Every year, I usually ask the question: “When do you start decorating for Christmas?” and receive a ton of responses from folks on every end of the aisle. This year, though, I’m asking you this question:
When do you actually take down all of your holiday decor?
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Christmas Eve-Eve is, to me, almost as fun and exciting as Christmas Eve. This year, like year’s past, we made Christmas Fettuccine a la The Holiday and gathered around the dining room table to eat it.
The kids stayed with their aunt and nana that night, so it was just us and my mom and younger sister and her fiancé. It was a nice, adults-only evening where we listened to Christmas music and drank wine and cooked. My favorite kind of night
Alex, my best friend from high school and his wife and one-year old daughter were in town, so he stopped by after dinner to say hi for a few hours, and it was so nice to catch up after not seeing him in a few years.
I can’t think of anything better than spending the evening with good food and the people you love.
Wanted to pop in and say, from our family to yours, that we hope you have a lovely holiday. Stay safe, stay warm, and enjoy the most wonderful time of the year.
A sweet subscriber sent us the most delicious, if not the most creative gift in the mail the other day: little chocolate covered balls from our friends at Beekman 1802, appropriately called Goat Poop.
John’s note said when he saw these, he immediately thought to send them to us, and I’m glad he did. They’re so good! The container has a bunch of different varieties of chocolates and fillings based on the name of the goats in the herd.
For example, the one called “Hazel” is an artisanal producer of roasted hazelnuts covered in milk chocolate; the one named “Shadow” is made from toasted almond covered in dark chocolate; and one called “Talea” is made of sea salt caramel dipped in milk chocolate.
These things are so addicting and would make an unexpected, cheeky little gift this Christmas, don’t you think? Thank you so much, John!! These definitely put a few smiles on our faces.
While I picked up the house yesterday, I put on one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time: The Holiday. Anna and I watched it and ooo’d and ahhhh’d over Cameron Diaz and the little girls’ cool fort in their room. Of course, I fast forwarded through the parts that weren’t appropriate for a 4 year old, but overall it was so cute to watch her get into the movie.
I love introducing them to my favorite films. Most of the time they roll their eyes and say “Not again! Do we have to watch The Family Stone today?” but yesterday was actually a winner! She loved it. And I can’t think of a more perfect film to watch over and over again on repeat this time of year.
It’s quiet and cold this morning. The kitchen is somewhat messy, signs of life and fun from last night still all over the countertops. Our friends Matt and Beau are leaving today to go back to New Orleans for the holidays so we had a goodbye dinner last night and I made this recipe. It turned out well! Perfect for a cold winter night.
I looked at the calendar yesterday and realized we have less than two weeks until Christmas and we haven’t done any of our actual shopping yet. Why do we wait so long every year? Christmas has a way of sneaking up on me, I suppose because we’re so consumed with the craziness of the end of the year, and I seem to lose track of time this time of year. The plan is to get all of the shopping completed this weekend and to do what we can to relax and have a smooth rest of the season. We’ll see if it actually happens that way.
As the holidays are setting in, I hope they feel like the photo above: warm, cozy, relaxing. I want them to be filled with joy and laughter and kids playing and family time and cozy Christmas movies and pasta and wine and blankets and lots of hunkering down at home. Of course, there’s much more to life than warm and cozy feelings, and the chaos of the holidays are a great reminder of that, but I think the best we can all hope for is to have those moments sprinkled in with the rest of what life has to offer
That’s my wish this year: To appreciate all the moments that this season brings, the cozy and the crazy (which can sometimes be one in the same). Hamilton Wright Mabie said it best:
“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”
A debate as old as time. Which team are you on?
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The holidays are officially here. When did that happen?
Yesterday we went to PJ’s mamaw’s Thanksgiving lunch and it was so nice to be there with everyone and see the kids run and play in her huge backyard. Her house is on the river, which makes the whole experience and view even more wonderful. It was fun to catch up with people we haven’t seen in a while in what felt like the official start of the holiday season (our favorite time of the year).
It’s suddenly so cold here in Tennessee, which everyone around us seems to be complaining about but we welcome with open arms. To me, it doesn’t start feeling like the holidays until you can see your breath outside. Where is the fun in celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in hot weather?
Speaking of the holidays, I feel like we have so much to do and never enough time to do it. The days are getting away from us faster than I can say Christmas presents, and that leaves little time for anything extra (like writing, which I have missed doing the last few weeks!). If I was a better planner, I would have taken care a lot of what needs to be done months ago, but alas, here we are. We’re all just doing the best we can, aren’t we?
This week is another crazy busy one, with campaigns to shoot, food to make, cleaning to do, basketball practices to attend, and the normal chaos of every day life. It’s an exciting time though, friends!! I love this time of year more than anything and I am so looking forward to the next few weeks. I am just leaving this here: I will do my best to take in every moment and appreciate all the family time coming, because these days are so precious and you can never get them back.
That’s what the holidays are all about, aren’t they? Precious moments you want to relive over and over again. So, with that being said, I would like to kick off this season by saying happy holidays, friends!! Let’s make the most of them.
How was your Christmas? As you know we hosted for the first time this year and it was a success! Family, friends, food, dogs, Christmas Fettuccine, movies, and laughs. The works! We hope you had a merry Christmas, too, friends.
We documented our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the video below, if you'd like to check it out:
It's Christmas Eve and we are checking off last minute items from our to-do list in preparation for hosting Christmas for the first time at our house. Luckily, there's not much to do. Clean a few bathrooms, change the sheets, sweep and vacuum. Easy right?
No matter if we are doing Christmas at our house or another family member's, we always make sure and keep one tradition going each and every year. We are big on movies in this family, have we mentioned that?
There are some movies we go back to each year like The Holiday or Love Actually, but there's one we look forward to more than the others and have seen at least three million times. We watch The Family Stone every year on Christmas or Christmas Eve. Thomas and his family have done it for years even before us, but we have kept it going and it never gets old. Have you seen it?
A lot of people are divided on it (for reasons unknown to us) but it's the perfect representation of what a big family is like when everyone gets together around the holidays. There are some fights, lots of hugs, tears, laughs, great food, deep discussions, and plenty of love. Not to mention THE HOUSE. Oh man, don't even get us started. It has to be our favorite movie house of all time. It's old, warm, inviting, cozy, cluttered, comfortable. It's done in browns and oranges, with tons of wallpaper (swoon) and old oriental rugs. It has been the biggest inspiration for us yet as far as movie houses go.
We highly recommend it if you haven't seen it! What are some of your family's Christmas traditions? Maybe you watch the same movie every year or go see a play or ride around to look at Christmas lights? We would love to get some ideas! Merry Christmas Eve, y'all. xx
We got into the Christmas spirit last night and decided to make some easy, no-bake holiday treats to pass out to loved ones during this festive season. We made peanut clusters, white chocolate covered pretzels, haystack chocolate, peanut butter and Ritz crackers dipped in chocolate with sprinkles on top, and pretzels with Rolos and pecans on top. Are you noticing a chocolate theme?
These goodies are so easy to make and something the whole family can do together. Did we mention they're all so addicting? Because they are, and you need to be careful not to eat them all in one sitting. We had a blast making this video and hope you guys enjoy it. Check out the video below and be sure to stay tuned until the end to watch the ridiculous bloopers!
• A messy, cluttered house - guests won’t care what your house looks like anyway, they’ll just be happy to see you!
• Feeling guilty about eating too much - that’s what New Years resolutions are for and life is too short not to have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning 😊.
• Buying the perfect present - it’s the act of giving that’s the most important.
• Comparing yourself to others - nobody is perfect and what you see online is just one tiny square of an entire life made up of many mistakes and imperfections. But that’s life and that’s what makes it so beautiful 🎄.
Last night we went to a friend's Christmas party, which was our first one of the season! There's something about getting dressed up in a nice sweater and coat while it's freezing outside and going to mingle with friends. Bonus points if the house is pretty, which it was last night.
Our friend Jen's home is absolutely gorgeous. Not only that, she's an amazing hostess, with the best food, seasonal decor, and music. She had her fireplaces going, a million little tea candles, and lots of lamps on, creating such a cozy atmosphere.
In a weird turn of events, Thomas' brother's girlfriend works for Jen's husband. So we were all strangely connected before we even realized it. Small town, huh?
Us with Thomas' brother Taylor
Our best friends The Kyles, who actually introduced us to Jen, were there too. We hadn't seen them in SO LONG so it was nice to catch up over our favorite pastime: stuffing our faces with food.
Can we talk about her foyer? Swoon.
Such a fun night meeting new friends, catching up with old ones, and enjoying everyone's company in this festive season. Because isn't that what Christmas is all about? Being thankful for each moment you have with the people you love most.
It was late and we were tired, but her tree was too beautiful to not get a picture in front of.
The Property Lovers is a daily blog by PJ and Thomas about our adventures as husbands and dads living in our small hometown, life in our 100 year old Craftsman, and fixing up our farm. Welcome!
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