Merry Christmas to all!

As most of you know, there is no month that I love as much as December. Not only does it mark the occurrence of the Christmas holidays and New Years Eve, but it also gives me a chance to proclaim my birthday royalty...that is, I become the birthday princess. If it seems odd to you that I take a whole month to celebrate the day that I came into existence, it shouldn't. You see, when other kids were celebrating their one special day at a princess party with all of their best friends in attendance, I was throwing a pre-Christmas birthday celebration before school ended for the holidays, just to ensure that a few of my friends weren't too busy with other Christmas obligations and might be able to attend. I know, poor me, right? Always the optimist, however, I made the most of this situation, and as I grew older, ended up loving the idea of having multiple birthday celebrations throughout December--some with friends, a few with family, you get the picture. Clearly it would only seem reasonable to dub myself the birthday princess for this month in its entirety. OK, thanks for letting me have my diva moment. Now on to our festive holiday home...

I've tried to begin a collection of holiday decor since I've entered "grown up" world, and I think I've done a pretty good job so far. My Christmas supplies definitely outnumber the other seasonal things, but I think that is to be expected. It is the best time of year after all! Cody and I were excited to deck our halls this year, though we think it's time for a new and bigger tree. Our little starter one looks great for this year though. I love the coziness that the Christmas accents bring and insist on enjoying them as long as possible.

 The mantle. I love the bright colors mixed with the traditional red and gold. Had to keep things fun!

 My antique sewing table, all decked out for Christmas. It's just the right place to display our Christmas cards, too.

Our little tree! At least I have a start on the presents... 

  

We were very excited to have an outside to decorate this year. Unfortunately, stucco doesn't make the most light-friendly surface, so we improvised and just fancied up the front porch a bit.A big shout out to Pinterest for the idea to spray paint a pumpkin silver (in the white chair) and use a tomato cage to create an outdoor Christmas tree.

The wreath that I created for an extra touch of outdoor holiday flair

In the words of the my very favorite boy band (N*Sync, obvi), Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!