New Year's Eve | OOTN

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope you all had a wonderful transition into 2015 :-)
Let's get right into my New Year's Eve OOTN

The whole month of December I browsed numerous websites for the perfect New Year's Eve dress! I found many that I loved, but most were totally out of my price range. I wanted something full of sparkle, but not tacky.

I already own so many sparkly dresses, tops and bottoms that I think subconsciously I wasn't letting myself buy anything because I already owned so much. I couldn't justify the purchase.

After Christmas, I meant to go to the mall to see what they had but I just kept putting it off... until Dec 31st rolled around.

Oops! 

Around 2pm on New Year's Eve, I finally went downtown to the local Marshall's... just to see if they had anything at all. By this point, I was just going to wear something I already owned.

I was leaving the store, empty handed, when I decided to brows through one last clothing rack. I found 4 dresses and quickly went to try them on in the changing room, something I never do! 

Well they were all hides except for one dress. It was perfect.

Want to know why it was perfect? 

It was classy, it fit me so well, it was cute, comfortable and ONLY $10!

  

 

I styled it with gold heart stud earrings from Forever 21, a chunky gold chain necklace 

from Princess P Jewelry and my diamond gold bracelet (that was given to 

me as a gift from my father).

I also paired it with my black leather jacket, black quilt stitched cross-body bag, 

and my black leather 160mm Daffodil Louboutines.

Then, off Brendan and I went to celebrate New Year's Eve together in Boston at Abby Lane.

My night was absolutely perfect, too!

I even got to kiss the love of my life at midnight in my favorite city!

Until next time,

XOXO Ines

CHEERS to 2015!

25 Days of BlogMas | Day 25

Thursday: December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas! 

Today was a wonderful day! 

My whole family slept in until 11 am and I woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon. 

Usually my mom makes pancakes every Sunday but Christmas is the perfect excuse to make pancakes during the week. 

After breakfast, it was time to open presents!

It's funny because now that we are older, the presents under the tree look different. It's not big boxes full of you sets, DVD players, tvs or sterios. 

And some Christmases are different than others. In the past it's looked empty under the tree, but this Christmas is the first in a long time that we've had gifts spilling out from both sides. 

Regardless, it's never about the presents! It's about the company. 

So we spent about an hour opening ll our gifts. 

My parents got me a MacBook Pro (which doubled for a graduation gift too)

My brother and his girlfriend got me a Vera Bradley curling wand holder and a coach name tag lanyard. I also got tons of chocolate and little stalking stuffers. 

There was wrapping paper, bags and fissure paper everywhere, but this picture doesn't do it justice. 

After opening presents, the cleaning started. 

Some houses do spring cleaning, but my house does Christmas cleaning. 

And guess who actually cleaned the whole house; vacuuming, mopping and dusting included? ME? Because my parents were in the kitchen cooking for 4 hours. And, that's because we had company coming over for dinner... Brendan and my brother's girlfriend. 

My family consists of me, my brother and my mom and dad. The one aunt and one uncle I have living in the United States (actually both within 15 minutes from my house) my dad doesn't talk to. Besides that, all my relatives, ALL of them, live in Portugal. 

I guess you could say that my parents, specifically more my dad, have a hard time letting other people into my family. The fact that my dad came up to me this past weekend and asked me to invite my boyfriend to Christmas dinner really meant a lot! I'm not the type to invite my boyfriend either without my parents being fully excepting of it. 

So, I was excited! 

Brendan was too! He knows how closed off and reserved my family can be. He's so understanding too. He knows it's not him, it's just the way my parents are. When I told him he was invited to Christmas dinner he was ecstatic!

He came over around 4:30 and we were eating by 5:30. 

We enjoyed honey ham and seafood casserole. 

There was also asparagus and baked potatoes. 

Brendan's personal favorite was my dad's rice. I think he could have eaten the whole pot!

Then after dinner we dug right into dessert! 

Completely 100% home made, my mom made a three tiered desserts. Yellow egg custard on the bottom with Portuguese cookie crumbles sprinkled on top. Then chocolate mousse is added to make the middle later. Finally whipped cream is the too layer. Usually we roast some almond shaving and sprinkle them all over but because Brendan has a tree nut allergy, we substituted almonds for chocolate shavings.  

This Christmas was wonderful. I spent it with both my family and Brendan and I couldn't be any happier! 

The rest if the evening, I fooled around with my brand new Cannon T5.
Here are some of the pictures :-) 

Until next time,

XOXO Ines

25 Days of BlogMas | Day 24

Wednesday: December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas Eve!

Want to guess how I started my day? 

... Going to the local mall with my mom! 

My mom has an extremely sensitive stomache, IBS, and krones so petty much all December, when she gets home from work she can't do anything. I've been doing most if the Christmas shopping for her. 

Today she was finally feeling better so she decided that we should go out together and finish our Christmas shopping. 

We went out for about an hour and I have to say we were extremely successful. There weren't too many people out surprisingly so that was even better!

After we came home, I finished wrapping everything! 

Then went into the kitchen to make my moms mousse. I made the chocolate mousse totally from scratch and as soon as I put it in the fridge, I ran upstairs and showered. 

I was having Christmas Eve for the third year in a row at Brendan's house with his mom and dad so I needed to get myself ready. 

His family opens presents and has their big dinner on Christmas Eve while my family opens presents and cooks a big dinner on Christmas. I love this because it doesn't make us have to divide our time on the same day. 

I went over at 6 pm and his parents had appetizers waiting on the table. I brought over all my presents for Brendan and his mom and dad, which we would eventually open after dinner. We also sipped on a Portuguese cocktail drik which I had brought them this past summer from my vacation in Portugal. 

We watched Christmas Vacation and at 8 o'clock had dinner; fillet mignon and mashed potatoes with corn and asparagus! So delicious!

After dinner, that's when the present opening began!

His parents got me the Harry Potter Books box set, something I've always wanted but haven't been able to afford. They also bought some shore excursions for us to do on our cruise in January. 

Some of the things Brendan got me in life a Canon EOS T5, a Coach Watch and the new Louboutin nailpolish. Smaller items like giftcard sand a coffee mug were in my stocking and he also bought me a massage at a really nice spa!

After opening gifts, we enjoyed the chocolate mousse and each other company. 

This Christmas I was more than spoiled! 

It wasn't about all the lovely gifts I got. Instead it was about the thoughtfulness behind each of those gifts. 

I know that Brendan and his family love me; I can feel it. 

I just hope that they know just how much I love them too!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Until next time,

XOXO Ines

25 Days of BlogMas | Day 23

Tuesday: December 23, 2014

Guys?!

Today was the last day of my student teaching placement. 

I laughed, hugged, cried and smiled. 

The kids had a holiday party today. Parent volunteers came in and helped with the sock snowman craft, which turned out super cute! 

What I was really surprised about was that I got a class gift presented by the parents. It really made me feel included and even more a part of the classroom. It also made it harder to say goodbye. 

At the end of the day, my classroom teacher and the aid, as well as the kids, presented me with a huge bag of books. 

They are the start if my own classroom library. It was the sweetest thing that they could have done! The bag is signed and decorated by each child. 

The other two first grade teachers also have me a small stack of books that they picked out, too. 

The sweet messages written inside and their generosity brought me to tears!

What you he's me most was something my classroom teacher said to me after all the children were gone. 

I made friends for life. Anything I need or any time I want to get dinner or visit, I just need to text. 

My teacher and aid have been the most wonderful me it's and people I've come across in my entire experience working for public schools. 

It warms my heart to know that being with them isn't permanently over. 

After an emotional dismissal, once again I headed to work. 

They were watching a movie when I got there so it was a pretty lazy afternoon. At that point I just wanted to go home. I was so emotionally drained I didn't want to be there. 

When I got home, I ate and went back out to shop. 

I made sure all my gifts were wrapped, and found Willie sleeping under the tree. 

I also made sure Brendan's gifts were ready to go. 

Later tonight, I hung out with Brendan and just relaxed in his arms. I'm so happy to finally be done! 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve so I'm going to be going to Brendan's house to open gifts and eat dinner with his parents. 

Should be a great night! 

Until next time, 

XOXO Ines

25 Days of BlogMas | Day 22

Monday: December 22, 2014

Hello world!

Today started off as a bitter sweet day. 

This morning I woke up and headed to my last 'week' at my student teaching classroom. I used quotes because they go on vacation tomorrow, so it's not a full week. 

A couple students brought in thoughtful gifts, which included really sweet messages. 

It's nice to feel appreciated sometimes!

It's sad for me to think that tomorrow is my last day in that classroom. It's been the most amazing semester if my life! 

Well, the day was he give because we did a lot if finishing up old work and cleaning up the classroom to prep for vacation. 

I was able to get away during my lunch break. I left the school, got some fresh air and mailed the last of our Christmas cards. 

I got back and it was absolute chaos. The kids have totally lost it. With Christmas literally around the corner, their excitement has taken over and their focus has taken a time out. 

After my morning with them, I stopped at home. What should have only been 5 minutes turned into 20. We have a pug puppy who hasn't been sold yet so I decided I needed some puppy therapy. 

Can you handle this face? His, not mine!

The sweetness! The cuteness! Ah! :-)

Pug butt!

After hanging out with this little guy, I was off to work. Nothing was too eventful and I was just counting down the time til we were all done. I had to go out and shop more!

Brendan joined me after work and we went to a few Marshall's and the tj maxx. 

When we were done we got Wendy's, ate then made goody bags. One of our stops tonight was the dollar store (teacher's best friend) so that I could make each child a goodbye treat bag. 

Brendan has been so wonderful and not once complained about my diva-ness. He has however been reminding me to take it slower and stop stressing so much. Super helpful! 

Now that I'm finally home, I can't wait to get in my bed!

Nighty night!!

Until next time, 

XOXO Ines

25 Days of BlogMas | Day 21

Sunday: December 21, 2014

Hi there all!

I'm so dead!

Another day full of shopping!

Not only was I shopping for people on my list, I was also shopping for people on my mom and dad's lists too! 

I ended up dragging my but all over town hunting for things in everyone's lists. 

After spending the morning shopping for people by myself, I came home to eat with my family and then we all went to the mall. 

For Christmas my parents decided to buy me a macbook so we drove up to New Hampshire since they have no taxes and I got to pick out the one I wanted. 

We did a few other things and then headed home. 

I haven't had my own laptop for 5 years so I'm excited to finally get one. 

5 years you ask? Well I'm not the type to ever ask for things. Plus both my parents have laptops so I would just use theirs. It was never a problem. 

My personal goal is to try not to use it until Christmas Day. Honestly I think it'll be easy because I'm so use to not having a laptop. 

I finished the night by wrapping all of Brendan's Christmas gifts. 

There's a couple things I'm waiting on to come in the mail tomorrow, but other than that, I'm done with his gifts! I'm super excited to give them to him :-)

Well, hope you all had a great night! 

Until next time, 

XOXO Ines