the christmas waltz {blogmas14}

My favorite Christmas song is easy. I talked about it in this post a bit. It's a song that was on the Sinatra Christmas Album from the 50's so clearly it's the best because it's Sinatra ;) It's a song my grandparents listened to while decorating their tree or baking Christmas cookies. It's a song that will forever remind me of them and that reason alone is enough to make it my favorite. 

Despite the nostalgia I associate with this song I can readily admit how beautiful the lyrics are and how warm you can feel when the music seems to just float around you. It's the finishing touch to any Christmas scene. It's not a terribly popular song and the original version is never played on the radio instead having space reserved on the original vinyl album that sits next to my record player all year long. I spoke about this before but my favorite part of this song? Is at the end of the original when Sinatra says "Merry Christmas" at the end because my grandma always answers him by saying "Merry Christmas, Frank" as if he can hear somewhere out there. I'll always think of her whenever this song comes on, I'll always tear up because of it, and I'll always wish Frank a "Merry Christmas" too.

Take a listen, I know you'll love it.

        

Thanks for reading & stopping by!

gingerbread through the years {blogmas14}

I really enjoy making gingerbread houses especially with my boyfriend. It's been a tradition of ours to make one every year during Christmas time and it's always a fun date night for us. Plus, we're both rather controlling so making gingerbread houses where we can each delegate tasks that the other isn't involved in feeds our control freak flag. Don't we sound like so much fun?! Sammy is in charge of making "lawn decor" like the Christmas trees and pathways (although I did the walkway and the gate this year) as well as a wreath he always makes out of spearmint candy and I'm in charge of the windows (which I hate doing actually) and the icicles. Then we split doing each side of the roof and other random areas that need to be adorned with candy. See, we have a system ;)

This year, we were really disappointed with the house we bought from Target and I hate, hate, hate to admit it because I just love Target so much! But the icing was terrible and didn't stick or spread well at all despite how many time we zapped it in the microwave. It ended up drying up like fondant. See that snowman in the front lawn? That's leftover icing we couldn't use! We were able to roll it up into balls... that shouldn't happen. So we had to make our own icing, which was fine but we'd rather use what we pay for. We've had good luck with kits from Michael's so we'll have to remember that for next year. 

Down below are some of the houses we've done in past years if you'd like to see :)

2014 (not our best but oh well)

2013

2012

2011

Can't wait to see what kind of houses you guys have built. Happy almost one week 'till Christmas, guys!! Thanks for reading!

giving is love {blogmas14}

This year, more than ever, I really wanted to give back to my community. It was important to me to be able to give back to people that were deserving and in need of some help this season. I asked Sammy if he would be interested in picking some children from the Salvation Army Angel Tree program to buy gifts for this year and he agreed to it immediately. 

The Angel Tree program was really easy to work with. I was sent a link to their virtual tree where you can filter the angels hanging on the tree by age, gender, and/or items they were asking for. We were originally choosing one child each so Sammy chose a little boy and while I was trying to choose my little girl I got very emotional looking at all the children who were in need and decided I couldn't choose just one so I picked three, one from three different age ranges. 

out shopping for our angels!

We had so much fun shopping for them! I kept thinking about their little faces on Christmas morning and how appreciative their parents would be for the extra little help. Sammy and I are lucky to still live at home with our parents so we don't have a lot of the extra expenses most adults have so we have a little wiggle room in our budget to spend on some deserving kids. It also gave me a little taste of what it might be like one day shopping for future children ;) which made me giddy. 

Sammy chose a 3 year old boy who needed clothes, superhero pajamas and asked for Mega Bloks.This little angel was a no brainer for Sammy since I'm pretty sure Sammy asked for superhero pajamas for Christmas himself. We found Spiderman ones and Sammy lost his mind. He basically bought gifts for his three year old self ;)

One of my little girls needed gloves and clothes. She asked for a pink sweater so I got everything in pink! & she asked for a Queen Elsa doll, of course, and Sammy found the last one at Target which was awesome. 

Another one of my little loves is an infant and she needed clothes and a warm blanket and then asked for a puppy stuffed animal and some soft books :)

& my third sweet girl needed clothes, socks, and a hat and glove set as well. She also asked for an easel which I'm still in the process of getting. I found a good one at Ikea so I hope to get that this weekend. 

Each of my girls got whatever toys they asked for, whatever clothing item they were in need of, and either jeans or leggings and two tops so they could get two outfits out of it. I got a lot of stuff on black friday so I was able to get more for them for my money and I think I did pretty well!

Now all we have to do is drop everything off at our local Salvation Army that serves our suburban area (or we could go downtown), unwrapped, with the angel tags on everything so they know where to send it all. 

I absolutely loved doing this, especially with Sammy, and will continue to do it every season from now on. It feels so great to give back and to think I can be a small part in making these kids' Christmases a little brighter and more joyous. I know gifts aren't the reason for the season but when you're a child there are fewer things more exciting and more magical than seeing gifts under the tree. I have a feeling most of these children unfortunately aren't able to receive a lot throughout the year so if I can add a few presents under the tree to make this time of the year more fun I'm so happy to be able to do so. 

What I love the most about Christmas is it's magic and giving gifts, and let's face it...receiving gifts, is a little part of that magic. Children shouldn't be deprived of that especially at their age when Christmas is at its most magical. 

If you're looking for a place to volunteer next year, the Salvation Army is a great organization to get involved with. They run a lot of programs throughout the year as well as at Christmas time. Where do you all volunteer? Can't wait to hear your stories!

buzzfeed christmas quizzes! {blogmas14}

Today's #blogmas14 prompt was to take this Christmas cookie quiz and see what the results were! I'm a huge sucker for buzzfeed quizzes so I was totally on board for this one.

This is what I got:

The description said: "You are refined, smooth, and probably the most mature of your friends. We wouldn't want you any other way."

While I agree with the description (sorry friends if you're offended haha), shortbread has never been one of my favorite cookies. I guess I always felt like it was sort of boring...but I've been known to be boring from time to time so I suppose that choice is appropriate. 

Since I can't help myself I kept going with the quizzes. Here are the other ones I did if you guys want to procrastinate from doing something else ;)

// Which Reindeer Are You? I got: Vixen 

// Which "Home Alone" Villain Should You Hook Up With? I got: some guy from Home Alone 3 and I'm pissed about it 'cause Home Alone 3 is a disagrace

// Who Should You Kiss Under The Mistletoe? I got: Tom Hiddleston & I'm disappointed because I have nooo idea who he is

// What Christmas Song Describes Your Life? I got: All I Want for Christmas is You

// Which "Home Alone" Character Are You? I got: Buzz's girlfriend...WTF (fun fact: did anyone know that the picture of Buzz's "girlfriend" is actually a boy dressed as a girl because John Hughes felt too bad using a real girl and calling her ugly. He's just the best)

What cookies did you all get? Have you taken any other fun holiday quizzes. I always stop what I'm doing to take them haha. See you all tomorrow!

these are a few of my favorite things {blogmas14}

I am loyal and traditional to a fault. If I participate in something I really enjoy one year you better believe I'm recreating it every year to come and you also better believe I'm holding everyone in my family accountable for traditions they may have started some odd years ago even if they didn't intend for them to become yearly traditions. 

I'm a sucker for consistency and I don't accept change very well so if that means participating in 37 traditions every Christmas... so be it ;)

Here are some of my family/boyfriend/friend/personal Christmas traditions:

//family//

// my siblings and I pick out our trees with each parent at the same place every year. One is a neighborhood tree place and the other is a small petting zoo (haha)

// we watch Home Alone 800 times

// my grandparents (now my grandma) take my cousins, my siblings, and I to a movie or play as one of our gifts. Then we have dinner together and make a gingerbread house

this is several years ago and my brother is missing from the pic 

// my grandpa used to drive us around to look at lights and I hope to continue this tradition in his memory

// my siblings and I go with my Dad to Dinkel's which is a German bakery downtown, we buy stollen every year, and then go to dinner at a German restaurant

// going to church on Christmas Eve with my Dad & siblings

// my siblings and I always have a sleepover on Christmas Eve. It started when my brother and sister slept in my room when we were really young and we've continued it ever since. Some may think it's weird haha but it will be one of my most missed traditions whenever I move out

//boyfriend//
// we watch Home Alone 800 times
// we make our annual gingerbread house
// we go on our Christmas trip instead of giving material items as gifts
// we try to volunteer together every year

Out shopping for our Salvation Army Angel Tree angels :)

// I bake cookies with my boyfriend's mother and her best friend every year. They always plan to bake 8 or 9 different cookies and we always have something comforting like chili mac for lunch. It's such a fun way to spend the day!


//friends//
// one of my girlfriend's and I used to go to the same park in a little downtown suburb every year to see their lights and decorations. We haven't gone in a few years due to being away from home for college but it was a fun tradition when we did it
// every year all of my girlfriends and I have a holiday party where we all bring apps and desserts and different cocktails. We have a huge sleepover and gossip, eat, drink, and laugh all night. It's very rare all seven of us get together in the same place throughout the year due to hectic schedules so this party means a lot to us as a way to spend time all together

this is from our 1st party! this year will be our fifth one :)

// my boyfriend and I, along with one of my best friends and her boyfriend (who happens to be best friends with my boyfriend), go downtown to the same Italian restaurant every year, visit with our favorite waiter, and then walk around looking at the lights and decorations

//personal//
 // I watch Home Alone 800 times
// I volunteer with at least one charity every season
// I wrap gifts in the afternoon on one of my free days while everyone else is at work or school. I must have mac & cheese for lunch, a coke or diet coke in my hand, and Home Alone on the television. I did it one year and enjoyed myself so much I do it every year now. It's the little things people, the little things

// I watch all of the classic animated Christmas movies like Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is coming to town. I also try to watch White Christmas which chokes me up everytime.
// I buy the stocking stuffers for each of my parent's stockings (since they're divorced and currently not dating anyone)

Thanks again Tay & Ash for the link up! Can't wait to read what all your traditions are. Traditions are really what make the season special for me so that's why they're some of my favorite things :) Happy Monday, loves & thanks for reading.