I’ve always been a fan of a great at-home bar. I strongly believe it’s a must-learn life skill to mix up classic cocktails, and as an avid host, it’s important to provide an array...
Looking back on Easter as a child, I remember how excited I was to dig through my Easter basket. Full of chocolate bunnies, malt ball Easter eggs, Peeps, golden coins, and my favorite Cadbury...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
It’s that time of year, friends, and oh do we have some MAJOR goodness in store for you! We’re kicking off a round of five, that’s right…FIVE holiday gift guides and giveaways this month to celebrate the season.
Over the next week we’ll be sharing everything we’re planning on gifting this year; the what, the to who, and the why we’re gifting it, plus we’re giving it all away!! That’s right we’re giving it all away to one lucky winner! Almost everything you see in this picture, customized in colors, sizes and selects, just for one lucky, lucky winner! Well technically 5 lucky winners since we’re doing five guides.
Anyway, check out all the details from Gift Guide Number One below, and of course the giveaway entry form widget. A big thanks to our generous friends at Simply Framed, Williams-Sonoma, Mark & Graham, Ashley Brooke Designs, Emily Ley, One Love Organics, Thimble Press and Daily Harvest for making all of our giveaway dreams come true! Without further adieu, I invite you to check out all of the products below (with shoppable links if you just can’t wait until the giveaway is through!). Good luck, good luck and let’s cheers to a great start to gift guide season! Truly, MKR
It’s an inspirational book that encourages women to simplify and prioritize. Designed with EL’s stunning signature aesthetic, this book gives us tangible ways to simplify our lives to give space to what matters most.
We’d gift this to a friend, sister, cousin, or coworker who does it all.
Simply Framed helps make gifting a whole lot easier this holiday season. Simply send in your art, pick your frame, and receive your custom framed piece, ready to hang on the gallery wall!
We’d gift art to one of those they’ve-got-everything people on our list!
Receive a 10% discount on your custom framing project with code WAITMARTH10. xo
Easily two of our favorite products by One Love Organics, the Skin Dew and Vitamin E Eye Balm are true essentials for your everyday skincare routine. See the difference of all natural products on your skin and tell us you’re not in love, too!!!
We’d gift these to our beauty-obsessed bestie or mother.
An everyday must-have, this gorgeous leather cosmetic case is perfect for keeping makeup, coins and small items in your bag while you run around town…and even better when going wheels-up on your next vacay!
We’d gift these to a sister, friend (or any jet-setter!).
*Giveaway winner will receive a customized cosmetic bag with color of their choice.
These irresistibly easy and delicious ready-to-blend smoothies are a freezer staple for Team WOM. Not only do they taste amazing, they’re packed with all the good stuff we need to be fueled for the day.
We’d gift these to a health-conscious bestie.
*Giveaway winner will receive six smoothies of choice.
Quite possibly THE softest pajamas around, LAKE gives us reason to stay in bed all day long. Classic prints in separates, shorts sets and pants sets have us living in LAKE all year ’round.
We’d gift these to a sister or mother to enjoy our Christmas morning movie marathon!
*Giveaway winner will receive a pajamas set of their choice.
This planner is more than just a planner; it’s a place to track ideas, notes, to-do lists, inspiration, and the random things that fill up any day. It’s the the perfect companion for those of us who also use an online calendar to schedule their lives. It’s the perfect place to be creative, plan and explore!
We’d gift this to a fellow dreamer, hustler and shaker.
After talking with our friend Anna recently about thoughtful holiday traditions for the family, we got to thinking about a few new memories we can make this year to commemorate the holiday season. Anna introduced us to St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) where her kids leave out their shoes for St. Nick to fill them up with candies and goodies, and both MKR and I just loved that. The tradition immediately made me think of Three Kings Day (Jan. 6 aka Epiphany), a holiday we celebrated in southern Spain when I lived there for a few years as a little girl. It was always a delight waking up to find chocolate coins and taffy in our shoes!
Does your family partake in any cherished holiday traditions this time of year? Do you set up an Advent Calendar or watch the same marathon of Christmas movies with holiday hot chocolate? As the team sets out to start their own holiday traditions this year, we’d love to hear about any you do to add to our list! And these aren’t just for the little ones..we included our new favorite southern cream liqueur in the mix…proof that kids of all ages can have a little fun with these new holiday traditions! Cheers, Kat
There are old Christian traditions surrounding St. Nicholas’ feast day on December 6; kids leave their shoes out overnight in front of the fireplace, on the windowsill, or outside their bedroom door so that St. Nicholas can fill them with special fruits like tangerines, candies like chocolate coins and taffy, as well as other small gifts and treats.
We especially love this tradition for kids of all ages (hence the Jackson Morgan southern cream liqueur!). And if you have little ones at home, encourage them to leave carrots or hay in their shoes St. Nicholas’ donkey to eat too. St. Nicholas will replace it with treats to enjoy in the morning!
An advent calendar is a fun and easy way to signify the countdown to Christmas Day. While advent calendars come in all shapes and sizes these days, the original advent calendar can be traced back to the 19th century, when religious families made a chalk line for every day in December until Christmas Eve.
Fill your advent calendar with small chocolates and treats to keep the excitement of the season alive for all.
We love the idea of adding one special ornament to the tree each year to commemorate times spent with family and friends. Plan a trip to pick out your ornaments together, or have them ordered by the time you decorate the tree. It will be such a treat to pull them out each year and remember the memories tied to them!
Opening just one gift on Christmas Eve is a fun tradition to do in eager anticipation for Santa Claus to arrive the following day. Invite your family to share this memory as you settle in after the presents are opened, reading holiday stories and cozying up with holiday hot chocolate.
Three Kings Day, aka“Feast of the Epiphany,” on Jan. 6 marks the day on the Christian calendar when the three kings brought gifts to baby Jesus (and also the last day of the 12 days of Christmas). The traditions originated in Spain and Latin American countries, though many in the US celebrate it now too. The tradition goes: children line their shoes outside the front door, in which the three kings leave candies and small gifts. Many people leave a box of hay or grass too, for the camels of course!
Today’s salad—besides being beautiful to look at—is a fresh and flavorful side that belongs on your table all season long. Sweet, roasted delicata squash pairs perfectly with wintry, fresh pomegranate seeds and bitter arugula.
But before I proceed, are you thinking, ‘what is delicata squash?’?! Well, we recently fell in love with this wonderful vegetable after Kat’s visit to a local farm with Fresh Harvest found at our local Whole Foods. It’s a winter squash, a lot like butternut or acorn squash but more flavorful and sweeter…almost like a sweet potato. It grows to have a cylinder shape, with green stripes you can easily spot in the grocery store. Its rind is delicate, and it’s actually where most of the flavor is; roasting delicata squash with the skin-on will intensify its warm, sweet, irresistible flavor.
Now, if you can’t find delicata squash in your local grocery store, sub it out for acorn squash…it’s just as good with the rest of this stellar salad’s lineup. Think rainbow quinoa, pomegranate seeds, arugula, candied walnuts and herb goat cheese (I make my own with herbs from my garden; it’s super easy to mix the herbs into good quality goat cheese but you can also easily grab an herb goat cheese at the grocery store in the gourmet aisle). I think you’ll find that this salad is just the thing that belongs on your table all winter long; the mixture of textures and flavors is divine. I’m huge on hitting sweet-savory-salty-crunchy-soft-tangy all in one bite, and this salad does just that.
To make, I simply roast the squash in my toaster oven with a drizzle of olive oil. I roast until the squash is golden brown (about 15 minutes) and actually cut it in half afterwards. After that, I add the cooked rainbow quinoa, pomegranate seeds, arugula and herb goat cheese to the mix. To dress the salad, I usually like to use a spicy honey, some sort of a berry vinaigrette or even a mustard vinaigrette if I’m leaning a little more on the savory-spicy side. This salad can make even a non-salad eater as happy as can be this holiday season! Truly, MKR
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Roasted Delicata Squash & Rainbow Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate Seeds, Arugula, Candied Walnuts & Herb Goat Cheese
Roast the squash in a toaster oven with olive oil drizzled on it. After it starts to brown (about 15 minutes) take it out, and cut in half, gutting the inside. You don't want to eat the seeds in the salad.
Slice squash in half circle strips, then add to the bed of arugula, cooked rainbow quinoa, pomegranate seeds, candied walnuts and herb goat cheese.
Dress with desired dressing (I love a good raspberry vinaigrette, spiced honey or even a mustard vinaigrette) and serve!
By Mandy Kellogg Rye @ Waiting on Martha
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