The Carlton: The End of an Era

If you Google “The Carlton” one of the first things you will see is this:

Ahhh classic, right?
The second thing you will see is The Carlton

This is where the Mr and I have spent the past 4 years :-)  We have absolutely loved living here.  Seriously LOVED this home.  However, if you follow LWTH on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook you probably already know this, the Mr and I purchased our first home!  We have been looking for a home since March!  People, we have been house hunting for 10 months!!! At first we were looking in Illinois (because that is where we thought we were moving) then we spent the summer looking for houses in Houston and working our way through bidding wars.  In October we finally found our house, won the bidding war, and went under contract.  At 12pm on 12/12/12 we closed; we are elated!  We are sad to see our time at The Carlton come to an end, but ecstatic to move onto the next chapter in our lives.

I want to show you some pictures of our new house!!!

The majority of these picture are from the previous owners.

Home sweet Hawley home :-)

We have not moved yet, but we will right before Christmas. 

What we are looking forward to:
-Spending our first Christmas in the new house, even if it is among piles of boxes
-Having a parking spot and not having to drive around the block a few times looking for a spot to parallel park everyday
-Just walking 5 feet from the car to the kitchen with groceries.  No more carrying groceries up 3 flights of stairs in 150 degree weather every week for months (of course I'm too stubborn to take more than one trip from my car that is parked miles away).
-A yard for the dogs
-My new garden, lime trees, and apple trees
-Leaving our windows open and not getting bombarded with smoke
-Cooking our first meal in my new kitchen

What I will miss about our current home:
-Calling to the concierge if something breaks
-The pool
-The location (though we are only moving 10 miles away)

Clearly there are more pros than cons!  So we are about to move and can’t wait!
I am now taking any and all moving suggestions!!!

Have a great weekend friends!

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: My Little Elves

It’s no secret that I’m a bit obsessed with Tomlin and Rooney.  But can you blame me? These pups are beyond precious! Ahhh I’m just so smitten!  December 1st slammed me in the faced when it arrived; I was definitely not ready for this Christmas season so I started scurrying around to get our Christmas cards ready.  Most people include their children in the Christmas card, so why wouldn’t I include my fur babies? 

Of course they get a special spot! 

Here are some of Tomlin and Rooney’s Christmas pictures

(If nothing else I hope you get a nice laugh on your Wednesday)
Tomlin is definitely my “model”.  She loves the camera.
Rooney is catching on with photographs.

Crazy me also decided to take my elves to see Santa.  Seriously, that was the biggest brain fart I've ever had.  Phil had to work so I thought I could take them by myself….what was I thinking?!   It was a serious workout to get them both somewhat looking in similar directions in a busy pet store.  We took so many pictures but these were the best ones.  Next year Phil will have to go with me lol

I think this is the best picture.  Don’t they look like they’re smiling?

I wonder what they asked Santa for ;-)
I may or may not have been dancing over to the side to get them to look at the camera.
Rooney did pretty well on his own with Santa…

Contrary to last year, Tomlin wanted nothing to do with Santa.

Merry Christmas from Tomlin and Rooney!

Par-Tay Time

Tis the season right?!  I love getting together with friends to celebrate Christmas.  I mean who doesn’t? The Mr and I have attended some great holiday parties this month and I wanted to share some pictures with you.

Our friends host some fabulous events; parties we look forward to the entire year.  This year was no different.  The party was at a old store renovated into a fabulous home.  There were mariachi greeting guests, amazing food, food trucks, and fabulous company.

The Mr and I giving our list to Santa…..Can you guess what we asked for this year?
This kitchen was so gorgeous.  I love that they kept as much of the original store as possible.
The décor was stunning in this home!  The library was my favorite room.
The stencil on these two walls was gorgeous!

In addition to the fabulous food at the party there were also 2 food trucks. Yum!!!

I love getting a sparkly special dress for Christmas parties, and the Mr has taken to this.  Every year for his company Christmas party he surprises me with a beautiful new dress to wear.  Is he a keeper or what?! (sorry for the lack of quality with this picture, but can you believe this was the best one? ha!)

Following the Mr’s company Christmas party we went to a rooftop party. It was gorgeous!

We have been so busy this season and the parties have been well worth the wait.  Have you been living up the Christmas parties this year?

Winter Wonders and Holiday Happenings

Welcome to the

Winter Wonders and Holiday Happenings Link Party!

December is here and that means Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa are right around the corner so it is the perfect time to share all your delicious holiday dishes and decor, along with your favorite Winter treats and projects.  

Help get us inspired!

Claiming Our Space has joined up with Black Fox Homestead, Life with the Hawleys, Lilacs and Longhorns, Practically Functional, The Thrifty Rebel and Yellow Spool. Each of us will have our own project or recipe to share so make sure to stop by to check out what we have each created as well as to link up your own winter or holiday inspired posts.

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Typically I like to bake a ton of Christmas cookies and mail them all over the country to our family and friends.  This year was more than I could handle and cookies fell to the wayside.   The only thing I had time to make this year were these sweet pretzel melts.  They’re super easy and I promise that you can make these too.

You need some pretzels and rolos.  If you want to get really “fancy” you can get some pecans as well.

Preheat the oven to 350, and cover a baking sheet with some foil.

Lay out your pretzels and unwrap some of those delicious rolos.  Eat some rolos while you unwrap; it makes the process extra delicious :-)
Place the rolos on top of the pretzels and place them in the preheated oven for 3-5 minutes, or until the rolos are just slightly melted.

As soon as you take them out of the oven either let them cool before eating, or squish a pecan on top and then let them cool.

Now you’re ready to dig in.  A cheap, easy, and fast sweet and salty treat. Ahhhhh yummy :-)

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Now that you have seen my project, it is time for you to share your projects, crafts, recipes, whatever you have come up with that is Winter or Holiday related via the linky tool below.  

Your project will show up on all the host's blogs so you only need to link up once but, remember, all of us are sharing something different for the party. So make sure to visit Black Fox Homestead, Life with the Hawleys, Lilacs and Longhorns, Practically Functional, The Thrifty Rebel and Yellow Spool and Claiming Our Space to check them all out.

The party will be up until Thursday, December 20 and then on Friday, December 21, each host will pick their favorite two link ups. So mark your calendar to check back to see if you were feature. 

Just a few guidelines

1. If you aren't already a follower, we would love it if you would add each of the hosts.

2. Link ups should be Winter or Holiday related. (No shops or other link parties please)

3. Try to visit some of the other link ups and leave a comment. Everyone loves visitors!

4. You don't need to link back but we would appreciate it if you would display the button on your blog or in your post to let your own readers know about the party.

<center><a href="http://www.claimingourspace.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Winter Wonders & Holiday Happenings" border="0" src="http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg186/gooch100/Decemberbutton-3.jpg" /></a></center>

With that, it is time to party!!

Pure Joy

I don't know about you, but every time I see one of those flash song mob videos I HAVE to stop and watch them.  I just love them!  Sometimes they're funny, and other times they're moving....like an engagement or something.  Anyhow, I saw this one and it truly brought me to tears (the good kind lol).  Check this out!

Hope you're enjoying the Christmas season as much as I am :-)

What I’m Lovin’ Wednesday: Christmas Lists

I don’t know about you, but for us, when Christmas time rolls around the Mr. and I make some frantic calls back home to see what everyone wants for Christmas.  No matter how prepared we think we are, the rush of Christmas shopping and gift brainstorming always commences around December 1st.  This year, my dear friends, might be worse than in years past since we are moving a few days before Christmas, and we are a bit scatter-brained.  My shopping list is completely blank; I have no idea what I’m getting anyone for Christmas.  Time to get my act together.  Today I’m sharing with you some of my Christmas gift ideas.

 Baker Nutcracker // Beaded Backscratcher // Velvet Snowflake Pillow // Antique Key Bottle Opener

Candy Cane Dog Chew

// Apothecary Matchstick Bottle //  Chalkboard Ramekin Set // Sweater Mug

Heirloom Recipe Card Box // Moustache Cork Screw // Mason Jar Shaker

 Southern Living Cook Set // Sailboat Dish // Copper Garden Tools

Monogram Mug // Cordless Mini Vacuum // Casual Thank You Cards // Wooden Six Pack

So what do you think? Let me know what your ideas are for great gifts this year.

The Ghost of Christmas Past

I’m not sure if I have officially mentioned this or not, probably not, but the Mr and I have purchased a home and are moving in the middle of December.  It has been a long time coming with a bunch of things up in the air, so we are thrilled that everything is finally coming together.  The down side is that we will be packing instead of decorating for Christmas this year.  This has me a bit in the dumps because I look forward to this season all year long, and not to participate just stinks.  I absolutely love all of the festivities of the season, and I’m actually watching the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular on DVD (I am a HUGE fanatic and love these dancers) as I write this post lol.  So in an effort to procrastinate packing the office imagine how I would be decorating this year, I thought I would take a look back at previous years, thus the Ghost of the Hawley Christmas Past.

Pretzel Treats

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Buns

Snow Candles

Paw Print (or Handprint) Ornaments

Dating During the Holidays

Wedding Invitation Ornaments

Candy Themed Christmas Tree

Baking Themed Christmas Tree

Football/Steelers Themed Christmas Tree

The Hawley House decorated for Christmas 2011

These are the things I would be doing if I wasn’t supposed to be packing.  What are your favorite holiday traditions?