Christmas Decor 2020

I totally meant to have this post up last week, but my computer has been so weird and I've been having a hard time loading pictures from my phone to my computer, so I think I've finally managed to get everything in the post and can now officially share my Christmas decor for this year!

I found this pretty wreath at Christmas Tree Shop a few weeks ago when I went shopping with my mom. I didn't know it when I bought it, but this totally set off my decorating style for this year. My living room is completely a woodland theme and I LOVE IT. I never really thought about it as I collected my decor but it is a woodland theme and I think it looks so pretty. I am pretty obsessed with it and think I will continue collecting items for this theme as the years go on. 

Last year I placed Christmas ornaments inside this vase but so far I have left it empty. I may find something to put inside but for now I'm enjoying the simplicity here on the kitchen counter. 

I still love this little bear I've had for years and here is one of my mini flocked trees.

My mom bought us this snowman set of salt and pepper shakers last year at Christmas and they are very cute. I'm not sure we will actually use them for salt and pepper but they look cute sitting on my counter!

Just like last year I put my garland on the top of my kitchen cabinets and decorated it with picks and flowers from Walmart. I didn't put the lit garland up there this year it's just very plain and it really brings some more Christmas cheer to the kitchen. 

I have a few sets of Christmas dish towels but here is one set hung up on the stove. I have a slight problem with collecting dish towels so I am not allowed to shop for them anymore. We have a whole drawer full and that's only because I donated a ton when they didn't all fit in one drawer. 

I love this little reindeer! I bought him last year and I think he's just the cutest. 

This is the only area where my living room is not woodland theme. This little elf was in my grandparents house growing up and my grandma let me take him home with me. I always smile when I pull him out. 

Same Christmas pillows as last year, I might need some more Christmas pillows....

I love my little houses that I picked up in the Target dollar spot! They were $5 for the set and I just love how they look with my little flocked trees. 

This reindeer is new this year too. He came from Christmas Tree Shop and was a total impulse buy. I cannot say no to cute animals. 

More garland on these kitchen cabinets.

Here is the snowman cookie jar that my mom bought us last year, he matches the salt and pepper shakers and doesn't hold anything but looks super cute on the counter!

I initially brought up the Christmas tree I bought last year (and had in our office last year) but it looked so huge and ridiculous in our small living room I decided to get a small pencil tree. This one was $79 from Walmart and I of course went with a flocked tree. I absolutely love it and it allows us to have Christmas spirit but still have our living room be mostly useable. 

Someday we will be able to fit a huge tree in our living room, but right now it's really not a possibility. The tree skirt is new as well and is also from Walmart. 

It is a very small tree but right now while it's just the two three of us we really don't need anything huge. 

Sophie doesn't really care about the tree...or any of the decorations. That was a little shocking to me, but I am thrilled that she is living everything alone.

Are you all decorated for Christmas? I need to do my outside decorating, but I am pleased with the inside so far!

Outdoor Christmas Decor Inspiration

 I know, I know. Halloween was less than a week ago and not everyone is ready to jump into Christmas. I am totally ready however and am starting to gather inspiration for decor. I want to get everything ordered that I need and make sure I am ready to go.

Last year I decorated pretty minimally outside and used some cheap pre-lit garlands on our handrails and the same on our mailbox. This year I want it to look a little nicer since I have had time to think about what I want. I know I didn't do much for Halloween and truly want to make up for it with my Christmas decor.

Here's what I'm thinking...

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I would like to get some nicer pre-lit garland to put on our new fence. I think it will look so nice against the white! I just need to find garland that looks nice, is pre-lit with a battery pack, and doesn't cost a million dollars. Let me know if you find anything!

                    

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We have a very small area to work with at our front door. It's very narrow and we can't place too much on the steps or we won't be able to use the front door. I bought a wreath a few weeks back that I will be putting up. I am also trying to think of decor I can place along our walkway since that is a new feature this year.  Someday our boxwoods will be large enough to wrap lights around, but right now they are still tiny and would look silly. 

I'm also thinking about doing either just lights or a lit garland to frame the doorway, that is something we could definitely incorporate.

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I am planning on decorating our mailbox again this year but I'm hopeful I can make it look a little nicer this year! I have something similar to what is in the picture above that my mom bought for us. Last year I wrapped a garland around the base on my mailbox but it didn't match at all. I still want to use the top part but will be on the lookout for other ideas for the base. 

What do you do to decorate for Christmas outside? I am wishing I put in window boxes this summer because they would look so nice! I will definitely continue to scour pinterest for decor ideas but it's hard when most of the pictures are huge houses with big front porches! I keep dreaming up my big house that we will build someday! I will keep on wishing for it, and my big front porch!!

Halloween Weekend 2020

Hey friends! Did everyone have a great Hall-o-weekend? It was very low-key around here (like most weekends around here) but I thought it was great to have Halloween on a Saturday. I think we should observe Halloween on the last Saturday of October every year, anyone else with me on that?

Sophie loves her toys from her Barkbox and I love that each month the theme changes. We were of course thrilled to see Halloween themed toys and Sophie has been enjoying her Vampy-corn, Barry Bones, and Ghouly Worm. If you haven't signed up for Barkbox and you have a pup it's a great idea to get a year-long subscription as a Christmas present for them! We truly enjoy having this box come each month and I think the price is 100% worth it!

Guys, it snowed here on Friday!! My poor pumpkin and mums enduring the storm, they look so sad!

We spent a lot of the weekend cuddled up on the couch and Sophie was thrilled with all of it! I love how sweet her face is in this picture. 

I feel so lame. This is what I did for Halloween trick-or-treating. I made 30 treat bags and left them out for our neighborhood kids. We ended up with 5 leftover so it ended up being just about the perfect amount. Even though I put out a pumpkin and some little Halloween decals on the door, I didn't really do much outside decorating for Halloween. I always intended on going back out to pick up more pumpkins/gourds and make the front steps look nicer but I just never did. I felt especially bad about my decorating skills when I saw what The Blonde Abroad had done....

(This picture is a screenshot of @theblondeabroad Halloween post on Instagram)

How cute is her setup?! Her dog Bailey looked so cute as Harry Potter and I couldn't believe all the awesome decor she had. If you aren't already following her on Instagram she is one of my favorites. Normally she is traveling non-stop but has recently purchased a house in San Diego and is doing some home decor content which I love! I felt very inferior when I saw her decor versus what I had going on outside!! I always say next year....

Last week at BJs I picked up a huge box of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate mix and I kicked off hot chocolate season on Halloween! I love fall and have enjoyed having my fall decor up inside our house but I am ready to decorate for Christmas. 

It seems like more than half the people I follow on Instagram started decorating yesterday for Christmas. I didn't start yesterday but I am planning on starting very soon. Tomorrow I have the day off from work so I will be taking down all of my fall decor and giving the house a good deep clean and I plan on decorating for Christmas maybe next weekend. Let me know when you are planning on decorating for Christmas, I would love to hear how long you are waiting this year.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's my husbands birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Tim! You are the most patient, kind, wonderful person in the world and I cannot imagine my life without you. You are my match in every way and I am so lucky to be married to you!!

Life Lately: Christmas Celebrations

Hey everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family, or a wonderful holiday celebrating whatever you celebrate! Or just a fantastic week off from the blog :)

Today I want to share our Christmas celebrations which pretty much involves just pictures of Sophie being adorable.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with my family last Sunday and Sophie was so excited to head to Nanas house to celebrate.

These jammies didn't last too long because she reallllly hated them! We did make a grand entrance into my moms house with them on and then promptly took them off. But how cute are they?!

My Uncle Dave and his girlfriend Liz gave this adorable bunny to Sophie and she is still obsessed with it! She ran around with it like crazy on Christmas Eve and it has been her go to since!

Clearly Christmas is exhausting for her. 

On Christmas Eve we headed to Tim's family but decided to leave Sophie behind because there were so many people.

I wanted her to get some use out of the bandana I bought for her Santa pictures. She looks pretty stylish huh?

Christmas morning started off quiet at home with just the three of us.

The first thing we did was have Sophie open up her stocking. We gave her a few toys and treats and she loved checking out what was inside.

Clearly something smelled good...look at her licking her lips!

She found the good stuff!

After we let her open and then we exchanged with each other, we headed to my parents house for more gifts and Christmas lunch.

Sophie met her cousin Kai for the first time!

They got along so well. Kai wasn't too much bigger than Sophie, she's growing too fast. They ran around together a little bit. Kai is used to being around other dogs and it showed because he was so relaxed with her which made her very relaxed.

Cousin kisses!

The boys and their pups!

Our family picture :)

Christmas is completely exhausting!

We had Christmas Day Dinner with Tim's family and Sophie went to hang out with her cousin Attie. She did really well with Attie too! Here they are under the kitchen table.

It was a wonderful few days spent with family and our girl was exhausted by the end of it!

How was your holiday?

Christmas Around The Apartment

We are one week away! Can you believe that in one week it will be Christmas?!

I feel like the season has absolutely flown by this year and I have felt behind this whole month. I had our apartment decorated the week before Thanksgiving but just haven't gotten around to snapping pictures or writing a post. So here is a tour of our little living room during this Christmas season!

Christmas Kermit sits on our couch next to our Let It Snow pillow. I'm not sure where Kermit came from because I've had him for years but the pillow is from the Target dollar section from a few years ago. I love the color!

Yes, Tim was playing Madden while I took pictures. This is where our stockings hang using some command hooks. I purchased these simple stockings from Kohls this year. I also have snowflake lights from Ikea in front of  the tv. A little snow angel sits on top of my books, a tiny elf on the corner and my newest purchase the little sign that says "keep calm and wait for santa" which was also purchased at Kohls this year.

Our Christmas tree is a fake one from Walmart which has worked beautifully for us. I have a ton of Christmas ornaments that I've collected through the years and I even gave Tim his own Eagles ornament for the tree. I also picked up some mint chocolate candy canes for the tree.

This cute bear is something my papa's girlfriend gifted me a few years ago. I saw this bear in a store  and loved it and she surprised me with it that Christmas.

This little elf is one of my favorite memories. I actually stole this from my grandma and papa's house when I was little because I thought he was so cute. There is actually a yellow heart bead stuck in his rear (not sure why...) and I've had him as long as I can remember.

Just a quick peek in the kitchen. Aren't these snowman towels my mom gave us adorable?! I love that we'll be able to use them all season as well.

In addition to all of these decorations we have our holiday candles burning, our holiday soaps at both sinks, and have been using a holiday oven mitt as well. Might as well go all out right?!

I hope you are all getting excited for Christmas and I'll talk to you a little later this week!

Holiday Gift Guide 2016

If you're anything like me you might be already close to done with your Christmas shopping. I only have a few more items to purchase and then I will be completely done! I did want to pop on here and share my annual gift guide with you. You can check out my previous gift guides by searching right here on the blog. 

Here is a collection of items I think would make terrific gifts this holiday season. 

This is a new item for me and I'm obsessed! I've always used LUSH lip scrubs and enjoyed them but when I heard about the lip scrub by sara happy I knew I had to check it out. It's a gentle lip scrub that feels great and smells delicious. I use this once or twice a week and although this little container retails for $24.12 on Amazon it is something that will last you quite a long time. I think any woman who loves beauty products would be thrilled to see this under her tree or inside a stocking!

The Wet Brush retails for just under $9 on Amazon but it something I absolutely love. I grew up with very tangly hair and if I don't brush my hair out after emerging from the shower I'm in for a fight when I go to style it. (and everyone wonders why I just wear my hair up most of the time) I don't know many girls who wouldn't appreciate a nice brush and this one is certainly worth it especially since it's at such a low price.

It seems like Tis The Season is sold out of the 3-wick candle version currently online but this is by far my favorite holiday scent from Bath and Body Works! We are also using the hand soap in our bathroom and the scent is just so cheerful this time of year. Bath and Body Works consistently has great deals on candles this time of year- in fact yesterday was their annual $8.50 each sale (which explains why they are currently sold out of a ton of items) so keep an eye out because candles make great gifts for everyone!

Currently books one and two from the Harry Potter series have been released in illustrated editions and it's something any Harry Potter lover would love. They retail on Amazon at $23.99 and are just beautiful collectors items. I have both in my house currently and it's a beautiful way to read and appreciate these classic tales.

This is my favorite seasonal lotion scent from Bath and Body Works and if you keep your eye out you can get great deals on this as well! The ultra shea lotion can be paired with the shower gel to make a great gift for any girl in your life.

If you've been reading for any length of time you now that I absolutely love my birchbox!  The women's box retails for $10 a month and men's is $20 a month. The best part about this gift is that you can give it for Christmas and they will receive a box each month which is so fun- it keeps the gift going for as long as you like. You can do a three month, six month, or year long gift which gives your recipient plenty of time to decide if they want to continue subscribing.

Know a sports fan? Well right now in the midst of football season it's great time to get that football fan some gear. There are great deals going on right now and you can buy everything including hats, scarves, socks, jerseys, sweatshirts, and more! A great choice for any sports fan. I am currently lusting over the Patriots hat pictured. Not that I wear hats much...but you know...

Beats are so expensive but they are seriously great headphones. I have had the chance to try them on several occasions and these are great for guys or girls. They are great for blocking out all other sound when you are listening to music (or an audiobook). There are a ton of different options to choose from as well. 

Apparently if you are a video-gamer this is the game of the moment. Tim just recently got this and while I am not a video game person at all, if you have one in your life you might want to consider picking this up.  Just make sure you check what type of console your loved one has first! Another idea for a video game lover is a new controller- something that I've gifted Tim in the past and he has appreciated- controllers are expensive!

We actually just picked up this particular LEGO Ninjago kit for Tim's nephew because it's on sale for $24.79, originally $40! Tim's nephews love LEGOs and they have some great sales this time of year. We just recently saw LEGO minecraft on sale at Target in store for 50% off. They were actually all sold out by the time we got there but what a great deal. We don't see a ton of deals on LEGOs but this time of year there are quite a few!

Some of my other favorite gifts to buy this time of year? 

• Ornaments
• Gift Cards
• Candy and Other Food Treats
• Big Electronics (SO MANY SALES!)

I have only a few more items and then I'm done- how much Christmas shopping have you completed?!