Can you believe it's New Year's Eve? 2015 went by in a flash. Rob and I went out for a delicious dinner last night and have plans to sit on our couch with Chinese food and champagne tonight, which is why today's post is especially appropriate!

A few weeks ago, before the rush of the holidays, I had two of my best Charlotte girlfriends over for a movie night complete with hot apple cider and some super festive popcorn. This little tradition started for me when I lived in Minneapolis and my friend Daci came over to help us decorate our tree, eat snacks, drink warm beverages, and watch Elf.  Then she invited me over with a few other girlfriends for more cider, cornbread, and Love Actually. 

Basically you just need snacks, some festive warm drinks, and a holiday movie. Pop Works & Company was nice enough to send me some popcorn to share with my friends: we feasted on the Salted Caramel & Fudge, Cookies & Cream, and Birthday Cake flavors. (They're all awesome but my favorite was definitely the Salted Caramel & Fudge.)

And since it's New Year's Eve and if you're like me you are refusing to watch a holiday movie tonight, I've included a list of non-holiday holiday movies, which are a thing if you didn't know. But I think they're different for every person. Here are mine, and why (yes they're all musicals):

• Rent, because it takes place around the holidays and I'm pretty sure ends on New Year's Eve. Don't hold me to that--it's been a while since I've seen it, but I always want to watch it around this time and I think I'm going to.
• Les Misérables, because it was released in theaters on Christmas day but isn't about Christmas so I listened to the soundtrack nonstop after seeing the film and also because there's really never a bad time to watch Hugh Jackman and/or Eddie Redmayne do their thing.
• Frozen, because it takes place during a magical winter and it's cozy.

Pop Works & Company is offering their Pop Box (what I received--three different flavors) for $15.99 and you can get free shipping through tonight (New Year's Eve)!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Christmas is this week, which means New Year's Eve is just around the corner! This year I wanted to post some ideas for an easy at-home New Year's Eve celebration, complete with small plates (so you don't have to cook) and a super simple photo booth backdrop, because it's not a party without a photo booth! 

Rob and I tested it all out last weekend because I just love you guys so much, and I wanted to be sure everything went according to plan.

We poured La Crema's Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as their Monterey Pinot Gris, which paired really well with a wide variety of small bites like smoked salmon and charcuterie. I personally love a meal composed of tapas, so this is perfect--and since New Year's Eve parties tend to be later in the evening, I think you can get away with serving less food since most people will just be snacking. 

You can very easily make your own photo booth backdrop with a poster board and some tissue paper--check out the full tutorial over on the La Crema blog! I used some festive metallic tissue paper that I think feels very New Years-y.

This was my first time using a selfie stick and it's my new favorite thing. Rob and I were totally cracking up! And I don't know about you, but I'm not usually one to print out photos, so I just popped the photo booth shots into a collage maker so we could still get that quintessential photo booth strip. Don't forget the props! It's not a photo booth without a big fake mustache.

What are your New Year's Eve plans this year? If you make a photo booth for your party, let me know--I want to see pictures! (And don't forget to visit the La Crema blog for my full New Year's Eve menu and photo booth DIY tutorial.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of La Crema. The opinions and text are all mine.

Photos by Rémy Thurston for Freckled Italian.

At least once every summer and fall, my brother and Rob and I try get together at the lake for a fire. Summer is always fun, but I'm totally into fall campfires. A few weeks ago, we made some turkey chili, grabbed a couple of blankets, and headed outside for a cozy dinner by the fire.

I don't know if there's anything more comforting on a chilly night than a bowl of, well, chili! There's just something about the way it takes all day to simmer away on the stove that makes it feel so special. My brother and I came up with our own recipe and I'm going to be making it all fall and winter long.

Sean usually builds the campfire while I finish up the food inside, but since the chili is pretty low-maintenance, I decided to help him outside and see if I could learn a thing or two about building a fire. Here's what I learned, in case you are ever in need of a campfire but without the help of an Eagle scout:

• Keep buckets of water or, ideally, a hose nearby. Spray down the edges of your campfire circle and any trees or bushes that are within close proximity to the fire pit.
• Start small. Begin with thin, dry branches no larger than the size of your pinky finger. Use newspaper or dry leaves to get it started.
• Move on to larger pieces of wood, this time the size of your thumb, twice that size, and then to the size of your wrist. Make sure you let the fire catch up before moving on to larger pieces of wood.
• Once you get the fire going, don't be afraid to let it die down so you have a good bed of coals to work with--this is especially important if you're going to be heating up food in a pot, like our chili. If you're doing hot dogs or s'mores, though, you'll want to keep some flames going.
• When you've decided that you're done, spread the fire around with a large stick and spray it down with water until there's no more smoke. Don't ever leave the fire unattended until it's totally out and you don't see any more embers or smoke.

Don't forget to visit the La Crema blog for my turkey chili recipe! 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of La Crema. The opinions and text are all mine.

Photos by Sarah Gatrell for Freckled Italian.