** Thanks to the Grinch's Grotto for hosting our visit. 2020 has been a Grinch of a year, so the Grinch's Grotto experience at Westfield Old Orchard (and other locations) seemed like an appropriate family-friendly holiday event this year. It's an opportunity to have a private meet-and-greet with the Grinch himself and even take home some souvenirs. The girls were so excited to meet ... Read more
Attending Brookfield Zoo Holiday Magic Experience During the Pandemic
I was unsure if we'd attend Holiday Magic Experience this year, but capacity restrictions and required masks made it a possibility to go to Brookfield Zoo's annual holiday event. This event had more people in attendance than we saw on our last visit to the zoo on a weekday. We visited on a weekend night on its first weekend. Still we were able to distance as much as possible. Things to ... Read more
Our Christmas Home Tour 2020 and New Lighted Christmas Decorations
** This post contains affiliate links and gifted lighted Christmas decorations. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise! This year I upgraded our family's Christmas decorations because we could use some extra cheer. I found some gorgeous lighted Christmas decorations on Lights.com and some other decor that have really ... Read more
DIY Christmas Wreath
** This post about my DIY Christmas wreath contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise! Over the weekend I tried my hand at creating a DIY Christmas wreath using items I had in my home. I'm sharing what I used along with ideas for recreating this wreath while not spending a lot of money. ... Read more
Gifts for Kids
** This post about Christmas gifts for kids contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Have you started your Christmas shopping? While most of the gifts I am purchasing have been from small businesses, toys are one category for which I often shop at major retailers. I'm sharing several ideas of gifts for kids to consider ... Read more
Making Special Memories With Letters From Santa
** This post is sponsored by Santa's Letter Factory. All opinions about requesting letters from Santa are my own. This year we want to make Christmas even more special by getting personalized letters from Santa for our girls. It's been such a difficult year for the girls with having to distance and not see our family, so I'd like to make it up to them as much as possible with unique ... Read more
Small Businesses I’ve Found on Social Media Recently
** This post about small businesses contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise! This year I've decided to do my Christmas shopping as early as possible. I started a sinking fund for holiday shopping in January, so I already have savings for gifts and I've made a few purchases. My goal is to ... Read more
CTA Holiday Train 2019
For the fourth year we've made it on the CTA Holiday Train in Chicago. It's becoming one of my favorite holiday traditions now that we have young girls, because their faces light up when they wave to Santa and ride the festive L train. This year we waited until Santa's Express was on the Purple Line in Evanston because that's near our home and not too crowded. We boarded at Central Station ... Read more
2019 Flora Family Cookie Day
One of my favorite Christmas traditions is getting together with family for a marathon baking day with our Louisville family. At our annual Cookie Day, we bake dozens of cookies using recipes from my husband's grandmother. This year we borrowed the binder of recipes to copy so that we can have them, too. Each person/couple/family picks their recipes and then bakes them and we place them on a table ... Read more
Holiday Magic Experience 2019 at Brookfield Zoo
I want to make the Christmas season as magical as possible for our girls, so the Holiday Magic Experience at Brookfield Zoo was on my bucket list. We had skipped last year because A was only 8 months old, making this was our first time with our two girls. We had a blast, but I'll admit it's a workout to go anywhere with two kids. It's totally worth the 45-minute drive to Brookfield, ... Read more