Christmas Eve is one of my favorite days of the year. I’m spending the holidays at my parents’ house in South Jersey. I’ve been here for less than 24 hours and I’ve already ate some delicious meals cooked by my mama, stopped at my favorite thrift store, annnnd done four loads of laundry. Tonight, we’re hosting a Christmas Eve get-together and I am still in need of an outfit decision . . . time is ticking.
My sister’s puppy, Ellie, is pretty much my BFF normally, but not when we were getting her into this sweater. We recreated last year’s photo shoot (and risked losing our fingers/hands) to wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas. Enjoy your week! xx
Holiday Entertaining Tips
As my friends and I get older, the temptation to throw our own parties surrounded by the people we love, rather than celebrate out at a bar, gets greater and greater. Our most recent get-together was a pretty successful Friends-giving, but we’re obviously still learning all the tips and tricks that go into planning and executing the perfect fiesta. In my mind, there are certainly many more parties that need to happen before I can achieve the status of hostess extraordinaire, so I like to take all the advice I can get.
The party people over at Fine Wine and Good Spirits always put together some annual infographics, filled with great holiday entertaining tips, so I knew I had to share for my other socialite sisters (in the making). They also have a ton of other party planning resources on the site (like the ever popular Quantity Calculator), and – in case you were not aware – your party supplies can now be delivered to your house from good ol’ Instacart.Continue Reading…
Charms of Fairmount Holiday Tours
Last year, in the midst of a festive holiday season, I was lucky enough to win two passes to the Charms of Fairmount Holiday Tour from HughE’s blog. My friend Tara & I had such a fun day exploring these beautiful Philly homes, but I didn’t get a chance to report on my experience before the season was over. Well – GREAT NEWS: the tours are back! Starting today (12/3) and running through 12/30, Woodford, Cedar Grove, Laurel Hill Mansion, Lemon Hill, Mount Pleasant, and Strawberry Mansion will “once again be decorated in their holiday finest for the beloved annual Holiday Tours” (I couldn’t have said it better myself).
To give you a little background, these homes, located in Fairmount Park and currently owned by the city, were once the summer villas of rich families living in Philadelphia during the 18th & 19th centuries. It took them two to three hours to get out to these babies, so they had to be fabulous. Many important people rolled through these homes during their prime (we’re talking Ben Franklin and John Adams important), and they’re a really great snapshot into what our city used to be.
A Holiday Recap
I was really trying to hold myself to a blog every other day, but it seems the holidays let that get away from me. Here are some of my favorite moments during the time I spent in South Jersey during the my favorite season!
Christmas Eve is becoming one of the best days of the year for me. My sister & I get to exchange our gifts, we go to a great party with good friends, and finish it off with the 10pm candlelight church service. This year, Lindsay got me a massage at AVA Wellness, and I can’t wait to use it! My dress is the Harlow Faux Wrap Dress by Kiyonna from a fabulous new rental service I am trying out, Gwynnie Bee. If anyone would like a review of their service, let me know!
On Christmas morning, my family & I opened gifts, made a yummy breakfast, laughed, and spent some wonderful quality time with each other. Don’t let this photo of the sleeping Ellie fool you, she was a maniac with all of the wrapping paper and boxes on the floor. One of my favorite gifts was presented like this (a stunning photo of the Trunchbull courtesy of my mom) … tickets to see Matilda on Broadway!
Christmas dinner was delicious and fun as usual. My Aunt Edie is a Pinterest pro and she makes the most amazing apps & drinks from recipes she finds there. This is her second time whipping up some sangria, and it was awesome. We finished dinner with a celebratory Christmas shot of Three Olives Chocolate, and let’s just say, I’ve found a new Three Olives vodka to add to my existing stash of Cherry.
During the rest of my time at home, we had more lovely get-togethers with friends. One night, our family friend Stephanie brought over her 3 boys. We got them K’nex Lego toys for Christmas, and it took me approx 1.5 hours to finish the above beauty. #icanthaveaboy
We also enjoyed our time with our neighbors during our annual get together. Our “Chinese Auction” is always the most fun, and to my surprise, the hottest gift this year was Chuey, a stuffed Chihuahua that sings La Bamba (which Jordan got me as a gift once… and I might have put him in the donation pile last month… and my mom might have taken him out for this game… and Jordan was the one to open him. Oops.).
Here is Chuey, if you were wondering:
How were your holidays? To everyone in the city of Philly, hope you’re enjoying this rainy snow-ish day! 🙂
Christmas Eve Blessings
I love being home for the holidays. The longer I am living away from home, the more and more I appreciate the house I grew up in. So, as we spend the week eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s company, I had a little time to reflect on the things I feel very blessed to have this season.
- An amazing family who I love spending time with.
- My wonderful boyfriend who can always make me laugh and put a smile on my face.
- My awesome career, in a fabulous industry. It doesn’t hurt that I also have literally the best co-workers on the planet.
- A bunch of friendships I have continued from high school & college with a great group of caring, intelligent & hilarious women.
- A cute little apartment in the city I love, and an opportunity to share all of my explorations with you!
I found this video during one of my usual YouTube marathons, and it made me smile.
Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! XOXO