25 Things to Do Over Christmas Break

Ah, Christmas break- the best of all breaks (in my opinion). When you're in school, you fantasize about what you'll do, and what it will be like, and how much fun you'll have. But in reality, in the days leading up until Christmas, the most fun you have is getting to see other peoples presents when you wrap them. Or is that just me, and everyone else gets loads of fun? Either way, I made a list of fun things you should do this Winter break when you're bored- which is always because without school what are you gonna do besides sleep in until one in the afternoon?

1. Learn how to knit! Just buy some needles and yarn and let YouTube do the rest. 

2. Snuggle up by the fire wearing fuzzy socks. 

3. Don't go the usual route this year with wrapping and really get fun with it- ribbon, brown paper, glitter, metallic Sharpies, the possibilities are endless. 

4. Bake Christmas cookies, of course! And make, like, four dozen so you can gift them to people on Christmas. 

5. Go hunting for the perfect Christmas tree. I know most people get them right after Thanksgiving, but we don't- we wait until the absolute last minute.

6. Make some DIY ornaments for that tree of yours! (I just posted a ton on Monday)

7. Decorate that tree like it's the first Christmas! (by that I mean, go all out)

8. Decorate your room a little, too, just to be extra festive (flannel blankets, string lights, coffee filter snowflakes?)

9. Send out Christmas cards! You can order them online OR even get crafty and make them yourself. 

10. Take someone special out to Starbucks (or your best friend, ya know) and relish in all of the holiday flavors.

11. Adopt a kitten/puppy! I know it isn't adoption month but still... Every month should be adoption month, since they deserve a good Christmas in a nice home instead of the shelter. 

12. Go online shopping this year instead of the dreaded trek through alllllll of the stores. BONUS- get Amazon Prime and RULE THE HOLIDAYS!


13. Paint your nails with festive colors for the most festive day of the year- this year, I'm going with a dark forest green and on some nails a light green fuzzy textured polish that I got last year. My nails will look like sweaters!

14. Curl up under the blankets and get real cozy while you watch Netflix- BONUS: make a fort!!

15. Create a Spotify playlist exclusively for the holidays, to make you feel extra festive. I'll be sharing mine ASAP!


16. Read a good book! Recently I've been reading the Mazerunner series by James Dashner and I can honestly say it's really good and I would highly recommend it (I love post-apocalyptic books like that). 

17. Take a hot, soothing bath. Winter time is prime bath time for me, and there's nothing better than a warm bubbly bath at the end of a long, cold day. It's a great day to wind down, especially with a cup of tea. 

18. Read a couple of new blogs! There are new blogs with great blogs popping up everywhere, and there's nothing better than curling up with some hot cocoa, Christmas music, and a good blog. 

19. Do some cooking with new recipes. Pinterest is an amazing source for new recipes, and what better time to try them out than winter break, when you have some time off? You can even test them out at a little holiday party, too. 

20. Make a gingerbread house!! This year, my sister and I made a gingerbread train, which turned out cuter than expected. You can do this homemade, by baking everything and buying the candy yourself, or buy a boxed set- either is fine :)

21. Watch Christmas movies, including my top two personal favorites, Elf (with Will Ferrell) and the class Christmas Story!! JUST DON'T SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT! ;) Bonus points for hot cocoa/sleepy time tea. 

22. Wear cozy footie pajamas, like you used to when you were younger! Every year on Christmas Eve, I go to bed in some really soft footie pajamas, and then on Christmas morning, I creep down the stairs, staring down at the tree and newly placed presents, and I feel just like a four year old again. 

23. Donate to charity- this is by far one of the best things on the list, because tis the season of giving and so what better time to give to charity? If you don't have the money, then maybe just donate a few items, or new toys to Toys for Tots. 

24. Clean out your closet. You might think that this has nothing to do with Christmas, but it kind of does- by donating some old clothes you don't wear anymore, they could go to someone who needs them, and plus you might be getting new clothes for Christmas so you'd better make some room!

25. Relax with family and overall have a really good time. These precious two weeks only come once a year, so you should try to make the best of it- I know I will!

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas break, and maybe you'll look back at this list when you're bored- because you'd better remember me this holiday season ;)

xx Savannah

8 Cozy Slow Cooker Recipes for This Winter

Tis the season, the season of slow cookers! I love meals made with slow cookers, minus the prep time.... It takes soooo long..... I have to sit in the kitchen with the glorious smell of roast beast in the oven wafting towards me, while my mum checks it every 15 minutes just to tell me it's still not done. But I wait and wait, and finally it's worth it, to sit down with my family and devour this beast that we have roasted (it's actually just cow but don't tell anybody). It's delicious, and I've got 8 yummy slow cooker recipes for you to try out this winter, because they have literally been BLOWING UP my Pinterest feed!!

1. Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken and Veggies (as shown in photo) by Damn Delicious

2. Slow Cooker Salisbury Steak by Spend with Pennies

3. Slow Cooker Orange Chicken by The Recipe Critic

4. Slow Cooker Garlic Parmesan Potatoes by Damn Delicious

5. Slow Cooker Stuffed Bell Peppers by The Recipe Critic

6. Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken by Gimme Some Oven

7. Slow Cooker Pork Roast with Apples, Carrots and Rosemary by Everyday Good Thinking

8. Slow Cooker Beef and Cheese Pasta by The Cooking Jar

Don't these all sound amazing?? Just the sound of orange chicken is enough to make my stomach growl- hungry yet? 

xx Savannah

6 Photography Tips for Autumn + Winter 2015

Hey guys, still on break! I'm super excited for Thanksgiving, which is now only 3 days away, and I'm also really pumped because it's supposed to "snow" (you know, that weird cold white stuff that falls from the sky?) tonight, but I don't believe it'll even hit the ground because it hasn't actually snowed down here at this level in a few years.. so that's pretty sad. But on Sunday I got to go ice skating a couple of hours from here, and that was fun! I'm just hoping it'll snow in the mountains so that my family can go sledding. 

1. Not a lot of people know this, but Autumn and Winter are actually some of the best times of the year for photographers because it's usually cloudy without any actual direct light (at least where I live most of the time), which creates a really beautiful soft glow, allowing for amazing photos! See? 

2. Rain photography is actually really fun, because you can throw on a black and white filter and it'll look really gloomy and stuff, but you can also add in a pop of color in photoshop if you have something in the photo worthy of color (for example an umbrella- make the whole photo b&w, then go into photoshop and make it whatever color you like so that it stands out). 


3. Taking pictures of the water can be really cool, too! Reflections on a lake, river, ocean etc. can be turned around to your advantage, allowing for awesome photos of mountains or maybe sunsets reflecting- double the awesome. 

4. Christmas is the time for string lights, and string lights can be manipulated and made into awesome BOKEH PHOTOS! If you don't know what bokeh is (I don't even know how to pronounce it, haha), it's the shape of the lights in your photo that are out of focus. They can be just plain circles, or maybe hearts, or even stars- the possibilities are endless! Use the second photo as inspiration this holiday season and make something amazing. 

5. Use limited light to your advantage! When the sun sets, no matter where you are, it usually creates a really nice ombre effect, resulting in colorful photos. Maybe take a picture of the sky straight up, displaying all of the nice colors, with something in the center such as a bird or perhaps some tree tops? 

6. Last but definitely not least- sunglasses. No, you don't wear them while taking pictures... well, maybe you do. But that's not the point; you can make amazing ombre pictures with them by taking the photo through the lens of some ombre sunglasses that you are guaranteed to have on hand (and if you don't, pick up a cheap drug store pair, nothing fancy). I have yet to try this one out, but I'm super excited to!

Were these helpful to you in any way? I sure hope so, because these are custom to the Autumn & Winter seasons for the remainder of 2015 and beginning of 2016, and then I have a whole new set of photography trips planned out for Spring & Summer 2016. I can't wait!

xx Savannah