The first stop on our adventure was Manza Family Farm in Montgomery, NY. The farm is great for families. It has real reindeer, pony rides and Santa! The ground are also gorgeous!

They have precut trees to choose from and two places on the property where you can cut your own tree. We needed a tall, but skinny tree so the cut your owns at this farm didn’t really work for us, but it was super to fun explore the grounds. We also managed to take some gorgeous photos for our Christmas cards, but I will save those to show when our cards arrive!

We headed over to Wilkens Fruit & Fir Farm next. We had been there for apple picking a few months ago and we remembered all the Christmas trees we walked through. On our drive over there, it started to rain and we were a little worried that we wouldn’t be allowed out into the fields if it was raining. Luckily, as soon as we arrived, the rain let up and a huge rainbow spread across the whole sky. Talk about a sign that we were picking the perfect tree!

We walked around for a bit before we found the one. Tommy cut the tree down the tree with the provided saw and him and Alex dragged it over to the pick up area.

A tractor picks up the cut trees every few minutes, while you go to the barn to pay for your tree and get your free hot apple cider.

We had a great day looking for our perfect tree and we can’t wait to visit both farms in the near future!

Do you get a real Christmas tree? Have you ever been to a cut your own Christmas tree farm?

The post Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree – Cut Your Own Christmas Tree in New York appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

Easy DIY Festive Christmas Candles
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This is a super easy DIY, and the best part is that I made with things that I already had at home. All you need is a jarred candle (mine are from the White Barn brand at Bath & Body Works), thick ribbon, twine, a few evergreen sprigs (which I cut right off the back of our Christmas tree), tags, scissors and a hot glue gun to help assemble it all.

I started off by measuring the thick ribbon by wrapping it around the candle and leaving about an inch and a half of overlap. Once I cut the ribbon to size, I hot glued it onto the candle. Next I took my evergreen sprig and wrapped with with the twine. I cut the twine long enough for it to go around the candle twice and tie a bow in the front. After securing the sprig in place with the twine and a drop of hot glue, I slipped the tag on, tied a knot in the twine and made a bow. On some of the candles the tag didn’t want to stay on with just a knot, so I used a drop of hot glue to secure it as well.

And in less than 10 minutes, you have a super cute and festive candle.

Since this is such a quick and easy DIY, it is the perfect last minute gift!

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Tea Towels, $6.95: My kitchen is not complete without dish towels. I use them for everything from wiping spills to taking things out of the oven. Anything that makes me smile when I am working in the kitchen is a plus in my book.

Paderno World Cuisine Spiralizer, $39.99: A spiralizer is a must have in every kitchen in my opinion. This little machine makes the perfect spirals out of almost any fruit or veggie you put into it. This is great for salads and making all types of veggie noodles. I use mine multiple times a month!

Nutri Ninja Kitchen System, $249.99: The Ninja is an incredible blender/food processor system. It comes with the standard blender attachment, 3 on-the-go smoothie cups with lids and a food processor attachment. This does the work of three different kitchen appliances and does all the jobs really well. If you are a breakfast smoothie kind of person like I am, this is the perfect gift.

Marble Serving Boards, $29.95: Marble seems to be the new trend when it comes to all things for the home and I have to say I love it. This marble serving board is perfect for cheese and other appetizers.

Breville Espresso Machine, $599.95: We received this espresso machine as a bridal shower gift and I and so thankful every morning that we have this machine in our lives. Like with any espresso machine, there is a little bit of a learning curve, but once you have it down, there are dozens of delicious drinks you can make at home, no red cups necessary.

Himalayan Salt Block, $69.95: This is the only thing on the list I do not own yet. We only use Himalayan salt in our cooking and I have heard a lot of good reviews about using salt blocks for cooking. We tried cedar planks on the BBQ last summer and the results were great. I think that this block would produce delicious fish and meats as well. It is safe for use on the stovetop and in the over as well, and can even be chilled and used as a serving board.

KitchenAid Sparkling Beverage Maker, $199.95: In our household we are seltzer lovers, so it was natural to purchase a soda maker. The Kitchenaid matches our other appliances and makes a mean bottle of seltzer. It comes in a variety of colors and has already paid for itself in the amount of money we have saved, not purchasing bottled seltzer, not to mention the number of bottles we saved from going to the landfill.

OXO Scraper & Chopper, $9.99: When we were purchasing kitchen tools after our kitchen renovation, Tommy insisted we purchase this and I was 100% sure that it would lay in the drawer collecting dust. I could not have been more wrong. I use this almost everyday and every time I am chopping or dicing veggies. This is the perfect tool to transport anything from the cutting board to pot/pan and makes cooking simpler and less messy.

Cast Iron Pre-Seasoned Skillet, prices vary: Every kitchen needs a cast iron skillet. Before we purchased one ourselves, I was intimidated by the upkeep, but it is super simple to care for and can be used for everything from steak to cake. It is super versatile and I love that I can sear some meat on the stove top before putting into the over to fully cook. My #1 must have for kitchens.

Disclosure: Some affiliate links used!

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Our Christmas tree cutting took place the weekend after Thanksgiving. We found a farm that wasn’t too far from Tommy’s aunt’s house because we had a lunch date after our tree cutting adventures.

We wandered around for a while before we found the one. Our biggest dilemma was finding a tree that would fit in the spot we chose, which is basically the only spot we have room to put it. We wanted a tree that was tall, but not too big at the bottom.

We found the perfect tree! Tommy cut the tree down and we dragged it back to the car while wondering if we had made a good choice. Since the farm was very little, they didn’t have a machine to tie the tree branches together and we had to improvise with a duvet cover and some rope. We actually had to pull over on the side of the highway because the tree was slipping off and we stuffed it inside the car.

In the end, it was all worth the trouble because our tree looks beautiful!

What’s your favorite Christmas tradition? Do you get a live Christmas tree?

The post Picking the Perfect Christmas Tree appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

If you are a blogger or know a blogger, you know that we spend a lot of time with our heads in the clouds thinking of new ideas to write about. I think this list has a good range of prices and things that any blogger would love.

1. I live in my Moleskine Planner. All of my blog deadlines go in there as soon as I get them, along with all of my school, work and family/fun events and appointments. This not only helps me stay on track with things coming up, it gives me a place to look back and make sure that

2. Twitter Plate Necklace. You can get a nameplate with your blogger’s twitter handle or favorite hashtag. I think this is super cute and also a great conversation starter.

3. Blogger t-shirt. There are a ton of different blog related t-shirts out there. I thought this one was super fun

4. Prints. There are some amazing blog related prints on Etsy and I can totally see myself hanging this up in my home office in the near future.

5. A fancy camera. I have a Canon EOS Rebel T3 and I absolutely love it. I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t know how to use all of the features this camera has to offer, but just using it in aperture mode makes an incredible difference in photo quality.

6. Notebook. I always have a notebook in my purse and I am always jotting down ideas that pop into my head. I am a sucker for cute covers like this one from Sugar Paper LA.

7. Business Cards. Whenever I attend a blogger event, I go through a ton of business cards. It’s always nice to have a backup and if your blogger doesn’t have a card, it feels so amazing the first time you see your blog name on a business card. I get mine from Moo.

8. Laptop accessories. I love this Chevron Keyboard Cover and there are a ton of different cases and covers you can choose from.

9. USB Drives. At any given time I have at least two USB Flash Drives on me. I keep a ton of pictures and documents on these and they are super handy. I love this cute Hello Kitty USB Flash Drive and they come in tons of characters.

10. Mugs. I love sitting down to bog with a cup of coffee or tea and I am a sucker for cute mugs.

I hope you found this list helpful.

Which of the things on the list would you want to get as a gift?

The post Blogger Gift Guide appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

The holidays can’t stick around forever, but I wish they would. The last two days have been a whirlwind of food, family and fun. Since my family is Polish, our Christmas celebration occurs on Christmas Eve with a meatless dinner called Wigilia. After Wigilia, we get to open presents, before heading out to Midnight Mass.

This was the first year that Alex actually understood Christmas, and was excited to rip into his presents.

He also now has a horrible case of popcorn brain and wants to play  with each new toy for about 5 minutes before moving on to the next one.

We spent Christmas morning in our pjs playing with our new toys. Alex got a whole play-doh candy maker set, and I’m not sure who loves it more, me or him.

The rest of Christmas was spent at my aunt and Tommy cousins’ house. It was the first time that we split time between our families on Christmas and I really enjoyed it.

What did you do on Christmas? What’s your favorite Christmas tradition?

The post Christmas! appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

On Wednesday, we headed to the city to see the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center.

Rockefeller Center kind of hold a special place in Tommy and my hearts because over two years ago, Tommy asked me to be his girlfriend on the Top of the Rock, overlooking the big tree being put up.

We’ve visited the tree every year since, and every year we get out of the subway and I lead us in the wrong direction. It’s kind of a tradition now, a tradition that proves I lack a sense of direction.

I love all the decorations that get put up all over the city. These huge red ornaments are one of my favs and we check them out each year too.

Last year, we went on a search for the best Christmas lights display in NYC and found a really cool looking house in Whitestone. This year, we went to check out the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights, and they blew last year’s display out.of.the.water!

There were blocks of houses decked out to the nines, with every house having something completely different from all the others.

There were also people dressed up as different characters. Alex loved the reindeer!

We had an absolute blast.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

The post A NYC Christmas appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

I was pretty nervous about it because last year was kind of a disaster. Like Alex dove into his stroller and covered his face with his jacket until we were out of Santa’s line of vision, kind of disaster. So this year, I asked and waited until he told me he was ready to go see Santa and on Wednesday he finally said he wanted to go.

We were first in line after Santa’s lunch break and I was super nervous, but Alex went up like a pro, sat on Santa’s lap, smiled for the picture and told Santa he wanted the Where’s My Water game. Too bad Santa didn’t know what it was. Luckily, he’s got elves taking care of that for him.

After our rendezvous with St. Nick, I tried to snap some photos for our Christmas card. I had Alex play with some lights and I love the way the pictures came out!

I’m going to try to shoot a few more tomorrow since my parents bought him a Santa hat over the weekend. So far, I am in love with the second one!

That’s all for now, since I’m knee deep in finals prep. :/ Keep your fingers crossed for me on Tuesday night because I’m going to need all the luck I can get!

Do you have any funny mall Santa stories? Do you make your own Christmas cards?

The post We Saw Santa! appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

1. Yurbuds. There is nothing more annoying that earbuds that constantly need to be fiddled with or fall out while you are running. With these babies, you won’t have that problem!

2. Free Motion Wind Jacket. This is my favorite running jacket. It fits like a glove, doesn’t ride up and had thumb holes aka a total winner in my book!

3. Road ID. Keep the runner in your life safe with the Road ID. It’s a wristband that you wear on your runs which includes your emergency contact info in case something happens while you’re on the road.

4. Oiselle Runfinity Scarf. I am obsessed with snoods and infinity scarfs. This one is specially designed to keep you warm on your runs and is cute enough to go from workout to night out!

5. The stick. The stick may seem silly as first glance, but once you use the stick to soothe your sore muscles you will be sold. It feels amazing on sore quads and calves and with a bit of flexibility, can be used to massage your back and shoulders too. It’s used by Olympic athletes in various training center in the USA. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me!

6. A GPS watch. The Garmin Forerunner 410 is on the top of my Christmas wishlist, but GPS watches come in tons of models with all different types of features depending on your needs. I’m pretty sure every runner would be excited to get one of these babies.

7. A Runner’s Magazine subscription. I am a total magazine junkie and love getting magazines delivered to my doorstep every months. A magazine subscription is the gift that keeps on giving!

What’s on your Christmas list this year?

The post Gift Ideas for Runners appeared first on Frolic Through Life.

I have about 20 days until I can really relax and enjoy the Christmas season and I feel like I am being cheated of a lot of Christmas cheer. Not fair!

So while you’re enjoying your Peppermint Latte and Christmas music, I’ll be here, reading my outline and counting down the days until I can bid law school farewell.

What’s your favorite part of the holiday season?

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