Holiday Happiness

I love love love this time of year.  The potential exists every year that I will overbook, overplan, overcraft, and set unreasonably high expectations for myself.  I really try my hardest to avoid that...and it's going well so far.

It takes a lot of planning, a kick-ass spreadsheet, starting early, and making sure I'm well rested, well hydrated, and getting some exercise.  So far, so good!
 

Favorite moments so far....

 
Performance of Annie at a new-to-us theater in downtown Littleton...

Our annual tea party at the Brown Palace.  SUCH a special tradition, and made so much more special now that we have a little girl in her new Christmas dress joining us....

 Decorating the tree and making the house merry on a freezing cold Saturday afternoon....

Annual bookclub party with spouses and without kiddos (except for the two brand new babies in the group).  My face and throat and head hurt so badly by the end of the night because of all the out-of-control laughter.  I love hosting this party at our house..it's such a fun reason to get the house looking and smelling good, light all the candles, put on our favorite Christmas music, and wear a pretty party dress.  I love these friends and their partners SOOOO much...I feel so full of emotion after this night.  So thankful for these people in my life.  

 The season has just begun and there's still so much fun to be had....just trying in every moment to soak in the beauty, joy, and wonder that this season brings.  

Florida in Photos

 Finally a family photo session.  We have so few of these pictures....

 Down time with my parents at the beach...



 
Cousins on the Gulf of Mexico.  Just like my cousins and I thirty years ago.  I so treasure that our children are now making these memories together....

 

Dinner at Crabby Bill's, of course.  And Sadie was the one man band's BIGGEST FAN EVER.  She danced up there in front of him all alone. 

  

Visiting with old friends who don't live so close anymore...making up for lost time.

A perfectly lovely Thanksgiving day.  It started with a very cold run for the annual family 5K.  But it sure felt good to run (and good to run at sea level!)  

The Thanksgiving table at my Aunt Cathy's house was gorgeous as always, and I am so thankful that she makes it possible for the entire family (nearly 40 of us) to actually sit down together. Such an amazing feat, but so worth it!

 

We celebrated Chanukah together for the first time in more than a decade! 

 A visit to the Florida Aquarium...

 Late nights with my cousins...Hunger Games movie, beer pong, movies, chatting, Trader Joe's snack explosion.  Oh how I wish we all lived closer so that we could do this more often.  I have so much fun, laugh so hard, feel so comfortable and safe and happy when I'm with my cousins, my brother, and all the spouses who've become a part of the family.  It makes me so sad when this trip comes to an end every year. 

 And of course...watching this next generation make their own memories, and follow in their mamas' footsteps is the best thing ever....

The Aching Hearts

Our last house concert of the season was such a special night!  Ryan and Kelly were with us a couple years ago when Ryan performed a solo house concert.  Their joint project, The Aching Hearts, suits both of their musical styles so well.  The crowd loved the classic country twist that they brought to the show, and we all got a kick out of their onstage chemistry and stories. 

 The house was packed, and it was so great to be able to give Ryan and Kelly all the support they deserve. 

Of course the house was full of pickers, and it was truly a treat to have a fiddle player like Ryan join the jam afterward. 

 Ryan and Kelly are kindred spirits, and it was so great to be able to connect and visit with them again.  The fall house concert series ended in fine form with this band.  We continue to feel so thankful and lucky that we are able to host these concerts.  Sharing this music with like-minded music friends and family, and supporting these amazing musicians, is truly one of the most fulfilling things in my life.   

 

3 Penny Acre

The house concert we hosted in October was one that we've been looking forward to for so long.  We've been listening to 3 Penny Acre for years, and were so thrilled to host them this fall.

 It was a beautiful fall night, and we had a great crowd in the house.  Bayard, Bryan, and Bernice are three of the nicest people we have had the pleasure of meeting through our house concert series.  Their songwriting, playing, and their chemistry on stage was so captivating. 

 They shared so many sweet, touching, interesting, and funny stories from the stage, which is truly one of the greatest things about house concerts.  The intimacy and quiet of this setting allows musicians to share so much more with the audience.  I love that the artists feel like they can tell the extended versions of the stories that accompany their songs. 

We really felt like we connected with these new friends of ours and were so thankful that they were able to be a part of this fall's house concert series. 

Really Ties the Room Together

 This fall I somehow found some time to take on some projects that have been brewing in my mind for years!  So fun to finally make them happen and I love what they've added to our home.  First it was this family photo wall in our guest room (inspiration here).  

 I started by gathering all my old, outdated brass and wood picture frames and spray painted them all the same off-white color.  I put burlap and a fun ribbon behind all the frames, and anchored them at the top of the wall with fun doorknobs I picked up at Hobby Lobby.  The hardest (and most fun) part was choosing which pictures I wanted to display.

 

I saw this project on Pinterest and have always wanted to tackle it in order to display my Instagram prints.  I LOVE instagram, and was SO excited when Walgreens released an app to print instagram photos straight from your phone.   I found a funky, brass frame at Goodwill (it even came with a horribly ugly painting) and spray painted it.  Wire and tiny clothes pins finished off the project.  So happy with how it turned out.

 

I've been looking for a way to store our growing record collection for some time.  We were quickly running out of room in our existing entertainment console, but I didn't really want to buy a new piece of furniture for this purpose.  Enter IKEA Hack!  I became a big fan of the IKEA hack concept when we installed our built-in bookshelves on our second floor, so I thought it might be a great resource for this project. 

 I bought two inexpensive bookshelves at IKEA, and made the cushions myself (tutorial here).  It took me one night to make these come together and I think they are so much fun.

And Sadie LOVES her new window seats!