NYE 2012.

"On New Year's Eve I want you to kiss me.  Kiss me at 11:59 and do not finish that kiss until 12:01. 
Therefore, I have a perfect ending and definitely a perfect beginning."

-Unknown

the last day of 2012?!  nonsense words.  but here comes 2013.  we're back in chicago after a wonderful week at both our families' homes and will be going out to dinner tonight to celebrate the end of a pretty fantastic year, followed up with some drinks with friends.  wherever you may be, have a safe and happy new year's eve.  i'll see you next year!   

  

xo. di.

*image 1,2

{be} merry.

happy christmas, one and all!

xo. di.

p.s. i may pop in one more time before new year's, but i plan to take the rest of this week off - i hope to see you all back here in 2013!  

*images property of Diane Crary

christmas love.

c and i have been dating for a little over 2.5 years and this is the first christmas season we get to spend together, which makes everything just a little more special and me a very happy girl.  better still, we were able to take this whole week off so we could have christmas with both families: first with mine and then we fly to connecticut for christmas with the flemings.  next year, the order will be reversed.  we spent a lot of time discussing and thinking through the best way to split our time between our wonderful families since spoiler alert: michigan and connecticut are not all that close in proximity.  i'm sure it will be an evolving plan, but this is what we've got so far.  for those of you who have similar long distance families: what do you do for the holidays?  any strokes of brilliance or words of advice?  

merry christmas eve, darlings!  may you be surrounded by those you love today and always.

xo. di.

*images via 

festive fridays: i'll be home for christmas.

today is december 21.  i honestly cannot believe it.  we're heading home for the holidays this weekend, first to michigan, and then later next week, to connecticut, for a doubled-up christmas with both c's and my family to which i am very much looking forward.  in between then and now, i have a few presents still to wrap, we have a certain special boy's birthday to celebrate on sunday, and oh yea we have to squeeze in an 11-mile run somewhere this weekend to keep with our half marathon training schedule :/ but the busyness and the celebrations and the gifting is all part of the wonder of the season, and i wouldn't have it any other way.

have a wonderful weekend.

xo. di.

*image via

{holiday} cocktail hour.

whether i'm hosting something formal, something impromptu, or something in between, i like to have a couple favorite cocktails ready on standby.  today, i'll share 3 favorites (and crowd-pleasers!) suited perfectly for holiday parties and, naturally, family get-togethers that need a little spicing up!

supplies

prosecco or dry champagne

st. germain (an elderflower liqueur)

chambord (a raspberry liqueur)

pomegranate seeds

champagne flutes

confetti swizzle sticks

fun straws

{1} 

prosecco with pomegranate seeds

{2}

prosecco with a splash of st. germain 

& pomegranate seeds

{3}

prosecco with a splash of chambord 

& pomegranate seeds

stir, add straw & sip!

they are all simple enough that your guests can help themselves to refills and you can enjoy yourself as hostess.

happy sipping!

xo. di.

*images property of Diane Crary

{holiday} diy gifts.

who still needs some last minute gift ideas of the diy variety?  bueller?  bueller?  hey, at least i'm not trying to do a gift guide this late in the game!  

so here's 3 diy presents you can still pull together before christmas:

{1}

christmas in a jar

i found this recipe about a year ago on pinterest (via dandee) and saved it for this christmas.  i gave it as hostess gifts and little extras.  i even kept one for myself and have been using it almost every evening for christmasy scents in the apartment.  i purchased all the spices on either amazon.com, nuts.com or myspicesage.com.  instead of using labels, i printed the instructions on kraft paper and then used a circle punch to make little tags which i tied around the jars with baker's twine and voila! gift!  

{2}

guinness reindeer

i gave these to my dad last year for christmas (along with some garrett's popcorn, as you can see in the photo!).  you can find all the supplies at a michael's or similar, and from there all you need is a hot glue gun and some twists in a pipe cleaner!

{3}

paperwhite bulbs

this was last year's diy gift to friends and hostesses (see more here).  

plants and bulbs are always well-received!

hope this post gets the creative juices flowing for all my lovely procrastinators out there :)

xo. di.

*images property of Diane Crary

{much love monday} dec. 17, 2012.

i like to use monday as a way to reflect on the previous week, to start anew, and to send a little love into the world.  won't you join me?    

today i am grateful for:

my heart has been very heavy since i heard the news out of connecticut, from the town next to c's hometown, and i am still quite at a loss.  it felt so good to have my sister and her husband here this weekend; being able to hug her when i got home from work that night made things just a little bit better.  we were able to have a lovely time together before what will likely be a rough final week before christmas at work (always too many projects due before the end of the year!).

pictures worth a thousand words:

{i stole this from abbey of aesthetic outburst originally via.  seems to fit my current feelings}

{a holiday kiss for you!}

 {my tuesday at 10 p.m. add = thrown-together holiday card display}

 {finished up one of my knitting projects!}

{our budding nutcracker collection has found a home on the bar}

this week's blog love:

• the diy gift wrapping kit created by creature comforts would be high on my wish list - so practical and cute!
• adore these words to live by via hip hip gin gin.
• all eyes on cassandra of coco + kelley's feature on entertaining in a small space. 
• elements of style shares a delicious-sounding holiday cocktail.
• camille styles' the iconic hostess: buddy the elf is just adorable. 

here's to another grateful and love-filled week.  

xo. di.    

*images belong to Diane Crary unless otherwise noted

festive fridays: visitors.

lots of fun on the docket this weekend!  my sis and her husband will be staying with us, and we're all running a jingle bell 10k together on saturday to get ready for the disney world half just one month away (!).  but then we're going to make the rounds at all my favorite christmas in chicago stops (which i've previously blogged about here and here), spend time with friends at another christmas party, and round out the weekend with the hobbit.  not all those who wander are lost, you know!

have a wonderful weekend.

xo. di.

*image property of Diane Crary

{diy} confetti swizzle sticks.

add a little sparkle to your holiday drinks this year with this so easy and fast confetti swizzle sticks diy:

supplies:  

drugstore garland (in whatever color - gold, silver, red, anything! - you wish)

bamboo stick skewers

hot glue gun

cut the garland into approximately 1-inch pieces.

no need to be exact, just eyeball it; they'll come out looking close enough!

cut or break the bamboo sticks to desired length.

i just snap a couple of inches off the pointy-end.  this assures that whether the swizzle 

sticks end up in champagne flutes or highball glasses, they'll stand up well.

coat the broken tip of the skewer with hot glue, grab a garland piece, 

and pinch the mid-section into the glue.

careful not to burn your fingers while also trying to glue just enough of the garland to get it 

to stay - you want to keep as much of the confetti "fluff" glue-free so it stays full and circular.

hold in place for a few seconds before laying aside to completely dry.  

repeat!

20 minutes start to finish and I have 30 confetti swizzle sticks for the cocktail my sis and I volunteered to bring to a big family friend get-together on december 22 :)

i also made these last year for new year's eve and keep them on my bar year-round for special occasions like... the oscars (see last pic)!

xo. di.

*images property of Diane Crary

{holiday} cards.

there's still time to get those holiday cards out the door this year!  when i started rounding up my favorites from around the interwebs this season, i realized they fell into two distinct categories: whimsical (obviously, and a lot of them at that!) and very simple/classic styles.

the whimsy:

row 1: it's a wonderful life / holiday cookie chart /nutcracker / moonrise wonderland

row 2: winter frames /winter wonderland /sir rudolph

row 3: north pole /  mythical creatures / happy holidays from chicago 

the simple:

row 1: christmas love / sleigh bells ring / oh tannenbaum 

row 2: happy happy holidays / happy holidays / cityscape 

i usually buy a few different styles each year because i can never commit to a favorite, does anyone else have that problem?!   i don't want to say which ones i chose this year though so they're not spoiled for my recipients ;)

xo. di.

much love monday.

i like to use monday as a way to reflect on the previous week, to start anew, and to send a little love into the world.  won't you join me?    

today i am grateful for:

welcome, Christmas.  bring your cheer.  cheer to all whos far and near.  :)

pictures worth a thousand words:

{pretty packages under the tree}

 {keeping my holiday sparkle at the ready}

 {got lots of wrapping accomplished this weekend.  used this technique for these lovely bows}

{a big stack of christmas cards are on their way today}

{sunday evening on the couch, watching elf, and enjoying the lights}

this week's blog love:

• the glitter guide's gift guide that gives back is such a lovely idea.
• great ideas for cookie packaging by channeling contessa.
• the sweetest occassion has done such a great job with her 4-part holiday card round-up.
• i adored the everygirl's guide to what to wear to every type of holiday fete!
• camille styles' holiday open house with kate spade was so charming.

here's to another grateful and love-filled week.  

xo. di.    

*images belong to Diane Crary

festive fridays: celebrations.

tis the season for holiday fêtes!  we have a couple lined up this weekend with friends.  we're  also sneaking in a trip to the theater to see how the grinch stole christmas! the musical, cause i'm kinda a huge grinch fan :)  there were also be a lot of diy projects and gift wrapping and christmas card writing this weekend.  somehow i already feel behind!  what Christmasy things are you up to?

have a wonderful weekend.

xo. di.

*image via

{holiday} party.

i'm sure i'm not alone in this, but sometimes i get pretty envious of the fabulous parties i see in magazines (both online and in print) and throughout the blogosphere.  of course i save these images on Pinterest as future inspiration, and even implement them into my life every so often :) 

i'm sharing with you today three photo shoots i've collected over the last several months that really made me swoon.  hoping they will spread some holiday cheer and even inspire your next holiday soiree in the process. 

{via matchbook mag}

{via style me pretty}

{via coco + kelley}

xo. di.

*images as noted above