This year has been so stressful, so crazy, and so different. When Holly and I started talking about doing Zoom girls night ins, we just wanted things to feel a little normal. We wanted to capture laughter with friends, new and old, again and have a few minutes to escape together. Basically, we were trying to create our own Hallmark Christmas movie experiences with a fabulous group of gals!

Our November Glam Girls Night In captured that Hallmark Christmas movie spirit! We had girlfriends join our Zoom from 14 different cities - from Boise, Idaho to Alexandria, Virginia to Chicago, IL we crisscrossed the country! Just like so many Hallmark Christmas movies that involve holiday baking, chef Holly shared a cinnamon puff recipe for Thanksgiving morning. Next, the gorgeous Tori Belle consultant Coleen Krause showed us how to up our glam game for the holidays. Watch Coleen's tips on our YouTube channel! 

Then, the amazing fashion designer Sandhya Nair shared tips on how to accessorize for the holidays. We loved her styling tips! Subscribe to Sandhya on YouTube! Then, the wonderful Tastefully Simple consultant, Treva Jones shared a great appetizer recipe.

As we sipped our cocktails and chatted about changing out of lounge wear to make the holidays special, I couldn't help thinking about how the Hallmark Christmas movies often talk about taking care of yourself and doing something to make it special. ​There was great laughter as we talked about favorite Thanksgiving dishes, cocktails, and the upcoming holidays. 

Holly and I shared that we had recently discovered Hallmark Channel Wine thanks to the awesome social media team at Jewel-Osco! We loved the wine so much that Holly and I took pictures with Santa with the festive Hallmark Channel Jingle Wine when we recently did outdoor pictures with Santa with our girls. Santa LOVED the Hallmark Channel Wine! Then, Holly and I shared our surprise video with our Girls Night In gang! This really was just like a Hallmark Christmas movie! We had reached out to the winemakers of the Hallmark Channel Wine - Evan Nelson and Andrew Nelson and asked if they would do a holiday greeting for our Messy Mommies Girls Night In! Evan and Andrew said yes!

We loved the video, we loved their cat, and we especially love the Hallmark Channel Jingle and Hallmark Channel Joy wines! Thank you so much Evan and Andrew for sharing holiday cheers with us! The 2020 Wine Enthusiast's 40 Under 40 Tastemaker' brothers, Evan and Andrew did a fabulous job creating this festive wine! We raffled off Hallmark Channel Jingle wine during our Zoom which was so much fun and have been giving Hallmark Channel Jingle and Hallmark Channel Joy wines as holiday gifts. You should too! The Hallmark wines are so good and so cute! You can order 2, 4, and 6 packs of the Hallmark Jingle and Joy wines! Order now on-line or pick up at many local stores! 

As a side story, when I was picking up the Hallmark Wines for our Zoom, a grandpa was behind me in the check-out line at Jewel. He asked me about wine as he had not seen before. I shared that we were so excited about the Hallmark wines and that it had recently launched. He shared that his wife loved the Hallmark Christmas movies and every year they bought a Hallmark ornament. He had just built her a bookcase to display all the Hallmark ornaments. He said he was going to get the Hallmark wine as a surprise for his wife. I saved his spot in line and he was so happy when he came back with two bottle of Hallmark Jingle wine. It was so sweet. 

Our November Glam Girls Night In was so much fun! We had so much laughter and so much holiday spirit! And, it was a great escape for a little while. A huge thank you to all the Messy Mommies girlfriends that joined us for our November Girls Night In! We so appreciate you joining us, especially during these crazy days!

Spread some Christmas cheer with...
ELF CHRISTMAS GRAMS!
 
My daughter, Eleanora, and her friend Courtney want to spread some extra Christmas cheer this season!  

The girls plan to dress up as Christmas elves and deliver ELF CHRISTMAS GRAMS! Elf Grams are unique, customized video messages that include a song and dance and letter mailed to you from Santa. Send an Elf Gram to family and friends - people of all ages will love receiving an Elf Gram. One Elf Christmas Gram costs $5. Proceeds from this will support Saint Clement Church’s Jesse Tree. The Saint Clement Jesse Tree is something our parish does to spread Christmas cheer by delivering presents to those in need.  

If you would like to purchase an Elf gram for your child, fill out this form or email: [email protected]. Purchase Elf Grams by December 9, 2020. Elf Grams will be emailed to you before December 24th. 
Once the girls receive your request for an Elf Gram, they will send you payment information. 

Merry Christmas from Santa’s Elves!

xo, 
holly

We know the holidays are going to look a lot different this year. Messy Mommy Holly and I are constantly talking about how the holidays may play out and how we can do it in a safe manner. We chat about what traditions we can keep - even in a different way and how to make things special for the kids. We're also looking at ways to capture these unprecedented times so someday our kids can show their kids. 

Pictures with Santa was something I hoped to make happen. Today, we did outside mini pictures with Santa with the amazing Michelle and her team from Red Photograph with Michelle in Minooka! It was fantastic! Huge cheers to Michelle and her team for a fast, fun, and safe experience!  

Michelle had taken our large Tortorello family pictures last year on Christmas Eve which was so nice of her. The pictures turned out beautiful! I knew she did mini Christmas sessions and checked out her Red Photograph with Michelle Facebook page. I loved her Christmas scenes. She has outdoor holiday scenes with the darling vintage red truck, the so cute VW Bug, the cheery red and white camper and the magical Santa's Sleigh. I wanted pictures of the girls and my mom with Santa and asked my sister-in-law/Messy Mommy Holly and my niece, Eleanora to do pictures with Santa and us too! 

Michelle is so organized! She did an outstanding job staggering families. And, the scenes are spread out so we were not near other people. The weather predictions changed and she called us the night before to move up our times to make sure we could get our pictures in, such great service! We checked in and were able to do our pictures right away. While we were near Santa, we were also socially distanced. We did pictures with masks to note this moment in time and some without masks. Michelle was great and had encouraged people to bring their own mugs, Christmas blankets, and other props which we did and so did others. The Christmas scenes were all so cute and the mugs and blankets were great!

The photographer who did our pictures was excellent! She was great with us as we did different combinations of Nana with the granddaughters, with just the girls, and all of us. Holly and I did a few pictures with Santa for our blog and Santa was so fun with us as we posed with the so festive new Hallmark Jingle wine!

We had a great time taking pictures with Santa. It was so much fun, so festive, so normal, and so safe. Michelle also has a beautiful, outdoor log cabin scene, a darling cookies and milk scene, and some gorgeous inside fancy settings. You can book your holiday pictures and find more details on the Red Photograph by Michelle website.  There are a few spots still open for Santa for Sunday, Nov. 15! We can't wait to see our pictures! Thanks to Michelle and your team for helping spread Christmas cheer and for capturing this moment in time! Merry Christmas!  

Join us for our November Glam Girls Night In on November 19 from 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm on Zoom! While we may be staying home for Thanksgiving, we can still stay stylish! We are so excited to talk fashion, food, and fun while having cocktails! 

We are so excited that our friend and fashion designer Sandhya Nair is joining our Girls Night In! Sandhya will share tips on how to accessorize for the holidays. Check out Sandhya's YouTube channel: Riveting Flair with Sandhya Nair. We love her passion for design and how she encourages women to feel great and believe in themselves. 

We are thrilled that our long-time friend and gorgeous Tori Belle consultant Coleen Krause will also be joining us! Coleen will share insights on fabulous lashes and make-up! The Messy Mommies will be raffling off a Tori Belle "9 to 5" magnetic liner and lashes bundle! 

The amazing cookbook author Holly Murer will also share a Thanksgiving recipe and the wonderful Tastefully Simple consultant Treva Jones will ship up another great appetizer! We'll have cocktails, lots of chatter and many laughs! Take a break from this crazy year and come join the girls for a fun night. Send us a message to RSVP and receive the Zoom link. Or RSVP to our Facebook GNI event! Thanks, and as Sandhya says, stay safe and stay stylish!