This has been a special Christmas for us: It was the first in our new house, and it was Addi's first! V had some new traditions, too. Our Christmas recap: I love our tree this year despite never finding a tree topper after ours broke. I plan to also purchase a new tree skirt next year. We chose to stay in Chicago for Christmas this year vs. traveling to Arizona or Kentucky. We wanted to ... Read more
Riding the 2018 CTA Holiday Train in Chicago
We continued our tradition of riding the CTA Holiday Train in the Chicago area this year. If you're not from Chicago and have never heard of it, it's a holiday-themed train that only runs on certain L Train lines at scheduled times. In 2016 and 2017 we caught the train on the Red Line, which runs north-south through the city. This year, we picked the Purple Line in Evanston because we live in the ... Read more
Thoughtful Etsy Small Gift & Stocking Stuffer Ideas
** This post contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise! I know by now many people have an idea of what to buy their loved ones for Christmas/the holidays, but I wanted to share a quick post on four stocking stuffer ideas found on Etsy. I am a huge fan of the site for personalized gifts as ... Read more
What I Really Want for Christmas | My Wish List
** This post contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. I realize that people seemingly only want gift guides nowadays, but today I want to be a little selfish and share my honest Christmas wish list. This comes from the perspective of a work-from-home mom of two who wants to get back into fitness like she used to be. It's ... Read more
CTA Holiday Train 2017
In you live in the Chicago area or plan to visit in the month of December in the future, I recommend trying to find the CTA Holiday Train, especially if you have kiddos! The train already stopped running for 2017, but you have plenty of time to plan for next year. We took Victoria for the first time last year and she loved it! The Red Line is most convenient for us, so we waited for a day when it ... Read more
Holiday Magic Experience at Brookfield Zoo
We've been doing all the Christmas things lately! After a mostly quiet weekend at home, Graham had the idea of going to see holiday lights at Brookfield Zoo. I bought our tickets to the Holiday Magic experience online to save $1 per ticket and we made our way to Brookfield, which is typically a 45-minute drive from our place. We underestimated how popular this event would be, and our ... Read more
December Playlist | Christmas Songs
Can you believe Christmas is in 24 days? It's time to put on some Christmas music and wrap or make gifts for our loved ones! We've also been watching a holiday movie every night as a family, and that's been so fun. I actually refrained from listening to holiday music until Thanksgiving week this year, but I've been known to start playing my favorite Christmas songs in early November in the ... Read more
Companies that Give Back | Holiday Gift Ideas
** This post contains some affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise! I love giving holiday gifts from companies that help others or donate a part of their proceeds to a good cause. In the next year I want to do more of it because it's a win for everyone! I've rounded up a list of companies or ... Read more
Photo/Video Gear for Bloggers | Target Black Friday Deals
** This post contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting this blog! If you're a blogger and need to upgrade or invest in equipment and props, Black Friday is a perfect time to do so. Besides, most of the shopping people do is for themselves, right? I browsed popular shopping ads for Black Friday ... Read more
Sharing Our Family Holiday Cards
Follow my blog with Bloglovin ** This post contains affiliate links. I am compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting Floradise! Is it acceptable to talk about holiday cards yet? I sure hope so, because I ordered my family Christmas cards recently and they arrived last week! I already began addressing and sending them out this week ... Read more