A Holiday Family Event

We had the parents over our place for dinner two weeks ago just in time for the Holidays. 

The table setting. I'm so glad I could pull out this Williams Sonoma tablecloth. I don't get to use it much when it's just the two of us. During the holidays Trader Joe's is my favorite place to be. They have amazing seasonal products and a great florals selection. I got one bouquet that I divided for the arrangement. 

T G I F !

A bunch of my favorite pieces are in this post. I naturally reach for clothes based on comfort and this outfit is just that. It's important to invest in key pieces that are a marriage of comfort and style. Soft flowy tops and faux leather leggings aren't going anywhere anytime soon and I could live in them!

It also felt like it was a dark lips kinda day. I'm wearing Black Dahlia by Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. It's a really great dark lip color to have around. You can build the color from a plum shade to a purple-black. Go check out their line of Lip Tars and I guarantee that you won't be disappointed. The colors are highly pigmented, mixable, nourishing, and have a great finish. I have a bunch in my makeup kit. You can find them online (link below) and I'm pretty sure they're selling at Sephora now. 

So thankful that California winters are much less brutal than east coast winters but it still gets cold enough for leopard coats. I'll be bringing this baby back east with me for Xmas ;)...and yes I'll be reppin CA 

h e r b s || g a l o r e

A few posts back I had mentioned that one of my goals this holiday season was to grow my own herbs.  I'm sick of buying herbs and not being able to use all of it before they go bad. I love cooking with a variety and nothing's better than cooking with things that you've grown yourself. My first stop was to Home Depot for potting soil and my seeds. My second stop was to grab these simple silver pots from Ikea along with a set of very cute and inexpensive set of gardening tools. I had purchased chalk labels from Martha Stewart's line at Staples awhile back with no real purpose in mind. They turned out to be the perfect solution for my pot labeling. In general I highly recommend the Martha Stewart line at Staples...I mean the woman is a genius!

Boa helped me drill a hole in each of the pots to allow the herbs to drain :)

Asian Pear Pie

For the last two years I've made a pear pie right around the holidays and both times they were a huge success. This year Boa and I made this pie together which is why it's that much more special. This year instead of bartlett pears I used Asian pears. The results are out of this world delicious!

Aren't they a beauty!?

Hubby being fabulous in the kitchen :)