Sigh

Thanks to my crazy work schedule right now, I might have all my Christmas decorations up by next Christmas.

At least everything is out and taunting me, right?

Because I don't have enough ornaments

My mom and I did one of my new favorite holiday traditions today: a visit to Hallmark Corporate to take advantage of her employee discount.

Between her 50% discount in the Hallmark Store and 75% discount in the Double Discount store, I typically go a little nuts. But all my spending from previous years has earned me a rather impressive gift wrap and ornament collection, so this year I decided to tone it out and spent less than half of what I usually do.

$45 later, and I'm rather proud of myself.

Pretty Pink Trike: I saw this ornament and thought it was fate, because Audrey is asking (well, writing) Santa for a pink tricycle this year.

Boba Fett: Two years ago, I got Brent the first ornament in the LEGO Star Wars series as a stocking stuffer. Now it's apparently a tradition.

Season's Treatings: I absolutely adore this series. It is so cute and looks adorable on my kitchen tree.

Sweet Treat Penguin: Because I can't not get a penguin ornament.

In addition to the ornaments, we hit up the Double Discount store, and I got these goodies.

I'm so excited about Santa's workshop! I've been wanting to do some sort of mini Christmas village, but everything I've seen is too traditional. This will be perfect.

Christmas cheer

I have a confession, while my house is decorated for the holidays – I'm just not feeling it. I have been distracted by a December full of baby showers, thank you cards, baby classes and nursery preparations. And I'm so ready for Audrey to get here that I'm having trouble focusing on anything else.

Originally, I thought I would go all out this year for Christmas, because it's Brent's and my last year as just the two of us. But, it's just not happening. While all the decor is out, third trimester exhaustion has set in, and some nights I don't even have the energy to turn on the penguin tree lights (I know! I must be tired to ignore something so fabulous). Well, mainly it's because bending down has gotten rather tricky. Thankfully, Brent is still bendy, so he's taken over the light duty.

Anyway...here's the part you care about – the decor.

The sweet tree

The family tree

I'll be especially excited about the family tree next Christmas when Audrey is here. I'm even toying with the idea of doing silhouettes of all the family instead of photos.

The penguin tree

My favorite new penguin ornament:

The formal tree

The classic tree

Other holiday photos from around the house...

I spy...

...new penguin ornaments at Crate & Barrel!

Wooly Winter Sport Penguin Ornaments:
Alpaca Chubby Penguin Ornaments:
These will be fabulous additions to my penguin tree. I especially love the sporty penguins. I think I might have to get all 3 of those. :)

Christmas in July

Is anyone else excited about Hallmark's ornament premiere this weekend?


I'll admit, I'm only eager about all the penguin fabulousness (or what better be penguin fabulousness). The count down is on!

Goodbye holiday decor

Note to self: The more Christmas trees you acquire to decorate, the longer the packing "experience" will take you. Oh, and it's not a fun experience.


But thankfully, I am now done.


And I'm sure it was all because of Chip's amazing supervising skills.

Christmas wrap up

Brent and I just finished hosting our first Christmas with his family, and I'm happy to say it was a success. And now that that's over, Christmas for us is basically done. Brent and I got some amazing gifts, but here are the highlights...

Bissell Lift-off Mulitcyclonic Pet Upright (this vacuum has already received a trial run, and we are in love).

14 water goblets (not sure how we forgot to register for these guys, but we have them now):

Crate & Barrel Axel Shiny Wall Art:

Windermere Serveware (Another thing, we forgot to register for. So far our collection now consists of the serving spoon, slotted spoon, serving fork, lasagna server, cake server and gravy boat ladle. Not bad at all).

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas. Brent and I spent Christmas with my side this year, and had a blast. Lots of drinking was had...as always.

Cookie decorating

One of my favorite parts of the holidays, is decorating sugar cookies.

My passion started my senior year in high school, when I used cookie decorating as one of my AP art journal projects, and it's become a tradition ever since.


Each year, Brent and I also so our school spirit via cookie. It's rather obvious who made what. :)

The mantle

This is the first year I've "gone all out" with a holiday mantle, and I am loving it.


Out of curiosity, I went back and checked out my mantle from last Christmas. Well, just see for yourselves.

2009:
2010:
Just a "bit" of a difference Is it bad that I already forgot we used to have carpet in there?

Tree #1 (the classic tree)

Tree #1 is the only tree that I struggled to name. This is the tree that denies no ornaments or colors. This tree is full of traditions, memories and presents, making it the most classic type of Christmas tree around.

The Classic Tree
This is the first time I've ever used colored lights, and I must say, I'm happy with the result. Since I'm so edited with color everywhere else in my house, I decided to say yes to color here.


Without a doubt, my ornament obsession began with my aunt (twice).

Each Thanksgiving, for 21 years, I would receive a needlepoint ornament from her. While some of the needlepoint patterns she picked for me are the classic Santas and snowmen, others reflect a part of my childhood – my cat Stinky, a ballet slipper and even a Sigma Kappa heart from when I pledged. These needlepoints are my keepsakes, and I know when I have children – I want to carry on her fabulous tradition.


The other ornament collection my aunt got me to love is the Kansas City Mayor's Christmas Tree ornaments. While this wasn't something I received from her every year, they meant enough that I now brave Crown Center Mall is acquire my annual treasure.


Sure, I have other collections on this tree now, but these are definitely the 2 that started my holiday passion. Thank you, Kathy.

Shutterfly deal

Brent and I had our holiday pictures taken this morning (thank you mom!), and now the search for the perfect holiday card has begun.

I've always been a fan of Shutterfly's holiday card selection, but this year they're offering something better than just amazing designs – they're offering 50-free cards to all bloggers. That's right, 50 free cards. It's the perfect freebie to get your holiday off to an amazing start.

I've just recently joined the Shutterfly craze, because originally the thought of joining another photo-sharing site was just too much to handle. But now, I'm so glad I finally sucked it up. I just adore their designs, and coming from a graphic designer, I feel that's the best compliments of all. They do more than just holiday cards too – they do birth announcements and birthday cards, which I had no idea about. I'm just happy a site that actually offers quality layouts is available at a reasonable price (because that is a difficult thing to find).

I narrowed my search down to 3 holiday cards (Brent didn't seem to find my original "final 20" on the funny side). To get a better idea, I put in the photos, and now I'm debating between 3. Opinions?


I also had my mom take a picture of us in the living room. I doubt I'll ever use this photo for anything, but I still think it's fun to look at. :)