Merry Christmas

I know it seems like I disappeared from the face of the planet this week but my family took a trip to Philly and things got a little hectic in the days before Christmas.

I'll be back in the new year but until then I hope you have a safe & happy holiday & new year surrounded by those you love!

12 Days of Christmas: Another Giveaway

This week Little Baby Lehman has been wiping me out and some nights blogging falls into second place behind getting into bed at 9.

But I promise I'll make it up!

And luckily for us the wonderful Crystal from CAPow! has offered one of my readers their choice of 1 8x8 or 8x10 print or 2 5x5 or 5x7 prints.

Not my hometown, but I'm headed there next week!

I've always loved Crystal's hometown hearts series, all of her prints would be a delightful addition to your home.

To Enter this giveaway:

Visit CAPow! and comment with your favorite item

For an extra 6 entries: 

         (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!)

1. Follow Adventures in Love & Happiness

2. Add CAPow! to your favorites on Etsy or like them on Facebook

3. Follow bothCrystal & me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway

Feel free to use this tweet!

I just entered @colekbl's giveaway for @capowcapows gorgeous prints! http://bit.ly/vDP1GV

4. Like Adventures in Love & Happiness on Facebook

5. Follow Crystal's blog

6. Blog or Facebook about this giveaway

7. And just because it's Christmas time, you'll get another entry if you email me a photo of your Christmas tree so I can feature it later this week!

Don't forget to stop by later today for the announcement of who won the Chevron stationary!

12 Days of Christmas: Oh Christmas Tree

Jus & I got out Christmas tree yesterday. The lights are on & it's awaiting ornaments.

As we wait I'd love for you to send me a picture of your Christmas tree so I can feature them later this week. Shoot me an email at nicolekblehman@gmail.com.

And don't forget, today is the last day to enter the awesome giveaway!

12 Days of Christmas: Christmas Whoopie Pies

As much as I love working with pumpkin in November I really love working with peppermint in December.

One of my favorite tricks is to take my favorite whoopie pie recipe (something like this with buttercream filling) and roll the edge in crushed peppermint.

Instantly creating a Christmas worthy treat.

What's your favorite way to eat Peppermint?

12 Days of Christmas: Cole's Favorite Christmas Songs

There's one sure way to get me in the Christmas spirit, Christmas music. There's lots of wonderful music but when I want to get in the spirit there are two I always turn to.





What are your favorite Christmas songs?

PS Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway! And if you can't wait to win be sure to use the code LOVEANDHAPPINESS10 for 10% off!

12 Days of Christmas: Wrap wrap wrap

Last night this hung on our bedroom door for 3 1/2 hours.

So I could wrap.

And in the end I only wrapped Jus's presents.

What do your gifts look like?

PS Don't forget to sign up for the awesome giveaway!

12 Days of Christmas: Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

Hello my dears! 


I thought I'd repost this delicious recipe to sweeten things up on this 3rd day of our 12 Days of Christmas.


Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

3 cups finely crumbled Oreos (I stick mine in a food processor)

3 Tablespoons Butter

Mix together by hand and press into a 9" spring form pan, press the sides three quarters of the way up the side of the pan, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes

For the Cheesecake:

2 1/2 pounds cream cheese

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons flour

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 cup sour cream

4 large eggs

2 cups peppermints chopped up (I used the softer, round kind and put them in the food processor for 10 seconds)

Step 1:

Cream cream cheese well (Stand mixers work the best but hand mixers will work, but if you don't have a stand mixer be sure to add that to your Christmas list).

Step 2:

Add sugar, flour, vanilla, and sour cream and blend well.

Step 3:

Add eggs one at a time, make sure mixture is well blended in between.

Step 4:

Stir in peppermints by hand.

Step 5:

Pour mixture into baked crust and bake cheesecake at 315 degrees for 2 hours. (I find baking a cheesecake is a little tricky, when the cheesecake is done the top will rise above the edge of the pan and will jiggle a little but be firm to touch.)

Step 6:

LET CHEESECAKE COOL COMPLETELY (Approx. 2 hours) before releasing the spring form. When cheesecake has been released it is ready to be decorated (I drizzled mine with chocolate syrup, piped on some whipped cream and decorated with peppermints)

Step 7:

Enjoy!

12 Days of Christmas: Cole's Favorite Christmas Movies

If there's one this that always gets me in the Christmas spirit it's watching Christmas movies. And what better way to spread the cheer than by rounding up some of my favorites.

My favorite classic Christmas movie.

White Christmas

My favorite new Christmas movie.

Elf

One that I can't wait to show the baby.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

My favorite book made into a movie.

The Polar Express

The one I wanted to be in as a child. (I adored their affinity for hot chocolate)

The Santa Clause

The one I like the remake as much as the original.

Miracle on 34th Street

Miracle on 34th Street Remake

The one that makes me laugh.

Christmas Vacation

The one that makes me cry.

It's a Wonderful Life

The one that reminds me of my childhood.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

12 Days of Christmas: Advent Calendar DIY

Happy December!

I thought it would be fun to begin this month by celebrating the 12 days of Christmas with 12 Christmas related posts.

My family grew up with a lot of Christmas traditions, one of my favorites was the advent calendar. I loved opening something every day and knowing that we were one day closer to Christmas.

This year I decided to make an advent calender for Jus. Instead of filling it with candy or knickknacks I thought I'd give him 24 reasons I love him.

To begin with I wrapped a piece of cardboard in Christmas paper.

I folded 24 shipping labels in half & decorated the front, putting the reason I love Jus on the inside.

I taped the labels to the board and now Jus can start every day with a little bit of love.

Outtakes

Last night I convinced Jus to take some Christmas card pictures. After playing around with the self timer & some Christmas lights for an hour Jus decided Edie needed to get in on the fun.

Luckily for us our sweet girl decided to play along.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Last night marked the first of our Christmas celebrations so I'll be signing off and wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!

Our Christmas trees from the past three years

Merry Christmas Darlings!

PS I'm extending sign ups for the Whole New You package exchange through Monday so if you'd like to participate send me an email!

The Best Christmas Card Ever

While I love the Christmas cards that Jus & I sent out I think the best I've seen this year is one that my parents received from one of our friends' sons.

Petey-Boy is an adorable 5 year old who, when given the standard snowman accouterments, makes the best devil snowman you've ever seen.

I can't decide if I like the horns, mustache or bow tie the best.

Sending Some Love

Of all the things that happened this year sending Christmas cards might be the one that makes me feel the most grown up.

If you remember I found an awesome promotion that Shutterfly was offering and it was so exciting to pick the perfect card to go with our wedding pictures.

Originally I told you we would be using this picture that Janie captured during our second line.

Jus & I love the picture of us in the parade and decided to save it for our Thank You cards but luckily Janie was willing to edit more pictures for us to use for our Christmas card picture.

We had the option of these two great pictures from our shoot at the apple orchard. I left the picture choice up to Jus and then I picked the card design.

I love that our card is lighthearted, fun, and convey more than just the standard sentiments. (And I really love that Layla, Edie & Jack are included on our card!)

Luckily, our cards arrived just in time for me to address them & ship them out on the last possible day!

I Have a Confession to Make

I lied to you last week, and I couldn't be more overjoyed that I did.

Remember when I told you we would be Christmas Tree-Less this year?

Well, our new living room is drywalled, textured, painted & cleaned, that combined with the facts that we're there every night and are hoping to move in this weekend led my dad to pull off some Christmas magic.

Yesterday morning my dad cut down a tree for my parents house and a tree for our house. At over 9 feet tall our tree is the largest Christmas tree I've ever had and it is so beautiful.

It's especially delightful to see the tree through the big front window. I imagine our neighbors are delighted to see a tree in the window considering the house was dark for over a year.

Is your tree set up?

(And yes, if you look very closely you'll see we painted the living room "Gypsy Teal," I'm waiting for daylight to take real pictures)