One of my greatest blessings is this blog and all of you! Incredibly grateful. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful, restful Thanksgiving! We headed out of town to Palm Springs for a few nights. Will share a sneak peek below (with more to come later), but it was strangely exactly what this homebody needed. What WE needed! A warm weather Thanksgiving away from home.

Usually I host our family holiday gatherings…and will be hosting Christmas this year – am looking forward to that! But this Thanksgiving, with cousins getting a little older, new marriages, extended families growing and some family moving out of the area, it was going to be quieter than usual. I missed making the traditional Thanksgiving meal and having leftovers, but I can’t even begin to explain how much more amazing it was to not clean up before cooking, clean up while cooking, clean up after cooking, deal with the grocery store, on and on. It was such a treat to walk into the Thanksgiving buffet at our hotel to perfectly prepared dishes that were just as delicious as anything we could have made at home…

AND most importantly, the ability to focus my time and energy on the kids…not on all that work. I can’t remember a holiday when I wasn’t heads-down focused on all the work of a holiday and making it special. It was really something different, I’ll tell you!

The desert sunsets were breathtaking. Such a special time and hope you enjoyed the same experience!

CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

I’ll admit. The Christmas decorating in this house began early November. Between work and everything else, I had to fit in in where I could. I started in the family room and kitchen…

( tree | rug | garland | candles | twinkle lights | mirror )

And slowly worked my way to the office…

( desk | rug | small trees | twinkle lights )

Then the interior entry (will share soon)…and then the front porch. Not everything is complete. Still working through a few small details and honestly wondering if we’re good right here or if we need more. Can’t decide. I’m a classic minimalist…

But is there anything better than a home full of lights and Christmas spirit? It’s magic. The best! And I’ll take it for 2 straight months…sorry, not sorry!…

Natalie and I spent the weekend watching Christmas movies and baking. She watched many new-to-her movies with me, including Sleepless in Seattle. Love that movie!

ADVENT CALENDARS

I’m *almost* done with our 2022 Non-Clutter Gift Guides – looking forward to sharing these! I think you’ll discover many great finds!

Did you find anything good during the Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales? I was encouraged by the amount of sales and discounts – was worried with the market. I linked everything I thought was worth taking a look at on the Amazon Storefront.

But first and foremost, to me…it’s not Christmas without Advent! To kick off the special season of Advent, I pulled together a few great ideas you may like!

Fun Fact: Advent actually began Sunday, November 27. Funny how most Advent calendars on the market begin December 1…or are only 12 days long. Interesting, right? We are officially in the season so if you’re looking for something fun and different, here’s a few ideas…

You can find all of these advent calendars linked here, but this is one of my personal favorites!

A calendar full of baking tools and it’s adorable!…

( baking calendar )

( toy calendars )

These toy calendars brought back memories…especially the Schleich calendar. My boys LOVED these! The Hot Wheels calendar would have been a huge hit with them too.

If you’re looking for something more luxe (for yourself) or less chocolate / toys, here’s some really fancy ideas!…

( luxe calendars )

This set is amazing! And actually a good volume of colors my daughter or I would actually wear…

( nail polish calendar )

I also loved this calendar from Dermstore…

( dermstore calendar )

BLACK FRIDAY / CYBER MONDAY FINDS

In case you missed this and aren’t following on IG, I shared great ideas for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since some are still on sale (and great gifts in general), sharing them here too.

This set is still on sale, although I think only now available in white…

( 32-piece set )

( all linked here )

My favorite marble dry erase board is a great gift!…

( dry erase board )

I have also admired this dry erase board for a long time…haven’t seen a purpose for buying it. BUT I can certainly gift it to someone!…

( acrylic board )

Recently, I organized under the kitchen sink and here was the outcome…

The labels I used for this project were over 40% off! You can find those linked here and the products I used for this space linked here!

( labels )

But I will say the absolute packing hit of my trip to Palm Springs was this 3-in-1 charger! Not kidding…best investment I made for my sanity in a LONG time! It was on sale during Black Friday and again on Monday. I shared it on IG as we were packing up to head home and I think we sold over 100 in the first hour. You will LOVE this charger … or be someone’s beloved for gifting it to them…

( charger )

It eliminated the need for all of my cords by condensing everything into one. It’s compact and perfect for a hotel room / travel…but I’ll be giving one to each of the kids for Christmas for their bedrooms. And maybe my nieces and nephews as well! A great way to have your kids charge everything in one spot…and maybe put their phones a little further away from their beds at night. ?? We can hope, right?!

I’ll be back soon with our gift guides for the 2022 season and our trip to PS, recent projects and more. Look forward to coming back!

xo,

Sam