Happy New Year! Well technically happy January 4th but close enough! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was fabulous, full of family and joy and FOOD. My parents and sister came to town to spend Christmas with us and having them here along with Robert’s whole family was really a special treat!

They got to experience some of the fun Christmas traditions we do with Robert’s family like his mom’s fun Christmas Eve Birthday Lunch where everyone wears Santa hats.

And the most beautiful Christmas day dinner hosted by our Aunt Vanessa.

Her place settings included a special ornament for everyone which was so creative and thoughtful!

After being told at my 36 week Dr’s appointment the Friday before Christmas that I was already 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced and that they wouldn’t be surprised if the baby came within the week…we are still waiting and not much appears to have changed

On the bright side, it did cause us to hurry up and get all of our baby gear assembled and hospital bags (half way) packed. So we are “ready”, and now we wait…and wait…and wait. Luckily I have found plenty of ‘nesting’ activities to keep me busy. Besides the usual laundering and cleaning, I put all of our Christmas decor away and completed an easy Christmas card craft!

I LOVE getting Christmas cards from family and friends, especially photo cards! I also hate the thought of tossing them out post holiday, it seems like such a waste! So a few years ago I came up with this idea to save my cards…just in case I ever get extra nostalgic and want to flip through them all (which I do every year!).

All you need for this craft is a hole punch and a set of loose leaf rings. I bought mine in a pack from Michaels but I’m sure you can find them at Staples or on Amazon.

Since I am OCD I order all my cards by size and then punch the holes in the upper left hand corner. My hole punch can only do 1-2 cards at a time so I use the previous card as a guide to make sure everything lines up.

Once your holes are punched simply slide your cards on and voila! Christmas Card Booklet!

After completing my Christmas card craft I got inspired to do something with all of my ultrasound pictures and Baby Shower cards, two other things that I figured would just go into a box and never be looked at again.

I cut up my ultrasound pictures and my cards and added them to a photo album my grandmother gave me at my shower:

I’m going to add pictures from both showers once I get them printed and I think it will be sweet to look back on her earliest photos and all the kind words from loved ones someday!

I haven’t spent ALL of my time nesting and crafting. We got a big shock yesterday as Hilton Head got it’s first real snow since 1998!

Our little island is NOT equipped to deal with winter weather and pretty much shut down entirely. Robert and Renly had a blast playing in the snow…Renly’s first time experiencing it!

None of my winter coats currently zip so I enjoyed watching them from the warmth of the porch 🙂 When the boys finished their winter romp I warmed them up with mushroom soup and this roasted winter salad.

We’ve been trying to do some plant based detoxing around here after all the decadent holiday eating over the last few weeks. I’m also assuming that cooking isn’t going to be at the top of my priority list once this baby arrives so better to get in some good not-takeout while we can!

This salad is the winter version of a spring dish that my Aunt Vanessa makes. The flavors seem like a weird combo but if you like all of the ingredients then the salty sweet really works! It also looks very colorful on your plate…and is pretty darn easy to boot.

If you are stuck in a veggie rut then give this a try! Stay warm out there!

Roasted Winter Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 Red Onion, Sliced

1 Naval Orange, Peeled and sliced into segments

1/2 Cup Kalamata Olives, sliced

1 Tbsp Fresh Rosemary

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 400.
2. Toss onion slices and rosemary in olive oil, salt and pepper and roast on a sheet pan for 15 minutes, tossing half way through to prevent charring.
3. In a small bowl toss your orange segments and kalamata olives. Once onions have completed roasting, add them to bowl along with another drizzle of olive oil. Toss together, top with fresh parsley (optional) and serve immediately over greens or as a stand alone side dish! Enjoy!