Christmas Eve Table & Tradition

Christmas Eve is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. Growing up we would go to my Grandma and Grandpa Bailey's house and have German food and watch old home videos. "German food" typically consisted of bratwurst, hot potato salad and macaroni salad from Siegfried's Deli on 200 S. in Salt Lake. This has always been the tradition for many years until all the cousins started getting older and we needed more excitement than just each other's company. 

After a few years of Christmas Eve lunches and sleigh rides with or without snow, we decided to restore the tradition. About 2/5 of the Bailey Family along with my Uncle George (my mother's brother) came over to our house on Christmas Eve for a great German feast. 

Here is the tablescape I made for our dinner: 

[please note the olives on the table - this is a Bailey family necessity]

Jingle Bell details on the napkins

[I would recommend not using the sparkled kind - the sparkles get all over the napping]

I had fun adding small, unique accents to the table like the gold coils, jingle bells, Christmas theme glasses (FROM THE DI) and cranberries in each water glass. 

This was the centerpiece of the table - Mistletoe and pine branch with gold jingle bells and cranberries. This seemed very popular on Pinterest and actually smelled very nice. 

This is definitely a Christmas Eve that I won't forget and I have enjoyed each day that I am able to spend it with family and those I love. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Turn Any Event into a Party!

There is only one time a year when a group of girls get together to watch another group of girls walk down a runway half naked. And it is completely acceptable to eat popcorn, candy and oreos!

This year I decided to invite over some girl friends and watch the show together. Plus, some of us have a small girl crush on Taylor Swift and we wanted to watch her performance. 

No matter what kind of party you throw, I feel like invitations will always set the mood. 

I had a group of dairy farmers host an event at work last week and they drank a lot of milk! I thought that Strawberry milk and cookies would be something fun and different for my PINK themed party. [Lets just say, Strawberry milk is not everyone's favorite]

I LOVE POPCORN! It should literally be its own food group and is very necessary at any party. 

We had a complete buffet of treats to make any viewing party fun and exiting. 

I recently found the Archer Farmers Sparkling Soda at Target which was also pink!

Diva and her best friend Whitnee

It was a great night and I loved having my 4 best friends together!

I feel like you can turn any activity or event into a fun and memorable party! It doesn't take much just a little coordinating, great company and fun food. I like planning events and parties because I enjoy the outcome, I love seeing people get excited over the small details or unique treats. 

Until the next party - Happy Holidays!

xoxo,

S

Pre Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving always comes at the perfect time of year! It's a great opportunity to spend time thinking about everything we are grateful for and to really count the blessings in our life. There are so many things I am thankful for its hard to write them all down or even remember them, but my top 5 things I am grateful for this year are:

Good Health |  Family | The Gospel | Amazing Friends |The Opportunity to Chase My Dreams|

Every year for Thanksgiving my entire extended family travels to St. George and we spend the weekend together going to movies, shooting guns, 4-wheeling, going on hikes, and having a great Thanksgiving feast. 
However, the Sunday before my mom always cooks a Thanksgiving meal with the recipes she learned from her mother and its one of my favorite meals she makes. I had the privilege of decorating the main dining table for this wonderful meal. 

Theme: Simplistic Natural Harvest 

[Because we did dinner family style, I needed space on the table for the food dishes - so I tried to keep the decorations simple. I wanted to evoke fall's abundance so I used pinecones, fall leaves, twigs and burlap to help give it that rustic feel] 

My mom has amazing china & table clothes for just about anything. All the plates, silverware, glasses and napkins were hers. 

I found a great (free) template from TheTomKatStudio for place cards to keep with my simple yet rustic feel.

Coming up with a centerpiece was more of a challenge. I don't particularly love tall centerpieces in intimate settings because I feel like you can't have a conversation with the person across from you. Twigs and Pinecones were the perfect combination and allowed me to add a lot of special details. (also because the craft stores put away their Fall decor with Halloween and only Christmas decorations were out)

My mom makes THE BEST Homemade Apple Pie - which is a recipe that her mother passed down to her. 

I wanted to feature this wonderful pie and so I created a "Pie Display" area in the kitchen. 

These are just a few of the great things we had at dinner - these rolls are also made from scratch and were delicious! My mother is an INCREDIBLE COOK!

Almond Cranberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Spinach

Chopped Cabbage 

Green Onions

Cranberries

Candied Almonds

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Brianna's Homestyle Poppy Seed Dressing 

It was a delicious homemade meal and I seriously credit it all to my mother! She has always been an amazing cook and one day I will learn to be as great as she is. 

Maybe next year I will make some of the food. 

I am thankful for a great year and the opportunity to celebrate this holiday with loved ones.

xoxo

S

Topic: Viral Videos

It is amazing how ONE crazy, funny, strange, random, or meaningless video can instantly be posted online and become viral in minutes. If I recall, Utah State is quite famous for a couple videos that have received national attention.

 “Why Men and Women Cant be friends” which currently has 8,024,857 views.

“The Real Meaning of MPH” which currently has 8,750,393 views.

According to Wikipedia, a “Viral Video” is one that becomes popular through the process of internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email.

This got me thinking, what are some of the most viral videos of all time. My research concluded with “PSY-Gangnam Style” with having 1,462,829,810 views. [which has been online for less than a year.] I was completely shocked! A video that exploits woman and shows inappropriate dance moves has become a international sensation. I am shocked as to what our world has become and what we spend our time on. (http://www.viralvideos.com)

This got me thinking, are there any videos out there that have gone viral, but made a difference in someone’s life?

There are some that have over 1 million views – and although compared to the billions of views from the viral videos of all time, these videos are more inspiring, uplifting, moving and touch on your emotions. 

“Amy hears sound for the first time @ 26 years old” – 1, 239, 160 views

About: Takes a few minutes but worth the experience. Our niece has been deaf since she was born. She has never heard the sound of her parents voice or her 6 year old son, Blake. Every day for the next several months she will learn how sound works and where it comes from.

With all that, I am still impressed that so many different videos online have gone viral and that no matter what you do, say or post – someone is going to watch it, and you never know what repercussions will happen because of it. 

For instance, check out this interview that Utah State Aggie Travis Chambers and his wife had with ABCNews regarding his viral video, “The Real Meaning of MPH” and the national public apology he made to his wife. 

Topic: Hashtagging for TV

What is a hashtag and what is it used for?

According to www.hashtags.org a hashtag is “an easy way for Twitter users to categorize Tweets that share a common topic or belong to a particular group. The hashtag is used to highlight keywords or topics within a Tweet, and can be placed anywhere within a post.”

Hashtags are very helpful when you want to search Twitter for specific topics.

“Any Tweet posted on a public account can be searched by anyone, and posters often use hashtags to help direct searches to their posts. For example, Twitter users can elect to follow all Tweets that include the hashtag #WhiteSox to receive updates about the Chicago White Sox baseball team.”

I personally love hashtags and use them frequently. The most interesting thing I’ve noticed is that TV shows and movies are often using hashtags in their advertising to help create a “buzz” about the specific scenes or the premiere of a movie. Viewers enjoy the synchronized interactive experience they have created on Twitter.

The ABC Family Show, Pretty Little Liars, is the perfect example of this. While each new episode is airing, they show about 3-4 new hashtags that they want viewers to use in their tweets. This has made Pretty Little Liars the “#1 all-time for most comments for a cable drama season 3 premiere, according to Bluefin Signals. The ABC Family series' June 5 season premiere racked up a record 534,000 tweets during airtime." (source)

The sharp spikes in this graph correspond to the East Coast airings of new episodes. 

This next graph shows the tweeting zoomed in – showing that the majority of tweets about the show happen in the first 15-30 minutes before and after the airing of a new episode. 

Twitter.com keeps track of popular hashtags from the years. Some popular hashtags from 2012 include - #nowplaying, #throwbackthursday, #gop2012, #romney, #familyguy, #nfl, #thehungergames, #rickross, #hiphop, #ihop, #starbucks, #at&t, #iphone, #instagram, and #syria. 

Hashtags are a great way to search for any topic to find out what people are saying about it. They aren't only used on Twitter but also Instagram, Blogs and other social media outlets.