Christmas time is here!

Anyone who knows me well knows that come December 1st, I am one happy girl. Not to say that I'm not happy the rest of the year, but the beginning of my birthday month signals a number of things that just seem to put an endless smile on my face. Perhaps one of those is that it becomes increasingly socially acceptable to eat your body weight in dessert and shop till you drop during this time of year, but more importantly, I get to put "decorate the house" on my to-do list! When we returned home from our Thanksgiving travels, I jumped on the opportunity to decorate the house for Christmas. Our poor little starter tree is in very high need of a replacement, and we affectionately refer to it as the "leaning tower of Christmas". Regardless of its stature, it still got the job done this year and I was very happy with how everything turned out. I love the way Christmas decorations make it OK to have the house look as over the top as possible. Me? Over the top? Never. :)

Please excuse the quality of the pics- they clearly weren't taken on my "fancy camera" this time. Still had to document though!

Our leaning tower of Christmas, where the gifts clearly overpower the stature of the tree! (I took that shopping thing seriously this year.)

I found the stocking on the right at Marshall's in Harlingen and am obsessed. It's part burlap, part sequins, which in my mind perfectly defines my style.

Entry table

Dining table- shout out to Tami & Katie for sharing the logs with me! We clearly don't eat at the dining table often, as this would have become quite a workout to remove the logs every meal. Don't judge.

I was so excited to display our nativity scene this year. I found the cute little rustic stable at Hobby Lobby to give it the full effect. This is, of course, one of my favorite things about Christmas!

I saw on Pinterest a way to display Christmas cards on the cabinets using ribbon and clothes pins, so of course I had to try it. This is the one time of year that I actually check the mail regularly... I love getting cards from our friends and family!

Only one week left til Christmas!! We are so excited to celebrate with our family and a little "tour of Texas".