Holiday Photos

I just had a vacation from Christmas Eve day to New Year's Day! As usual when all my siblings are in town, I didn't "accomplish" anything on my break, but the time off and together was good for me.


Christmas (and Second Christmas):

I gave my dad these fox socks. He loved them. (Target!)

Niecy is 20 months old now (getting close to two!!) and such a joy. I had a blast with her.

New Year's Eve Day geocaching adventure at Shelby Farms with the sibs:

Low-key family New Year's Eve:

I highly recommend the stuffed shells at Mimi's Italian Cafe.

New Year's Day "brunch" at my house:

First cornbread I've made in my grandma's skillet!

Remember this champagne glass? :)

I know I haven't been on top of my blogging game for the last month-ish, so thanks for sticking with me. Sometimes you just have to rest. I'll have more thoughtful content and a big change coming soon!

Christmas Tour of My Home

Now that all my decorations are up, welcome to the 2013 Christmas tour of my house!

Last year my dad hung hooks under the eaves of my house so I could easily put up lights on my own. It only took me about twenty minutes. He did help with the additional blue icicle lights, though! I love them.

When I first set out my deer (in the top photo), only the torso was lighting up. My dad said he'd come back later to work on it. The next night, I was backing out to go somewhere and noticed that the whole deer was aglow. I called my dad to thank him, only to find out that he hadn't done anything. The deer healed on its own. Christmas miracle!!

Here's this year's Christmas wreath! Inspired by this pin (and then this one), I saved paper towel rolls for months, then cut them, hot-glued them together, and spray-painted the whole thing gold. Once the wreath was dry and set, I glued on the small ornaments (from Hobby Lobby) and hung it with ribbon. It's not exactly what I envisioned, but I'm still happy with it. I just wanted a change from evergreen this year.

My interior decorations are simpler this year. I wanted to add some garland or lights to the mantel, but worried that the cats would somehow yank it down and break everything. So this is as good as it gets. Even though it's not perfectly arranged, it makes me happy to look at it!

This Photoshop job of me and my siblings with Baby Jesus is already legendary in our family. Someone (either my mom or sister) decoupaged it onto plaques and gave one to each of us. It's one of my favorite Christmas things. The ceramic lamps are Lenox, both gifts from different people several years apart. And I just tied a holiday bow around this bird to make him festive.

I scored this holiday dish at my clothing swap, and it's the perfect accent to my Yankee candle. I put it all on a Christmas cloth from India. (Don't mind the weather station, it stays out year round.)

I like to mark my travels with ornaments (and refrigerator magnets), so I bought this gold-plated aspen leaf in Steamboat Springs to remember my time there. I thought of my Gathering friends as I hung it on the tree.

Meanwhile, the cats are extra adorable at the holidays.

I'll be back next week to start the end-of-year wrap-up posts!

Christmas & New Year's Recap

My long holiday staycation is over. This year, I spent most of my time off sitting around with my family. Here are some highlights!
 

  

Christmas was great! My parents, brother, and I started the day with my dad's traditional Christmas omelets (plus grits!), then opened presents. I was excessively spoiled as usual. My favorite gift was the Vera Bradley Metropolitan bag that I've been stalking for months! It's exactly the carry-on I needed.

Last year my mom finally got real china (after 36 years of marriage! Sheesh), a china cabinet, and a beautiful dining table and chairs. So she was pumped about having a formal Christmas dinner. She even had mini-stockings monogrammed for place settings. It was very nice. For Christmas I gave her some chafing dishes (the kind with tea lights underneath to keep the food hot). They really work!

Debra, Lance, and Niecy arrived in the afternoon and opened their presents before dinner. Although Niecy is still too young to comprehend Christmas, she loved playing with her new toys and attempting to eat the wrapping paper.

 

 

 

It snowed on Christmas night, and we woke up to about an inch of snow!

 

 

We mostly enjoyed it from the warmth of the house. :)

 

Debra and fam left Memphis on Friday, but on Sunday afternoon I drove to Nashville to spend New Year's with them. On Monday morning, we ended 2012 on the right note with a visit to Pancake Pantry!

 

 

Debra and Lance have spent the last several New Year's Eves with the same group of friends (including Erin!). They all came over and we had a great time. We mostly sat around eating, chatting, and watching Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve, although we did play a game and watch The One With All The Resolutions!

 

 

Unfortunately, I kicked off 2013 by getting sick again. I know. It was like a repeat of Thanksgiving - I started feeling bad on the drive to Nashville and got hit hard the next morning. I was terrified that I'd managed to get the flu twice in one month. Thankfully, after some DayQuil and a long nap, the flu-ish feelings went away (and Niecy already had a cold, so I didn't have to worry about infecting her while I was there). But I'm still not feeling my best, and breathing is hard. I have now been sick or recovering from sickness for the better part of six weeks. SO READY TO BE DONE WITH THIS, but I believe the new year will get much better from here!

Merry Christmas

 

My brother did this Photoshop job a couple of years ago, and it still cracks me up every time I look at it. My sister even decoupaged it onto a plaque for each of us so we could hang it up at Christmastime. 

I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas with family and/or friends, and are reminded of the Gift sent for us thousands of years ago. Merry Christmas!

My Favorite Christmas Songs

Today I want to share my top ten (or so) Christmas recordings! Not necessarily my favorite songs or carols, but the tracks I most look forward to hearing when December rolls around. Google Readers, you'll have to pop this one out. Sorry. :)

I'll say right up front, without shame, that Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album is my favorite Christmas album of all time. I bought it when it first came out in 1994, and I can't imagine that anything will ever top it for me. In fact, it'll be generally obvious here that I came of age in the 90's. :)  

Jesus, What A Wonderful Child - Mariah Carey

 

Christmas Song - Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds




For Unto Us A Child Is Born - from Handel's Messiah. I have the London Philharmonic version, but here's the London Symphony Orchestra.



Winter Song - Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson
I rarely listen to this whole song without tearing up. There's something inherently sad about it, but it's also hopeful and beautiful.



Jesus, Born On This Day - Mariah Carey




Feliz Navidad - Jose Feliciano
In all honesty, my enjoyment of this song is partly attributed to our family story of my loose-cannon uncle taking a swing at Jose Feliciano at a Delta Airlines ticket counter in the 60's. FOR REAL.



The Twelve Days of Christmas - Straight No Chaser




The Christmas Song - Hootie and the Blowfish



Merry Christmas Baby - Hanson
I just found this video with the song over clips from A Charlie Brown Christmas! TOO MANY FAVORITE THINGS I MAY EXPLODE.



And my #1: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings - Barenaked Ladies featuring Sarah McLachlan.



BONUS! This version of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with Mariah, my main man Jimmy Fallon, and some cute kids is bringing me joy this holiday season. I hope it makes you happy too!

Christmas Decor

Kelly's Korner is hosting a linkup about Christmas decorations. I probably would have posted about mine anyway, so I'm joining in! Not that my humble decor really belongs in a "Tour of Homes," but whatever. :)

It took me a few years to get everything in order, but now I have Christmas decorations that are perfect for me and make me very happy. I bought this pre-lit 7' artificial tree at Bed Bath & Beyond last year. It has tiny pinecones and some flocking here and there. I love it! Aside from the years I lived with my friend Kathy, I've always had an artificial tree. It's cheaper, easier, and better for the earth. For some reason, the top third of the tree is leaning forward this year, but it's not that noticeable unless you're right alongside it. I probably just didn't assemble it right.

My tree skirt is from Pottery Barn. I bought the matching stocking at the PB outlet, but passed up the skirt. It didn't take me long to realize that if I didn't find that matching skirt, I'd always regret it. By then, they were long gone from the store. So I bought it on eBay. :) It was expensive, but I plan to keep it for MANY years!

 

I like to commemorate big events of the year with special ornaments. I bought both of these NYC ornaments at the Empire State Building - I couldn't stop at one!

Some older favorites: I got this snow bunnies ornament at Hallmark when I worked there in high school. It was the first ornament I ever bought for my own tree. I've had the McAlister's tea ornament for a few years.

One of several ornaments I made at a holiday crafting event last November. (This was also the event where I decided I needed a sewing machine, so it's sort of commemorative in its own way.)

The 2012 Christmas mantel. As I've said here many times, I don't have The Eye for mantel arrangement, but this is good enough for me!

This is the creche I grew up with. About eight years ago my dad went to Israel and bought a hand-carved Nativity in Bethlehem, so they passed this one on to me. When I was a kid, I liked to make my Little People walk up the stairs and into the hayloft, and otherwise interact with the scene. ("Hey, goat! You're a goat! What's that all about? Say hello to your mother for me!")

I like to have something simple in the middle of my dining table at all times. These are just layered placemats, again from Bed Bath & Beyond. The vase with candle has been there for a while. :)

This is my only new Christmas item this year, and I didn't buy it - my BIL's grandma gave it to me. I've always liked these little light-up ceramic houses, but I feel like you should have either a village, or none at all. But now that I have this one, I'll enjoy it by itself. I don't have room for a village!

Hope you enjoyed this Christmas tour!