So it occurred to me that in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and how fast they seemed to creep up, and then with all of my "new year, new me" stuff that I am so focused on I never shared any pics from Christmas! Then I realized...most of the pics are still in my camera! Eek! So not like me! I didn't even do any posts on Christmas Eve-Eve, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day! Definitely not like me...but those were not my fault! Our land line and internet decided to cut out on Christmas Eve morning and we didn't get them back till 12/26 late in the day.
I do have a few pics I can share though...my Christmas Eve table! I took these with my point & shoot so they were pretty convenient to upload. Everything else is on my DSLR and I just don't feel like dragging it out right now. I was really happy with my table, though! I am not one that is usually in to "tablescapes," per se, but I had a little fun "fancy-ing" things up a bit this year, even though it is just Kev and me, my parents, my uncle, and my MIL.
My Christmas dishes are Winterberry by Pfaltzgraff. I love this pattern because it is not overly Christmas-y, but rather winter-y. I use these throughout December. The green goblets and red chargers were purchased at Christmas Tree Shop (those of you in the Northeast will know of what I speak!)...cheap! All of the candle holders are from Michaels. The tea lights are from a jumbo bag bought at CTS years ago...there was something like 200 in there for around $2! The white tapers are just generic ones I picked up at the grocery store that morning, and the chunky red tapers are by Root and I have had them forever!
And here is a picture of our tree taken that night...
Christmas Eve is pretty low key for us. I start out the day at my usual crack of dawn wake up time! I like to get to the grocery store by 7AM to avoid the crowds and crazies. This year I got a great present early that morning...a phone call from Kevin's cousin Kaatje in Belgium who I am close to. She is about ten years younger than me and I haven't seen her in years but there is a sisterly connection between us. She has been hurting lately, doing a lot of soul-searching...we are kind of going through some similar things, and she was telling me how she just really needed to talk to me. She said something that just touched me so much...she said that since we can't talk often she talks to me in her dreams, to help her feel better. Of course we were both in tears at this point! Still, it was such a lovely way to start my Christmas Eve!
After grocery shopping it was home to bake, and cook, and cook, and bake. That takes a big chunk of my day. I actually had not baked a thing all season long till that day! I was so not on my Christmas game this year. It is OK though! I am focused on much more important things right now, things that, once realized, will probably make next Christmas a million times better!!! Usually when all the cooking time is done and last minute wrapping is done, I blog. That wasn't going to happen this year. So I journaled a bit, and spent a good chunk of time staring out the window with Bailey, daydreaming!
When our family arrived we gave our parents and uncle their Christmas stockings. That is a tradition we started with them a few years ago. Stockings have always been my most favorite part of opening gifts and I think our parents and uncle should get to enjoy it, too! Now they totally look forward to it! Then we eat a nice dinner, sit around and talk a lot, and watch Christmas shows or movies before calling it a night!
Once they all go home Kevin and I usually give each other our stockings. This year stockings is all we did for each other. Well, stockings and (don't laugh...) SNUGGIES!!! OK, I guess you can laugh...because they really are the goofiest looking things. But he got me a Patriots snuggie and I got him a Bruins snuggie so they are sort of cool. Sort of...
The reason we only did stockings for each other is because we bought ourselves a couple big gifts this year....
46" Sony Bravia LED HDTV for our living room, plus a new stand and Blu-Ray player!
And, a 32" Sony Bravia LED HDTV for our bedroom plus a Blu-Ray player!
O.M.G. I seriously didn't think it would be that big a deal, but...it so is!!! What a HUGE difference these TVs make, especially when watching sports!!! Unbelievable picture quality, so crisp and clear! It especially make a big difference for me in our bedroom. I tend to watch TV to fall asleep and we used to have this 19" thing in there and with my eye issues it sucked to watch it. Now, I can actually CLEARLY see the screen!!!
Christmas day was the usual flurry of gift opening, eating, sports on TV, etc etc. Of course we have the while day with my nephew which makes things so much fun!!! All of my Christmas Day pics have not been uploaded yet but I do have a pic of the gift I gave my brother. Every year there is usually at least one gift I am ridiculously excited to give and can barely contain myself till Christmas Day. Usually it is something for my nephew. This year it was the gift for my brother. Well, you all know how much I love to take pictures, and besides Bailey, my nephew is pretty much my most frequent photo subject. I was snapping some shots of my nephew one day and captured this shot that I fell in love with...
I knew my brother would loooooove this photo!!! Look at that face!!! Doesn't the missing tooth just totally up the cuteness factor?!
So I had it made in to this....
A 20" x 24" gallery wrapped canvas!!! The look on my brother's face when he opened it was so worth the month of torture of keeping my mouth shut!!!
So there you have it...Christmas 2010 in my world!
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2 comments:
I love that picture!! Did you get a picture of your brothers face when he opened it? I am sure he will hang that picture proudly in his home...:)
I had no idea you had Winterberry....I love that!
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