOO excited to see her this weekend!

Here's the first three photos I could grab off Facebook :)

How will you be spending your long weekend??

our home's first holiday

This past weekend seems like years ago. It was just so busy and full of fun that BAM the week hit and it's just crawling by. I hope everyone had an awesome Easter! For us, it was amazing {and tiring}. We stayed in Raleigh and had Mike's parents and my dad {my mom is in Guatamala on a mission trip} come up to hang out, go to church, celebrate.

We saw art

drank wine

looked at plants

strolled the farmers' market

ate German baked goods

danced at a drum circle

watched fire hulu hooping

praised God

had good conversations

played with knives

concocted flavors with Jelly Bellies

saw our dinner go from full fish body to filet

served God

had conversations over coffee

had a sugar high.

It was glorious.This was the first holiday we stayed in our home and had our families up. It def had a different feeling -- it felt more grown up, maybe? I can't quite put my finger on it. I enjoyed it though. Sunday, after all our guests left, we were dead - totally vegged the whole day. It was awesome. There is something about a day with your husband, just the two of you, worry-free, that makes for an amazing day. It's those days I treasure most.

drum circle | homemade strawberry shortcake | tomato cages | fire hulu hoopers

over the river and through the woods...

to our parents house we go!

fact: I loooooooooooove Christmas.

I love the trees,
the decorations,
the traditions,
the lights,
the music
the food,
the family
eggnog
presents
shopping
the parties
etc.
etc.
This is my first Christmas as a wife  and my first Christmas with my Mikey-Mike (aka husband).
We always split up for Christmas (and every other holiday) and met up at some point when we were dating. Our parents only live 45 minutes apart so it worked well.
This year we get to be together the whooooooleee time! So far the entire thing has been awesome... we picked out a tree from a local farm, brought it home, named it (Forest) and decorated it while we watched Christmas movies and drank eggnog. We had a Christmas party. We went over to our neighbors house, Mal and Kyle, and watched Christmas movies while wrapping presents. It has seriously been the most perfect Christmas.
Fun. Relaxing. Festive.

We'll be spending the holidays at his parents house until Christmas day and then head down to my parents house for a few days. Our camera is dead (BUMMER!) and the charger is in Raleigh (ARG!) but we'll see what I can capture.

Merry Christmas Eve to all! Happy almost birthday baby Jesus!

here's a shot of us with Forest before leaving... once I get the camera up and running I'll share some of our holiday fun