Hi, Everyone!
I hope you all had a fantastic holiday. I’m still on my break, but I wanted to hop on here today to share some photos from this past week. This isn’t going to be a standard recap post, just a collection of photos with a few captions! I always forget to share after Christmas, and by the time New Year comes around, I’m over the holiday content.
I had the most relaxing few days. I baked so many desserts, spent time with my parents, went on walks, finished home projects, and caught up on a lot of movies. I focussed on doing things that made me happy this past week, and this Christmas was one of the best ones yet. After closing up here, I will head out on a walk and then finish up a closet project. Believe it or not, but I’m turning my closet into a capsule wardrobe! I find that having too many clothes and colors gives me too much stress when it comes to my closet, so I’m making some changes! Salmon salad from Spice Restaurant in Kingsley Zoe’s Kitchen grilled chicken and shrimp salad to fuel me from my baking spree! Decorating my frosted sugar cookies (recipe here)White chocolate and milk chocolate oreo balls (recipe here) I’m officially addicted to making fudge!
Christmas cookie and dessert boxes!
I’ll be sharing my lemon linzer cookies soon. Date night at Napa in Kingsley. Plating dessert for the neighbors! We wanted to keep Christmas Eve dinner super simple, so I made salads, risotto, coconut shrimp, and roasted salmon. We usually do crab legs, but I wanted to change it up this year. They LOVED getting all the gifts on Christmas. Cutest pillow from our neighbors. Homemade cinnamon rolls! I’ll be updating the recipe for these on the blog. PERFECTION
I also made a delicious quiche to go with the cinnamon rolls. We made another simple dinner for Christmas Day. Instead of having our go-to lasagna, We made grilled steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Yum! And I’m such a grinch. Kyle and I had the house back to its minimal shell by noon. Until next year! I feel so relaxed with fewer things around. I’ve been making and packing up my granola to send out to my brother and Kyle’s sister. Kyle and I ended our evening at our favorite spot for dinner, Killington’s, and then watched LA LA Land before bed!
I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas! ♥️ I’ll see you next year!
Questions for you
- How long do you keep your decorations up?
- Did your holiday plans change this year?
Sarah says
How long I keep my decorations up tends to change every year. I think I’ll leave them up until the new year this year. Our holiday plans were definitely different this year. We didn’t get together with extended family at all, only our immediate family this year. I am so excited to see your capsule wardrobe! That’s something I’ve thought about many times, but I’ve never done it.
Taralynn McNitt says
I have thought about it too and have tried, but I’M LOVING it so far!!
Shelby says
Please can you document/share about your capsule wardrobe process! I am very intrigued because I’ve considered doing something similar. I hate having a cupboard full of clothes but feeling like I have nothing to wear. Have a happy new year! Your blog remains one of my FAVORITE and I love following along ♡
Taralynn McNitt says
I’ve shared some pics on Instagram but I will definitely share a blog about it!!
Lauren says
Hi Taralynn,
Just curious what happened to vlogmas? I loved your content this year and I was sad to see it stop 🙁
Taralynn McNitt says
I’m going to do a video about it.
Honestly, this year, I felt extremely overwhelmed and Vlogmas was adding so much stress. Even though the videos were so chill, I had to film after a day of work, stay up all night editing, loading it to YouTube and I felt like I couldn’t enjoy my December. I didn’t want to quit but I knew that I was going to be stressed the entire December and all I wanted to do after working or on the weekends was go sit at a restaurant with Kyle or watch a movie without my phone/computer.
Jennifer says
Mine were also down the day after Christmas! I feel super claustrophobic by the time it’s all over haha
Only slightly! It’s usually just my immediate family anyway with the exception of Christmas eve – we did not go over to my Grandma’s this year. Sad, but also nice to change it up!
Taralynn McNitt says
You and me both, girl!
Hopefully next year you’ll get to see your grandma! ♥️
Ashton Jury says
Glad you had a nice Christmas! Thanks for sharing such fun photo’s! I love all the cookies you made! All your food looks delicious and I hope you’ll post another video/tutorial of your granola variations! I love making granola!
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks, Ashton! I hope you had a great Christmas!
Katie says
What happened to Vlogmas?
Taralynn McNitt says
It was just too much on my plate this year. I was constantly tired/stressed, so I made the decision to enjoy my decemeber.
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Merry Christmas, Taralynn! Looks like you had a great time! ❤️✨
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Taralynn McNitt says
Merry Christmas! ♥️
Anna says
Wow, you do have a lot of clothes. Ive been living with minimal clothes for long period now, year now i think. I would say that I have about 20 clothing items, sometimes I think its way too low but it seems to work. A lot more washing though.
Very interested to see how you do it.
Have a lovely end of the year.
Taralynn McNitt says
♥️ have a great NY!
Milena says
Hi Taralynn!
It was so nice to see your Christmas pictures here 🙂 I completely understand the reasons why you decided to stop Vlogmas and just enjoy December. We are all humans! I think it’s really important to not force anything and create content without being overwhelmed, otherwise it’s just too much. Short break is good from time to time 🙂 I also took a Christmas break from blogging and instagram posting and it feels good!
We keep our Christmas decorations until half of January more or less 🙂
Our plans… I am super happy because we managed to travel to Poland! So my boyfriend could see how Polish Christmas Eve looks like. We spent time with my family and it was the first time we spent Christmas together as a couple, so it was a very special Christmas to me.
Happy New Year and bug hugs from Barcelona! <3
Taralynn McNitt says
Thanks, Milena!!!
You are so sweet and thank you for that kind note. I’m glad you took a much-needed break yourself!
I cannot wait to read your Poland blog!!(hoping you blogged/blogging it!) I’ll be checking in over there!
Havee a great day!
Jen says
Merry Christmas!
Taralynn McNitt says
Merry Christmas!
Victoria lemieux says
This year I made it until the day after Christmas taking everything down. Normally I have it all down by Christmas night but our power was out all day, which definitely made for an interesting Christmas. I was wondering if you were going to post a pic of the house with the garage doors done!?!?! ♥️♥️
Taralynn McNitt says
I have posted some updates on my Instagram @cottagestory account! Once the grass is green and the flowers are growing back, i’ll do an updated photo! Right now, the yellow grass and winter flowers has me going ehhhhh lol
Daphne West says
Just watching your Vlogmas videos! 😀 Just wanted to let you know that if you throw Epsom salt in the shower, it just goes down the drain. The benefits of the salt is for soaking in the tub to release the magnesium and sulfate and then they absorb through your skin. If you want to get the benefits in the shower you could make a scrub!
Hope you enjoy! Peace and joy to your family from mine. -Daph
Karen says
I’m so happy you had a nice Christmas.
Please, please, please share how you bake and not overindulge yourself in the goodness. I love to bake and as you do I share a lot of it with others but I still overindulge in the process (plus I receive baked goods from others). Do you just have really strong willpower….what is your mindset?
Christmas baking is behind us but other celebrations are still ahead. I’d really like to know how you manage.
Tarin says
We only saw immediate family this year instead of having large gatherings. It was sad to not see extended family I rarely spend time with, but it was also a nice change of pace to get more one-on-one time with our parents.
I switched to a capsule wardrobe when I got married & moved in with my husband a couple of years ago. It was the best decision ever. I love not having to put so much thought into my clothing choices & having less clutter in my closet.
Taralynn McNitt says
Yes! I agree. The past few nights getting ready and even just to go ooutside for a walk, my clothes have been right there in front of me! No more digging or massive piles of laundry.
Ashley says
I’m excited to read about your capsule wardrobe! Are you planning on selling your clothes? I love your style and would love to buy some off of poshmark or another website.
Taralynn McNitt says
I think so!! I may sell them on my blog’s shop!