I truly am in complete shock that it’s November 1st! It seems like yesterday that I was putting away my holiday decorations and now…it’s time to start pulling them back out again! This year, for the first time, I’m planning to start decorating before Thanksgiving! The reason being is that I want to be able to take my time, get the house decorated and then, truly be able to enjoy it before it’s time to take it all down again. The holidays are such a busy time with all the added responsibility of entertaining (which I do love), shopping (which I’m doing differently this year so keep reading), decorating, cooking and actually attending parties (which I’m so excited for this year).

Now that we’ve finally finished renovating and the little extras (recovering chairs, painting etc.) are almost finished, I think it’s time to throw a neighborhood party! I haven’t set a date, but I’m looking at the calendar and will probably get a save the date out in a week or so. I’m so excited about finally being able to plan a party in our home for two reasons…it’ll be fun to have a gathering and invite friends over and also…there’s nothing like throwing a party to make you get your house in order! The deadline will be real and sometimes, I need a deadline! Here’s a picture I took of my newly recovered dining chairs that I snapped with my phone…I’m beyond thrilled with the way they turned out…thanks to Leigh Jones Interior Design!

Now, on to the shopping! Someone told me last year that they ask their children for a list of things they truly want and then they choose three of them…symbolic of gold, frankincense and myrrh. I love this idea and I think it will make the gifts more meaningful and also shopping so much easier (I may add a surprise or two). Filling the stockings is always one of my favorite things, so I’ll do that separately because I enjoy it so much, but as for the gifts…three sounds very reasonable!

Even though we were in the midst of our renovation last year this time, I still went all out on the holiday decorations on the first floor and I think the house looked so pretty…I love the way it all turned out (thanks to Kim Love (House of Love Edit) who helped me so much). So, in light of that, I’m repeating most of what I did last year, but may change the ribbon color and…I can’t believe I’m even saying this, but we may get an artificial tree! If we’re putting it up earlier, it only makes sense because we want it to still look good by the end of December. I probably should have started looking by now, but I’ll get busy on that this weekend and keep you posted! Again, if anyone has a favorite company or brand of tree that has worked for them, please let me know…

Also, it’s amazing how having a color theme for the wrapping paper can totally change the look of the decor, so I’m looking into that as well. I found some inspiration from going back to this post from last year!

I’ve been saving recipes for a couple of months now and want to try a few new things for the holidays…I’ve really gotten away from cooking as much as I used to, but I’m missing it and I’m ready to get back in the kitchen. I know everyone loves a new recipe so I hope you’ll look forward to those posts! Baldy and I ate the leftover cauliflower soup last night after the doorbell quit ringing and it was even better leftover…it got thicker and the flavor intensified! Did anyone make it?

This weekend (today) I’m making a fabulous brie appetizer that sounds so indulgent and delicious…I’ll serve it in front of the fire and for the main course, we’re having honey dijon chicken thighs (recipes coming)! And…I’ve found a recipe for a butternut squash lasagna that I can’t wait to try as well as a recipe for a vidalia onion casserole that’s an updated version of the one my mom always used to make!

As for the parties…we’ve already been invited to a handful of parties and we’re planning a trip to NYC the first part of December so I have lots of outfit planning to do (here’s a sneak peak of a holiday look I’m loving)! Be sure to follow along on Instagram and LTK because I don’t always have time to put everything on Crazy Blonde Life!

All in all, it’s sounds like a busy, exciting couple of months and I’m ready to dive in! What I’ve realized is that even though it’s so much work to plan and execute Christmas, I’m creating memories for our family that will live on for years to come and that is very important to me! You know what they say…you can sleep when you’re dead! And…now, on to today’s post!

I’ve mentioned that we have a new boutique in town called Brown and I’ve been finding so many cute things there! I ordered the pair of corduroy pants from Frame that I’m wearing and found the floral top from Hunter Bell at Brown. I love the gorgeous fall colors and the silver cowboy boots really add a touch of whimsy to this look. I decided I couldn’t live without the green bag (it’s sold out in green but I also love the black and here is a green one that I love) and I’ve been surprised at how many things I already own that it goes with. I think this outfit would be fun for a casual Thanksgiving…I’m not sure what I’m going to wear yet, but very possibly, this outfit. With 5 children and 3 dogs, we really don’t try to dress up too much…just something nice. And if the weather is good, we’ll have a fire outside so I want to be dressed for a fun casual day with the kids and dogs running around. When the children get older, we may try a more formal dinner, but we’re not even close at this point!