Coffee Break #58
Happy December, friends! In this month’s behind-the-blog break, I’m recapping one of my favorite trips (ever!), as well as a few of my family’s Christmas favorites. So grab a snack and a toasty-warm beverage, and let’s catch up!
What a Week It Was!
Back at the beginning of November, Greg and I took a truly remarkable, whirlwind trip to New Your City and Indianapolis. While we’ve been able to sneak away for single nights here and there, this 4-night trip was the longest I’ve ever been away from our kids. You better bet I made every moment count! It was a trip filled with so much fun, many bucket list moments, and…Taylor!!!
New York City
Our jaunt to New York City was technically a work trip for Greg and I got to tag along. While he was busy doing professional things during the day, I explored the city with some girlfriends, including a bus tour and a trip out to see Lady Liberty (who I’ve only ever seen from a distance). Greg and I were able to see two magnificent Broadway shows in the evenings (Hamilton and Once Upon a Mattress), but honestly…the true highlight of my NYC trip was a visit to the TODAY Plaza.
I have watched TODAY pretty much every day of my life (including watching it in the evenings while we lived in Japan!) I’ve always wanted to visit the Plaza, and our hotel was just a few blocks from Rockefeller Center. A girlfriend went with me, and it was miraculously not crowded, allowing us to get an amazing spot along the barrier.
We got to meet/take pictures with Savannah, Hoda, Dylan, and Carson and I even gave Savannah and Hoda friendship bracelets. If you were watching on the morning of November 1st and you saw a CRAZY-excited gal in a black plaid shirt, that was me!
It was one of those life moments that you always kind of hope for but are never sure will happen; and I’m so proud of myself for jumping at the opportunity to go! (I am the definition of a Home Body!)
Indianapolis
But the fun and excitement of NYC and TODAY were just the preview to our main event: the Eras Tour in Indianapolis! Some of you may remember that Greg gifted me tickets last Christmas…so it’s been a very long time coming, indeed.
I pride myself on always being able to use the exact right words in my writing, but I’m not sure anything I’ll come up with here can really do it justice. The concert itself it was exciting, magical, memorable, loud (very, very loud) and exhausting (!!!) It was everything I hoped for yet nothing I expected and over way too quickly. I keep looking back on the few video clips Greg took and just feel all the feels (I had my phone put away the whole concert because I just wanted to be present in the moment).
I think what will stay with me the most though was the bigger, broader Eras Tour experience of being on a plane…then in a city…and then in a stadium wholly and totally taken over by fellow Swifties. Everywhere you looked, there were bracelets and sequins, posters and song lyrics…and smiles. Lots of tears too, but so so many smiles. Her music was everywhere, the excitement was quite-literally palpable, and I felt like (for once in my life), I was in on all the best secrets, a part of the coolest club.
Being part of something so big yet also so personal was…is…a once in a lifetime experience I’ll never forget (like, ever)!
Eras Tour Fun Facts
- My all-time favorite album is Red, so I wore a red bubble blouse with black sequin shorts, an outfit I found in New York City the day before the concert (after ordering and returning countless other options!)
- I made 50 friendship bracelets (5 for each Era) and came home with most of them, because I was just too shy to hand them out. Probably my only regret of the whole experience!
- We stood in the merch line for over two hours (and had a blast mingling with other Swifties) but the two sweatshirts I had custom-made ahead of time are still my favorites. Greg proudly wears his sweatshirt all the time though!
My Go-To Sugar Cookies
This weekend, I’m gearing up to start my holiday baking for a few parties we have coming up. I use the word “gearing up” intentionally because my all-time favorite cookies tend to be a lot little bit of work (would you expect anything different from me?!?)
This is definately a case of “Be careful what you do once because it might become a tradition,” but I can’t say I’m entirely mad about it. Not only are these Christmas sugar cookies so delightfully adorable, but they are even more delicious than they look. No wonder my kids keep asking me to make them!
These are the two recipes I use year after year:
- The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe Ever – This recipe is super easy, doesn’t require any fancy ingredients or chilling of the dough, and the cookies turn out perfectly-shaped every single time. If you hate making sugar cookies, this is the recipe to try because it’s seriously foolproof!
- Sugar Cookie Frosting – Years (and years and years) ago, I took cake decorating classes with my Mom. I’m by no means a pro, but I can hold my own with a bag of icing and some basic tips. Although icings made with Crisco will hold their shape and stack better, I personally prefer the taste of icing made with butter. This recipe is stiff enough to hold shape but is super tasty too!
I love making all the different shapes shown above, but in recent years, my “signature cookie” has become the Santa heart cookies shown below. Not gonna lie: it’s so much easier to make two icing colors (instead of 5+).
I always recommend homemade icing if you can swing it. But in a pinch, I’ve had really good luck with the Walmart-brand icings. I like the red cookie icing for the hats and the white decorating icing for the beards!
One of the Best Gifts I Ever Gave
Back in 2020, my elderly father was going to be celebrating Christmas alone (due to COVID restrictions at the time). He’s very much a man who “has everything,” so I decided to make him photo Christmas ornaments…one for each member of the family…so that he’d be surrounded by his family for the holidays.
I originally thought he’d just hang up the ornaments that year; but to this day, it’s these 24 ornaments that he now uses to decorate his personal little tree. It fills him with so much pride and brings back countless memories, and he loves showing off his family to anyone and everyone who visits. Looking back, this simple craft project is one of the best gifts I’ve ever given him!
I intentionally made the ornaments thick and sturdy so that they’d stand the test of time. I paired 3″ square and circle chipboard backings with foil board frames in red and silver (all cut with my Cricut). We then manually cut down each family member’s picture to fit the frames and glued them all together. Bows and strings served as the finishing touch.
If you love this idea but don’t have a Cricut (or aren’t up for the work!), you can get a similar look with ready-to-paint wooden frame ornaments such as these: Round Ornament Frames | Shaped Ornament Frames | Ornate Rectangle Frames | Ornate Variety Frames These would even allow you to update the pictures on a yearly basis!
Our Family Photo Books
Speaking of pictures, lately I’ve received several different versions of this same question, and I thought it was the perfect time to answer!
Q: I would like to hear about how you maintain photos of your family/vacations/etc. Do you print and frame? Keep traditional photo albums? Scrapbook photos with journaling?
A: Also back in 2020 (when I clearly had more time on my hands than I do now!), I started making family “yearbooks.” While I primarily did this as a way to get photos off my phone and actually printed, I very much underestimated how much my kids would LOVE these books. I am constantly finding them cuddled up on the couch, paging back through the memories.
If you’re interested in starting a similar tradition, I break down the entire process (in more details than you probably need) here: How to Make Family Yearbooks the Easy Way.
We give the books to the boys on New Years Eve as a fun way to reflect on the year gone by. But there are actually better sales on photo books later in the year (usually around Valentine’s Day). Consider shifting your tradition away from the holidays since there is so much to do this time of year as it is!
Ask Megan
You guys always ask the greatest questions, and I love answering them! If you have any topics or questions you’d love to see me cover, submit them via the (anonymous) form below.
Merry Christmas!
This time of year is always a bit tricky for me. I rarely have holiday content to share, but most people aren’t in the brain space for organizing and home projects just yet. As such, I have a few more updated gift posts I’ll be sharing next week, then I’ll be taking the rest of December off in order to enjoy the holiday season and prepare for the New Year! Thanks for your understanding, and Merry Christmas!
Megan
2 Comments on “Coffee Break #58”
How do you save greeting cards from people or family members you want to save?
Thanks for all your organizing ideas
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I LOVE that ornament idea, the pictures. So smart. And perfect for a grandparents. I am keeping that in mind and it will happen. Thank you for sharing!