Enjoying the Small Things

Enjoying the Small Things

Holiday Prep Breakfast and Latte Bar

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This post is sponsored by Keurig®.

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the anticipation–almost as good as the holiday itself. As the great Anne Shirley said, “Oh Marilla, looking forward to things is half the pleasure of them. You mayn’t get the things themselves; but nothing can prevent you from having the fun of looking forward to them.” I couldn’t agree more, Anne.

I kicked the anticipation of holidays into full gear recently with a holiday planning friend breakfast, intended for swapping holiday plans, ideas, recipes, etc. Also, an excuse to hold my friend’s babies. And drink lattes.

I kept breakfast simple with a yogurt and toppings bar and turned our house into a coffeehouse by setting up a Make Your Own Latte Station with our Keurig® K-Latte™ Single Serve Coffee & Latte Maker.

So while we swapped stocking stuffer ideas and traded favorite holiday memories, we took turns as baristas, brewing and frothing.

For the coffee lovers on your gift list, the Keurig® K-Latte™ coffeehouse brewer is a great gift choice, allowing anyone to create the full coffeehouse experience in their own homes.

his Keurig® brewer allows you to make coffees in any size you want, along with delicious creamy lattes. To make a latte, all you have to do is brew a concentrated coffee shot…

…and then the best part–frothing the milk to pour on top.

I love making my coffee and lattes a little “extra” over the holidays–some pillowy froth, a shake of cinnamon, anything to up the festive factor.

And then you sip and enjoy–tell stories and laugh and drink in the scenery while that warm mug sits in your hand. Bonus if the scenery includes babies.

Our festive breakfast was such a fun way to kick off the holidays, and the Keurig® K-Latte™ coffeehouse brewer added an extra layer to the experience. If you’d like to gift some coffeehouse decadence to someone you love this year, you can find the Keurig® K-Latte™ coffeehouse brewer in stores and online at Walmart for only $99. Get your own here.

The No-Cursing-While-You-Build-It Gingerbread House

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So this is how it goes with the gingerbread houses in our home. We usually buy pre-made box kits with ready-made hard-as-a-rock pieces that A) usually include one cracked or broken wall and B) never stand up and stick together like they’re supposed to. Constructing a gingerbread house from a box kit is a job very much like stretching too-small fitted sheets over a large mattress or trying to open a double stroller while resting a baby on your hip–both things I’ve attempted more times than I’ve liked and rendered pulling out my toilet vocabulary. The things I mutter under my breath during gingerbread house construction most definitely take the Christ out of Christmas, and when the icing isn’t strong enough to hold the south wall up, you bet the glue gun’s coming out.

We’re coming at it a different way this year with a lay-flat gingerbread house that is not only easy to decorate but also doesn’t taste like a spiced 2 x 4–the No Cursing Ginberbread CAKE! Easy enough to make that you can bunch several of them together to construct an entire lay-flat gingerbread village.

We used this recipe for the gingerbread cake, and it’s perfection–“gingerbready” enough where you recognize that rich holiday spice flavor but still mild so kids like it, especially with a little buttercream frosting.

I used my mom’s classic buttercream recipe which I never measure–softened butter, powdered sugar, a little vanilla and milk. And I skip the pastry bag and spoon it into a large gallon-size Ziplock (stiffer than the small ones) and clip the tip to decorate.

We used this house cake pan and this evergreen tree silicone mold.

I love the options with a lay flat cake. You can stretch butcher paper out on a table and create an entire winter wonderland scene with these. And kids can extend their decorating skills to the paper, dusting powdered sugar snow, adding drawings, etc. I love the simplicity of just the brown cake with a little white frosting, but for kids you can go wild and add all the candy fixings, colored frosting, etc.

The trees are about the size of a cupcake, so you could set up a gorgeous dessert table with a village scene for a holiday event. Or lay out several of these cakes for a gingerbread house decorating party where kids aren’t crying because their houses are caving in. See? WIN for all.

When you’re done gazing at how pretty the finished product looks, slice it up and serve it, because it’s so good!

Save your cursing for when your tree dries up two days before Christmas, or when you run out of tape at midnight Christmas Eve with nine gifts still left to wrap, or–here’s a new one–when your brother buys all your kids Yellies for Christmas (no seriously, click on it. It’s a real toy with the single design goal of making parents lose their shit).

But gingerbread houses? Nothing but peace and love now.

Happy Monday!

The Most Meaningful Gifts You’ve Ever Received

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Earlier this month, on Instagram I asked for you to share the most meaningful gifts you’ve ever been given or ones you’ve thoughtfully put together for someone you love. I quickly scrolled through some of the answers as they were coming in, but then tucked the rest away knowing I’d return to them when I put this post together. I woke up early this morning as I always do, lit my candle, poured my coffee and finally pulled up that old post to collect the answers to share. What I didn’t expect were the tears, overwhelmed by the amount of love and thoughtfulness in all these precious gifts and the reminder that during this time of credit card-swiping gift giving, what we all really want is moments and words and reminders that we are seen and loved. We want one more hug with our grandpa who is no longer with us, we want our kids to tell us they remember the memories we made for them, and we want a recipe card with our grandma’s famous streusel coffee cake, written in her own handwriting, so we can hold our memories of her in our kitchen every time we bake it. Experiences, moments and stories trump anything you can “add to cart,” and these ideas you’ve shared prove it.

And, dear God, do some of you have the most thoughtful husbands/parents/siblings! Brett and I were dying reading some of the precious significant other gifts you shared. “Just so you know,” I told Brett, “Those salt and pepper shakers you got me last year just got their ass kicked so hard. I’d like you to meet the winner–‘100 reasons why I love you’ written on a scroll and tied with a ribbon. GOOD NIGHT.” For the record, gift giving is not his love language, and I am okay with it. Plus, those salt and pepper shakers are pretty cute.

I’ve taken several of the ideas you shared and am making them a part of our gift giving this year. I hope you are inspired as much as I was. There’s no way I could have compiled all the answers you shared, but I tried to pull as many as I could into one post. And to add a little visual festive to this post, I dug into the holiday archives which always hurts so good. Like this one, by far the most meaningful gift Nella has ever received…

The most meaningful gifts you’ve received and given…

My sister and I filled a huge jar with 356 “remember whens” for my parents. They still do one strip a day.
@sarablaira

My sister-in-law had a dress shirt of my dad’s turned into a skirt for my daughter.
@wrigleyette

A cutting board engraved with a favorite recipe in my late mom’s handwriting.
@daniellelackey

A set of cufflinks with the GPS coordinates of the location of our first kiss.
@flippin_ani

My mother-in-law hand wrote her favorite (and my husband’s) recipes for me.
@hazelnigella

What I really want from my husband this year is free: a Spotify playlist of songs that make him think of me.
@whatsarasaidblog

The gift of a workshop/class/experience (Doe Bay writing retreat).
@laflechemasse

A wallet from my husband filled with gift cards from all my favorite stores and services.
@janelle_johnstone

Every year my mom renews my kids zoo and science museum memberships.
@thisrezlife

Handwritten letters from my children.
@thealabamahousewife

My husband gave me a picture a local artist did of the place where we got engaged–and he got her to sign it.
@g1ng3r6r3ad

Personalized address stamp.
@weiscl13

My daddy’s typewriter restored.
@sherriemoore06

Watercolor piece done of my in-laws’ home where they’ve lived their entire married lives.
@kenliparker

A necklace with my grandmother’s handwriting (she’s passed).
@glowofgray

A collection of family recipes in a bound book.
@reneegarbe

A CD with a photo slideshow of the pictures from the year, set to a meaningful song from the year.
@conniefilbrun

A recipe box full of my favorite family meals.
@jane.bess

A gift with our baby’s name. She is in heaven. She is recognized.
@_rebekah.ruth_

Hand painted ornaments of my childhood home (by Cindy Thurston on Etsy).
@ashleysangha

I recently fell and dislocated my shoulder in the shower. My friend got me a shower mat.
@stephc8568

“Open when” letters.
@caitwebble

A sign with a family quote written in my grandma’s handwriting after she died.
@menoblay

A Build-a-Bear dressed as a soldier with a personal message, from my deployed brother.
@xolovekimblog


The year Lainey drew a picture for Nella, and we turned it into a dress for her.

A framed photo of when my grandparents were married.
@mahscott

A painting of my favorite mountain.
@coralma

A box of the most iconic goods from where we live and where my siblings live (coffees, alcohol, cheeses, etc.).
@dwiseman

Dinner out with my adult children, no kids.
@lindahartl001

Tickets to a musical with babysitting provided.
@laurababes

A knit stocking for my daughter to match the one made for me when I was born.
@jplot

My husband made me a comic book about my first 5 months being a mom.
@lolanmose

A door knocker for our forever home (someday I’ll hang it).
@mandycunningham_

100 Reasons Why I Love You, printed on a scroll and tied with a ribbon.
@melannerep

Grandpa’s old robes monogrammed for my nephews.
@dwiseman

A denim tote bag with pins of all my favorite TV shows and bands.
@hannah.renea.19

I gifted my dad a keychain with the latitude and longitude of my sibling’s and my locations.
@lorlyeloves

Cassette tapes that my grandfather recorded his life’s story on. Priceless.
@amy1icciardi

A night at a hotel all by myself with the only task being to relax!
@kritabaugh

An ornament my mom soldered (she took classes). She’s always learning something new.
@dwiseman

Framed prints of the ship our great grandparents came over from Italy on to my siblings.
@dwiseman

A Winnie the Pooh book published 10/14/26. My best friend gave me a copy for my son’s birth 10/14/18.
@renatatataaa

My mother-in-law had an article that I wrote for the city newspaper framed.
@carapcaudill

A music box that plays our wedding song.
@kari_dixon7

A recent favorite–tap shoes and payment for a 12-week class. #firsttimer #adultdancer
@emgmerritt

A print of a painting that was once mentioned…and remembered.
@fourmenandalady

My dad photocopied every journal entry he wrote about me from my birth on, and made me a book.
@erinmcbryant

A picture of the stars from where we live the night my daughter was born.
@paigeb127

It’s small, but my sister had a keychain made with a penny from 2017, and it says “boy mama”–my fave.
@c_stephenson11

My grandma who taught me how to sew gave me a box full of fabric leftover from her favorite dresses. I still have some of those scraps in my collection and will put them into quilts for my kids.
@turbtastic

After my mother died, my aunt bought me a bottle of the perfume she always wore.
@shaunaandco

Stockings made from old sweaters of grandma’s.
@dwiseman

Storyworth which came to us via you! We’ve passed this around all our family, and it is so meaningful.
@jfraserbeason

A handmade crib for my first born, made by my big brother.
@bresuedorts

A framed recipe card from my great-grandma with one of my favorite foods.
@evkingry

One year my aunt compiled old VHS family videos onto DVDs for the whole family.
@carlyehorse

Silhouette profile pictures of my children! My husband also made them for his parents.
@thekeslerbunch

A bangle with my children’s name and DOBs stamped on it.
@naterin

My husband built me a jewelry box. Got it one year unfinished. Next year with jewelry.
@lolajean5

A round trip ticket to visit my best friend.
@draeaskay

Alright, what did we miss on this list? To this day, one of my favorite gifts (I gave it to myself) is my keepsake quilt made from squares cut from my maternity jeans and the most memorable baby clothes from all three of my kids. It’s from Vintage Giggles, and this year I had the honor of giving a quilt–one I had made from my ties worn my by mother-in-law’s father who passed away early this year. It’s one of my favorite gift giving moments ever. What are your most favorite gift giving moments or meaningful things or experiences you’ve received?