How Can You Engage in Honoring Your Partner? Speak Their Love Language

Mr Bohlen wrote his Christmas list and the only thing on it was tickets to go see his Alma Mater the Fighting Illini take on Baylor at the Texas Bowl here in Houston. The stars had completely aligned for him. His beloved football team would be playing in a BCS Bowl game in Houston. He was so excited he got online well before Christmas and ordered the whole family new gear to sport to the game. Our daughter am Illinois cheer uniform. My son sports a new basketball shirt. Mr Bohlen stayed true to his Orange and Blue. Being the ever good listener that he is, ordered a pink t shirt for me with the ILLINOIS printed in black and white zebra stripes for me. All the items appeared by way of the UPS fairy long before ever knowing that I had indeed gifted him with the tickets.

So Christmas had come and gone. The presents unwrapped. Tickets claimed. A feast was devoured and we went merrily along our way...but somehow it just did not feel like even though I had given Mr Bohlen exactly what he wanted....the tickets, that I felt like I had really given him something. Anyone can jump online and few clicks later...ta da. There they were. Plus he knew I would not let him down.

So that rolling through my mind and a sick child to rest up and a healthy child to entertain, it dawned on me that I could do more.....

Mr Bohlen's love language is Sports....he loves them....all of them...all of the time. Over the years I have grown quite fond myself, but not with the same bravado. It dawned on me that by honoring his true love and passion and do more than just show up for the game in my zebra shirt that I could truly speak his love language; to engage my kids in the process would mean even more. So off to my craft room I went.

Supplies in hand my son and I set forth on making the best Root for Your Team sign we could muster. Mr Bohlen walks by with a smile. But by the time the ill child suddenly feels better and joins in the fun the excitement is brewing. With each pass of our sign Mr Bohlen feels like the whole family is engaged in the real spirit of his love of the game and he feels connected....we had spoken his love language...

So much of Holiday Break is focused on entertaining our children, friends and relatives which is fantastic. But could you use that time as an opportunity through activity to speak your partner's love language and honor their passion?

Maybe you won't be headed to the big game, but the big game will be watched in your living room. Make your own signs for home. Host a family pre-game tailgate, or blanket top party with great snacks. Dress in his team's colors. Does he speak a different language?

Maybe cooking is his language...have the kids decorate your dining room as their restaurant. Make menus and take family reservations. You get the idea!

Share your comments of how you spoke your spouses love language....and we will see you after the game!

Tiffany Blue and Black Theme for New Years and a Freebie Party Pack

I have always loved New Years Eve. As a young girl, I was invited by my mother to stay up late and watch the drop of the crystal ball in Times Square or attend a wonderful party in a beautiful dress at the historic Rhoeder Home in our city. I loved that there were so many special treats served in crystal dishes. It was such a bonding moment. As an adult I love the idea of a fresh start....the hope that comes in the atmosphere if each celebration as we look to a new beginning. To me New Years Eve was classy, elegant and special.

I love the idea of stepping away from the harsh metallic and blacks often associated with the decorations that come with ringing in a New Year. It was on Love the Day and was struck by the pure simplicity of her theme of Tiffany Blue, Black and White party pack that she created for Operation Shower.

“Operation Shower is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides joyful baby showers for military families to ease the burden of deployment.” To help achieve their mission, Operation Shower started Operation Give Thanks, a nation-wide fundraising campaign to support these wonderful parties.

I am going to print these out and and create a clean crisp celebration that is symbolic of fresh start to the new year. I can't wait to drag out my crisp linen table dressings, crystal snack trays and candle holders and dress up my home for an elegant celebration!

To pick up your free party pack and learn more about Operation Shower head over to:  http://www.love-the-day.com/lovetheday/wordpress/?p=920&cpage=1#

Meet Me on Monday

Happy Monday! I was reading an article in the Jan/Feb issue of Vogue (my guilty pleasure) and happened across a wonderful prologue to the book Poser My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses by my hometown friend, Claire Dederer where she spoke of life as a mother in the Seattle area. I loved the visual picture of the life I lived so happily and my thoughts were drawn to the wonderful memories of meeting my sisters in motherhood for coffee at a quaint little coffee shop in downtown Puyallup each Monday morning.

These women, Melissa, Heather, Laurie, Johanna, Michele, Julia, Shirley and Melody, were a true blessing to me on a tough part of my journey with my husband overseas and inspired me with great ideas and wonderful laughs over lattes.

I came across a blog hop, Never Growing Old: Meet Me on Mondays and loved the idea of answering the 5 questions posed to give you a glimpse of where I am on this fine Monday. Grab a cup of Joe and leave me a comment with you answers and win a cup of Starbucks on me! Let's chat!

What are your New Years Eve Plans?

Usually we have a group over to play games and count down the New Year...but this year we are celebrating early as I treated my husband, a University of Illinois Alumni, tickets to the Texas Bowl to watch his Alma Mater take on Baylor. So we will get there bright and early in our new Illini gear ready to tailgate with the Alumni Association and whoop it up for our New Years fest.


How Tall Are You?

This is a funny question because a friend of mine and her spouse were just having a debate over her height. He is 6'5". And she swore she was taller the 5'3" that he claimed as that is my height and she knows she towers over me. Too funny!

What is your favorite pudding flavor?
That would be a tie between pistachio and chocolate. Yum.

What room of the house do you blog in the most?
That would be my favorite spot on my sofa near my fireplace. Not that we need a fire that often in SE Texas. But that is my spot!

What is your best physical feature?
Well that is tough. There are so many things that I would love to change, but as I grow older, I have become comfortable in my own skin, My husband would say my smile and my mom would say my hair.

I hope this gives you a sneak peak into me. Now it's your turn. Leave me your answers in the comments section and be entered for a cup of Starbucks on me. I will draw on Friday. Don't forget to "Follow" me to by 12/31 to be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 Borders gift card.

Live Action Silhouettes...The Perfect Gift

I have been faced with the never ending challenge of what to give the person who has everything? How do I give a gift that when opened the recipient truly felt like they had been really considered. Can you relate?

Silhouettes are all the rage in design right now. And what a personal gift they make. I have seen them on everything from Christmas Ornaments to pillows to wall hangings. Some time ago I saw a blog post where someone (I wish I could remember who) inspired me to take my silhouette design to the next level. I found some wonderful action shots of my children doing what they do best and added beautiful papers and backgrounds to the images that represented their personalities rather than using the traditional black and white format.

This really embodies the spirit of who my son is. He is the King of the Ball field.

This piece captures the charm and whimsy of my daughter's personality. I cut out the necklace she was wearing as you will always find her in high style in my accessories and she loves the butterfly.

Inspiration photo that I extracted Keaton from in Photoshop Elements.

Inspiration photo that I extracted Payton from in Photoshop Elements.

To create a one of a kind wall hanging. I uploaded my photo into a photo editing software. I use Photoshop Elements, but you can use what ever you like. I went into the Magic Extractor tool and I selected the area of the photo that I wanted to use as my live action silhouette.

Then I recolored the picture black and then paper clipped the papers I liked to layers of the photo I created and added text.

For a more handcrafted feel, once you extract and remove the color from your piece, simply print it and use scrapbook paper, gift wrap, magazine pages or whatever medium you desire and paste it directly to your print to match the shape.

I had my projects printed at Office Max for about $.24 cents each for a large print and placed them in a beautiful $9.00 frame that came with a mat from Hobby Lobby and viola...a very unique and personal gift.

Christmas Open House

Tonight was a great night. Will and I dropped the kids for a night out for dinner at the fabulous PESCE. I tried to talk him into pulling a switcheroo with the Maserati and leaving them our car, but he wasn't having it. We had a fantastic meal and we won a big basket full of goodies, two gift cards. I will be headed to Starbucks tomorrow with my $25.00 gift card and my mug that says, "Dear Santa, Define Good." Hmmm...I think my husband has been telling one too many stories as they have me figured out. Oh well....more lattes for me!

Sometimes when I am pulling together my thoughts for my holiday decorations, my best ideas come from what other inspiring women have created in their own homes. So let's do a holiday open house and share one or more pictures with us that are you favorite areas of your holiday decorating for this year.

Next year I am going to focus on my master bedroom...in fact i have already been spying a Lennox quilt for our bed....

Here is a tour of our Pacific Northwest meets Southern Charm home for the holidays... Send me your favorite holiday decor pictures at christy.bohlen1@gmail.com and I will add them to our Christmas Open House Tour.

Our formal dining room in red feathers, garlands, crystals and mistletoe. The feathers gives the extra touch of whimsy and the crystals give the formality to a builder's chandelier.

I had coffee the other day with a woman that decorates homes for the holidays professionally and she said the secret to a good Southern Christmas tree was to stuff your artificial tree with live Spruce boughs. I told her a beautiful Northwest tree is live stuffed with artificial boughs of fruits and willows etc. It was such a paradigm shift for each of us. I am going to go decorate with her and hopefully get so inspired!!! 

Our home is made up of four elements from the Christmas Season that represents each member of our family. Will is the Nutcracker. I am the Angel. Keaton is the Rocking horse as our first born. Payton is the Snowflake as she was born on the first snowfall of the year. You will find these for figures scattered throughout the house.

Our tree is an eclectic mix of a collection of Waterford, Sawortski, Lennox and Gorham crystal ornaments that I have so lucky to have received as gifts. It also has a great mix of handmade ornaments by our mothers, ornaments that the kids have made etc.

I absolutely love lighted garlands. You will find them on the mantle, staircases banisters and even strewn down a dining table.

We decorated the front of the house to resemble a Gingerbread house with lighted wreaths in every window, Lollipops and Candy Canes in the Garden and Will strung red, green and white lights on all four elevations of roof line.

This year I was inspired to decorate all of my outdoor living spaces. Will and the kids built me this hidden nook sunk into my front garden for Mothers Day two years ago. Adding Santa's Sled to welcome our guests and candy canes and lollipops and pine cones give my illuminated wreaths in my windows a cozy setting to sit for a spell.

The three foot ornament trees in our foyer give a warm holiday welcome.

Free Glasses From coastalcontacts.com!

I have to give a big shout out to Amy Townsend, one of the funniest, loving ladies I know. She is a SAHM of four and loves a good bargin. She passed this inspiring deal along to me today and I thought I would share it with you. Here is what she had to say,

"Coastalcontacts.com is giving away ANOTHER 10,000 free pairs of glasses! We got ours & only paid s&h last month. Code is: FREE4ALL".  Just click here http://www.coastalcontacts.com/

Wow, what a deal! Both of my kids went into glasses this Spring. I am going to hop and take advantage of this deal for them to have that "spare" set and then order a set for Will and myself. Check it out!

And remember everyone that registers to follow my blog through the end of the month will be entered into a drawing for a $25.00 Borders Gift Card. Have a great day!

Winter Break Boredom Busters and a Freebie

Well like many of you I am in the mad dash to coordinate the Holiday Parties at my kids school and wanted to share an activity placemat that I created for my son's 3rd Grade Party. We are going to encourage the kids to fight the long winter break boredom blues that can set in on visits to extended family, or rainy days with my version of Winter Break Bingo. Feel free to download the files for your own use.

I printed the files double sided and laminated for repeated play. Using a marker or crayons the kids pick an activity on their BINGO board. Once they complete the activity they mark it off with a crayon or marker until they have a B-I-N-G-O. Enjoy!

Welcome to Highheels and Lattes and a Giveaway!

I have been so fortunate to be surrounded by amazing women that are all dedicated to being the best they can be at whatever passions in life they pursue. These women inspire me daily and I love the wonderful world of the Internet to continue to be inspired by all of them from all walks of life, in all parts of the world with a click of the mouse.

I am a spunky, sassy woman who juggles the plates of self, wife, mother, creative, fashionista, career woman, world traveller, philanthropist, sister, sister in Christ, friend....you get it. I love my life and give 100 percent to try to make sure that all who enter my crazy existence feel the warmth and love that I have for them.

So why "Highheels and Lattes"? well we all have our own little quirks and monikers for which we are known. Recently we went to my daughter's Daisy Girl Scout Halloween Party. My sweet Payton created her own Fashion Model costume which consisted of a pair of high heels, some of my costume jewelry and accessories and a Starbucks coffee cup. All of the moms (also amazing women) let out a giggle and asked her if she dressed up as her mom (me) for the party because she looked just like me in her high heels with a latte.

I am often asked in my own day to day life where I got the idea for something, how I created a craft or gift or tradition or just how do I manage to do all that I do...the truth is I am humbled by those that inspire me and hope that by sharing tidbits from my inspired life and Guest Posts from the ladies that inspire me, you will be inspired too....

I will enter all of those who become "Followers" on my blog through the end of the year into a drawing for a $25.00 gift card from Borders...Thanks for stopping by.