Christmas Cookie & Cocoa Party

              Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! I can't believe we are now 1 week away from Christmas! I am so excited!! I wanted to share a fun and festive party I hosted last week that was full of friendship, fun, and festive treats. I had my girlfriends over from our community group last week for a cookie & cocoa party at our house. We had such a good time (even though we were on a sugar high) haha! It was a lot of fun to have them over and spend time with them while enjoying some holiday treats. 

              I made hot chocolate in a crock pot including a dairy free hot chocolate as well since of my friends doesn't eat/drink dairy. The cookies that I made included a sugar cookie, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip, chocolate ritz crackers, and I purchased gingerbread men and peppermint pretzels from Trader Joe's to add to the cookie tray. I added in some mini candy canes as well. For a salty treat, I made a big batch of holiday party mix (which is always a crowd pleaser) and bought some whipped feta and roasted pepper dip from kroger as a nice salty treat. The girls brought some more cheese & crackers and a few other salty treats as well to balance out the sugar. We had a great time catching up, sharing stories, and enjoying a Christmas night together. I already can't wait to host another one next year :) I hope you enjoy this post and hope this inspires you to create your own Christmas party or cocoa bar. Have a great week and enjoy all the fun moments before and during Christmas! xoxo Tesla 

Home Decor: Holiday Home Decor 2018

                     Happy Monday!! Our Holiday Home Decor is on the blog today! Give me all the red & plaid :) I like to re-use a lot of the same items from year to year because I always enjoy a lot of red, green, and plaid for the Holiday season. I love this table runner I found last year at Homegoods. I wanted to re-use it this year in the same spot with the same linen napkins because I enjoyed it so much last year! I like to switch up the tree and odds and ends around the house from the year before but overall, my Holiday decor taste hasn't changed much over the last couple of years. I know it might be different next year with a little one running around but this year I will enjoy all the red and plaid details :) 

                I love this time of year so much, as you already know! I love the gathering of family, cooking & baking for others, decorating, and the reason for the season, celebrating the birth of Jesus. I can't believe we are only a couple weeks away from Christmas. Time has definitely flown by and my pregnancy has gone very quick! We are anxiously awaiting our best gift of all in January and we can't wait to meet him. We are always thankful for all that God has done for us and all that we can do for him but this year brings a whole new meaning for us. This is also, the very first time I am hosting Christmas at our house. Due to not being able to travel far in December because of the baby, my family is making their way here to our house to celebrate and I am actually very excited! I say that because you all know I always want to be home in Indiana for any Holiday especially Christmas and this year will be totally different, but I am adjusting to the idea and excited to have all of my loved ones here with us. 

               I hope you are all enjoying this time of year and taking time to slow down, count your blessings, and enjoy the holiday season. I hope you enjoy the pictures below of our home decor this year! Have a great week and Merry Christmas :) xoxo Tesla

Recipe: Cherry Cheesecake Dip

                   Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope you all are having a great week! I wanted to share a yummy recipe with you today that I tried about two weeks ago for the first time and loved it! I co-hosted a Beautycounter & Doterra party with my friend Holly, and I made this dip for a dessert. This is a great dip for the Holidays and thought you might want the recipe as well. This is such an easy dip to make and it looks very festive as well. This is a crowd pleaser :) I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have.

ingredients:

-1 8oz package of cream cheese 

-1 7oz jar of marshmallow cream

-1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

-1 8oz tub of cool whip

-1 21 oz can of cherry pie filling 

-1 dark chocolate bar (used to shave pieces for the topping)

-graham crackers or vanilla wafers to serve with and used for dipping

details:

-In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, marshmallow cream, and vanilla extract on medium speed until mixed 

-Then, add in your cool whip and stir until combined

-Pour the cheesecake mixture into a pie dish and spread evenly. 

-Then top it off with the cherry pie filling and chocolate shavings

-Serve immediately or you can also cover and refrigerate before serving

-Serve with vanilla wafers or graham crackers & enjoy :)

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy! xoxo Tesla

Recipe: How to make your own Cheese Board or Charcuterie Board for the Holidays

                       Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with your loved ones. I just got back from Indiana yesterday and had a great time back home relaxing, eating, and spending time with my family & friends. I loved every minute of it as always :) Last week, my friend Holly and I hosted a Beautycounter and Doterra party in Nashville at Holly's house and I made the food for the party (which is always so fun for me). I made a cherry cheesecake dip  (recipe coming to the blog soon) a cheese board, and sausage bites. We had a great time and turnout to our party but I wanted to share the very easy steps on how to create your own cheese or charcuterie board.

                     I wanted to share this easy "how-to" because I think this will be such a great appetizer year round but especially for the holiday season. This is so easy to do and make and everyone should know how to build one of these for your loved ones! You can really create and use any ingredients that you want. The word "Charcuterie" is french and means dry cured, smoked, or cooked meats. For this board, I used the meat in other places for the party so technically this  board I created is considered a cheese board but by adding meat it would be considered a charcuterie board! I didn't know the difference until researching before this party haha :) Good information to know! Here are the easy steps I took to create a cheese board/charcuterie board:

1. I started by grabbing my board that I wanted to use and placed the items that need to be in small bowls or ramekins and placed them throughout the board to create balance. I used almonds, apricot jam, strawberry jam, chocolate peanuts, and olives. 

2. Next, I placed my cheese throughout the board. I used swiss, brie, and sharp cheddar for the cheese and placed them throughout the board leaving space for the breads & crackers.

3. Next, I added in circle crackers, square crackers, and french bread down the center for the jams.

4. Lastly, for garnish I added in two bunches of purple grapes for color and two pieces of rosemary also for color and texture. Also, place toothpicks throughout your board or in several of the ingredients for your guests to easily pick up and navigate your board.

It's that simple! For a charcuterie board all I needed to add was some type of dry, cooked, or smoked meats. I would have added pepperoni, salami, or prosciutto to the board and that would have created the ultimate charcuterie board. 

Recipe: S'mores Dip

                   Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday!  I hope you all are having a great week! I can't believe it is already Wednesday and next week is Thanksgiving. Time is flying! This time of year it is all about the recipes and family time and I wanted to share the easiest dip I have ever made with you all to share with your families. I made this for our community group this week and it was definitely a hit and like I said, literally the easiest recipe ever! This recipe is great for both adults and kids! This would be a great recipe for a get together, dinner party dessert, or to make on a weekend when it is cold and you are feeling like s'mores :)

                 I found this recipe on Pinterest and I am so excited to share it with you. Even if you don't bake or cook a lot, this is a recipe for you especially haha! It's really that easy! Here is the recipe and details, I hope you enjoy it! :) Thanks for stopping by xo Tesla

Ingredients:

(I made a large batch of this, if you want to make a smaller batch for a few people then I would cut this recipe in half)

-6 Hersheys Chocolate bars 

-1 bag of large marshmallows

-1 box of regular graham crackers

-butter spray or pam spray

Details:

-Turn your oven on to 450

-Grease your dish with butter or pam spray

-Break apart all 6 Hershey bars and place those in the dish first

-Then, line up your marshmallows on top of the chocolate bars

-Then pop this into the oven at 450 for 5-7 minutes (keep an eye on this as you are wanting the marshmallows to brown on top)

Serve with graham crackers or graham sticks 

-Eat & Enjoy! :)

So easy, and so good!

Baby Product: Olive Teal Designs

                Hi Everyone! Happy Friday! The weekend is upon us and I couldn't be more excited! With two baby showers recently, and researching all the products possible for Baby Rush come January, I wanted to share one small business that I love and have had the pleasure of receiving their product. I am always drawn to small business's and local stores and love the story behind the owner and their products. I am teaming up with Teal Olive Designs today to show you their super cute animal silicone teethers that are made with 100% certificated food grade non-toxic silicone (BPA, cadmium, phthalates, PVC and lead free).

                The animal silicone teethers, come in 6 different animals and 6 color variations of each animal. And since they are silicone, they are mold-free, and easy to clean! (Mom win!) I love the high quality of this product. They are made well and built to last, and you can definitely feel that while holding the product. I am so excited for Baby Rush to have one of Olive Teal Designs teethers and I love even more that they are actually safe and good to use for baby. The owner is a momma that lives in Georgia and here is a sweet picture of her and her son. She created this brand and product when she had her little guy and I couldn't be more impressed with her brand and products. 

                This sweet gal is sharing the love today and offering all of my friends & family & readers a coupon code if you also want one of her animal silicone teethers! I am so glad you are able to get a discount on this great product! This is a great gift for the holidays or for your little one at home. From 11/9-11/12 (until midnight) you will all be eligible for a discount of 20% off your entire order on her website if you use code: TESLA at checkout!

                What a deal!! 20% off your order is such a steal for this high quality baby product! I hope you love it as much as I do and can't wait to take pictures next year of our little one using the teether in real form haha!

20% off your order at checkout:

Use Code: TESLA

Or follow this Link to order: https://teal-olive-designs.myshopify.com/discount/TESLA

I hope you enjoy this post and go to Teal Olive Designs to check out all of their products! Here are some pictures of the teether that I chose and have at our house in preparation for baby Rush! I just love this product and know you will to! Thanks for reading and come back soon! xoxo Tesla

Thank you to Teal Olive Designs 

Indiana Baby Shower

               Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I wanted to pop in and share my Indiana baby shower with you this week. We had such a great weekend and I am so thankful for our family and friends. My mom and Mam hosted the shower at my grandma's church back home and my cousin Tanisha and my aunt Trudi did the games for the shower which was a lot of fun. We had such a great time! The theme of the shower was maps and airplanes which ties into the theme of the nursery as well. I love the map and travel theme idea and wanted to incorporate airplanes as well. The shower was adorable and my mom did such a great job creating the props and details.

              We had soup and sandwiches as well as a ton of desserts and punch. My best friend Jordan was able to fly in for the weekend from California as well and we had the best weekend catching up, shopping, and enjoying time together. Reed's family was also able to make it from Memphis as well. We had a packed weekend of a lot of fun back home and I loved every bit of it. Thank you to my wonderful mom and mam for a perfect baby shower to celebrate baby Rush. We are so thankful for you and love you both very much :) Here are the many pictures and details of the baby shower and I hope you enjoy! Thank you for stopping by and reading xoxo Tesla