Christmas 2012 Revisited

Has Christmas really come and gone already? This holiday season was a bit rougher than most. As I've mentioned before, a few large changes have happened in my life the past month (all will be shared soon enough), but annual gift exchanges, homemade mail-delivered treats, packages at my doorstep, Christmas parties, friends, puppies, babies, and wine helped get me through it with a genuine smile on my face. I'd love to share some snapshots of the past couple weeks with you here. Odds are if you follow me or The Everygirl on Instagram, you've already seen a few of these.

Sarah Winchester, an Everygirl photography contributor and friend, sent delicious homemade peppermint bark that I enjoyed while watching Christmas movies and periodically staring at my new graphic living room rug from RugsUSA (sneak peek above). Tuck loves the bark and the rug.

Speaking of Tuck. He's always been a very intelligent but odd dog... and this time he's taken it to a new level of creeping. This might be his best move yet. I was sitting on the couch hanging out and chatting w/ Caitlin, when I looked over and realized Tucker was sitting perfectly still near the mantel, partially behind the tree, just staring at us. So weird. I love him. (Isn't it crazy how different he looks pre- and post-grooming?)

In other news, I wore my sequin-collared top for a festive look at Danielle's Christmas party (you might remember it from fashion week activities). The same party where she and I met two years ago, which we mention in our About Us bio on The Everygirl. She did such a lovely job hosting. I'm thinking this will have to be an annual tradition.

Gifts were a bit frugal this year since I had quite a few friends to buy for. Each of the girls got a great pair of J.Crew socks (my favorite, but at $12.50 a pair, a real treat), mini disco ball ornaments from CB2 (that I recommended keeping out year round! I have mine on my bulletin board), and a set of colorful hair ties from Mane Message. The neon tags and white and gold boxes plus some baker's twine made charming and colorful–albeit untraditional–gift wrapping. It was my neon-colored version of Santa's workshop.

My high school girlfriends and I participated in our annual Secret Santa gift exchange–a tradition we've been doing for... oh gosh... if we started in 8th grade, that means I was 14-years-old, which means it's been going for... 14 years. Crap, that's a long time. It was just as fun as always!

Danielle joined my family and me at my mom's to celebrate on Christmas Eve. It was so nice having her there... my older siblings are married so I'm usually the lone ranger when we get together. It was nice having a person there! You can't tell in this photo, but she wore green and I donned red. Always complimenting one another's outfits. It's really quite perfect.

She loved the mini disco ball.

...almost as much as Fiona loved the fire.

Speaking of the pups, Danielle brought Buddy along since we were spending the night (lots of wine), and we were pleasantly surprised the puppies got along splendidly! Tuck has some territorial issues, but he handled having another man there just fine.

Danielle brought her festive albeit it absolutely ridiculous hats! Shortly after gifts we changed into our cozy clothes...


...and spent the rest of the night playing games, watching holiday flicks, drinking vino, and eating cookies. It was really quite perfect.

Spent some quality time with my new niece and nephew, Lucy and Jack.

...and here we are Christmas morning. College sweatshirt and plaid flannels. (Not even my college.) Not sure I changed out of that outfit all day, which is just how I like it.

How was your holiday? Cozy and happy, I hope.