Yep... The Friday Five is a little late today.  And by a little, I mean 9 HOURS!!!!  Sorry, guys... this week got the best of me.  Between still not being used to the time change (pathetic, I know) and teaching almost every single day, and recovering from October, I have been exhausted!  So without any further excuses...

Here are this week's picks:

Have I ever told you about my blogging buddy April?  Have I told you about how funny and cool and HILARIOUS she is?  Oh yeah... She inspired me to bake that pumpkin pie and I professed my love for her then... Well I'm back to professing because she made something really amazing this week.  If you have not been to her blog, GO NOW!!!!  Stop everything you are doing and GO!  Money Pit Love will become your new favourite hangout spot on the internet because April has amazing photographs, and did I mention she is HILARIOUS?!?!?! Oh, wondering about Juanathan?  April made a lightbox, which, if you are a blogger, may save your life on rainy, cloudy days like the ones we have had for the last couple of weeks over here. 

.With the busy Holiday season coming up, taking photos becomes increasingly important, even for those of us without blogs because you want to preserve memories made during this special time with family and friends.  Joanna Goddard shares some incredible ideas for taking photos at parties, and one of them includes creating a scavenger hunt for you and your guests.  I created one of these for a friend's wedding earlier this year and it was SO MUCH FUN!  Having a set goal in mind for taking a photo somehow makes picking up the camera less intimidating and way more fun! .

 This quite possibly my most favourite fireplace makeover.  You gotta read the trials of Life Begins at Thirty, Right? because there was some SERIOUS DRAMA with that gorgeous marble.

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But really, though... gold and clear acrylic?  How can anyone say no?!?  Such a classic combination, and such a stellar DIY by Design Sponge.

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Please allow the Art Historian in me (to those of you who didn't know, I majored in Art History in University) to nerd out for a sec and report that over ONE BILLION DOLLARS worth of artwork has been found in Germany.  We're talking 1,500 (of the estimated 16,000) Nazi-stolen pieces.  My jaw dropped when I read this.  You probably didn't make it to the end of the first sentence.  I completely understand!  You can read the entire article at Forbes, if you care!

Allllllllllright peeps.  Time to head on over toooooooooo....

...see our buddy Lauren over at The Thinking Closet for The Friday Five: Choose the Stairs.  Its full of great ideas, awesome gifs and some of her very own amazing handiwork!

I'm celebrating my little brother's 28th birthday this weekend and thinking about Christmas shopping.  What are you up to?