Hello! Hope this finds you well, I? have had such a fun weekend. Dinner with? old friends on Friday and last night my closest friends and husbands and I went out for my early birthday dinner, we ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Gotham Bar and Grill, a well established classic New York restaurant and the food as it always is, was sublime!

It was such an amazingly fun evening and a much needed break in a very hectic week full of anticipation of the holidays which are creeping up really fast! Today as I do every Sunday,? I share with you seven things on my mind, here we go……

1.? A FABULOUS HOLIDAY CD! This is particularly exciting for me to talk about because the singer is none other than my very dear friend, Grace Haggerty who finally decided to check? making a CD off her bucket list! She is uber talented, with a smooth silky voice that could rival many singing legends, and most sounds like Karen Carpenter. She just came out with her holiday CD, Merry Christmas Darling and? it is the CD to have this year. Right from the start local stations have picked it up, they know a good thing when they hear it!

I would recommend this even if she weren’t my friend, because it is that good, if you love smooth jazz (courtesy of collaborations with many of the best in the business) and a beautiful voice combined with classic Christmas songs, you will LOVE this CD! What I like most is the “jazzy edge”…..I have had it blasting in my own home and indeed it has really put me in the spirit, which until last week I wasn’t really feeling. Click here to hear snippets of the album (click on the arrows in front of each song)? and hopefully you will love it enough to purchase one of your very own! So proud of you Grace!

2.? CHRISTMAS DECOR! Yep it’s official….it really is here. I must admit I started seeing a lot of people in blogland who were nearly done with their decor and it was intimidating. AND inspiring. Talk about the power of social media…it really prompted me to spring into action! I have a long long way to go and just got the tree delivered Friday (started to decorate it yesterday and hope to finish today)? but I did start doing a little bit here and there, here is what I have so far……just my mantle and a few arrangements.

Click here if you missed my post on my holiday decorating so far. I will be following up by? next weekend with my wrap up of my Christmas decorations for 2014!

3. INSTAGRAMS OF INTEREST. Always love to include my favorites of the week and this week was a plethora of beauty,? inspiration and holiday gorgeousness. Here are the ones that really captivated me……

I had to include this one…I think this is the funniest thing ever. I can imagine insisting my husband wear this…..seriously? A trend? Really?

4 MONOGRAMMED LINENS. OK you know how much I love anything monogrammed right? Well, my love for monogrammed linens knows no bounds and I am so thrilled with my recent acquisitions from Celerie and South, they have me wanting to throw a party!? Click here to visit Celerie and South. Here are my newest dinner napkins…..

5. LOVE TRUFFLES?? Have you ever tried white truffles? We attended a beautiful truffle dinner which was really incredible, such? a very special evening. Ever since, I have been somewhat fascinated by the entire truffle industry, but specifically the coveted holy grail of? truffles, the white truffle. Only found in the Piedmont region of Italy,? this has become an industry that rivals the wine trade, it is really remarkable.

I LOVE this documentary (have only watched it maybe a dozen times)? and if this subject at all interests you, think you will too. I NEED to go to the shop featured,Tartufi Morra….. it is fascinating with a capital F and soooo charming! And the truffle auction scene is one to watch even if this subject does not interest you, so captivating. This film? also happens to be super beautiful with the countryside of Northern Italy as? a backdrop, you cannot go wrong:)

6. AN ELEGANT AND EASY HOLIDAY APPETIZER. I have featured these before and made them Friday night when we had friends over for drinks,? they are so good and really easy, perfect for the holidays!

Fig crostinis, elegant and delicious! All you need is a fresh baguette or French loaf, ricotta (fresh is best but any will do), a fig jam or preserves, a little butter, honey, chopped pecans or walnuts, fresh figs (if you cannot find you can buy dried figs). Add a little butter to sliced baguettes and bake for about 10 min at 325.

Take out and spread a thin layer of ricotta cheese, then a layer of the jam or preserves, add cut fig on top and sprinkle with nuts. Finally add a light drizzle of honey and you have yourself one yummy appetizer!

Pictures aren’t so great (taken with my iPhone) but you get the idea….

7. HILARIOUS CHRISTMAS CARD PICTURES. Let’s end on a funny note….these are too much fun to not share. Check out these Christmas card pictures……(and yes these are real)!

An elegant looking bunch!

Sad but true:)

Too funny! The ratio appears to be 4 dogs for every family member:)

Speechless!

OK at least looks like they are having fun, corny as it might be;)

And my absolute fave……..

Saved the best for last……This is my favorite, they look like a lively duo, don’t you think?

Always good to keep our humor intact this time of year:). Hey, at least they sent out Christmas cards, I have yet to even think of that! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend, wishing you a great day. Thank you for stopping in, until next time…..