A B&W PLAID AND GREEN THANKSGIVING

Is it really Thanksgiving week you guys? Just like every holiday, it feels like this one really snuck up on us. I just wanted to share a couple of "unbloggy" (that is my new word  for non photoshopped and under styled) photos of my tablescape. To give you all the low down, Thanksgiving is at my wonderful MIL's home. She recently broke her ankle and is recovering from surgery and 85% of my kitchen is packed up for our move, so we will be ordering in for the most part. I love doing a table every year, but this year had to be super simple and inexpensive. Between the dollar section at Target (holla!!) and what I had on hand, I was able to do something a little different. I knew I wanted plaid in there somewhere. I ended up going with a b&w plaid + green theme. Luckily, I found these uuuhmaaaazing placemats and water glasses in the dollar section. Literally, everything else is stuff that I have used years in the past. 

As for the centerpiece.... ha! Green apples and artichokes just seemed like the answer. No flowers over here this year. Super casual and perfect for us!

I took time to add a "thankful" tattoo to a black place card. I wrote to each guest letting them know what about them I was thankful for. It really is the better option for me because I am a crier, so I never make it when we go around the table to actually share what we are thankful for. Ha! Hope they like it! :)

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! There is NO doubt we are incredibly thankful for you all! 

Be sure and take advantage of our 30% shop discount here for the month to show our gratitude.

xo!

-J

GIFT GUIDE: HAND LETTERED RECIPES

 Most thoughtful holiday gift ever! 

Etsy shop, Alyssa Makes Something, creates custom prints from your own recipes! Just send her the recipe, and she will turn it into a treasured family heirloom. You can even get a digital copy to share with the whole family or even print on tea towels- wouldn't that be cute? Her hand lettered, watercolor recipes are the sweetest (pun intended) gifts you could give. Turnaround time is 1-2 weeks for the original print and 3-4 weeks for the digital version. It's first come first serve, so get on it, people! Alyssa is a working mama just like us. We love supporting small businesses and momtrepreneurs!

I had this challah print above made for my mom. It is the BEST. The recipe is actually by our close family friend, Carol, so of course, she and her daughters are getting a print too! Carol made this challah for everyone at my wedding. Like every single table got one. Seriously. Not only do I love eating it, but I love the memories we have surrounding it. Friday nights with family and friends, eating this soft, chewy bread, spread with butter or dipped in honey... drool. Every time my mom would make challah, the whole house was filled with the smell of baking bread! That's probably my favorite smell in the whole world. That and my newborn babies. Equally delicious. 

Full recipe below.

RECIPE: 

Mom's Famous Challah

INGREDIENTS

2 tsp honey
1 pkg yeast
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 c sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
4 c bread flour
1 egg yolk

Dissolve 1 tsp honey in 1/2 c. warm water in large mixing bowl which has been rinsed with hot water. 

Sprinkle yeast on top, mix, let stand 10 min.
Stir in oil, 1/2 c. warm water, sugar, 1 tsp honey, salt, eggs, and 2 c. flour. Beat well. 

Stir in remaining 2 c. flour. Dough will be sticky. 

Knead 2-3 minutes with a bread hook attachment or turn onto a floured board and knead. 

Round up in greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 2 hrs. Gently put finger in top; if dough stays indented, it's finished. If it bounces back, continue to rise.

Punch down, cover, let rise again 45 min. 

Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Divide into three sections and loosely braid*, tucking in the ends. 

Cover, rise 20-30 minutes. 

Brush with beaten egg yolk and 1 tsp water. Optional: sprinkle with poppy seeds. 

Bake 400 degrees 15 min. Put a toothpick in the center of a braid and check for doneness. My mom and I like to under bake it just a tad so it doesn't dry out- we like it a tiny bit gooey but it's all to your preference.

Eat! Delicious with butter and/or honey. Perfect the next morning for french toast.

*Traditional challahs are braided in one row as shown in the watercolor print. On holidays or special occasions, it's made into a circle. I actually prefer to bake in a circle because the width is consistent all the way around and will bake more evenly.
*I used THIS hair tutorial for a 4 strand braid lol!!

I also had this recipe made for a surrogate mom, Karla, who always bakes for our family!! Her cinnamon spice bread is my FAV. You have to try it.

Alyssa killed it on these prints! On to order more......

Now stop reading and go bake these recipes!

-L

HOLIDAY PHOTOSHOOT - OUTFITS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

I think we all sort of cringe a little when we think about dressing up our resistant kids (and husband!) in fancier clothes and convince them to smile like they love taking photos. Just me? But honestly, it's totally worth it in the end. I don't always appreciate this stage in my life. The messy, whiney, poopy, busy days that just fly by without noticing any of the details. I'm too tired or stressed or frustrated to really take it all in. Seeing these photos (captured by the BRILLIANT and talented Kate Davis) will always be a fierce reminder of the beauty of our little family in this moment. 

With each photo we saw, we ooooh-ed and aaaahhh-ed and laughed, and omg-ed! Kate knocked it out. of. the. park. She made us feel right at ease, especially the boys! Max nicknamed her Katesadilla. I'm obsessed with her fashion blogger photos and love that casual feel more than the stiff posed look. I also loved taking pics around town instead of in nature like we normally do. Gotta love a good white background! This was shot all behind and to the side of Draper James and at Las Paletas. Ending the photoshoot with popsicles was basically the only way we got the kids through it!

Aside from finding the best photographer in Nashville (duh: Kate Davis) the next step is figuring out what to wear! Coordinating NOT matching is my personal preference. My best tip is to go into one store and use their color palette for the season. I guarantee they have similar colors in different patterns and textures that will be perfect for the whole fam. Start with yourself first. Find what YOU look best and feel comfortable in, then you can plan around everyone else. Selfish? Maybe. But kids and dudes look good in pretty much anything right? 

I've linked everyone's outfits at the bottom of the post in case you want to go with our red, tan, and blue color palette!

 OUTFIT LINKS

Leah: poncho / dress (H&M in-store only) / boots or similar

Jeffrey: shirt (H&M in-store only) / jeans / shoes

Ari: shirt and sweater (H&M in-store only)  / jeans / shoes

Max: shirt and sweater (H&M in-store only) / jeans and suspenders / shoes

Goooood luck, Mamas!

-L

GRAND OPENING AT MAGNOLIA MARKET SILOS

Raise your hand if you're a Fixer Upper junkie!! We at Love & Lion are total fangirls. We marathon the HGTV show and make our husbands watch too! Actually, it only took one episode to get them addicted. Chip and Jo are just SO SO GOOD. And such great people too!

I (Leah) was fortunate enough to attend their grand opening of Magnolia Market at the Silos this past weekend! My best friend from college got us tickets to go as a girls trip! Sometimes you just need those weekends away from our 5 combined children to actually get a whole conversation in, ya know? We met in Dallas on our layover, got on the plane for Waco and... it was cancelled. Torrential rain and strong winds meant that everyone was stranded! There were no rental cars left, so we had to cab it to a neighboring airport, rent a car, and drive in rush hour traffic to make it on time... well actually we got there after the party had already started! We were laughing the whole time about what a hot mess we were in- thankful to go through that with my bestie! We were Thelma and Louise!

In probably the biggest news in our little Etsy shop, we were honored to have our tattoos at the Silobration event! One of our sweet customers, Brittany Baker, hooked it all up --thank you!!-- We would like to say that we didn't jump up and down and call each other freaking out.... but we did.

Here are a few photos of my quick 24 hour trip! Not too many pictures of me, because after traveling all day in the pouring rain, I literally looked like I melted. Scary.

The silos were situated next to the shop and in between the two was a large space of turf and plenty of picnic tables. There's a large barn-like space to the left and a small building to the right of the silos... the sign said "Something sweet coming in 2016", so my only guess is a bakery? If that's the case, I could probably just live in this combined space and never leave.

Right at the front door was a "welcome" sign perfect for all of us instagramers! You can see everyone's pics at #magnoliawelcome. DYING to do this to my own floor at home!!

The shop is STUNNING, people! Everywhere you look, there's a well curated table of goodies you suddenly must have for your home! Gorgeous, thoughtful displays and beautiful fixtures in every corner of the shop.

One of the most impressive things about the shop was the PEOPLE! Every person was just so friendly and happy to help! I could not get over it! And I live in the south. It was like some wonderfully happy cult that I wanted to join. Magnolia Market knows how to do it right. Joanna's mom actually checked me out at the register. Love that it was a family affair!

Here are our tattoos! Eek! They set up a tattoo bar and had employees help everyone get tatted up!

When we sent the tattoos, we also sent these face tats of Chip and Jo... hope they didn't get too creeped out LOL!

On to the party! 

Johnnyswim (whom we are both HUGE fans of) performed and blew everyone's minds. They're also suuuuper gorgeous. And talented. And nice! What a combo. Then Joanna gave a beautiful speech and said Chip had hurt his back so he wasn't able to come. Psych! He repelled down from the silo, naturally. Chip and Jo were so sweet, humble, grateful, and funny together on stage. They sang a song (hilariously off key) with Johnnyswim and even brought Jimmy Don and Clint Harp on stage thanking them for their work on the show! I could not wipe the smile off my face. It's incredible to see such successful people be so down-to-earth and thankful of where they are in life.

My bestie, Meredith, and me trying not to look like we traveled for 9 hours in the pouring rain.

The next morning before our drive back to Dallas, we woke up early and hit Common Grounds coffee. The owners were on the show and it was one of our favorite home transformations! Common Grounds is cute as can be. It was eclectic, cozy, and even had a huge outdoor space in the back for concerts and parties! The coffee was out-of-control good. I got the "no bull" which had their chocolatey secret sauce. Again, if there was a cult, I would join.

Obsessed with this sign attached to Common Grounds! Verdict: YES. 

Waco, you are positively charming! Can't wait to visit again and see the rest of the sites!

-L