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Sailing With The Scotts – Trip Recap

December 3, 2015 · by Maria · 13 Comments

If you follow me on Instagram, then you recognize the above shot that I posted right before I went sailing with the Scott brothers. Well, we weren’t exactly alone, there were a few others – 2,000 to be exact.

Earlier this year, I found out about the HGTV Sailing with the Scotts design cruise, leaving out of Miami (how convenient). It was hosting bloggers and designers alike, with an itinerary full of fun and lots of informative design and blogger panels. It was also sailing out the week of our wedding anniversary (again, how convenient). I approached my husband with all these “convenient coincidences” and he said “book it!” I couldn’t wait to see what was in store!

We would be leaving aboard the Carnival Ecstasy.

And the itinerary included a stop in the Keys and one in Cozumel.

I have watched the Property Brothers so many times on HGTV but they also had a lineup of talented designers joining them. Along with Drew and Jonathan were Jason Cameron, The Junk Gypsies, Jillian Harris and Kim Myles.

Of course, I did what any reasonable person would do – I did my hair. I figured I couldn’t go on a design cruise with my hair all crazy. Thank me later for not including the before shot. It’s my gift to you.

I thought this hairdo would last days…

Not the first time I have been wrong, but it was fun while it lasted.

So my ~~hair~~ husband and I boarded the ship after 40 minutes of leaving our home. I love that about living in Miami.

There was live music on the ship all the time.

Our rooms were ready but our luggage wasn’t, so we sat down for a margarita.

Later in the afternoon, we all headed to the top deck – the brothers and the design team were going to kick off the cruise by welcoming all their guests.

My husband and I went on this cruise without our boys so we were soaking up all the alone time. It’s amazing how it feels to finish sentences and even conversations without the kiddies around. We still missed them though and were constantly saying “Oh, they would have loved that!”

The first stop was Key West. We got out and looked at all the cute, colorful homes and took lots of pictures.

The Keys has a certain vibe that is unlike any other place. We live pretty close so we have been there many times. My husband is a fishing aficionado and The Keys and fishing go hand-in-hand.

We walked into a cigar shop where the lady was rolling the cigars right in front of us.

We left the keys after a few hours and the ship was then headed to Cozumel, Mexico. I have very few pictures of Mexico because we went snorkeling. We had a blast and it’s not something that we can do with our youngest, so we wanted to take advantage of the alone time.

So far I had no pictures with the brothers. They gave us these fans when we arrived so I figured it was as close as I would get to the selfie-with-the-Scotts. I had said hi to them a few times at this point but I was too shy to ask for a picture.

#IAmABigFan – quite literally.

I didn’t feel bad asking this guy for pictures and he obliged every time.

Love him!

During the day, there were a ton of events and panels that I went to and afterwards I got to meet some of my blogging friends. Here is Jen from I Heart Organizing and Cassie from Hi Sugarplum! They are both so sweet!

I am also a big fan of all these awesome ladies! Here is Mallory from Style Your Senses, Emily A. Clark, Jennifer from Dimples and Tangles, Me and Sarah from Sarah M Dorsey Designs. It was so cool meeting them in person, as I already feel like I know them from reading their blogs.

They are all so approachable and open about sharing their success stories and even struggles with blogging. They were part of a really informative bloggers panel.

I loved meeting them!

I had to include this picture. The cruise was put together by a company called Premier Cruises that handled all the coordinating with the HGTV design crew, all of us bloggers, the designers the crew and the fans. They were all extremely helpful and available to all the guests, so a special shout out to all of them!

This is me with Tiffany from Premier.

While I was going to these panels, my husband would text me pictures like the one below. He thought he could make me jealous because he was relaxing in his flip flops while I was in heels. Like I would care about such nonsense and pettiness.

It worked.

I did get to relax and wear flip flops after learning from all the panelists. I was able to read a lot of this book called For the Love, which I am loving!

In the evening, the very talented painter, Jared Emerson would paint on a new canvas for everyone to see how he brings his works of art to life. He paints with his bare hands. He really is amazing!

There was a special reception hosted by Lug Bags, two nights before the cruise ended, and I was able to meet more people.

And get to know more about the #LugLife story.

And finally take a picture with this guy! Yay!

They are both so nice and hard-working! Everytime that I saw them, they were either hosting an event or chatting with their fans. They must have been tired but they never showed it. It was a treat to meet them!

Then I came home and never did my hair again. The end.

I hope they do the cruise again next year. Maybe you can come too!

Christmas Eve Tablescape

December 2, 2015 · by Maria · 3 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SienteGlade #CollectiveBias

Christmas Eve for Hispanic households is usually the largest feast they host all year. That statement definitely rings true with my Cuban family. In Spanish we call it “Noche Buena”, which translates to “Good Night”, and people from each country serve food that is specific to their culture. Cubans serve roast pork, white rice, black beans, yucca (cassava) and all the usual Cuban faire. The pig is usually roasted over coals and it becomes the center of attention at the food table.

In our family, we alternate as to who is hosting this special dinner. Sometimes it’s us, sometimes my parents or my in-laws. Everyone adds their special touches and go all out with decorating their home. When we host it, I cannot fit everyone in my formal table, so we open up plastic tables in the backyard to accommodate everyone. Granted, I decorate the plastic tables with disposable items because I want my party to be pretty but as practical as possible. However, I still set my formal table every year. Those who eat first can sit there or they can eat outside if they prefer.

Because I am incredibly long-winded, I had to say all that just to share with you our table setting for this year! Since I host a brunch the following day, I wanted this table setting to be easy to take apart, easy to put together and affordable. All these holiday parties can add up! $$$

I went to Target (I haven’t been there in a while…promise) and I found a ton of items for my table. I know that you are not surprised! Most of what I found was from their dollar section. I found all those little trees for 3.00 a piece. The whole centerpiece was 21.oo and that’s because I needed 7 trees to fill my large table. Not too bad, right?

I also purchased those beautiful gold hammered chargers while I was there, but I have also seen the plain gold ones at my local dollar store. I added simple white plates, a napkin and matching goblet. Napkins and glasses (especially green and red ones) go on clearance after the holidays so keep an eye out for them. It’s my favorite time to shop for those items.

As a finishing touch for my table, I added this Glade® Winter Collection candle, that doubled as the place card holder. Granted, no one listens to me on this night and they sit wherever they want. At least the candles have a name and I can gift them to all my aunts before they leave our home.

I would love to purchase a gift for every single person in our family but it’s just not possible. Some years we have done a gift exchange and that has been fun. I love that this year my aunts won’t leave empty-handed, since these candles are so affordable. Also, I love the name – Be at Peace™ ! The scent is Balsam Fir and if that doesn’t evoke holiday joy, I don’t know what does. Although all that food I mentioned above will also get you smiling! You can see in the pictures that I alternate between the green “Be at Peace™” candle and the red “Cherish the Present™” candle in apple cinnamon for my place settings. I like the variety and I am sure that there will be some trading involved. The holidays are about taking moments to reflect on the love and serenity around us – and also taking home your favorite candle!

Just to add a little color, I placed these pillows on the head chair. Can you believe that the little one was $3.oo at the Target dollar section?! The one in the back was on clearance ($13.00 I think). The contrast with the black and the red…so festive!

My goal with all these table settings and decorations is not impress anyone, I just want to create a home that people feel special and welcome and full (tummy and heart!). I wish you all lots of joy during this beautiful season!

Merry Christmas!

For more inspiration, you can visit the Glade® Social Hub here or their Facebook page here. You can also find special coupon offers by clicking here.

I invite you to participate in the giveaway below:

Glade Latina Holiday Sweepstakes

Gift Wrapping Made Easy

December 1, 2015 · by Maria · 8 Comments

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #StyleMyHoliday #CollectiveBias

I love all-things-Christmas – I’ve said it before. I like the music (although by the end of December, I’m ready for a new CD), the food, mailing and receiving Christmas cards, I like gift-buying and gift-wrapping. I think that gift wrapping becomes a chore because some of us leave it to the last-minute. I admit that I don’t wrap my boy’s gifts until a few nights before Christmas. Mostly because I don’t want them to see my stash of gifts before it’s time. When I wrap in a hurry, I don’t enjoy it as much.

Today I want to share with you my tips for wrapping gifts and keeping it fun and easy.

Start shopping and wrapping early

The first thing I do is make a list (I know that you are not surprised) of everyone that I am giving a gift to. I like to take my time and find the perfect gift for everyone but this takes me time. I honestly struggle with being thoughtful with gifts. I love to spontaneously gifts things, but when I have to buy something for an occasion, I go blank. Since I know myself, I will start adding ideas to this list months before Christmas. If anyone mentions they need new sandals “I take note” if they need a new watch “I take note”. Like I don’t literally take note in front of them because that’s awkward, I do try to write it down before I forget.

This year, I knew that my mom wanted a new watch. How did I know? She told me in September “I need a new watch” #StraightShooter. She has one that she uses everyday for work, but she wanted a sophisticated one for the weekend. I headed to Dillard’s and went straight for their watch section. By the way, I don’t go to the mall too often but every time I go I wonder why I don’t go more. Especially during the week, when the store is quiet and during the holidays when they go all out on the decorating! The store was in full Christmas style and it was beautiful. I thought I would even share a picture of that…

There were quite a few watches but I decided on this Anne Klein 3-piece box set. I love how it already has the matching bracelets and how classic this set is. It is fashionable but not too trendy, so my mom will be able to wear it for a long time. My mom (and mua) loves rose gold-tone jewelry and she loves sparkle – the Swarovski® crystals add just enough bling, which is exactly what she wants.

I know she will love it!

These beautiful watches are packaged in a box that are easy to wrap and as soon as I came home, that’s what I did. That is what I do when I buy gifts – I wrap them right away and skip the bows so that I can stack the boxes inside a cabinet. Once my tree is up and ready for gifts, I will add the bows and tags. In this case, I went ahead and added the bows because I wanted to share with you some easy gift-wrapping tips.

Create a gift wrapping station

I have shared with you how I organize my gift wrapping cabinet, but before I had that set-up, I had a large bin full of tissue, wrapping paper, bows, tape and a pair of good scissors. It makes wrapping a lot easier when everything is at hand.

Trim your paper the right size

I love those nice gift wrapping papers that have the grid outline on the inside. It is so much easier to cut straight using that grid, but in this case I followed the stripe outline which was visible on the underside of the paper.

Always fold the paper over your gift before you cut it, so that you don’t have too much leftover paper around your gift.

Use double-sided tape

I like to use either double-sided tape or invisible tape when wrapping gifts, this way you don’t see as many tape marks. Of course, that’s just me being picky but well…that’s just me. 🙂 Admittedly, when I am wrapping the boy’s gifts, I look like a madwoman and I would use purple tape, if that was handy!

Make sure that the seams are not at the very top, as that will be your main presentation area.

Make sure that the edges are sharp and tucked in.

Add embellishments to the gift wrapping paper

I love adding a thick lace, a paper doilies, a strip of another gift wrap paper or a piece of tissue on top of the gift-wrapped box. It’s all the textures and layers that make this gift wrap look fancy.

I added tissue paper that I folded lengthwise on top of the gold-striped paper.

I love the two different designs together that are “tied” by the same color.

Use ribbon instead of ready-made bows

I do use ready-made bows when I wrap the boys gifts. Geez, I feel horrible about the boy’s gifts… With everyone else’s gift, I like to finish off the wrapping with a ribbon. It makes such a difference! I purchase ribbon during the year when it goes on sale and especially after Christmas. It’s not that expensive and you don’t have to worry about crushed bows.

Add greenery to your gift

As if the pretty ribbon were not enough, this takes it over the top. It really makes the gift come to life when there is a little sprig of greenery attached to the gift. I often purchase bowl filler holiday bags and use the greenery for my gift wrapping.

I add a little embellishment to almost all my gifts. If bought in a large bags, these little sprigs are pennies.

Create your own gift tags

This is the time of the year that I actually use all those punches that I purchased years ago. Back when I told myself that I would scrapbook our memories weekly….sigh.

It is so easy to create your own gift tag or little gift accent by using punches, like the ones below.

Or you can print this free printable that I have created for you…

You can cut it as squares or as an imperfect circle, like me.

I then hole punched a little hole and fed a string through the opening, to add my tag.

Assign kids a specific gift wrapping color or print

One last tip – I have been doing this for a few years now and it’s one of my favorite tips. I still write the boys names on their gifts but I will usually pick one to two gift wrapping rolls per boy and tell them on Christmas morning which one is theirs. This way they all know which their gifts are and they don’t mistakenly open one of the adults gifts. I would hate for them to open one of those since those are the ones with the invisible tape and all.

I’m kidding.

I hope you all enjoyed these tips. I think this year I will kick up my wrapping for the boys because this post made me feel super guilty! Ha!

This is the finished product. Isn’t she pretty?

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful time of the year already. What color/colors of gift wrapping papers will you be using this holiday? Which of the Ann Klein Box Sets is your favorite?

Panettone Bread Pudding

December 1, 2015 · by Maria · 31 Comments

I have shared with you all how every year we host a Christmas Day breakfast in our home. It is a time that I look forward to every year because it is so much fun for the kids and the adults alike. We basically have an open door policy and our family knows that they don’t have to RSVP, they are just welcome to swing by during the morning…and there will be food and lots of it.

I make a few dishes the night before and I simply re-heat them in the morning. There are a few items that I will make on the spot, but mostly I like to relax and enjoy the morning with all my loves ones. I do like to balance out savory and sweet components in my food spread and one of the dishes that always makes it on the table is a bread pudding. Sometimes I make Ina Garten’s recipe for bread pudding that involves croissants (I love that woman and I love croissants!) and sometimes I like to make my panettone bread pudding because panettone is so perfect for Christmas.

That’s the recipe that I will be sharing with you today but there’s so much more! You see, I am joining a holiday blog tour full of amazing ideas from some of my favorite bloggers. My friend Sondra, over at Sondra Lyn at Home is hosting it, and it will be 5 days full of recipes and decor – you don’t want to miss it! You can find all the links (to the ones that have been published) at the end of this post.

Now back to the bread pudding! This recipe has evolved over time since I have taken some of my favorite bread pudding recipes and added and taken away, until I absolutely loved the finished product.

These are the ingredients for my favorite Christmas bread pudding:

Ingredients:

1 Panettone

5 Large egg yolks

3 Whole eggs

2 1/2 Cups of whole milk

2 1/2 Cups of half and half

2 Teaspoons of vanilla

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 Cup Hazelnuts (optional)

Steps:

Set the oven at 350 degrees F.

Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.

Cut the panettone into cubes.

The following step is optional, which is to toast the bread in the oven. If you enjoy a really soft bread pudding, you should skip this step and place the panettone cubes directly into the buttered baking dish. If you like a little texture in the bread, then go ahead and place the cubes on a sheet tray and then into the pre-heated oven for 7-1o minutes. I toasted mine this time, but either way it will be delicious.

Make the custard mix by whisking together the eggs (whole and yolks) whole milk, half and half, vanilla and sugar.

Arrange the panettone in the buttered dish and start to ladle the custard over the panettone.

Sprinkle 1 Cup of the semi-sweet chocolate chips over and in between the panettone cubes.

Press down on the dish to make sure that all the panettone is submerged in the custard. I use the back of a measuring cup to do this. Allow to rest for 15 minutes.

This is also optional, but if you are a texture fan like me, chop up a cup of hazelnuts for the final topping.

Sprinkle over the top.

Place the baking dish inside a larger pan and place about 2 inches of water in the larger pan. Do this carefully so that you don’t get any water in your dish.

Cover with aluminum foil and cut a few slits to allow the steam to escape while it’s cooking.

Place inside the oven for 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

Doesn’t that look crazy delicious?

Allow to cool a bit before serving. All your hard work will pay off soon…

For now, just stare at it. Take pictures of it. Take a selfie.

Then serve yourself a piece, because you deserve it.

Of course, it is delicious on it’s own and you don’t need to add anything to it. But why stop the indulgence now? You are on a roll, and you need to take this over the top by adding an amaretto sauce to your bread pudding. Yes, amaretto sauce…

#IJustFainted

#ICan’tEven

Making the amaretto sauce is so easy! I follow a recipe from Giada de Laurentiis and I didn’t change a thing:

1/2 Cup whipping cream

1/2 Cup whole milk

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup amaretto liqueur

2 Teaspoons of cornstarch.

Bring the cream, milk, and sugar to a boil in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, mix the amaretto and cornstarch to blend and then whisk into the cream mixture. Simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes.

You can make this a few days before you will serve it.

Seriously, this is so delicious and so perfect for Christmas morning. I hope you try it, I hope you love it!

Ready for more Holiday fun? Follow the hop that started yesterday and don’t forget to check back every day as the new posts will automatically update everyday at 7am EST/6am CST.

xo,

Maria

Welcome to the 2nd annual Home for the Holidays Blog Tour hosted by Sondra Lyn at Home. Wow, do we ever have a great week of holiday celebration ideas lined up for you!

Join us each day for inspiration from nearly 30 of the today’s finest blogs!

You’ll see everything from gorgeous decor to yummy holiday recipes… and everything in between! Here’s a look at what’s coming up this week:

Monday – Holiday Decor

featuring…

Just a Girl and Her Blog | Lilacs & Longhorns | What Meegan Makes

Windgate Lane | Worthing Court

Tuesday – Holiday Recipes

featuring…

Duke Manor Farm | Graceful Order | Rhubarb and Honey

Snappy Gourmet | The Happier Homemaker | Two Thirty-Five Designs

Wednesday – Mantles and Tablescapes

featuring…

Dandelion Patina | {Home-ology} modern vintage | Organize and Decorate Everything

Sondra Lyn at Home | StoneGable | The Everyday Home

Thursday – Holiday Crafts

featuring…

An Extraordinary Day | Cottage at the Crossroads | Making it in the Mountains

Our Southern Home | 2 Bees in a Pod | Two Purple Couches

Friday – Gifts and Wrapping

featuring…

Addison Meadows Lane | DIY180 | Domestically Speaking

My Creative Days | Southern State of Mind | unOriginal Mom

Be sure to check back every day this week to enjoy all the goodies we’ll be sharing with you! Each day’s links will be posted that day and will go live at 7am EST/6am CST, so don’t miss a single day!

Cause we all know…

there’s no place like…

Home for the Holidays!

Monday – Holiday Decor

Tuesday – Holiday Recipes

Wednesday – Holiday Mantels and Tablescapes

Thursday – Holiday Crafts

Friday – Holiday Gifts and Wrapping

Personalized Gifts for the Holidays

November 27, 2015 · by Maria · Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that I love personalized items and anything monogrammed. If it has a G on it, I’m buying it.

The holidays are the perfect time to gift items that are personalized. It’s a gift that has been thought of and ordered ahead of time and people appreciate that. Today I am partnering up with Walmart Photo to show you some beautiful gift ideas – all personalized and even better, some with a same-day turn around!

Personalized Calendars

Usually, the words personalized and same-day don’t co-exist. These beautiful calendars are an exception. Every year I gift my aunt and uncle a calendar with my boys’ pictures. They have it up in their kitchen year-round and it’s become a tradition to receive a new one for Christmas. I love them so much and they are amazing with our boys! I chose this really fun and earthy theme calendar because it blended well with my pictures, but you can find more same day calendars here. Also, they are on Rollback through 1/5/16 so a 8×11 calendar that was $17.47, is now $12. I can’t wait for July….

Or November. Be still my heart….

Personalized Ornaments

These are new this year at Walmart.com/photo and available for ordering in-store at the photo kiosk. They are available in various shapes and I chose the square. I rarely buy new ornaments anymore but this may be a new tradition as well.

Can’t wait to see it up on my big tree!

You can find more ornaments here .

Personalized Blankets

This blanket is Grandma’s Christmas gift. You know how it is…if it has a picture of the grandchildren, they will love it! I used the same picture for a few of these gifts but they will be in different homes so I won’t grow tired of them (the picture, not the boys).

There are so many blankets to choose from and you can browse through the blankets here. Also, Walmart.com/photo is running a 25% Rollback on all blankets through 1/5/2016.

I loved the gifts and I am glad that my family doesn’t keep up with my blog because otherwise this would need a spoiler alert. All these gifts were affordable and the quality was great. Here is some more info about Walmart Photo gifts: 3,500 Walmart Photo locations nationwide or order online at Walmart.com/photo. Many gifts available for free Same Day pick-up in store. Walmart.com/photo is offering free shipping on all cards + gifts through 12/30/15. Mobile Image Transfer in-store is quick + easy with the Fujifilm Kiosk Photo Transfer App or connect with cable at kiosk. This stationery card from Walmart Photo is the same quality at a lower price. What are your favorite personalized gifts for the holidays? You can follow them here: