Christmas Grazing Table

This is honestly one of my favorite things that I have ever put together.. I love the way that it turned out! I’ve said this before but I think that when you have guests its hard to gage when people are hungry and I like having food around to snack on that people don’t feel weird about grabbing. It is so easy to put something like this {of any size} together that people can pick and choose what they like and don’t like and then you aren’t having to worry about making something that everyone will want to eat. Here is my Christmas Grazing Table!

The Setup

The decor that is on the table is 100% from Target! They are all old but you could easily find new versions of these things. The trees I found at the dollar spot along with most of the houses. The jingle bells, lighted garland and the pine cones are from the Christmas area of Target and then there are a couple of the houses that are Hearth and Hand!

The food

Cheeses

Brie Wheel

Manchego Cheese

Red Wine Soaked Goat Cheese

Dijon Herb Rubbed Fontina 

Dubliner Cheese

Aged Cheddar

Cabot Clothbound Cheddar 

Havarti Cheese

Blue Cheese

Vermont Extra Sharp Cheddar

Mozzarella Balls

Meats

Prosciutto

Genoa Salami

Pepperoni

Chorizo

Extras 

Marcona Almonds

Table Crackers

Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers

Macaroons

Pistachios

Cranberries

Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

White Elephant Gifts under $30

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My Christmas Wishlist

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Gift ideas for the Disney Lover

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Gift Guide for Husbands

Gift Guides for Husbands

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Gift Guide for the VIPKID Teacher

Gift Guide for the VIPKID Teacher

I have been a VIPKid teacher for about 3 months now and it is seriously the best job! I love teaching those kids so much. I plan to do a full blog post on my classroom must haves but that post won’t come until the new year. I wanted to share allllll of the adorable things that I have found that are specifically for VIPKid teachers {spoiler alert, there are SO MANY cute things}!

One thing that I wanted to add to this list that didn’t make it on the image for the gift guide is a Teachers Pay Teachers gift card! I get about 90% of my props and rewards from Teachers Pay Teachers and there are many props I would love to use but they cost money! If I had a gift card I could snag some of those props on my wishlist. I’m sure I’m not the only VIPKid teacher that feels this way! You can grab a gift card for your favorite teacher here.

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Gift Guide for the Gamer

Gift Guide for the Gamer

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Black Friday Favorites

Happy Black Friday! I will be putting all of the sale roundups that I find here in this blog post and I will let you know as I update them!

Here are the retailers that I have done in order!

1. Target

2. Sephora

Target

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Sephora

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Wayfair

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5 Tips to Get Your Guest Room Ready for Guests

At this point, it feels like each blog post I start, I say something along the lines that Dustin and I love to host people. We love having people over, entertaining, feeding people and enjoying their company. Two weekends ago we had my sister and her boyfriend come stay with us for a few days and it was a blast! This past weekend, Dustin’s friend came into town for a few days. Now, this weekend we have more family coming into town!

Living halfway across the country isn’t always great for when you are wanting to grab dinner with your parents but the plus side of this is that when you do get to see your friends and family, it is special! Its uninterrupted time with the people you care about. Now I am just rambling but the point of my ramble is that when I have people coming to visit, I want things to be prepared and ready for them to get here so that when they are here we get to just enjoy the time!

Today I am sharing 5 ways to get your guest bedroom and really your whole apartment or house ready to have those guests there.

1. I like to make sure that I have things on hand that our guests will probably need but might have forgotten. For example I buy things like extra toothbrushes, contact solution, makeup remover/wipes, lotion, razors, dry shampoo and hairspray. There are some other things that I keep in the bathroom rather than the guest room like Advil, Tylenol, Tums, tampons/pads and other things that they might not have or forgot but also depending on the guest, they may not want to ask for!

2. A laundry basket for dirty towels and clothes, if they are staying for awhile they might want to do a load of laundry! A table of sorts so they can put their suitcase on something and not bend over all the time to dig around in their luggage, we have our old tv stand in the guest bedroom and it works perfectly. Lastly, a spot to hang things! We just give our guests access to the closet in the guest bedroom to hang things if they need.

3. Fresh towels and linens! I think the day that I became a true adult was the day that we officially had two sets of sheets for our bed and the guest bed{full transparency that we literally just got extra sets of sheets a week ago…. sooooooo yeah}. I LOVE the feeling of getting into a fresh, clean bed but I HATE having our bed unmade all day long while the sheets get washed. I know this is nothing new but I had a serious AHA moment when I started just swapping them when I took them off the bed. Especially with having guests back to back to back, having a change of sheets made it so much easier!

4. Have things on hand that they like! For example, my sister and her boyfriend both drink Dr. Pepper, I made sure to have that on hand for them to have while they are here. Another thing to pay attention to is is they have any allergies! My sister is allergic to dairy and we made sure that she could eat each meal.

5. Having a cozy and homey space for them to escape! When we are traveling or visiting family I love being able to have a spot in the place I am visiting to sit in silence for a minute.. probably the introvert in me talking but sometimes a girl just needs a nap or to sit by myself. Even if your guests are sleeping on the couch, being aware that you should give them time to recharge. I think that art makes a space feel more warm and inviting, not to mention interesting! It can be a great conversation starter. I love the art that is in our guest bedroom, I will link to the seller here! The pieces are amazing, I seem to find something new in the art every time I look at them.

I hope you guys found these helpful and will make your lives easier as well. I will leave you with two things.. Having an extra set of sheets will make your life easier. Number 2, having all of those extra things on hand for your guest could/will come in handy when you run out of toothpaste one morning and realize that you have an extra tube in the guest bathroom!

5 Things to do in Thailand

สวัสดี(hello in Thai)! My name is Chloe Hartley, I am Emma’s sister, and a travel enthusiast! I have been to 40 states and 7 countries, which is a lot considering I am only 17! I love traveling and can’t wait to share my tips and experiences with you! I hope that you have fun reading! One of my favorite trips so far has been Thailand {so much that I’ve been twice}, here are the things that I love doing when I visit.

1. See a movie - They have the best stuff at movie theaters, from five different types of popcorn to twenty different movies to reclining massage chairs, at a very low cost you are going to have a good time at a Thailand movie theater!

2. Bua Thong Waterfall - Thailand is a tropical place, any outdoor thing you do will be a memorable experience!! One of my favorites was climbing Sticky Falls. It is made of limestone and the rocks have a sticky like texture. This is a fun event to go climb this beautiful natural creation.

3. Spend the day with elephants!
ELEPHANTS!! Thailand is known for their animals, mainly the elephants and monkeys. I have gone to elephant sanctuaries while in Thailand. This is an all day experience, it is so fun and you feel connected to the elephants. It makes for a great day! Make sure you are finding an ethically responsible sanctuary!

4. Eat authentic Thai Food - Yes, Thailand is known for its beautiful sights and animals. But it is also known for the food! From Boba tea to soups and a variety of other fun foods. You should try EVERYTHING! I was skeptical at first but really there wasn’t anything that I tried that I didn’t end up liking!

5. Visit a night market
Night markets are a must, you can find so many fun trinkets and things to bring home for yourself as well as friends and family. You can also get fun foods, make travel arrangements for excursions like riding elephants, and usually they are connected to a mall with a movie theater!!}