a chicago christmas

here are a few photos from my chicago family christmas. my mom always makes our home so cheery and bright with lots and lots of decorations (some of which have been handed down to her from her own grandmother) and a lot of which have been handmade by me or by one of my sisters. somehow she keeps the house looking festive and familial without allowing it to become overrun with knick knacks or clutter. ever since i was young, my family has decorated our house for christmas the saturday after thanksgiving. we go out and get the christmas tree (it's always a contest to see who picks the best one) and while my dad strings the lights, all of us girls start unwrapping ornaments, garland, the advent wreath, and snow globes.

the chalkboard is courtesy of my dad who, little known fact, is a great artist. i love that every so often he'll decorate the board with some message or drawing for us when we return home for a weekend or holiday.

finally, i just love our christmas tree. while i always enjoy seeing those trees decked out in proper golden garland and strung with gleaming red bulbs, there is something i adore about our little handmade tree. the ornaments all have stories behind them, whether gifted, made, or passed down. i love that kind of heritage.

i'm back!

whew! can you believe the holidays are over? i hope yours were restful and cheery. i had the best time at home, having a slow week full of family, some wedding planning, and my first bridal shower! now that i'm back, it seems i've hit the ground running and all that r&r has fallen by the wayside.

does this happen to you? it's like all week i got plenty of sleep, worked out every day, ate delicious meals, read a lot, lounged, wondering just how in the world i would fill up all the hours in the day. and then bam! vacation is over, and i'm wondering just how in the world i'll have time to work, eat, plan a wedding, work out so i fit into my wedding dress, and maybe sleep. and why, oh why did i not get more done during vacation? but that is what vacation is for, i guess. a reprieve from the constant roar of accomplishment.

so here are the very few non-accomplishments i checked off my list while i was gone:

1. painted my nails the most glittery gold (see above photo). it chipped off after 4 days, leaving my fingers in a sorry state of post-christmas hoopla. but i still enjoyed looking at them, like the sweetly sad feeling you get when you see all the wrapping paper balled up in the trash around noon on christmas.

2. listened to a new friend talk about the life he left in mexico, his love of painting, and how he once won a singing contest in front of 300 strangers. this might have been the most meaningful conversation i had all christmas season, and it happened when i volunteered with my church at an event for the homeless.

3. watched old home videos. oh my goodness. i haven't laughed that hard in a long time. my parents were strenuously committed to documenting all of their young daughters' lives on camera, and the result is pure entertainment. as the oldest, i exhausted myself in front of the camera, coming up with anything, anything to bring the attention back to myself (as my sisters would say, oh how things have changed). hilarious.

4. made these no-bake cookies (my grandma was famous for them around our house).

5. saw this movie. i highly recommend it. colin firth is amazing, and this story warms my heart.

6. read a lot of this book. a must read. it's changing the way i think. more thoughts on it to come.

would love to hear how your holidays were!

home for the holidays

merry christmas, all! my sister and i are heading out today for chicago to see my family. i really can hardly wait - my nana and gampy are already at the house, my youngest sister is home from college, my mom has White Christmas ready to be watched, and my dad has promised fresh homemade cinnamon rolls (he makes the best ones!). they have lots of snow on the ground and i can't wait to go sledding (never too old, right?)!

i'm looking forward to watching modern family (we're obsessed) curled up in my parents' bed with my sisters and some quiet time of reflection and prayer in our reading room (my favorite room in the house). my aunts are also throwing me my first bridal shower while i'm home!

i always get pretty emotional during christmas. thinking about the love of God embodied in a child. being overwhelmed by how much i love and cherish my family. and, this year, missing m. it seems unnatural to part with my best friend for my favorite time of year, but i know we have every christmas from this time forward together. thank God for that.



i'll be posting randomly over the next week or so, so please say hi if you're also on the blogosphere! wishing you all a merry, merry christmas!

christmas - it's almost here

i can hardly believe christmas is less than a week away. i still have one gift to buy and several to wrap. m and i will be going our separate ways for our last christmas as non-marrieds (crazy!), so i am headed off to chicago later this week and he to north carolina. it's amazing to think that next year, we will be each other's new family. i'm geting excited about starting new traditions with him. this year, we are celebrating together tomorrow with a christmas dinner and some gift opening (i can't wait to see him open his! wish i could tell you what it is).

then my sister and i fly to chicago where we will spend the next week with my mom's side of the family, playing with baby cousins and eating my mom's incredible cooking. we all go over to my aunt's house on christmas eve for a cookie decorating contest (my uncle, who owns this design firm in chicago, always wins.) then head out to church (where we always have a candlelit singing of o' holy night - my favorite). before bed, we all, including adults, get to open one gift from my nana and gampy, and it's always pajamas or slippers to wear to bed that night. (i love the below nightie from jcrew).


do y'all have any christmas traditions? they're my favorite and i would love to learn about yours!

gifts for baby be

my family has decided to try something new this year with gifts. my mom drew names and matched everyone up in my extended family, so we are buying for just one person. i must have done something really sweet because i got paired with my little, less than a year old, baby cousin Bennett. she's precious and cuddly and everything a sweet little girl should be. i've had the best time finding cute things for her. isn't the little hat above adorable? an etsy find for only $20! click on the images for their source!



these soft toys are perfect for cuddling.



these painted, wooden animals are amazing - the company makes almost every animal imaginable!





and a few stylish accessories to keep baby warm! let me know if you have other suggestions!

snow!

we got our first snow of the season today! it's been snowing since 7:00 this morning, so there's now a soft layer of white on all the streets and trees. it's beautiful outside and so quiet. the whole town seems to be moving slower.

it puts me in the mood to sled or build a snowman or go skiing. unfortunately it's already getting dark and i've been working all day... hopefully it'll stick around for the weekend!

kris kringle

christmas. i love it. a time for family gatherings and cuddles by warm fires. mistletoe, holly, and the singing of carols. baking dozens of cookies from recipes you never touch the rest of the year and subsequently overeating. i even love the crowds of people on the hunt for the perfect gift. i love all the salvation army volunteers ringing their bells and the general sense of generosity and good will that people extend to one another. i love that even the dmv (where i spent one morning this week) decked their halls with evergreen. i love that the teller smiled broadly and wished me a merry christmas even after i took almost 10 minutes to find my ID in my overstuffed wallet.

& yet, even with the twinkle of lights and jolly dispositions, it's still somehow easy to forget that christmas is just so merry because of the birth of Christ.

i'm thankful that my parents were always keenly aware of the ever-encroaching commercialism of christmas and so brought my sisters and i up knowing that the birth of Jesus and the fulfillment of God's promise were the reasons we celebrated. i knew that come christmas morning i would get to open presents exactly because they represented the gifts brought by the magi. so, i think, i was given a pretty theologically grounded view of christmas.

m and i were talking about christmas traditions last week. we grew up with many similar experiences and were growing giddy just thinking about how we would one day get to watch our kids experience christmas (ok, maybe it was just me with the giddiness).

that is, until we got to santa claus. i grew up believing in santa. m did not.

we argued. i pouted. he made valid points. i made silly points. he made a sensible argument. i made a sad pouty face.

i like all the imagination and feeling of possibility that come with santa and the flying reindeer but i see m's point that you can still experience the wonder and excitement of christmas by focusing on Christ himself. and though i didn't grow up thinking my parents had lied to me, i could imagine a child being scarred by the realization that what his parents said was true (that santa is real) was actually false. maybe that's taking it a bit far, but as i enter my marriage, i've had a new desire to examine my choices, assumptions and expectations.

did all of you grow up with santa? do you expect to raise your kids the same way?

m just sent me this article that gives a great perspective on santa. i love it. you should read it. this is the kind of tension i believe in - celebrating the imaginative while still keeping christmas sacred.

and the article sheds light on santa claus himself - the real guy! he truly was what is (mostly) embodied in the jolly, rosy-cheeked claus we see today. an orphan himself, claus, in his adulthood, spent his time helping children in need.

ok, santa. i think i'm ok with you.

happy weekend!

cool & calm... that's what i'm hoping for this weekend. don't you just want to fall into that bed?

i must admit, the day has completely gotten away from me. the week, actually. m and i are headed to his parents' this weekend in charlotte! i'm really looking forward to some quiet with my man and sharing some good conversation with my soon-to-be in-laws!

for now, here are some fun links from around the web:

ampersandity has done it again and stolen my heart this christmas season.

yet another freckled beauty decked out in red lipstick.

m gave me this beautiful book last year that also supports women in need.

the top 10 of everything 2010.

an awesome christmas playlist.

stay warm, loves!