Panera & Kraynak's!

Monday in Pennsylvania was a great day. Laura & I went to Panera Bread... one of my favorite places in the whole world (& we do not have one in Baton Rouge! Sad!). We had lunch and then we made Christmas Cards! I was not able to order as many photo ones as I wanted, so it was good for me to get to do this with her! And they turned out really cute!

I tell ya... I have not been crafty since my years of scrapbooking, which ended in 3 or 4 years ago! Pinterest has really made me want to get crafty again (but not by scrapbooking!), so it was fun to do this! :)


 I played around with my camera too... I don't know if i will want to shoot in auto mode again! Haha!

And Kim stopped by to join us for a little while! I love her!




We all had a great time! Laura & I did a ton of cards together! Then she did some more crocheting! Girl has been busy with that lately! ;)

Late that afternoon, I piled into the van with Laura, her husband, kids, and mother-in-law...and we all headed to Kraynak's Christmas Store, about an hour away. It is a yearly tradition for them to go & I am excited I got to see what this place was all about! First, we had dinner at The Golden Corral. It was pretty delicious! Haha. 

Then we headed to Kraynak's & let me just say, I loved it. It's basically a HUGE store with everything you need relating to Christmas. They have a big display you walk through where they have decorated "rooms" for Christmas... so much to see!

I also did some more shooting in manual, and I think that is when i REALLY began to get it with the whole shutter speed thing! I could just look at the picture on my camera and notice a huge difference - before I even tried any editing! I love it! Laura & I were both snapping away... I am sure people thought we were crazy, but it was a good place to practice!

I love snowmen! I might have to collect them for my tree next year. 




My first try at bokeh! Pretty fun!!




There were beautifully decorated trees on display!



I loved this ornament, I don't know why! I would have bought it if I would have found it!



Here is another one I just loved... so cute!



They also had Christmas-y stuffed animals of every kind you could imagine!



Isn't he the CUTEST?!



Yes, we had a blast! And I did buy 2 cute ornaments for my tree next year (because I hope to buy a regular size one, so I am collecting a little at a time! Right now we have a mini-tree!).

Kraynak's was pretty awesome! Hopefully I'll get to visit it again sometime! ;)