Merry Christmas 2017!

     Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! Today I just wanted to pop on and share the photo that I used for my Christmas cards this year. I wish that I could send each and every one of you a Christmas card- so consider today's post my virtual Christmas greetings to you!

    I love doing creative and funny ideas for cards, so this year I combined my love of collecting Starbucks mugs (I'm holding the North Carolina state mug) with one of Vermont's best-known exports!


     I hope that today is a peace and joy filled day for you and your loved ones, and that you take time to reflect on the birth of our Savior! I am truly so thankful for each one of you who reads my blog and follows my social media- perhaps this year more than ever before! Since I had a tougher time this year than I anticipated with settling into a new life in Vermont, I became more thankful than ever for the community and opportunities that blogging has brought my way. So thank you all for being apart of my 2017!


     I was supposed to be at home in Maine for a few days for Christmas, but thanks to New England's unpredictable winter weather, I opted to be safe in the snow and ice and avoid travel by staying here in Vermont. I wasn't counting on doing this (especially after spending Thanksgiving by myself in Vermont as well), but safety always comes first. I am trying to keep a positive attitude by reminding myself of all that I have to be grateful for this holiday season- health, a safe and warm place to call home in the cold weather, Christmas movies on TV, a few days off from work to rest and relax... there are always blessings to be thankful for even when plans change!



      Enjoy your holiday - and stay tuned this week for my Georgetown, KY travel guide and my end of the year recap posts!




      God Bless,




       xoxo Annaliese

TRAVEL GUIDE: Restaurants in Georgetown, KY.

     I think most of us would all be in agreement when I say that one of the best parts of vacation should be the food! It's so fun to get to eat out and try different restaurants in a new-to-you location when you travel. Today I'll be sharing a restaurant and food guide to Georgetown, which is the adorable town in Kentucky that I had the chance to visit for a press trip a few weeks ago! I'll be sharing a review of each restaurant that we ate at. Some I absolutely loved, some were okay... but I think that honest restaurant reviews for travel are always the best! 

      Georgetown is a charming town right in the middle of Kentucky's horse country, located just under 30 minutes from the beautiful city of Lexington. My friend Kylie (from Dress in Sparkles) and I found Georgetown to be the ideal setting for a holiday girls' trip, and of course the food played a big part of that! I'll share a general travel guide to visiting Georgetown at the holidays next week, but for now let's dive into local cuisine: 

     Local Feed (214 S. Water Street): Our new friend Natalie from Georgetown Tourism treated Kylie and I to dinner here on the first night of our trip, and this was my favorite meal that I had while in Kentucky! Local Feed describes itself as a seasonal kitchen and craft bar. They pride themselves on having a very "farm to table" based menu. Absolutely everything, from the cocktails to the main course, was just delicious! The atmosphere in the restaurant is very cozy and authentic as well. I can't say enough good things about Local Feed- I wish Kylie and I could've had the chance to eat there twice. If you're in the Georgetown area, you must go!
     I recommend trying: The rum punch (if you're 21+), and the chicken and waffles.

      Galvin's on Main (155 W Main Street): Disclaimer: I'm not usually a big fan of sports bar/pub food type restaurants. There is actually a local chain of pubs here in Vermont that my parents like to eat at when they come visit, but I really dislike the food. So I honestly didn't know what I'd think of Galvin's when Kylie and I headed there for lunch. I was so pleasantly surprised! I am also not normally a sandwich person, but I had one of the best Philly Cheesesteaks that I've ever eaten at Galvin's. Their menu is very reasonably priced for lunch and dinner items, and honestly everything looked good! It was also fun to eat there while a UK basketball game was on and to see so many people in the restaurant cheering in their festive blue outfits.
      I recommend: The Philly Cheesesteak sandwich

Rodney's on Broadway (222 N Broadway Street): Rodney's on Broadway is still new-ish to Georgetown, it opened in 2011. It offers a fine-dining experience and extensive beverage menu to compliment! Kylie and I were very excited for our dinner here, as this was going to be our biggest meal of the trip. We began our dinner with beverages off of Rodney's Christmas craft cocktail menu. The drink that I ordered was similar to a White Russian, but with Bailey's in it (my favorite liquor). For dinner, I was in a pasta mood and ordered the Pasta Bolognese. It certainly wasn't bad, but it wasn't the best pasta either. I realize now that I probably should have splurged and ordered some sort of a meat dish, as those are Rodney's specialities. Oh well! I still really enjoyed my drink and the atmosphere at Rodney's on Broadway, and Kylie ordered a tasty carrot cake for dessert which I stole a bite of!

      Josie's (1973 Lexington Road): This is clearly the hotspot amongst Georgetown locals! Kylie and I went here for lunch after our visit to The Kentucky Horse Park, and we were blown away by how busy it was! We almost didn't find a spot to park in at the Josie's parking lot. Josie's has a diner-style menu with popular breakfast and lunch favorites. Kylie ordered a salad, and I went with something on the menu called "Quesadilla of the Day." Unfortunately, my dish wasn't so great. I ended up sending it back to have it re-made, and it still wasn't too great the second time around. BUT- Kylie's salad looked absolutely delicious, and judging by how busy the place was, I think it's a great local restaurant, I just didn't luck out with what I ordered! Had we been in Georgetown longer, I would have loved to go back for breakfast.
      I recommend: Anything BUT the Quesadilla of the Day 😊

       Cattleman's Roadhouse (240 Champion Way): Cattleman's is a regional chain of steakhouses in Kentucky, and I think the Georgetown location could be quite possibly the hottest spot in the town! It was located near our hotel, and every time Kylie and and I drove past it during the whole weekend, we were SHOCKED at how busy the parking lot was. I mean- this place was packed at lunch and dinner consistently! It's no surprise that this place is ranked #1 on Trip Advisor for best restaurants in Georgetown. So we were very excited for our Cattleman's experience. I was craving a burger when we went there for dinner, and it didn't disappoint! This is definitely a good choice of a restaurant to get a burger at. I'm sure that their steaks would be wonderfully tasty as well. Cattleman's Roadhouse is a casual, no-frills kind of steakhouse, but it's clear that they have very loyal customers and serve tried and true food!
       I recommend: The Roadhouse Black Angus Burger

      And a couple other local spots that Kylie and I didn't get a chance to visit during our brief visit to Georgetown:

• Country Boy Brewing (108 Corporate Blvd): Brewery Taproom
• Fava's Restaurant (159 E Main Street): Southern casual food

      Georgetown also has some locations of popular chain restaurants- everything from Cracker Barrel to Starbucks. Visiting from Vermont, I was exceptionally excited about having breakfast one day at this Southern classic:

      I tell y'all- NOTHING beats the Waffle House! 😉

     I hope that y'all enjoyed my restaurant and food guide to Georgetown! I'm looking forward to sharing my travel guide to the Georgetown area here on the blog after Christmas!

     God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese

      Today's post was written in collaboration with Georgetown/Scott County Tourism. Thank you for supporting the organizations that support Southern Belle in Training!

Preparing For a White Christmas...

     I have always wanted to do blog photos where Christmas trees are sold, and it's something that I never got to cross off my photoshoot location checklist while living in Charlotte. Maybe that worked out for the better... because getting to shoot amongst freshly snow covered Vermont Christmas trees for sale was really quite magical! The only thing not so magical was the weather... it was seriously 10 degrees when Amanda and I were out here! But we made it happen anyways, and I think it was worth it! I'm also getting real at the end of today's post about how to get real with yourself when the holiday season is filled with personal anxieties and stress.

Photography by Amanda Rose Photography 

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Coat c/o // Sweater // Jeans {not online, very similar here} // Boots // Earrings c/o // Lipstick: LipSense in Bella // 

      It is very hard to find a winter coat that is still cute and fashionable, but can also keep you warm and insulated in New England's bitter cold winter temperatures. I am so pleased to report that this gorgeous coat  checks off both of those boxes! It actually kept me quite warm and toasty on the freezing morning that Amanda and I were out shooting these pictures, and I think it has the most darling plaid pattern as well! I know I'll be reaching for this coat many more times during the upcoming months of winter. A note on the sizing- this brand does tend to run smaller, so I ordered a M. It is a bit large, so I probably could have gone with a S (my normal size) and been fine. But sometimes it's good to have coats a little larger- that means you can wear a super thick sweater and scarf underneath and still have extra room! 

      I am a fake Christmas tree girl all the way (check out this blog post to see how I decorated my tree this year!), but I do think there is something very beautiful about Christmas tree farms or lots. Vermont is very big on all things local, so it wasn't surprising to me to learn that they have tons of tree farms here! Amanda and I stumbled on this little tree lot set up in downtown Shelburne, a quaint lakefront town near Burlington, and taking these photos there really did get me into the holiday spirit!


      This year could be my first white Christmas in several years! I have gone home to Maine every year for the holiday (minus a couple years where my parents and I have traveled), but the last few years it has been mild in New England for the holiday! One Christmas a few years ago it hit 60 degrees... not even joking (it was also my dream come true). Definitely a warm weather girl! Well- I might finally get to see a white Christmas again this year whether I like it or not! Snow is headed for Northern New England on Christmas Day! I'm just hoping the snow will coordinate itself around my driving schedule so I can make it home safely.... and be able to get home at all!

     

      Getting real for a second about something not related to cute coats and Christmas trees- the past couple weeks have been really rough for me personally. I struggled with anxiety and depression in high school, and honestly I don't remember feeling as awful as I've felt lately since that time in my life several years ago. It seems a bit ironic, to be dealing with lots of anxiety, stress and uncertainty, in what is supposed to be the most magical time of the year, but I guess that's what adulting can sometimes bring. I am trying to make some positive life changes for 2018 following my holiday travels, in hopes that the new year will be one filled with less stress and anxiety, and more joy and peace. I can get much more into detail about all of that in another blog post! But just for right now, I did want to share that it hasn't been the easiest few weeks. Sometimes in this Instagrammable world that we live in (especially at the holiday season I feel like), it's easy to see pretty pictures and assume that all is happy and perfect in someone's life, but that isn't always the case. It's always good to keep it real and speak up and seek support if you're dealing with a lot. 😊   

      Happy Thursday! Thanks so much as always for reading. Y'all's comments always truly make my day! 

      My whole outfit is linked below:

     God Bless,

     xoxo Annaliese

Midweek Ramblings + Recent Purchases + Current Wishlist.

{One of the beautiful Christmas trees that I saw in Kentucky! Stay tuned for more posts from the trip soon! Keep up with me on social media @miss_alk}

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

Ramblings:

• Last Ramblings of 2017! Today's post is my last Midweek Ramblings for the year! (Next week I have some of my annual end-of-year recaps planned for the blog.) I can't believe that yet another year has passed of sharing these tidbits of my life with y'all on Wednesdays. I started doing these posts back in college and I wasn't sure how long I'd keep doing them or if anyone would like them, but clearly they have stuck around!! Corny as this sounds, I'm excited to ramble my way in 2018 with another year of blogging. 😊
• Holiday motivation struggle: It has been a rough week with motivation at work! My first time off since starting my job was a couple weeks ago, and I have another long weekend coming up for the Christmas holiday. Then I'm off the following weekend as well for  New Years' trip! It's so strange to me to have all of these long weekends in a row after going so many months without time off, and it's definitely taken extra effort to stay focused and productive at work this week. Anyone else feel me on that? 
• Native New Englander: My native Maine self totally came out this week with the weather. After a warm fall, Vermont has had a bitterly cold December. Yesterday, temperatures finally hit 40 degrees (something we haven't seen in a few weeks now). I broke out a dress and tights for the occasion, and remarked several times that day on-air "ISN'T IT WARM OUTSIDE TODAY?!" I'm laughing to myself now... if I was still in North Carolina I would be freezing in 40 degree weather! Funny how you change your geographic location and your perspective changes! 

Purchases:

• I haven't done any personal shopping this week. My high school bestie and I have a shopping date planned for this weekend when I arrive home in Maine, so I'm looking forward to that! I'm also excited for After Christmas Sales!

Wishlist:

• Not a super fun item but soon I need to replace my radio headphones for work! I've been starting to look at different pairs at various price points on Amazon. 
• This sweater sure would brighten up some cold winter weather! And it's on sale right now. 
• Since I've called a few places home, lately I've been obsessed with custom coordinates jewelry. This bracelet is gorgeous and I love how you can customize it with where you've lived! 
• As the weather continues to get colder in Vermont, I continue to crave ALL the scarves! 
• These are the most darling shoes!! (Not very appropriate for New England winter, but I can dream right?)

Recipe of the week: My Favorite Matzo Ball Soup. Giving a shameless plug to the recipe that I shared on the blog this week! It really is one of my favorites to make at this time of year. 

Song of (2017): Since this is the last Midweek Ramblings of the year, sharing my favorite song of the year! Hands down and without a doubt, it was Rockabye by Clean Bandit. I am a big Clean Bandit fan and love everything they release, but this song I especially love!! (I associate it with a tougher time in my life last winter, and hearing this song on the radio then always used to put a smile on my face!)

On the blog this week:

• What to Wear to Visit a Horse Farm.
• A Visit to Old Friends Farm in Kentucky.
• Happy Hanukkah! My Favorite Matzo Ball Soup Recipe.
• Kentucky Garden in the Snow...
• Holiday PR Packages Review.

      Have a wonderful rest of your week! We're so close to Christmas!

      God Bless,

      xoxo Annaliese 

Holiday PR Packages Review.

     I love sharing these posts with y'all! Every few months, I review the latest blogger mail that I've received here on Southern Belle in Training, and share honest reviews of all the products that I've been sent and have tested. My little disclaimer that I always put at the beginning of these posts: PR packages are "gifts" that companies send to bloggers. I'm not in a paid sponsored relationship at this time with any of these companies, so these thoughts are completely honest and it's my choice to feature these products and reviews on my blog. 😊 I'm very excited about today's post as for the first time since I've started doing these posts, one of the brands kindly provided me with a generous discount code for y'all to use if you'd like to try the items yourself! Let's get to it:

   

       This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Southern Belle in Training!

      First up in today's edition of PR reviews are a couple of items from a new-to-me beauty brand called COOLA. They specialize in organic sunscreen, but have a variety of other organic beauty products in their line that contain SPF as well. They sent me the Sunless Tan Anti-Aging Face Serum and the Classic SPF 30 Dawn Patrol Makeup Primer. My skin is sensitive to high amounts of Titanium Dioxide, which is the ingredient that creates SPF in most facial makeup. (I usually buy foundation that doesn't have SPF in it because of this.) I was pleased that despite having SPF, neither of the COOLA products caused me to break out, and they were fine on my skin! As far as actually loving the products- they were both okay! The Sunless Tan Serum gives your skin very natural and subtle color after a few weeks of use. I'm not sure it's something I'd repurchase on my own, but I did like trying it and didn't have any bad results, which can definitely happen with tanning products. I found the Makeup Primer to be a bit on the oily side, but it did work. That might be a good option for someone with dry skin! 

     Next up, some products that sadly arrived to me too late for me to test them before I wrote this post! But I did still want to include them as it was so sweet of Bare Minerals to gift me some items from their Ageless Genius line! I feel like in the past several months I've received so many different skincare related gifts from brands. In 2018 I'm thinking about trying a different skincare line (out of the ones I've been gifted) each month for a few months, and then writing a huge review posts about which beauty lines and products I liked and disliked for my skin. Would that interest y'all?

      The next two items I tested while traveling in Kentucky! Eva NYC sent me their travel sized hair straightener and blow dryer. I was really excited to receive both of these in time for Kentucky, and more travels later this month. They are both portable sized, and each come with their own adorable pink traveling case. I ended up having mixed reviews on these. I loved the blow dryer!! For a miniature size, it worked excellently. Some blow dryers don't work the best on my long and thick hair, but this one amazingly did, and left my hair feeling dry and bouncy. I think the blow dryer would make a fantastic gift for a jet-setting girl. The hair straightener I didn't like after testing, but that might be due to my own hair. It is a very tiny device and definitely "mini" sized (I'm not sure if my picture of it accurately conveys that), and with my long and thick hair, it was really too small of a straightener to work well on my hair. I might give it to a friend with shorter and thinner hair- I think it would work much better on hair with that type of texture and length. Both items are available at Anthropologie!

      Next up are some new hair products from John Frieda. In my last Beauty PR Packages post, I reviewed some items from the John Frieda Frizz Ease line- and unfortunately I didn't like any of those products. I was interested to see what I'd think of the Luxurious Volume collection... and I'm so happy to say that I loved these products! The hairspray has great hold, and no bad odor either. I liked the mousse as well. And how cute is this football jersey that they sent along in my package?! It even has my last name on the back. I just love it when brands add in personal gifts like this one- it makes blogging that much more special.

      Finally, Tula sent me their Discovery kit, which contains their best-selling skincare products. I first tried Tula a couple years ago when they had sent me a previous package, and I remember really liking everything! They specialize in probiotic skincare, and many bloggers swear by their skincare. I've been loving using Tula products again!! Winter can be such a harsh time on skin, so it's so important to stay moisturized with the best products. Plus- how chic is their blue packaging? A special treat for y'all: Tula is currently offering all Southern Belle in Training readers a discount code for their website!! Use code "SOUTHERNBELLE" at checkout for 15% off any purchase on Tula.com through January 31st!

      Thanks so much for reading today's PR packages reviews! All of the items are linked below as well:

      God Bless,



      xoxo Annaliese