Is it even New Year’s if we’re not talking about healthy eating resolutions? Indulgent eating at the holidays coupled with picking up bad habits while I was crunched for time during a very busy work season has left me craving a reset on my health goals for the year ahead. My best healthy eating successes comes when I have a good plan in place — which means meal-prepping, brainstorming easy recipes, and filling my fridge with healthy ingredients! I love following Lara from Plan & Plate It because of her super accessible, family-friendly approach to planning meals that fill us up with the good stuff, and wastes less in the process. Continuing my week of posts here on the blog about New Year’s Resolutions, I’m interviewing Lara from Plan & Plate It to share some of her best hacks for kicking the year off with healthy-choices! (See my other posts in the series here about getting organized and going green). 
I am a full-fledged, 100% extreme, organizational nerd. But! Even I can use some help in this area and love following Corinne at Grid + Glam on instagram for all of her expert tips and frameworks for getting things organized. I started to adopt her Sunday reset method to set me up for success when I’m feeling overwhelmed with a busy schedule. And during my own week-long New Year’s house organization overhaul, I’ve loved leaning on the advice she shared with her followers about setting up systems that work long-term. To kick off a week of posts here on the blog about New Year’s Resolutions and starting 2020 off on the right foot, I’m so excited to share this interview with Corrine from Grid + Glam! (See my other resolutions posts in the series here about eating healthy and going green). 
We are in the home stretch for holiday preparations (I need to start wrapping gifts!) and I thought it would be the perfect time to share some easy ideas for a simple Christmas dinner! On Christmas Eve my family usually spends the afternoon at a family friends house for an annual party. When we arrive back home there is a short window to prep dinner, so I’m always thinking of creative ways to make items ahead of time and use some shortcuts to speed up the time in the kitchen. My friends at The Honey Baked Ham Company shared some of their delicious products with me, and I used them to design a tasty Christmas menu.
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We went to our first holiday party this weekend and it got me quite into the holiday spirit. I also enjoyed the festively stocked bar that was full of holiday spirits so I’m moving a little slower than usual today. But sitting by the fireplace, holiday tunes playing, while looking at my twinkly Christmas tree — that’s a pretty lovely place to be recovering from seasonal celebrations! Sharing a little holiday edition of my download — with entertaining and DIY ideas, stocking stuffers, some holiday looks, and a few books I’m reading now! 
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It’s barely the middle of December and we’ve already had two snowstorms, and I’ve been brainstorming fun ideas for Jane and I do together while we’re stuck inside. She is currently obsessed with snowman — we’ve built a real one with this fun snowman set, she’s constantly wear her snowman sweatshirt, and since she just learned how to draw circles we’ve been drawing a lot of them too. So I thought we’d make a sweet snowman treat together for the holidays using fluffy white marshmallows!
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I have a pretty strong track record of being super organized around the holidays, especially when it comes to gift giving. Some years I’ve started a “gift idea” list on my phone as early as June. This year though, we’re doing a little bit less gift-giving with our family and instead focusing more on experiences, so my to-do-list looks a little bit different this time around. I’m still trying to keep everything in order though, marking things off the list one day at a time to make the most of the holiday season. My friends at AAA Northeast shared a fun, quick online quiz with me to help me find my holiday saving personality and use my #AAADiscounts to save this season as I tackle my holiday errands!
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One of my best memories as a kid at the holidays was heading to our family-friend’s house for their annual Christmas Eve party, and seeing at the back of the dining room a lavish display of cookies and sweets. They were set out on a buffet table on beautiful platters and tiered serving stands, and I would pluck one off the display every time I walked by it. By the end of the party I was so full of linzer tarts and rainbow cookies, it’s a miracle I didn’t get mistaken for Santa himself. I love the idea of these lush cookie displays, full of everyone’s favorite treats, but I just don’t have the stamina for that level of baking-commitment! My solution is a bit of a fake-it-til-you-make it take on the holiday cookie display, using some of my favorite Chinet®brand products!
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Tis the season for getting the house looking festive! I’ve rounded up some of my favorite holiday decor, tabletop, and entertaining pieces for the season — many of which you’ll see in my holiday content over the next few weeks! Scroll down for more, and don’t forget to check out my gift guide for her, for him, and for the kids!
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This kids gift guide is focused on the toddler-stage since that’s where we’re at right now with Jane. I included a few of our current favorites like the cutest rainbow colored pencils, an ice cream puzzle, a doggie matching game, and books like High Five and Cookies, an interactive cookie-making book. And on Jane’s wishlist this year is a “real” camera, a fun Peppa the Pig watch, and an umbrella — she’s a practical kid! My husband and I were thinking we would also get some old school board games like Connect 4 and Candy Land that are fun for the whole family! Scroll down for more, and don’t forget to check out my gift guide for her, for him, and for the home! read more
This is always an easy list to put together because it’s typically my very own wishlist, and a few of my tried and true favorites. My top gift recommendations are things that I own and love: the coziest pajamas, my favorite spice sets, the trendy hair dryer brush (it’s a game changer), and always a few good cookbooks (I love the new Half Baked Harvest Super Simple, and New England Invite makes a great gift too!). On my own wishlist, a new slim wallet from Dagne Dover, a monogramed travel jewelry case, and a fun sequin jacket to ring in the new year! Scroll down for more, and don’t forget to check out my gift guide for him, for kids, and for the home! read more
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I'm Kate, and I like to
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