Our 2014 Christmas Cards (A little late, I know!)

I know this is long overdue, but I just had to share our 2014 Christmas cards because I love, love, love the way they turned out! We've used Minted for I think as long as they've been around and couldn't be happier with the quality. This year's card is by far my favorite though (of course!)

I captured the picture of Miles playing in the snow (the first time it snowed this winter - he loved it!) And the rest of the shots are from family sessions with our amazing photographer Kayla at Full Bloom Photography here in Cleveland.

My other favorite thing about this card is that we had all of the addresses printed by Minted and they turned out BEAUTIFULLY! We also used their skinny wrap around labels for our return address.  Just makes them so much more special (and so much easier for us to assemble!)

I'm in the process of designing invitations for Miles' first birthday and can't wait to show you those too!

Tis the Season

If you follow me on Instagram then I apologize because you've already seen these, but here are some pictures of our Christmas festivities thus far! I have to say, it is really fun having a child during the holidays. Not that he understands what is going on yet, but still, it is really special to start thinking about family traditions and the magic of Christmas through the eyes of a little one! Overall just feeling extremely blessed! Hope your holidays are off to a good start as well!

Christmas 2013 Recap

Here are some pics of our quiet Christmas together at home before traveling to celebrate with our crazy families!

Ahh, there is nothing like a nice clean decorated house!

All decorated for Christmas..

I love the truck and lamb under the tree! Makes me so excited for next year when we have lots of kid presents :)

Evan and his new Bose noise canceling headphones (I'm hoping I don't regret getting him this gift!)

And for me? The hubs got me the new sheets I've been coveting :)

And a Restoration Hardware giftcard! 

And I had to include a bump pic... 33 weeks!! Getting so big :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! :)

Christmas Dinner Decor

Evan and I hosted his family's Christmas celebration for the first time this year! We finished the kitchen in the nick of time! (Well, we still have some work to do, but at least its functional and pretty!) I had SO much fun setting the table :) 

My favorite part are these "Kitchen Papers" placemats (here). 

I then alternated between monogrammed linen napkins and tartan plaid napkins (I only had 6 of each, and we had 8 people for dinner so it was a necessity!). I tied everything together (literally!) with red striped grosgrain ribbon.

Here is a shot of the kitchen! I'll walk through all the details in another post :)

And here is it just before sitting down to eat... champagne glasses full, snow falling outside, and of course, plenty of fat hydrangeas :)

98 Days!

SO, one thing about me that I really, really love Christmas. I think I'm as excited for Christmas at age 29 as I was at age 6! I cannot help it. More than anything I love the time off, relaxing and laughing with my family around a sparkling tree and roasting fire, eating Christmas goodies, playing scrabble and watching movies, surprising people with gifts, and of course celebrating the reason for the season! So wonderful!

(My iPhone App Countdown - with a picture of my Christmas tree from last year!)

It's been SUPER fun having our own house to decorate :) Last year was wonderful, but we still had a TON of work to do on the house... This year, the house renovations should actually be (almost) DONE and I cannot wait to see it and enjoy it all decorated for the season :)

When it comes to 'Christmas Style', I would call mine natural and whimsical. I love the greens and silvers and woodsy feel, but I also love little touches that remind me of Christmas during my childhood. Old school, fat, colorful Christmas lights... traditional plaid table settings... homemade garland... All I can say is that it is going to be really fun to decorate this year!

Above are some of my favorites for Christmas 2012:

1 - Moss Covered Initial Letter
2 - Burlap Ribbon
3 - Painted Birch Candle
4 - Lit Magnolia Garland
5 - Naughty/Nice Gift Tag
6 - Merry Christmas Garland
7 - Red Mercury Glass Globe String Light
8 - Winter White Garland
9 - Red Berry Wreath
10 - Birch Round Vase Filler
11 - Oversized Mason Jar

ANYWAY, I won't get too ahead of myself. I love fall too! :) It's just starting to cool off and I just pulled out my pumpkins last week.. so this is the last you will hear from me about Christmas for awhile (but you better believe it's still in the very back of my mind!)

Christmas Photo Recap~ One of the Best EVER! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

As I noted in the title, it was one of our best yet!! It started with a day of shopping, wrapping, and decking the halls.. followed by Christmas Eve filled with baking, Christmas movies, and the BEST Christmas Eve mass I've ever attended... a great Christmas Eve dinner celebration with Evan's family.. Christmas morning with the two of us.. and a great Christmas Day with my family.

Here are some snapshots from our last few days decorating and celebrating! 

 Yes, Evan went to three Starbucks this morning to get his coffee and my green tea lemonade :)

My favorite songs of the season :)

Naughty or Nice Glasses (Definitely Nice!)

Wrapping lots of presents!

Waiting for Santa?

We put a little tree in the den.. and here is a glimpse of the 1/2 finished mudroom (Still need to install slate tile flooring!)

I got Evan a wet saw for our upcoming bathroom renovation.. :)

And he got me the Pottery Barn bath fixtures I've been anxiously awaiting!

(Can you guess what our next project is?)

Tucker was 'tuckered-out' in no time!

 Really, really sleepy! So cute.

Our happy little family!

Merry Christmas, Love, & God Bless!