Inspiration board: Christmas cheer

Row 1: Naughty & nice favors, place setting, centerpiece, cupcakes

Row 2: Stationery suite, tree, bouquet, pine cone seating card, menu checklist

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How about infusing some Christmas cheer into our Wedding Wednesday? Classic red, hypericum berries, pine cones, and {of course} Christmas trees! It’s so festive and jolly, don’t you think?!

xo-Kristine

Christmastime is here

Can you believe it’s already December 19th?! This holiday season has flown by and the new year is fast approaching {time to start thinking about your 2012 resolutions goals!}. I’m planning on posting some holiday cheer this week and will get back to regularly scheduled programming after the holidays {whatever that means, right?!}.

Today, I wanted to take a moment to share with you all what I’m thankful for this Christmas. As you know, I just got back from a trip to California to visit with my family and while I was there I realized–again–how thankful I am for the generosity of my parents, for our traditions, and for the many, many wonderful memories we have of this time of year.

I was also able to visit my grandpa who has been in the hospital now for six months. I was nervous to see him. After everything he’s been through, I wasn’t sure how he would look. But he looked amazing! Too skinny but still my same ol’ grandpa with the same stubborn soul and quick wit {and people wonder where I get it from!}. You could barely even notice his tracheotomy scar. His story is a true miracle, you guys.

It’s nice to be reminded of grace during this season, isn’t it? I hope you all remember grace as you finish this year, and find much more of it every single day of 2012.

xo-Kristine

Photo via 79 Ideas

Inspiration board: Picnic reception

Row 1: Centerpiece, lunch boxes, sheets as seats, picnic

Row 2: Blankets as table nos, table setting, menu

Row 3: Gingham bunting, flowers, decor, picnic table

Continuing on with our reception inspiration, today is all about the picnic lunch. Remember what I said about blankets instead of tables, going all out with gingham, and serving lunch in picnic baskets? That’s right, my friends. How fun is this?

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Well, I gotta run. I’m heading to San Francisco with the hubs, my mom, and my sister. It’s an almost 25 year tradition to head to the city every Christmas. We love it and I’m so excited to share it this year with my handsome husband. I hope you all have a great end to your week!

xo-Kristine

Centerpiece alternatives

Ah yes, another reader request. Actually, a bride-to-be request! My favorite! This is what she had to say:

For the love of my sanity! Can you do a post on centerpiece ideas? That don’t cost a million dollars?

Why of course, dah-ling. Of course. Let’s see, there’s…

An assortment of candles

Floating candles via Apartment Therapy

White candles via Real Simple

Potted plants & herbs

Potted plants via Once Wed

Lots of books

Books as centerpieces & table numbers via Style Me Pretty

Moss, rocks, & greenery

Rocks and moss via Martha Stewart

Greenery and candlelight via Style Me Pretty

Lanterns

Lantern centerpiece via Style Me Pretty

Gatherings of fruit

Fruit as decor via Martha Stewart Weddings

A variety of vases {with single stems}

Single stem vases via Style Me Pretty

Assorted vases via Style Me Pretty

Big, eye-catching balloons

Big white balloons via Martha Stewart Weddings

I l-o-v-e flowers. Love ’em. But I’m really not opposed to doing something different with your centerpieces. Why not! What’s your favorite? I’m a big fan of greenery {love that moss!} and candles {the more the better} and books and fruit. Gosh, I guess I’m a bigger fan than I thought I was!

xo-Kristine

Fighting fair: Avoid the kitchen sink

Fighting fair, fighting fair…it feels like we’ve been talking about this topic for ages. But there are eight guidelines to get through and learning how to manage conflict is one of the most important things you can do for your relationship. So, we press on. We’re on number 5 today: Focus on only one problem at a time.

I’m sure everyone who has ever been in a relationship, or in an argument for that matter, can relate to this one. You get started on one issue and then all of a sudden you find yourselves arguing about five more. How in the world did that happen?! Blame it on the way memories get stored in our brains. Remembering one incident tends to trigger similar incidents. So, when you’re arguing about what happened last night, you’re reminded of what happened this morning, and then what happened last Tuesday, and all of a sudden you’ve gone down a very slippery path.

Conflict can escalate both horizontally and vertically. Horizontally is what I just described–the content begins to include more and more topics. Vertically is when the content expands from specific issues to more broad categories. And while expanding the issue at hand may be helpful {especially if you’re digging deeper and getting at what’s really bothering you}, fighting about numerous issues at once is likely to cause gridlock.

The goal here is to monitor yourself when you’re reminded of related issues, or of something entirely different that also bothered you recently, and stick to the problem at hand. If you need to discuss something else, bring it up after you’ve resolved the first issue. Don’t throw in the kitchen sink! But here’s what’s key: Don’t be afraid to expand the problem to fully explore what’s going on. Narrow the discussion to focus on a specific problem but don’t limit a full exploration of that problem.

Tell me, do you have any funny stories of throwing in the kitchen sink? I’m sure there are a few out there. And come on, if we can’t laugh at ourselves, what’s the point? By the way, laughter is one of the BEST repair mechanisms–we’ll get to that at the end of our eight ground rules. You’re excited, aren’t you? I can feel it. 🙂

xo-Kristine