Farewell Christmas

TBF helped me de-Christmas yesterday.

He's so helpful!

Farewell Bernadette. Until next year.

Sorry for the pic, that Florida sun is BRIGHT.

Farewell Ornaments, I'll miss you the most:

Packaged up with love.

We called two leTarget's and one Wally World (Wal-Mart) to ask if they had a Christmas tree storage box in stock. Nope. None to be found. I should have bought it when I had the chance.

Now I'm stuck with this:

Ghetto.

What a sad, dilapidated, sorry box. Oh well. I'll find one.

We also threw away my coffee filter wreath. Stinks. But there was no way to salvage it. The Florida heat would have turned that puppy yellow within a week out in the garage. Oh well. It only cost three bucks to make.

I'm kinda glad the house it back to normal. It makes me get excited for the next holiday! Valentine's Day!

Please remember to vote! It's good Karma!

Christmas Wrap Up

If you could see my face right now, I look like something that got caught in a drain.

I'm mentally and physically exhausted.

Christmas was a beautiful disaster. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

I never thought I would say this, but I'm so glad it's over.

Christmas Eve we went to Sissy's house. It was beautiful. Sissy and I made a million sugar cookies. Here's a sample of our hard work.

Yum.

Side note: Gingerbread men are nearly impossible to bake and not make them look obese. Oh well. Chubby gingerbread men it was.

I proceeded to drink an entire bottle of wine Christmas Eve. I was feeling no pain.

Pre-wine. Naturally.

Honestly, we ended up having a really good time. Sissy and her amazing hus. did such a good job. I'm so thankful to the both of them. Their house looked great. Lots of food, lots of family and friends. It was a great night. Sissy wore a green dress, and I wore a red dress. We looked like Christmas ornaments.

I passed out early, so I don't have much more to report on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, DF made me an english muffin sandwich (yum-o) and we went in to do stockings and presents. 

Our stockings this year came from Pottery Barn. DF ordered mine first, and I thought it was so darling, I trucked my butt to a PB store to get his. I got home to discover that his stocking was about 8 inches longer than mine! I freaked out and called PB. They said those items have a big size discrepancy to add to the "charm" of the stockings. Uh, all it meant to me was he got 8 inches more presents than I did. Have a look:

Really PB? Really? 

Mine is clearly the one with the pink bow.

Stockings were awesome. Mine had a new toothbrush and toothpaste in it, which I will admit was a major highlight. I'm a nerd.

The tree was beautiful Christmas morning.

Gorgeous.

DF wanted a blow up alligator for the pool so badly. I told him I couldn't find one in stores, or online at all. Naturally, I already had one, so when he opened it, I snapped this pic:

In love with this face.

He couldn't wait to blow it up. I found him outside a half hour later nearly done.

Alligator sighting.

I got this super cute art from DF. He's such a keeper. (Pardon my makeup-less face.) 

Awe.

Christmas dinner, momma bear made delicious prime rib and it was totally low key. Thank god. 

The highlight of Christmas was getting into bed with DF and being silly. We were so overtired, but in the best mood. I was going to blog, but DF came and jumped into bed with me. We grabbed the computer and took about 200 funny photos in iPhotoBooth. 

I couldn't resist putting a few up here...

Love my glasses!

Underwater!

Mario!

Headaches!

The next few are ridiculous, and totally staged. I just think our "fight faces" are hysterical. 

God Rae...you're so annoying.

Hey! I am not!

I AM NOT!

JERK! 

SHUT UP! 

Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about!

Marriage.

Oh stop! Love you.

Whatever, you put a ring on it! 

In the end, I'm so glad DF makes me laugh. If you can laugh and be silly together, even when things are so stressful you think you're going to break, you will make it. 

Only 363 days until next Christmas. Hooray! 

Mail Stop

Ok. This is embarrassing. I didn't have any inspiration for a Christmas card holder this year. Everything looked super blah to me. So, defeated by laziness, I started taping cards onto our bedroom door around our felted tree advent calendar.

Tah-tah-tah-tacky.

Well, inspiration stuck. Ribbon. Yes, the same ribbon I've been tying on all our Christmas presents.

Thanks JoAnne Fabrics! 

I just taped the ribbon to the door with plain old Scotch Tape:

Prettier already.

Added our cards and voila!  I spent 20 mins and organized them all. Take a peek!

So much better.

I even love it with the door open:

Sigh of relief.

Look, I get that Friday is Christmas Eve, so why bother? Well, the mess bothered the hell out of me! Besides, it's the little things that count. I'm so glad I fixed it.

Also, that adorable advent calendar was a find last year at The Maxx. 

(Definition(s): A: "The Maxx," a cool place to hang out at on the show Saved By The Bell. B: A crazier way to do something. Eg: "I did that shit to The Maxx." C: The Maxx, A shopping emporium frequented by fashionistas. See also "TJMaxx.")

The calendar was on super clearance and was under ten dollars. This year I told DF that he should put cash in every single day. Uh, not so much. He did me proud though. On December 3, I noticed a tiny slip of paper in the slot. No bigger than a fortune from a fortune cookie. 

It said a reason why he loved me. Gulp. I just love this man. He put one for every day of the month.

Today's was particularly good:

Love.

Clearly, he is a keeper. 

Hey! I'm a keeper too! Listen to this good news: I landed an awesome job today, and they want me to start tomorrow morning at 9:00AM! 

Santa came early in our house. Today was a great day.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Why wait? That's usually my philosophy when it comes to my Christmas tree. I've been known to deck the halls while the Trick-or-Treaters are still knocking at the door.

Well, my tree has been an evolving project. Now, I know I'm biased, but I believe my tree to be gorgeous. This year, I actually held out until Thanksgiving to put it up. THANKSGIVING. Which was a feat I am very proud of. It was really DF who insisted I wait. Truthfully I was excited to decorate the tree with him, so I was happy to delay the tree trimming.

Let's cover some history, shall we? Who doesn't love Christmas tree history? I got my first tree in Seattle for Christmas, 2007. It was my first "grown up" tree. I was mostly clueless, purchasing ornaments haphazardly from Target and Pier1. Nothing too special, just wanted the warm glow of white Christmas lights. TBF purchased this tree for me. The Goldilocks of trees....not too big, not too small. Just right.

We dragged the Goldilocks tree to the house, put it together, and plugged it in. Colored lights. Wrong box. I immediately started to cry like a crazy person (shameful) and TBF rushed it back to the store for the white light tree. Crisis averted. That's why he is the Trusty Best Friend. Reliable.

2007. Trial and Error. 

I asked my mother to send me some of my ornaments in 2008, so I could start my REAL tree. More personal, less crap. It wound up looking like this:

2008. Getting Better.

Plus, I found my angel tree topper in 2008. She was a diamond in the rough. A find at TJMaxx clearance after Christmas. I fell in love with her face the moment I saw her.

In 2009, which is infamously referred to as the "Guilt Christmas" my Christmas decorating started to hit it's stride. TBF and I were living together at the time, and he went a little overboard with presents to compensate for a very lackluster Christmas Morning 2008. 

 I felt like my house looked great, the tree was beautiful, and I know it's not about presents, but that red box under the tree is my pink MacBook I'm typing on now. Glorious.

2009. The "Guilt Christmas"

This year, I would HUG my tree if I could. It's love. I had to leave my Goldilocks tree in Seattle. Not enough room in my move across country. It was hard to part with my tree and I hope she finds a good home. She gave me a lot of love in the three years she lived in my home.  Safe travels Goldilocks tree. You were loved.

This year, my mom gave me one of her misfit trees. She has three full size trees, so she parted with one so I wouldn't have to buy one. It's AMAZING. 

I named my tree this year. Silly, but nonetheless, I wanted to. 

Bernadette. She burns so bright.

This year is the first time I got to decorate a tree with my Darling Fiancee. So DF's ornaments and my ornaments are now friends and they look spectacular together on the tree. We added a few new favorites ornaments into the mix this year:

 Kayaking Ho Ho for DF from yours truly.

 Husky Dog from my 30th birthday cruise to Alaska

A new place to call home.

My ornament from DF. Awe.

Just because I love them so much, a few past favorites that will always make it onto the tree:

We Believe for the Red Sox 2004 and my pink childhood dollhouse.

D is for Duncan Donut, our puppy.

"Happy Hanukkah" is a handmade favorite from my friend N. in Seattle. She knows how much I hate blue for Christmas, and a Jewish Christmas Ornament? It's love. That's why she is truly my soulmate. I love this one so much. 

And yes, that's Alcatraz poking out from behind it from a trip to SanFran last year.

Seattle. Who had my heart for 5 wonderful years.

I sense I've rambled on enough. Let me just say this. The one moment I've been looking forward to all year is this: Christmas Day Eve. All the presents opened. All the food eaten. All the laughs had. I want my DF and I sitting on the couch, hot cocoa in hand, snuggled in together in our PJs just enjoying the glow of the tree and each other.

It's just love that counts. Just love.