Christmas 2013 Recap

This Christmas we traveled A LOT, and when it's all said and done I can say it was worth it to see everyone we wanted to see, but I don't know that we'd do a repeat of it in future years. Christmas as an adult is hard. Especially if you are married and you're trying to find time to celebrate with both sides of the family. You get one day off (or 2 if you're lucky) to celebrate the best holiday of the year, and with family members located in different states it's just not possible to see everyone on Christmas Day.

'Tis the Season + Free Printable

Despite the tasks we still need to complete in our house to make it functional year round, Christmas is upon us and the house must be decorated. "'Tis the season!" they say. There are lots of things that still need to be organized, half-emptied boxes lying around, and some blank walls here and there. But Christmas comes but once a year, so this week we got our decorations out and set up our tree! I have to admit, I really love having all of my Christmas decorations out, even if it seems a bit more cluttered in some areas. It's always fun to try new things with my Christmas decorations and play around with where to set things up. Of course it's all new in our new house, so that has been fun too!

My new toy

We kind of splurged on ourselves this Christmas: we got a Canon Rebel T3i! I haven't been this excited about a Christmas gift in a long time. I've only used a simple point-and-shoot, so this is quite an upgrade. I've already had so much fun taking photos and practicing different settings and functions. It is a little intimidating. I definitely feel like an amateur and my photos are not stellar yet. But it's awesome to have such a nice camera that most of the pictures turn out great because of the quality of the lens! It will be a while before I get experienced, but here is a peek at what I've been photographing since I opened the box.

some fun Christmas presents

my favorite niece (for now!)

handsome man

oh, the lights!

Charlotte skyline

a neighborhood walk

my beautiful sister

Merry Christmas!

I realize that Christmas day has technically passed already, but in my mind it's still Christmas season! We had a lovely long weekend visiting with my in-laws. Lots of good food, good conversation, and a few little kids running through the house. It was the first time we had done Christmas morning together at Michael's parents' house, so it was really special for me to be a part of their traditions and celebrate with them. We also went to a Christmas caroling party, complete with a full band and a woman who played the piano and the accordion at the same time!

After Christmas we headed home to welcome my family for a couple nights at our place! We didn't technically "host Christmas" but it was fun to have all of them come stay with us, now that we have a place big enough to fit everyone (my brother was on the couch, but I don't think he minded too much). We still opened presents, my mom gave us stockings, and we had our traditional sausage strata and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, so it felt Christmasy enough. We also fit a Les Mis showing and some Cheesecake Factory in there, which were some extra Christmas gifts in themselves!

It's been a wonderful Christmas and I'm starting to get sad it's almost over. But we've still got a big bright new year ahead of us! That's something to be excited about. Am I right? I hope you're still enjoying a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones!

Gift ideas: For her

Presenting: the Women's edition of Christmas gift ideas. We've all got moms and sisters to buy for too. And if you don't, it's always fun to look through things to buy with money and giftcards you get for Christmas (*crossing my fingers*). I've pretty much fallen in love with Etsy over the last few months, as evidenced in the collage below. Almost all of these are on my own Christmas wish list, so I hope you enjoy! Bonus: everything is under $50!
What's on your Christmas wish list this year?

one: L.L.Bean slippers

two: Young House Love book

three: J.Crew striped shirt

four: Petitor gold necklace

five: InvitationBox personalized address stamp

six: LZNartStudio bouquet print

seven: OohBabyInfinity scarf

eight: 1Canoe2 desk calendar

nine: Elisabeth Ashlie earrings

Gift ideas: For him

Let's be honest: guys are hard to buy for. Most men don't love little accessories in every color or bakeware or candles or giftcards to Loft. They do, however, like technology. And while they may not admit this, they kind of need clothes for living, and they like it when you pick them out. So here are my favorite guy picks this Christmas (some of these have been requested by my guy, so they are credible). What will you be getting your favorite guy this year?

one: J.Crew boxers

two: Ron Swanson print (Parks & Rec anyone?)

three: J.Crew Factory comfy sweatshirt

four: Framed picture of you for his desk

five: Nike+ GPS watch

six: Target dress socks

seven: J.Crew Factory plaid shirt

eight: iPhone alarm clock

nine: V-MODA noise-isolating surround sound headphones

Christmas is here.

You guys, it's all sorts of Christmas up in here! We actually got our tree last Friday night, but we've been so busy that we didn't really have time to finish decorating until tonight. But we finally did, and it's glorious. I've never had a fireplace right next to the Christmas tree, and let me tell you, it's so cozy! I just love all the twinkly lights and red and green and sparkles. I feel ready to tackle this weekend. Tomorrow my Christmas cards are going in the mail and in the evening we'll be attending a Christmas party. Then Saturday we're going to the Nutcracker! I kind of bought the tickets on a whim for a show at NC State. Hopefully it's good! There will also be some Christmas shopping and baking mixed in there. Doesn't this season just make you feel so wonderful? It took a while for me to really feel like it was here, but it's kind of contagious, you know?

Hope you all have a magical Christmas weekend!

Linking up with

Ten June's link party:

Christmas Ornament Exchange

When Christina & Rachel announced they were hosting a blogger ornament swap back in October, I jumped on it! I love Christmas ornaments and I love getting to know other bloggers. I got paired with Amy from Dreaming, Wishing, Doing and it has been so fun getting to know her! She is the first person I've ever met from New Zealand, and she has an amazing story about her lifestyle change that she's been undergoing this past year. She is so positive and honest, and has a love for life that is contagious! Amy is also secretly an incredible decorator - just check out her Christmas decorations, some of which she made! I knew she would send me something adorable, and she delivered...

These little critters are both icons of New Zealand so I will always remember who gave them to me. I'm so excited to get them up on my tree!

A huge THANK YOU to Amy for sending a little Christmas gift to someone she's never met before - it's been so much fun to meet you and get to know you through this crazy little world of blogging!

 

Christmas Again

Whew, these past two weeks were a whirlwind! I feel like I have been away from home for a long time... probably because I have!! This year really felt like "Christmas break." We were up in Virginia for Christmas (more on that here), and came home for a quick bit so I could work Thursday & Friday. Then we hit the road again for Charlotte to do our second Christmas with my husband's family. It was so fun! Here are some of the highlights...

Bowling with the family in Uptown Charlotte. I bowled my first Turkey ever!! I was pretty proud. Michael did really well too... but in the end I beat him by 1 point :) The whole family was saying we need to join a bowling league! Ha!

Opening Christmas gifts. As always it is so much fun to see your family open your gifts you got them! I think we did pretty well this year - everyone seemed excited about their gifts. One big hit was these cute homemade coasters I made for the ladies. Mine turned out really cute but I didn't make time to take photos before wrapping them. I'm thinking I'll make some again in the future though, so if I do I'll post pictures of those!

via The Cottage Home

Watching the fireworks over in between the buildings of the Charlotte skyline. They weren't as big as we thought they would be, but it was so fun sitting on the roof of our Prius parked on top of a parking garage, bringing in 2012 together.

Playing with these adorable kiddos! They are all so sweet and fun. Just looking at this photo makes me miss them like crazy!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas & New Year's celebration!

Christmas in Virginia

We just got home from a fantastic week at home for Christmas. We didn't do some of our normal Christmas traditions this year but we also made some new ones (read: make guacamole on Christmas Eve & have it while we're decorating Christmas cookies!). We had some amazing family time and it was so good to be able to spend so much time at home. Here is our week in a nutshell. We weren't that great at taking pictures so this is what you get!

decorating Christmas cookies

opening presents on Christmas morning

adoring our lovable dogs

ice skating in DC

and best of all: simply getting to spend time with my wonderful family (husband & cousins included!)

Now I'm back to work for a couple days, then we're off to have our second Christmas with my husband's family! I hope you're enjoying Christmas season (not just the day) like we are!

Our 2011 Christmas Card

Now that all our friends and family have received our Christmas card in the mail, I wanted to share it with you here! I bought this "card" from an Etsy shop, which was really just the digital version. I didn't really think through how difficult it would be to get it printed as a card with envelopes, so it ended up being not the most economical way to do it. But I loved how it turned out! (The photo is from the photo shoot we did with my friend Blythe over Thanksgiving. She did an amazing job!!)

We are now spending good time with family and enjoying the Christmas holiday. I hope you are getting to enjoy time with the people you love as well! Merry Christmas!!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

I'm feeling a little bit under the weather this week. I also realized I have about a week until we leave for Christmas with the family, and I still have more than half of my shopping to do! Seriously, where has the time gone? I'm looking forward to being done with all the prep and just spending good time with family. Here are a few things that will help get me through the next 9 days.

I just ordered this CD this past week (yes I know that CDs are way old school but I still like them), and the instant I put it in my car I knew it was going to be one of my top favorite Christmas albums. It's just wonderful!

Best. Movie. Ever.

I just love getting cozy on the couch in some comfy pants after a long day at work.

And of course my glowing tree makes everything better!

Are you ready for Christmas yet?

Christmas Tabletop

So last year my one Christmas decoration on the dining table was a centerpiece that consisted of a glass bowl filled with cinnamon pine cones and red cranberries. I loved the smell, but it was little blah. The red color was also toward to maroon side, and that was not really going to go well with my brightly colored mantle display that sits right next to the dining table.  So finding some Christmas placemats or a tablecloth was at the top of my to do list.

HomeGoods had a cute table runner for $12.99. I liked the colors but wasn't sure what to pair it with. Remembering that last year World Market had great Christmas decorations, I went over there to check out the selection. They have some good stuff! I ended up finding these awesome green wreath placemats that were on sale for $1.99. I got up to the register and they were marked down to $1! AND I had a 25% off coupon so I ended up getting these suckers for 75 cents a piece. Woohoo! (I also got our gold star tree topper there for about $6, after the discount.)

These cranberries were left over from the DIY cranberry ornaments and the vases (or maybe they're candle holders?) are from the dollar store. Seriously, you can make some really cute displays for less than you think!!

I don't ever fully set this table with place settings because it serves as our dining table and casual kitchen table. We use it too much to have to move dishes out of the way every time we eat or do a project. That is also the reason I don't have a formal centerpiece - salt, pepper, and napkins are needed on this table more than pretty things! One day we will have a dining room and it will be fun to fully set the table :)

How have you decorated your table for Christmas? Do you have special Christmas china? What about centerpieces?

O Christmas Tree!

I mentioned the other day that we put up our Christmas tree this past weekend. Well, here it is!

Most of our ornaments are mismatched, but there is a little uniformity with the balls and snowflakes. I got our tree skirt from HomeGoods last year - I still love it and think that I will keep it for a long long time. This year I picked up a new tree topper from World Market, since we had never bought one. I grew up with an angel on our tree, but I love the simplicity of a super sparkly gold star. (You can see one of my cranberry ornaments here, too!)

I love both of these personalized ornaments! The bride and groom one I got at a wedding shower from a family friend, and Michael's sister Elissa gave us the "b" one for Christmas while we were engaged.

Don't forget the VT snowman :) 

 Here is what it looks like from the couch!

Above you can see the little bell on our doorknob that I got from the Dollar Store. Some of their stuff is hit or miss, but usually every holiday season there are a few good decorations there. This was one of them!

...and for the finale...our tree with the lights off. Sitting next to a tree with the lights off is one of my favorite things to do at Christmastime!

Do you have your tree up yet? Do you do white or colored lights? Angel or star topper?

I'm linking up with Megan's post over at Honey We're Home. There are some gorgeous trees over there. I love seeing everyone's different styles and traditions! You should link up your tree, too!