It’s Friday! Ahhh that feels so good to say. IT’S FRIDAY!!! I feel like this has been the longest week, and I am so exhausted and ready for the weekend. If you guys could see the bomb that is currently my home….I would take a picture for you to laugh at, but honestly you wouldn’t find it funny. You’d probably just feel really bad for me. Yeah, it’s that bad. I have storage boxes from all our Christmas decor sitting in a stack by my front door because I’m trying to force myself into re-organizing my hall closet. I had cleaned and organized it over the summer (when I wasn’t thinking of Christmas at all) and managed to pack all Christmas related boxes in the very back of the closet. Everything had to be pulled out, and made a mess of, just to get Christmas decor out. Organize fail. I keep meaning to go buy a garage shelving unit from Lowes for in that closet so I can easily stack boxes and still be able to access all of them without it being a huge chore. Add it to my to-do list. Speaking of organizing and de-cluttering, I think that will be my New Years resolution. I despise clutter, and lately I feel like we’ve accumulated too much “stuff”, and we need a good purge and some fresh organizing to happen. Maybe I’ll do a “30 days organized” challenge in January and tackle a different space each day.Would you guys be interested in tackling this with me, in your own homes? A different task, or space each day, and then we’ll have happier and more enjoyable spaces to live in! Add it to my to-do list. 
I have been so busy posting about products, giveaways, and the holidays lately that I haven’t had a chance to sneak in a good chit-chat with you. What is going on in your lives lately? We’ve been doing a lot of potty training work over here, and moving from daytime potty training (which we’ve been doing for months now) to night time and nap time potty training. It’s been hit and miss. 3 days without any accidents, and then yesterday she pooped in her undies while sleeping…not my fave. She’s really been doing good though, so we’re sticking with it. The hardest part is having to limit liquids close to nap time, and not allowing her to take a water to bed with her. She’s notorious for chugging an entire sippy cup of water down when she gets in bed. I’m so glad that we tackled potty training in the summer when it was warm enough to run around the house without pants, because it’s too cold here to do that now. If you want to see a post dedicated to our potty training failures and successes, leave me a comment. Otherwise I’ll stop boring you with #2 talk.
We are going to visit my husbands grandparents next week, and spend some holiday time with them, and then my mom and her husband arrive on the 26th (my birthday) to have Christmas with us. Last year was so much fun because Camryn was finally old enough to understand the idea behind Christmas, and had too much fun opening gifts. This year she’s been asking me every single day if she can open presents yet. She’s fully aware of what’s going on, and she knows that inside all those boxes there are toys for her to play with, and the anticipation is killing her. I feel like I say “Not yet…X many more days…” at least twice a day. She’s going to be bummed when she realizes that 90% of those gifts aren’t even for her, and are going to the little girl we “adopted” at the Ronald McDonald House. The anticipation of bringing that family their gifts is killing ME. I feel like a real life Santa this year, it’s been so much fun! I’ll take pictures when we go and share them with you.
OK, enough of my blabbering….Here are the things I’ve been loving this week:
1.|| This family is awesome, and their Christmas “card” is even cooler.
2.|| Beyonce’s visual album is amazing. She always looks flawless.
3.|| I tried out a new food delivery service called Plated, and showed two meals and gave my review over on My Simple Kitchen. I used the code FBFIRSTPLATE to try 4 meals (“plates”) free.
4.|| Have you met Surya the orangutan and her hound dog BFF?
5.|| Jessica from Afternoon Style featured holiday recipes on her blog, including my peppermint milkshake. Told y’all they are YUM!
6.|| I mentioned that I recently visited Ikea – here’s an article about incorporating Ikea finds into your space in chic and sophisticated ways. Love me some Ikea.
7.|| “What does my kid say?” Mommy anthem.
8.|| What are your sentiments on the Phil Robertson interview with GQ that caused him to be “suspended indefinitely” from A&E’s Duck Dynasty?
9.|| Leigh Viner’s etsy shop is a HUGE source of inspiration to me, and her art literally makes me stop and stare in awe. This is one of the many pieces that I’m eyeing (no pun intended). I already own a few of her prints, but I’m dying to snag an original in the new year.
10.|| A celebration of a mom’s love – this will definitely make you teary eyed. Pass the Puffs!!!
Today’s giveaway will be on my instagram at some point today, so keep an eye open! 
XO – Samantha
BUT my sweet sister-in-law is, and I just found out she’ll be having her baby shower in January back home in Washington. My husband and I both went to school in WA and moved to Austin about 8 years ago. It’s so fun getting to fly home and see friends, and all their babies, and let our kids play together. My sister doesn’t find out my niece/nephews gender until days before the party, but it will be even more exciting getting to see her and knowing who that the little person inside her belly is. I haven’t seen her since finding out the news, so I literally CANNOT WAIT!! Finally getting to be an Auntie is a close second to getting to be a Mom for me. I’m so curious to see what their baby will look like, because Camryn looked just like her Uncle as a baby.
