HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE!

365 days ago we welcomed 2015 with open arms and lots of snow! Boston was hit pretty hard which resulted in some days where we were able to completely run around the city streets due to no traffic. We took advantage of the snow and spoiled ourselves silly playing on all of the nearby mountains, one of which turned out to be a hike up Mount Washington's Tuckerman Ravine! Beautiful! 

(Disposing of the tree Grinch style)

 (A very quiet Hanover Street)

(Hanging out in Boston Common while it snows)

(Running around the streets of Boston)

(My walk to work on a good day)

(Snowshoeing up Okemo Mountain)

(First time in years all of the "kids" were able to ski together)

(Snow day cookie baking)

 (Hiked up part of Mount Washington)

 (Dad and I traded in our lift tickets to hike Tuckerman's Ravine)

 (Spending time at my favorite place in the world, North Conway, N.H.)

 (Meanwhile in Maine...)

 (The OFFICIAL game book where we document all of our card playing scores!)

In the spring, my beloved macbook took a big crap! Thank goodness for brothers who are computer savvy! We also enjoyed a wonderful Easter service at Old North Church and a fun Sox game at Fenway Park. L and I traveled out to Ohio in May to celebrate my youngest sisters high school graduation and were also pleasantly surprised by the exciting engagement of my older sister! My parents ended up selling our beloved childhood farm in Ohio in May as well and moved out East.

 (Stepped out of the 21st century for a week when my lifeline crashed. I hate that I rely so much on this dang thing.)

(Beautiful Easter service at Old North!)

(Munching on crackerjacks and singing Sweet Caroline at a Sox game) 

(I realized that none of these pictures featured our beloved fur-child... so here she is, fluff and all!) 

 (Road trip to Ohio to celebrate N's graduation)

 (Surprise! S and N are engaged! She's actually really happy despite her weird expression!)

 (So long to our beloved childhood home in Ohio)

Summertime flew by so very, very quickly! I finally went out and explored the Harbor Islands and other summertime Boston shenanigans. In August, we went on L's family's yearly trip to sunny Myrtle Beach (I put together my first video for that trip here!). We also went out to my favorite place again, North Conway, and explored Diane's Bath for the first time... definitely a must see if you're ever in the area!

 (Harbor Island exploring!)

 (Our annual Myrtle Beach picture under the dock)

 (Warming up after a little jump into Diane's Bath)

I took the blade to my hair in the fall and chopped a lot of it off. I definitely think it's a cut I'm going to stick with! We fair hopped all over New Hampshire with my parents indulging in fair food and fun! We also checked out a mansion in New Hampshire that overlooks beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee! I crossed another thing off of my 30 x 30 list in October when we scored an incredible day to hike Mount Washington to the summit! I finally got my sticker! L and I spent Thanksgiving in Maine where we shaved his hair off in support of his little cousin who is courageously fighting lymphoma. I also opened an Etsy shop, kayliedesigns, where I design and sell printables! After a month of holiday fun and cheer, I celebrated Christmas in Maine with almost all of my siblings and parents, our new rescued pup and horses walking along the beach on that crazy warm day!

 (Chop, chop! Took off lots of inches!)

(Fair hopping with M and D) 

 (Looking over Lake Winnipesaukee)

 (Those beautiful Mount Washington views)

(Finally got my sticker for the car I don't own!)

(My most recent project, the fitness kit, can be found in my Etsy shop)

(Landon shaved all of his hair off in November to support #superparker)

(Christmas tree shopping for my parents)

(Playing on the beach in Maine on our 60 degree Christmas day!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS, I HOPE IT IS A GREAT ONE FOR EVERYONE! (:
2014 Review // 2013 Review

Health and Wellness Panner

I'm really stinkin' excited to get this planner live for everyone today! With the new year right around the corner, I for one am definitely someone who likes to set small resolutions here and there, one of which is to continue to make an effort to live a healthy lifestyle. I thought it would be fun to add a health and wellness planner to my Etsy shop that I can reference to throughout the year to keep me motivated.
With my primary intention being to help keep me on track by working out, eating appropriately, and tracking my progress I have condensed most of my ideas into six EASY pages that make living a healthy lifestyle fun and ORGANIZED!

Page 1 - Measurements and Goals The sole purpose of this page is to set a large goal (whether it be fitness related or not, who cares?), accompanied by a handful of smaller goals that you would like to see happen. Remember, a goal without a deadline is a dream so MAKE SURE YOU SET AN END DATE! Once you meet your BIG goal, print off another copy of this page and set ANOTHER attainable goal! There is also a section towards the bottom of the page where you can take measurements before and after if that is something you are interested in recording!
Page 2 - Workout Schedule When I have something written down in front of my face, I am 10 times more likely to actually do it! This schedule is designed for 7 days at a time where you can record the type of exercise you will be doing each day, an area to jot down the kind of workout that you completed, the number of hours of sleep you got that night (sleep IS SO IMPORTANT), as well as a water bottle checklist to keep you on track with your water intake. After you complete a week, save the sheet so that you can reference back to it later on!

Page 3 - Meal Plan Eating right and consuming appropriate proportions is KEY to feeling your best. When you have your meal plan written out for you in advance, and your groceries in check you will feel motivated to stick to that plan!
Page 4 - Monthly Dinners This page is for the super organizer in you. Feel on top of the world with every single dinner for the entire month planned out beforehand. It will do wonders.

Page 5 - Progress Report One of my favorite pages, the progress report was designed to track where you are in terms of weight. Record your Current weight and goal weight on the y-axis, and the week on the x-axis. This is a fun way to connect the dots and track the progress of your journey. Sometimes having it drawn out in front of you (literally) is the best dose of motivation you can get!
Page 6 - Recipes Having your healthiest recipes separated and on hand helps to influence your mind to make the right dinner decision. Keep them on this page, or cut them out... it's up to you! It's also incredibly easy to snap a picture of the finished meal and tape it onto the back!
I hope you enjoy this planner as much as I enjoyed creating it! I have this listed for sale in my Etsy shop for $3, however LIFE AS YOU LIVE IT readers can receiver 50% off through the end of 2015 with the code LIFEASYOULIVEIT2015.
Thank you and have a wonderful NEW YEAR!

Weekend Life and Links

Christmas Day spent playing at the beach with the crew on our 60 degree Christmas day!
HELLO!! I hope everyone had a very merry, MERRY Christmas!  I've been spending my time in Maine for the past couple days and have put myself into a serious food coma. Many thanks to the gallons of chocolate milk and sweets that have been on hand! I still have Christmas in my system and wanted to share a few things that may keep you stoked!

• I'm a collector of containers and love to keep everything tucked away in an organized fashion. As we start to de-Christmas our apartment, we love using these sterilite containers for storing our special ornaments and other Christmas-y things. All of these containers get tossed into my beloved watertight trunks!
  
  
• The Christmas stockings that we currently use aren't that special to us (I think we bought them from Lowes's?), which is why I'm looking into getting some pretty needlepoint ones that will last us a lifetime! It's no surprise here that I've got my heart set on these pretty ones from L. L. Bean!
  
  
• After reading Jessica's Christmas recap post, I've decided that I need lettered cookies cutters so that I can make Christmas cookies that look as cute as hers!
  
  
• I would love to host a Christmas cookie exchange some year and I think it's mostly because I want it to look this perfect and also because I want to send everyone home with these tins filled with cookies!
  
  
• Last but not least, can I have a fireplace just to display these adorable ceramic houses? So classic, so cute, and from One King's Lane... does it get any better?? I'm sure I can find a spot in my humble abode to display these somewhere!! (:

I hope everyone had the best Christmas and are having fun gearing up for the New Year!!

the BEST holiday cookie recipe

Last year we finally cracked the code for the most amazing sugar cookies to date and I have almond extract to thank! After years of trying out different recipes, we stumbled upon one where the cookies maintain their shape when baked, they're fluffy and delicious, AND there is no refrigeration of the dough!! Win, win, WIN!!
We use this sugar cookie recipe multiple times a year for Valentine's day, Easter, Halloween... you name it! Maybe someday I can make an instructional video as to how to make them! That is my best intention, however time and daylight get the best of me... next year maybe? 
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
2. Mix the butter and sugar until it is creamy
3. Beat in the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract
4. In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder and flour. Slowly add to the wet ingredients while still mixing.
5. Roll some of the dough out onto parchment paper, measuring about 1/4 inch thick
6. Punch out your cookies using your favorite cookies cutters and then place them onto your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
7. Bake 6 to 8 minutes and let cool completely before frosting and decorating. 

Enjoy! We usually make our own frosting out of powdered sugar, milk, vanilla extract and food coloring! What is your favorite sugar cookie recipe!?

Holiday Decorating Traditions

Tis the season, friends! L has a strict rule that we are not allowed to decorate until after Thanksgiving, so once we made it back to the city on the 30th, we went straight to Prince Postale to pick out our little North End tree! We splurged on the most adorable little six footer, and began some of our favorite Christmas decorating traditions! Aside from the traditional tree, lights, and wreaths... we have a handful of more momentous decorations that we love to display as well!

- FRAMED HOLIDAY CARDS -

Framing and displaying our holiday cards quickly became a favorite when we started sending out holiday cards last year. While we only have two right now, I've purchased a plethora of frames and am excited to add to the collection down the line to see how we grow year after year! Each Christmas when I unpack them I get all giddy inside - it is hands down always THAT exciting!

This year, Tiny Prints kindly sent us another fun batch of holiday cards that we sent to our loved ones and I am beyond thrilled with how they turned out! I had every intention of photoshopping Macy Cat in, however when that went awry, we settled on this headshot of just the two of us and picked out the card that offered the most sparkles! Check out our 2014 cards here!

- YEARLY ORNAMENTS -

We have the cutest Christmas in the City ornament shop located at Faneuil hall that is packed full of every ornament imaginable year round! We make it a point to swing by that shop sometime around the Christmas season to pick out a special new ornament together that we can hang on our tree!

Filled with every single ornament that could ever exist, we decided to go with a marshmallow man ornament noshing on a cookie and milk this year! Last year L's dad gave us this cute raccoon, and the year before that we bought a Red Sox ornament to celebrate their world series win!

- PICTURE ADVENT CALENDAR -

When it comes to our advent calendar we use a compilation of pictures from the past six years that are numbered 1 through 25. Originally adapted from my older sister, each day of December we flip a photo over until we reach Christmas!!

- DISPLAY HOLIDAY CARDS -

We love receiving anything in the mail that isn't a bill and look forward to the holiday cards that come our way (don't mind the birthday cards, L and I both have birthdays in December as well)! I made this wine cork board last year that we hang up to display our incoming holiday mail! Having the cards out on display is such a fun and sentimental way to keep our loved ones in mind during the season!!

 What are your favorite holiday decorating traditions?