Festive Drinks for a Christmas Party from around the World

Christmas is almost around the corner, and if you simply can’t wait to take part in all those incredible parties and family gatherings – welcome to the club! Apart from giving and receiving a bunch of wonderful gifts and eating some delicious homemade meals, there’s one more thing that’s typical of the holiday season– tasty drinks that can instantly put you into a festive mood. Here are three of them that are adored all around the globe, so check them out and have at least one of them this Christmas! The delicious Italian Bombardino If you ask the Italians, a warming glass of Bombardino is at the top of the must-drink list when it comes to the holiday season, which makes this tasty drink the most popular one in this part of Europe. Basically, it’s a combo of brandy and the egg-based … [Read more...]

The TMC Holiday Gift Guide

I did it again. I created a TMC Holiday Gift Guide.  You've been warned. There are no gift ideas here for the man in your life. Why? Because quite frankly every time I look at one of those guides or show one to H he says, "This is all stuff I would never want and never need. I want a snowblower or running gear, not shaving accessories. I swear to God, Vicky, if I see another toiletry bag as a gift I'm going to shiv someone." #twopeasinapod   Let's start with the kids gift guide, shall we?   Holiday Gift Guide for Kids by victoriamason featuring paper placemats Mega Bloks American Girl Isabelle Ballet Recital/Exploding Kittens: A Card Game About Kittens and Explosions and Sometimes Goats/American Girl Wellie Wisher (Willa shown)/Carter's Pajamas/Seedling Snow … [Read more...]

Home for the Holidays

Each year we spend Christmas at home.  Family visits and with three kids we really enjoy a relaxed time the comes from being home for the holidays. This is our second Christmas in our new home and it has undergone more changes in the last few months.  We finally said good-bye to the last of the outdated, late 90's burgundy and gold-brown walls that permeated the house and hello to a spruced up and lighter palette of blues and greens and grays. Our house is really beginning to feel like our home. Day one of decorating. We needed new things to go with the new paint colors throughout the house. We quickly realized how lucky we are that Garnet Hill sent us new stockings for this Christmas from their Hable Christmas Stocking collection. They match perfectly with the new paint … [Read more...]

Deck the Halls with Darth Vader

H and I had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party to go to last weekend.  It was our first neighborhood party and the first time either one of us has actually had to go out and buy one of these ugly sweater things. In keeping with the spirit of the holiday and the fact that it was the opening weekend for the latest Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, which we saw earlier in the day, I went for it. Deck the Halls with Darth Vader and all that, right? Post-movie bliss. We ALL loved it!   I found just the right mix of holiday festive ugliness mixed with Star Wars awesome. The cashier at Target said to me, "You look like the actress from 'Gone Girl'! 'Gone Girl' buying an ugly Christmas sweater."  To be fair, the sweater was actually labeled that way.  I laughed and said to her, "It isn't … [Read more...]

The American Girl Gift Guide

Every year my girls and I put together a collection of our favorite items to create the American Girl gift guide. This year is no different. Just like I would get into a flurry of excitement when the big Sears catalog would arrive each Christmas, my girls do the same thing with the holiday American Girl doll catalog.  Each one spends hours, sometimes days, looking over each item and deciding if she should mark it with her initial.  This year, the littlest one circled everything and freaked out when anyone else wanted the same toy. She was convinced only one person could have each gift. Our picks for the 2015 holiday season are a mix of accessories and clothing and broken down by age.  This was the first year I noticed a shift in what my oldest daughter daughter wanted and I had to … [Read more...]

Liquid & Lace

It's been a full round of get-together's, parties and time with friends and family. And I'm still on my whole "DO NOT BUY ANYTHING UNTIL AFTER CHRISTMAS!" rule. Yeah, that's working um..so-so. Using items I already have in my closet and mixing and matching is like giving my clothes a second chance and a gift at a new look and life, right? Isn't that the Christmas spirit or I have not eaten enough due to the flu running through my family and I'm just talking crazy? I love the idea of liquid leggings and lace this time of year. The look can work for many occasions and these leggings from Zappos are fleece-lined! Perfect for this time of year. Together and with different shoes and accessories you can wear it over and over again all the way to New Year's Eve.   Liquid … [Read more...]

Cyber Monday Deals

As I tell my kids at least once a day, usually when we are trying to get out the door for school, "Vite, vite! Allons-y, maintenant!" Translation: Quick, quick! Go, now! That's how I feel about Cyber Monday too. Honestly, Black Friday never got me all squee! excited. I love the armchair deals I can find straight off the Internets. So, without further adieu! CYBER MONDAY DEALS ON TMC! … [Read more...]

American Girl Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are all about being personal.  I don't do that very much on TMC, at least not anymore.  Call me nostalgic but I get that way about American Girl. When American Girl, then Pleasant Company, debuted in the mid-80's I was ten years-old. My Dad knew that my love of history and dolls would just swoon over the catalog. He was right. It was love at first sight. I earmarked the Samantha pages but loved reading the details about all the dolls, which at the time was only three.  My wish for more than a few Christmases was for the Samantha doll.  It's one of the many reasons I do an American Girl gift guide each holiday season. Source: museumofplay.org See that girl reading to her Samantha doll?  That was what I wanted many a Christmas morning. … [Read more...]

Our Holiday Gift Ideas with American Girl

Disclosure:  TMC was not paid for this post.  Products received are for review purposes only.  Opinions are TMC's only.    Three girls with three hearts devoted to American Girl means we spend a lot of time going through each and every American Girl catalog that comes to our house.  That catalog is like the big fat Sears catalog was to me when I was growing up.  They spend hours circling things, discussing items and talking about who they imagine they will give so many of the dolls and accessories to, if only they had an unlimited bank account.  This year I rounded up the girls and asked them to tell me their top three items they would like to receive or give to friends. … [Read more...]

Scenes From A Weekend- Breaking the Mold

Sometimes you need to move out of your comfort zone. For H that means breaking the mold and love of home parties for the kids. For me and The Fifth Element it means going to a place like Chuck E. Cheese where we have to interact with lots of people, deal with various types of spaces, colors, loud sounds and music and a whole mash-up of multiple whirling activities all at once for hours on end. Heaven for The Comedian getting her birthday party wish, but harder to navigate for The Fifth Element and I and our SPD issues. Feeling perfectly at home even with a large jersey-wearing mouse. … [Read more...]