Friday's Five

1)  Sharing holidays with my new husband and spending the weekend with these precious girls.

 

 

2)  It's the holiday season y'all...gimme that cheese ball.

3)  A real cat lady photo session with Lula LaShonda and the mini sombrero I brought her from our Mexican honeymoon.  Considering she was rescued from the Cinco de Mayo parking lot, I was adamant we bring home something to reflect her heritage.  Olé!

4)  Lifting my holiday spirits by purchasing more Christmas decorations behind my husband's back while he was interviewing for residency in Oklahoma City...and now he knows because he's reading this.  Christian -- let's talk budget in 2013.  For now - ain't nobody got time for that.

5)  Wearing these fun Stella & Dot earrings that already have me thinking about New Year's Eve ensembles.

Honeymoon Wardrobe

Thanks to all of you for your kind comments and emails regarding my honeymoon wardrobe!!

Most of you had the same questions, so I thought I would share with you some of my favorite pieces and why I chose to pack them.

I packed four solid maxi dresses, two of which I snagged from yes, eBay (the red one is the same as the white I wore for the bachelorette weekend, seen here and here - you can also find the blue maxi there), and a short blue dress.  The black and grey dresses were purchased at a boutique in New Orleans last year - I cut the tag out...sorry I can't provide more info!

Baubles - colorful, fun and lots of them!  I also made sure to pack bright statement necklaces that would change up the looks of the solid dresses.

Woven clutch from Bahamian market, Kendra Scott (similar here), Forever21, Kendra Scott, boutique, Forever21

A pop of coral and some snakeskin heels matched every outfit and worked right into my caribbean theme.

 Nine West (old, similar here and here) and Calvin Klein 

Last but not least, the two beach hats I had were Merona for Target -- I snagged them on clearance for $8 a piece in the fall!  Similar striped hat here and here.

(A Variation of) Paula Deen's Chicken Pot Pie, Y'all

While walking home from dinner one night on our honeymoon, Christian asked me to name one thing I was really excited about in regard to gaining a new roommate (forever).

My answer:  Sharing responsibilities.

His answer:  My cooking.

I was flattered.  I don't consider myself a great cook, I just believe what my mother always said, "if you can read, you can cook."  Well CHBoo held me to it and was very consistent in reminding me that we had been home a week and I had yet to cook anything for him.  I wanted to start the week off with a warm meal of Christian's choice to fill his belly before he left mid-week for a residency interview.  He requested a chicken pot pie, which I had never made.  I've made a yummy chicken pot pie soup, but I figured the actual pot pie couldn't be too hard...it's basically the soup with extra carbs.

I followed this Paula Deen recipe, replacing the boiled eggs with boiled and diced red potatoes (the CHBoo has a fear of boiled eggs stemmed from childhood...he claims they make him nauseous and his sister shoved one in his face when he was younger.  I have literally chased him around the house with a boiled egg in hand before...and that, my friends, is what we call a Wednesday.) and the peas and carrots with frozen vegetables (because I was short on time...next time I want to do this part Paula's way).

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
• 4 red potatoes, boiled and diced
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups frozen vegetables
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup chicken broth
• Salt and pepper, optional
• 1 1/2 cups instant biscuit mix
• 1 cup milk
• 1 stick melted butter

Heat the oven to 350 and grease your baking dish(es).  Layer the chicken, potatoes and frozen vegetables.

Mix the soup and broth together, season with salt & pepper, and pour over the layers.

Mix the biscuit mix and milk together, pouring on top of the dish.

Drizzle the butter over the topping.  If a Paula Deen recipe doesn't include a stick of butter, I want to see it.  I still crack up over these Kristen Wiig SNL skits -- here and here.

Pop in the oven for 40-45 minutes and enjoy!!  I may have overdone the amount of potatoes used...but Christian still ate at least half of the green dish and cleaned his plate and I'm already looking forward to leftovers, so I'm calling this one an easy win for everyone.

HO HO HOw do you decorate for the holidays?

The first thing I did when I arrived home from the Thanksgiving holiday = get out the Christmas decorations!  That's how we've always done it in the Williams house -- belly full-a-dressing?  Put on your sweatpants and set up that tree, lazy.

When I realized I didn't have a tree topper I quickly found a wedding weekend trinket that did just the trick.

Hey 'lil Christian head!

Christian sees his future in this favorite youtube video of mine:

But what could make this even better?  Listening to some classic Harry Connick, Jr. while dancing around the Christmas tree, of course.

What's your tradition?  How do you decorate for the holidays?

Honeymoon

Honeymooning is what makes all of the wedding preparation stress worth it.  Hands down the best week of my life, spent with my new husband at the Rosewood Mayakoba.

Some photos from the week:

Our ferry ride to our villa...with our butler, Ana, waiting for us.  I think my cheerfulness and excitement took her by surprise...but I mean, can you blame me!?

I was so touched and surprised when Christian surprised me with an extra sparkly band in the car when we left the reception.  Love love love.

 

 

Trying to video while riding a bike...17 seconds of D-U-M dumb.

There you  have it -- the best seven days of my life and a trip that I will cherish for years.  No worries - I only took 800+ photos and videos so I don't think I'll forget a minute.  I'm that lady - she crazy.

Already saving for an anniversary trip...in my dreams!