Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.
Julie
Julie
FIGHTING THE WINTER BLUES
I'm joining Holly for her Monthly Musing. This month's topic is Fighting the Winter Blues.
SOME OF THE WAYS I LIKE TO FIGHT THE WINTER BLUES:
- Curling up with a good book to read.
- Making a cup of hot chocolate, tea, or coffee.
- I enjoy finding a crochet project to work on during the winter months.
- Make plans and details for a place we'd like to travel to.
- Watch a movie or TV show.
- Get a manicure/pedicure.
- If the weather permits take a walk outside in my neighborhood.
- Take an exercise class at my gym, such as yoga or Zumba.
- Organize my house.
- Go out to lunch with a friend.
- Work on my blog.
- Go shopping.
How do you like to fight the winter blues?
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| HERE ARE THE TOPICS AND DATES! |
Happy Friday! I am finally getting around to doing a recap of the holidays.
1. Decorating the House
I love decorating my mantel with this candy land village my sister gave me many years ago. My mom made for us those knitted stockings a long time ago.
We have a slim fake Christmas tree that fits perfectly in the corner of my living room. We bought the tree a few years ago at Home Depot. It's so easy to assemble and the lights can be changed to different settings.
2. Zumba Christmas Party
We had our annual Zumba Christmas dinner party at a local restaurant. Our Zumba instructor is the best! When our gym closed down, and then we had the pandemic, we all did Zumba by Zoom in our homes. I did the exercise in my basement where I had room to move around with loud music. When another local gym opened up after the pandemic we all went back to taking Zumba lessons there. We are a nice group of gym friends, due to our Zumba instructor, who we all love. We all had a nice dinner out to celebrate the holidays.
3. Christmas Eve
We went to early mass on Christmas Eve at our church. I love how nicely they decorate the church with flowers.
4. Christmas Eve Dinner
Every year for Christmas we go to my husband's aunt's house and celebrate it with his cousins and family. It's always a large group and we all eat seafood. My husband's cousin and wife do all the cooking for us. We had the most delicious-tasting seafood salad, pasta with fish sauce, shrimp, broccoli, and Tiramisu.
5. Christmas Day
Every year I alternate hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas with my husband's brother and family. This year it was my turn to host Christmas.
My daughter made this awesome charcuterie board.
Menu:
Appetizer: Charcuterie board with crackers & Italian bread
Meal:
Roast beef, mac and cheese, french fries, string beans, broccoli rabe, and Ceasar salad.
Dessert: Christmas cookies, cheesecake, Italian pastries.
I didn't get a chance to take a lot of photos as I was busy doing a lot of work.
6. Christmas Cookies
My daughter's friend made the assorted cookies seen below for us. My sister-in-law also made for us a big batch of Christmas cookies. We had a lot of delicious-tasting sweets during the holidays.
7. Birthday Coffee
My birthday is four days after Christmas. To celebrate I got my free hot latte coffee from Starbucks.
8. Birthday Lunch with Friends
I went to a local pub the day after Christmas with my friends to celebrate my birthday and the holidays. 
We shared a piece of cheesecake.
9. Birthday Dinner
I celebrated my birthday by going out to dinner with my husband and daughter. We went to DeStefano's Steakhouse in Brooklyn.
I had an Aperol spritzer and my husband and daughter had different cocktails too.
I wore the sweater my sister-in-law bought for me from Christmas. The sweater is from Loft.
We shared our appetizers consisting of bacon, Burrata, and tomatoes.
We shared a porterhouse steak for two. We shared creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. It all tasted delicious.
We all shared a piece of Tiramisu cake.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow, as we are going to see MJ the Musical on Broadway. We're going to celebrate my belated birthday. Have you seen any Broadway shows lately?
Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.
Julie
That is a quick recap of my Christmas holidays. I had a great time and I'm so grateful for my family and friends.
Did you have a good holiday? I hope you have a happy Friday and weekend.
Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.
Julie
I know this post is a little late but I am posting it now. I had a nice Christmas and I hope you did too. It seems as though the month of December flew by so fast and now we are already into the middle of January.
I received some nice gifts from my family that I'd love to share with you. You might like some of these items for yourself.
Our dog Bosco recently passed away in November due to old age. My daughter had commissioned an artist from Etsy to make this digital painting of Bosco. This is my favorite Christmas gift from my daughter. My husband and I love this digital painting of Bosco and we can't wait to hang it on the wall.
Calista Tools - Profecter Pro & Pro Plus Heated Round Brush - 0.50" Pro
I asked for this heated brush for Christmas. I love how this heated brush curls my hair. This tool is easy to use and it comes with a black case to use when traveling.
I've never used a setting spray before after applying my makeup. My daughter uses this spray and loves it. I like how this spray makes my makeup last longer throughout the day. This bottle size is great, as I can pack it in my suitcase and bring it on vacation.
This was another Christmas gift from my daughter. I've never used any product by Drunk Elephant. My daughter uses all of their face products and loves them. I like how this body lotion moistures my skin and it'll be perfect to use this winter.
This is another Christmas gift from my daughter. This is the first time I'm using any makeup product by Lady Gaga. I love this pretty lip crayon and it's the perfect shade of lipstick - Rose Matte.
These two sweaters are gifts from my sister-in-law. The sweaters are from Loft and are so comfortable. They will look fashionable with leggings or jeans.
Bonus gift for my birthday which was four days after Christmas.
These boots were on my gift list. I'm so happy I have these boots to wear this winter. They are so comfortable and they look great with my leggings, joggers, and straight-leg jeans.
Did you receive any favorite Christmas gifts?
Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.
Julie
Julie
This month, Not Just a Mom group, is discussing, who we are and what we like to blog about.
I am joining Joanne's blog to share about this month's topic.
JULIE'S CREATIVE LIFESTYLE
Hello, and let me introduce myself. I am Julie from Julie's Creative Lifestyle. I started blogging back in November 2012, at the urging of a family member.
I am a wife and mom who enjoys cooking healthy recipes for my family. I love sharing those simple and easy recipes on the blog. I've made crockpot beef short ribs that are delicious and always a big hit with my family. I also made zucchini pizza that my family liked. Take a look around, you might find some recipes that will interest you to make.
I also enjoy blogging about the crafts I make and crochet projects. I've made an oversized crochet sweater, a toy unicorn, a market bag, and many other crochet projects on the blog.
I also enjoy sharing about the places I've traveled to while on vacation. Our last vacation was to California.
I occasionally like to do a Friday Favorites blog post about some of my favorite things.
You never know what you are going to find, as I like to blog about a little bit of everything.
I hope you will follow along with me as I love meeting new blog friends. I've met some nice blog friends along the way and in real life too. It's a wonderful blogging community and one of the reasons why I enjoy blogging each week.
If you would like to join in on this link-up, below you will find the topics for each month.
Click HERE to see the blog parties I will be linking up to.
Julie
Julie
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!
It seems like the holidays flew by so fast. I enjoyed celebrating the holidays with my family and friends and I hope you did too.
I thought it'd be fun to do a recap of my 5 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2022.
1) Crock Pot Beef Short Ribs
This Crock Pot Beef Short Ribs was one my most popular recipes from last year. It's so easy to make using the crockpot. I made the short ribs a lot last year and it's a winner with my family. I hope you try making these beef short ribs for dinner this winter.
2) Costco Finds - March
I did a lot of Costco Finds blog posts last year. We love shopping at Costco for all of their great deals. This was one of my most popular posts consisting of everything I bought at one shopping trip to Costco.
3) Oversized Crochet Sweater
In March I decided I wanted to crochet my first oversized sweater. It was a challenge to make since the pattern size was too large. I figured out a way to make the sweater fit me better. I am happy with this sweater and I love how it keeps me warm in the winter. I look forward to crocheting more projects for 2023.
4) Macy's Flower Show - 2022
I love attending the Macy's Flower Show every year. It's always held in the spring and Macy's is filled with so many wonderful floral displays. This is such a fun event and I hope you can make it this spring.
5) Crochet Market Bag
I decided I wanted to crochet my own Market Bag since I use one every time I go shopping. This was a fun project to crochet. The bag is made with cotton yarn and it can be made in different colors. This would be a fun project to crochet for the spring.
I hope you enjoyed reading my top five blog posts of 2022. I enjoyed blogging last year and I look forward to the new year. Thanks again for your sweet comments and blog friendships. I enjoyed reading about the crafts you've made, your recipes, books you've read, and the movies you've seen, and just everyday news. Here's to blogging in 2023!
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