What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? + Foodie Penpals

Hi all! After a bunch of days off, today I'm heading into work for the day (boo!) and then seeing the tree at Rockefellar Center and having dinner with a group of my favorite ladies (yay!)! I'm so excited!! It's an annual tradition and it's so fun to look forward to directly after Christmas...it's like Christmas is still a thing, even though it's passed.

 

On another note, tomorrow is New Year's Eve! I have a serious love/hate relationship with New Year's, and definitely with New Year's Eve in general, but I am excited for 2012. I think it's going to be a great year! As usual, Shaun and I don't have much planned. We will probably make a bunch of food at home, watch a movie, and then head over to a party that our building is throwing (down the hall!). I love this because it means no driving on the most dangerous night of the year, no crowds at New York City bars, and no spending a whole lotta $$$ on overpriced pre fixe dinners. What are you doing for New Year's Eve?

Oh, and I found this sweet little video that you've probably already seen, but I'm sharing it anyway because it makes me happy :) I love ZoDash (can we make that a thing?) and Joseph Gordon Levitt...they are just too cute and this song is so sweet...

Today is also Foodie Penpal reveal day! Foodie penpals was started by the lovely Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean. Lindsay is one of my favorite bloggers turned friend. Her blog is filled with healthy food and she is just oh so sweet! Foodie Penpals is a way for bloggers and non-bloggers to join up every month and get paired with another person. You prepare a box of goodies (no more than $15 worth) and send to your match on a specified date. You then also receive a box of goodies from another person. It is so fun to not only receive a box of surprise goods, but to also put together a box of fun stuff for another. If you want to join up for next month, be sure to check out Lindsay's blog for more details!

Meanwhile, I got a whole lotta delicious and wonderful things from Rachel @ My Naturally Frugal Family! I was so excited to receive this box of goodies and have enjoyed everything single thing inside it.

I opened the box to find an incredibly sweet Christmas card...

...milk chocolate almond toffee pieces (which Shaun and I devoured immediately) and avocado oil kettle chips

I adore all of the fun chips that Rachel included...like these kale chips and sweet potato chips!

a pumpkin cheeseball mix...I think I will be making this for New Year's Eve! Yum!

some Justin's chocolate peanut butter...I could eat this stuff by the gallon with a spoon...

and my very favorite item of the bunch...Biscoff spread! I had been wanting to try this stuff for a while but somehow hadn't gotten around to it! It's delicious!

and here's the money shot...

So there you have it. All of my yummy penpal goodies. Thank you Rachel!

I hope you all have a fantastic (and very safe!) New Year's!

What are YOU doing New Year's Eve?

xo,

Rachel

PS - Thank you for all of your sweet comments on my Christmas Eve dress! I put together a little fashion breakdown for you below:

Dress: Urban Outfitters

Long cardigan: Nordstrom

Black round-toe pumps: BCBG via Neiman Marcus Last Call

Tights: Duane Reade

Bangles: Alexis Bittar

My Holiday To-Make List + November Foodie Penpals

One of my favorite things about the impending holiday is the copious amount of baking that I get to partake in.

Last year, I spent an entire day in December baking with my mom. We set up both of our stand mixers and went to town until her beautiful kitchen looked like this:

To me, it's simply not Christmas without cookies. For as long as I can remember, I've baked holiday cookies with my mom before Christmas and this year will be no exception. Next weekend, the baking shall commence! Of course, we have a list of our 'regulars' that must grace our Christmas party every year, but I also have a few things that I want to add to the mix this year, if not on our baking day, but at some point during the season.

Our 'Regulars':

Thumbprints (filled with raspberry jam)

Chocolate Cherry Kisses

Chocolate Crinkles/Snowflakes

Butter Cookie Cutouts

Eggnog Snickerdoodles

Seven Layer Italian Rainbow Cookies (a first for us last year, but one that is now in the permanent collection!)

We also add a few new ones in the mix to try. Last year it was Mama Pea's peanut butter dough balls, malted sandwich cookies, and red velvet sandwich cookies with white chocolate buttercream!

our cookie tray from Christmas '10

On My 'To Add' List (so far):

Marshmallows (perhaps of the peppermint persuasion)

Salted Caramels (I have a recipe I've been eyeing!)

Gingerbread Cupcakes

Something with eggnog

I'm sure I'll have more as I start scouring magazines, cookbooks and Pinterest! I can't wait to start on some baking this weekend! With so many holiday parties and gatherings coming up this month, I have no doubt that the goodies will be put to good use :)

On another fun note, today is the November Foodie Pen Pal Reveal Day! This is my first time participating and it was incredibly fun! Thanks so much to Lindsay @ The Lean Green Bean for putting this together...what a fantastic idea. For my first pen pal, I received a box of goodies from Emily @ As Dreams Become Reality. I am so happy to have found Emily and her blog because she is simply adorable and we clearly have similar tastes, based on her care package :) I opened the box to find her sweet note...

So incredibly thoughtful to not only send me lots of pumpkin & peanut butter goodies but to also include Shaun! Very sweet :) Let's take a peek at the goods, shall we?

In the mix: Trader Joe's pumpkin butter, pumpkin spice granola & tempting trail mix, Clif MoJo bars in mountain mix & pb pretzel, some Tazo tea bags in calm and cinnamon spice and some pb packets, including Justin's & PB & Co.

Wow! Isn't that a great mix of goods? You know I dug right into all of it, especially that pumpkin butter! How perfect for the season. I also thoroughly enjoyed the Clif bars post workout this past weekend :) Thanks so much to Emily for such a great box of goodies!!

If you want to learn more about Foodie Penpals, or to join up, check out Lindsay's blog today for info, and also for a whole lotta links to other Penpal write ups!

So there you have it! Lots of fun and yummy things happening this week in the Humiston house :)

Questions of the Day:

What's on your baking list this season? Anything I should be including on my list?

Have you ever had a pen pal? I had a French pen pal in middle school via my French class. It was so cool to get letters from a girl my age in another country!