Wednesday, December 17, 2014

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Ready or not, Christmas is coming!  I do love this season of the year but it seems like it really sneaks up on me each year, especially this year as December feels especially short since we were on vacation.  Couple that with the fact that it's been unseasonably warm (which I am NOT complaining about) and it just boggles my mind that Christmas is less than 10 days away.

All that said, I am doing all I can to get into the Christmas spirit.  Phil and I put my tree up the last weekend of November.  I leave the lights on non-stop.  There's nothing like coming home to the glow of a Christmas tree. 


Aside from my Eiffel Tower tree topper, there are other French-themed ornaments scattered about.  I hope to someday have a small tree exclusively decorated with French-themed ornaments.

A sparky Eiffel Tower and the word Paris (which is tough to spot in this photo) are tucked into these boughs

A blue macaron graces this part of the tree

and a different Eiffel Tower found its home on this bough.
We've attended a Christmas Party and will go to another one this week.  Phil's been a good sport about taking photos (which is not his favorite thing to do).  It always takes several attempts to get it just right, but the outtakes are my favorite, especially this one.

We did get a good one in the end, though.


And of course, now that I am back in Minneapolis, I got to resume the tradition of hosting a Gingerbread House Decorating party with my college friends and their kids.  We had some snacks (all gluten free, of course) before we got into decorating mode!


The houses turned out great!  Mine is on the far right.


And of course we had to take some "silly face" photos.  Phil would fit in with this group.


Do you feel ready for the holiday season?  Have you been to any holiday parties?

18 comments:

Lisa-Marie said...

Your outtake photo is adorable!

We are in full Christmas swing. At the weekend I went for Christmas lunch with my sister, followed by Christmas drinks with workmates. On Sunday I helped my SILs family with their tree. Today is Christmas lunch and secret Santa at work, Friday is presents and mince pies with my best friend and her daughter. It's all go!

Gracie said...

Your tree looks like a tree in a magazine. Our Christmas is really rolling now, with several parties overlapping that we had to decline. We still have caroling with our church, a Christmas Eve service, and the family Christmas party...not to mention that I really ought to do a party at work, too! I never planned that for my employees!

Nora said...

You and Phil are so adorable; you guys take really good photos, even when they are outtakes!

Not ready at all for the holidays, but we aren't really doing it like we usually do. I have to get a box off to my Gram and one to the girls, Christmas cards are (mostly) sent out and we do have some decorations up since I love the extra light and glow they produce. Otherwise this year feels weird and not at all like Christmas. I'm just rolling with it!

San said...

I love your tree and your view out of your window! Christmas is the best time of the year!
Great picture of you and Phil, too :)

J and A said...

Your view is amazing!!!! You guys are soo cute!!

Leigh said...

I agree, it sure doesn't feel like Christmas either. I think unless you are a kid or have young kids, Christmas just isn't the same. Such a fun tradition!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

I adore that outtake photo of you two - so cute and says so much about how you are with one another. Love!

I *think* I am ready for the holidays. I mean, technically Chanukah started last night - so, we're lighting the candles. We'll spend time with family over the next few weeks. There will be plenty of gifts. A couple parties. Nothing too insane, though. I feel very fortunate that this time of year is pretty low-key for me compared to many people.

Stephany said...

Oh, those photos of you and Phil are downright adorable. You guys take great photos, even great outttake photos! ;)

I am in denial that Christmas is EIGHT days away. WHAT. It's crazy to me. So not ready!

Charis Faith said...

your Christmas tree is simply fabulous!!! Love the picture of you and Phil, the outtake too! so fun! It looks like y'all had a blast decorating the gingerbread houses! Liam decorated on on Sunday with his Mimi and Gigi :)

I did the cookie bake with Patrice Sunday, this week my small group met at Chuy's last night for our social. Tomorrow I'm going to lunch with coworkers from my previous department.

My brother and SIL are coming in next Tuesday and I am SUPER excited!!! It's going to be a wonderful Christmas!!!

Elizabeth said...

Haha---LOVE the houses :) I agree that this year the season feels really fast! Sounds like you guys are embracing the holiday spirit as much as you can though. Hope it's a great weekend ahead!

Carolina John said...

We have no holiday parties to attend this year! It's very strange but I'm not complaining about it. Your tree is beautiful!

Shoshanah said...

I love, love, love your Eiffel Tower tree topper! We've been looking for a good, somewhat non-denominational tree topper (aka not an angel or a star), and think something like that would be absolutely perfect!

Becky said...

Love your tree and love that you host the gingerbread house party! We've been to an annual family/friends Christmas party - usually the only one we go to each year which is nice so we're not spread too thin. Although I'm with you, I can't believe Christmas is so close!

megabrooke said...

Your tree looks great! And your couple photo is adorable!

Abby said...

Funny you should post this. I tried so hard to get into the spirit but just can't do it this year! 1) it's always hard ton when it's 70 outside. 2) I spent the past 12 days with a horrible case of bronchitis that had me knocked off my feet! 3) we are traveling - so every time I thought about Xmas baking, I would think "well, we are going to be gone anyways."

This December went by way too fast!! But we are so excited to be home TOMORROW night!!!!

Amber said...

We also have no snow which I AM complaining about because it just doesn't feel like Christmas without it! The warm weather here has been nice though.

We have had our decorations up for awhile and I love it! Tomorrow night we're hosting two friends for dinner and a little Christmas get together and on Sunday we're having an early Christmas with my mom and grandparents before we go home next week so I'm looking forward to that too!

Love the picture of you and Phil from his Christmas party!!

Jeanie said...

Hi Lisa -- Ready for Christmas? I have a bunch of trees up but no ornaments on them yet! And it's the 20th! I have to power ornament-hang and that takes some of the fun out of it. I might just leave the lights on some.

I love your Paris. World Market is a good place to find Paris ornaments -- I've found a few there.

Power baking yesterday, an impromptu dinner here with friends last night, going to a tea today and caroling gig on Tuesday. Power baked on Thursday but still have to do more.

And finally -- I LOVE the outtake. It has a lot of love and "the real persons" in it. That's the one I'd keep forever.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Cute couple!! The tree looks beautiful too :-) We've been to a few holiday parties, and as of today, I am ready for Christmas. We drew names this year, so we didn't have too many people to buy for. Also, since we're away Christmas day, we have a little less to do. Now we just have to pack for Vegas!!!