Holiday Cheer

Happy holidays!

It's really starting to feel like Christmas around here:). Though I couldn't get a decent photo of our tree, here are a few photos of our home, dressed for the holidays. 

I don't go overboard with Christmas decorations, but having a few splashes of red and dashes of glitter here and there really makes me happy.

(plus, with the 24/7 Christmas music that started in late October, we really don't need to go too crazy with the decorations, do we? It already feels like we have elves in the house:))

I do want to add some greenery to the railing in our living room (above). I'll post some photos of the tree as soon as I can get some decent photos of it, as I have some very special ornaments that I'd like to share with you:).

And this is the best snapshot I was able to take of our 2011 Christmas card. This photo was taken while we were at Cape Cod in September. I liked it so much that I decided to use it as our holiday card:).  I also fell in love with the vintage-y floral card design that I found on Shutterfly.

This weekend we're going to a local tree lighting and doing some last-minute outdoor prep for the winter. It's finally starting to feel like winter around here.... we may have a white Christmas after all... :). You?

Enjoy the weekend:)

xox

Thankful

I'm thankful for so many things.

B had his one-year birthday on November 22nd. I cannot believe how quickly this past year has gone by. My baby turned into a little boy, with just the blink of an eye. We had a quiet celebration for him, in which we remembered every detail about the day he was born. We celebrated with pink champagne and toasted to the year, and all of the joy and love that this little being has brought to us. Cheers to another year, a lifetime of love.

B & grandma blowing out a birthday candle

Two days later, we had a full house of twenty-three for a Thanksgiving feast. In all of the craziness and chaos of the holidays, I feel so very grounded and fortunate to see familiar & loving faces and to be surrounded by people I love. 

One of our two Thanksgiving tables- a house full of love and good food:)

We went to Matt's high school reunion last weekend. It's so remarkable to me to see a side of him that I never knew. He's my husband, my best friend, yet I'm privileged to learn something new about him every now and then. 

We also got our Christmas tree last weekend, just in time to welcome December. I like to get my tree as early as I can and leave it up for as long as I can (without being too offensive;)). Our house smells of pine and the tree is adorned with twinkle lights and little ornaments, all of which have their own special associations. And by the way, B loves to look at the ornaments. His favorite two seem to be the wooden train (pronounced 'tuh') and the red bicycle. :)

We get our tree from a very sweet, family-owned & run, local tree farm. It's a five-minute drive from our home, the daughters bake chocolate chip cookies and offer us hot chocolate, the chickens taunt Luna from their coop, the mother dotes on Ben, and the whole family is just cute-to-boot. We plan to support them for years and years to come. 

Here's Matt cutting down the tree.... not sure what Ben is doing in the background:).

Happy December to you & yours. 

xox

the colors of new england

In case I haven't previously gushed about how much I adore this beautiful northeast corner of the country, I'll do it now.

I. Love. New England. 

For many, many reasons. But autumn? New England autumns?

They are gush-worthy. They are breathtaking. They give meaning to the word splendid. 

Even this little guy thinks so:

On another note, trying to get a sweet photo of Ben and me lately has turned out to be... not so splendid.

It either comes out looking like this:

or like this:

Now that this kid is on the go, a cute mama/ baby photo just ain't happening.....

So we settle with blurry:).

He is growing so fast. He will be 11 months in just three days. Eleven months. It is so hard to believe how quickly these months have flown by. 

Matt and I aren't particularly what you'd call 'car' people. But Ben is obsessed with cars. His favorite game now is 'howmanytimescanbensaythewordcarinaminute'. He's beating his own record with 58 times. No joke;).

Happy mid-October and weekend to you. We'll be home chasing the peanut around, doing outdoor chores and admiring falling leaves (then blowing them out of the way so our grass can get some late-season sun:))

My favorite leaves are the red ones:)

xox

October Chill

There is a slight chill in the air that can only mean one thing: October has made his way here...

We ran our insert yesterday, although probably a little more out of excitement than necessity:). I wanted to try out the 1/2 kettle that M&B gave me for my birthday. It looks so pretty sitting up there, warming on the little stove:).

We've been taking morning walks and have been trying to soak up all of the crisp, colorful goodness that only autumn can deliver.

pumpkins grace our doorstep :)

Ben has been walking.

He's been cruising for about a month now, but it is just so funny to walk into a room and see him vertical. Without holding on to anything.... it's amazing (we call him Frankenstein because he kind of sticks out his arms in front of his chest for balance:)). It's really, really cute. 

This weekend, summer will apparently make one last appearance; it's going to be 80 degrees....

We're going to head to our local botanical garden to check out the foliage... sans sweaters:).

Happy weekend!!

xox

It only comes but once a year:)

Yesterday was my birthday. Thirty-one-derful, as Matt says. 

I'll take it;).

Friday night my parents sent us out to a nice dinner sans the little guy (he got to hang with grandma for the night). We enjoyed some good fondue....mmmmmm:)

Yesterday, Matt and Ben surprised me with a pumpkin-picking excursion, cider donuts, steaks on the grill for dinner and red wine:). 

Some photos from the lovely pumpkin patch.....

Perfect birthday, perfect start to autumn:).

Happy Fall

xoxo

September

Happy September

Also known as 'the best month of the year'. 

Not just because of back to school glee and the smell of sharpened pencils (even when you don't go to or have a little in school)...

Not just because of warm days and cool nights (requiring sweet, cozy sweaters:))....

Not just because of the crisp air and bold colors that Mother Nature blows our way...

Not just because hydrangea blooms turn into magnificent large purple, speckled eggs....

Not just because of pumpkin-scented, pumpkin-colored, or pumpkin-anything....

Not just because we pull the soft slippers out of the closet and dust them off to prepare for two seasons of use...

Not just because of our (now) annual tradition of a week on the beach at Cape Cod...

Certainly not just because it's my birthday month...

But because of it all

and more.

Wishing you a very happy and healthy September 2011.

xoxo
B.