Consider These Halls Decked

Ah, Christmas. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a long wait for me for December to finally arrive. When it does, I am so excited to get these decorations up!

Sadly for Hubby, this means that he gets to do most of the work. It’s how I manage to spread the Christmas spirit very early in the season.

He appreciates it, I’m sure.

We’ve had this unbreakable ornament set from Costco since our very first Christmas together. I love them. They are the right colors and have lots of bling. What more could a Christmas-loving maniac like me want?

Then we went outside. Once again, Hubby is having to do lots of the work here. Who plans this stuff?

We’ve had the inside all Christmased up for a few weeks now. But only last night did we finally put our strand of lights on the house exterior.

He can’t do it without me, though. Someone has to hold the ladder while he climbs up on the roof. And someone has to say, “Is there anyway that we can close that gap there?”

Honestly, what would he do without my constant nagging me?

I really love the idea of putting up Christmas lights with palm trees in the background. It has been absolutely perfect weather for the past few weeks. We haven’t even turned on the heater yet! It will be cold this week…Friday only gets up to 58 degrees!

Yes, that is cold for us! Sheesh!

Simple, but very pretty. Ho ho ho.

Inside is rather festive as well.

I forgot to put the new beaded garland (from clearance a few years ago!) on the tree before all of the ornaments, so I had to get creative with what to do with it. I really love the result! I hung it on the mirrors  and am using it to hold Christmas cards that we receive in the mail!

Well, hello, Cute Cousin Andrew and his family. His wife, Megan, designs cards. She is also a photographer. And I designed her blog. You should probably go check it out.

Charloe, can you see how I’m holding the card to the garland? It’s one of your airplane clips that you gave me for my berfday!

Man, I love reflections of Christmas trees in mirrors. I just really love this month of celebrating. I would have it be Christmas all year long, if I could get away with it.

There is probably a movie about that, and it doesn’t work. But I think that we could make it work.

These were a post-holiday sale score last year, and I love them. Adorable beaded Christmas trees! They make me smile every time that I see them. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about? Smiling for no reason?

This is our beautiful tree. We’ve had this since we got married as well. Want to see how young we were four years ago? OK. Check it out!

I invested in some Christmas pillows this year and am trying really hard to not go buy a few more red ones. This room needs more red, and those couches need more pillows. Red pillows would be a win-win in my book!

But I am trying to be “patient” by waiting for the clearance sales after Christmas…

I cried and cried when I opened this from my Mama a few years ago. I have such wonderful memories of this advent calendar from growing up. She surprised me by sending it to me for my home to enjoy. Isn’t she awesome?

I love it. I talk to it when I move the mouse each day. That’s normal, right?

Of course, the dining room got a little Christmas spirit as well. I love the table but am still not thrilled with that fireplace wall. I have such fun ideas in my head as to how to make that wall a true feature piece in the room. Right now, it’s just busy. With a stocking or two. Too bad I haven’t used this space much this winter.

Now if I could only get a fireplace insert for there…

Another garland that didn’t end up on the tree! Truth be told, I love it just randomly scattered on our Christmas table this year. It makes eating dinner so much better!

See what I mean? My attempt to make it feel cozy has just made it feel busy. And my normal colors of apple green, teal blue, and bright yellow don’t mesh well with Christmas colors, huh?

My favorite addition from my fall clearance sales was this wire mesh basket for $9. They are $25 at Target! I love you, TJ Maxx…

Here is our Christmas mantle. With any luck, it will look even better next year. How is a girl to fit in so many projects? Man, I love projects.

And I’m still debating if this blue table is too bright for the eyes. Opinions?

Our gazelle gets holidayed up as well. I’m pretty sure that someone named her Beyoncé, as that is what she answers to.

I inherited this wreath when I moved to Phoenix (almost six years ago?!) to live with my sister. Somehow, when she moved out, I got lots of stuff that wouldn’t mix well in her new married life. I passed on a lot of it but kept some fun stuff, too.

I know that we have a fake tree, but you wouldn’t know it when this pine candle is going! Christmas trees are probably my favorite smell in the whole wide world.

And, though it isn’t the original like what we had growing up, Mama sent each of us this copycat book of a family favorite. I love this book. We spent hours admiring all of the beautiful pictures inside. So many elves to see! The original can be found here, and it’s pretty cheap! Maybe that will also be on my post-Christmas shopping list!

Please ignore the blocks. They are waaaaaaaay off. I forget to change this because I have a mouse calendar to keep me straight! Who wants to talk to blocks, anyway?

I really love our Christmas tree. It looks stunning at night. I will try to post pictures of that soon!

I got a new camera lens for my birthday, and it would be fun to get some Christmas bokeh with it!

I love our ornaments, too! Bokeh in the background with my normal camera lens!

All year long, I happily anticipate sitting in the living room with some hot chocolate while staring at the tree. I’ve done it many an evening so far and haven’t tired of it yet. This is certainly my favorite time of year, and certainly my favorite holiday.

Aren’t the cable-knit pillows fun?

Are you ready for Christmas? Decorated? Shopped?

It’s An Animal House

I got to thinking lately…and you know that can’t be good.

For a person who isn’t crazy about owning animals (and we never will), we sure do have a bunch of fake ones throughout our house. I’ve added several since I last showed you around the place, so today seems to be a good day to introduce them to you.

Almost every room in the house has an animal in some form. And I love that.

This is Donkit. His not-so-distant cousin, Bunkey, lives in Albuquerque with my good friend, Susan. Donkit came to live with me as a wedding present from Susan and Robin, some of my favorite people in the world.

Donkit and Bunkey received their names when they got teased at school for not quite knowing what they were. Is it a rabbit? Or a donkey? Oh well. Donkit it is. Is that a bunny, or a donkey? Man, it’s getting harder to tell these days. We’ll just name him Bunkey! Combining two unknowns can make a known, in my scientific world.

Donkit happily lives in my office and reminds me of dear friends every time I’m in here working. He was made in Santa Fe is one of the most thoughtful presents that I’ve ever received.

You’ve already met my Moose. It feels weird saying that. He lives in the guest bathroom. Because what could be more welcoming than a moose in such an environment?

My sentiments exactly.

This little owl has been living in our bedroom for a few months now. I really like him, though he looks a little creepy up close.

See what I mean? Creepy to the ninth degree.

Can we get this guy some wrinkle cream, please?!

I found this little duck in Goodwill and promptly paid the $0.50 price tag. Animals aren’t as cheap as they once were, that’s for dang sure. A little bit of metallic spray paint fixed him right up, and now he greets our sleepover guests in the spare bedroom.

I peek in there every time I pass. Seeing ducks in my house just makes me happy. Maybe it’s just a phase. I just hope I’m doing it in a way that won’t make people cringe in four-hundred years when they excavate our house.

“Good grief, what were they thinking? Is that a spray-painted duck?!”

I love him. And that’s really all that matters, right?

You’ve already met this guy before, too. He is one of our first animal additions and has been happy here since we hammered his neck to the wall in a respectful manner last year. He is really quite polite and happily invites people into our house every time the doorbell rings.

I didn’t realize how many encyclopedia sets a gazelle could buy from solicitors!

He kinda has an Egyptian vibe going on with those eyes. He must get that from Hubby’s side of the family. I’m not nearly cool enough to be associated with Egypt.

Can you see her? I love this little duck. That’s right. TWO ducks in one house! And, if we’re being honest here, I’m always on the look-out for another. My motto in life is that one can never have too many ducks.

This is actually one of my favorite views of the house. I love walking down the hall from the bedrooms towards the living room and seeing this sight. After adding this blue glass vase, this is one of my favorite areas in my whole house!

It helps that a metallic silver duck is perched by the blue glass vase, mind you.

Isn’t she pretty? Quack!

When I’m slaving away in a hot kitchen, this is my view of my living room. Have I mentioned lately how very much I love my scorpion-free home? For many reasons. But I must admit…the animals just add to my love.

Now towards the other side of the house in my “reading nook.” This area is far from done, and a fake fireplace insert has been on my want-list for a long time. We also need a comfy and colorful rug underneath, since it’s practically impossible to read barefoot without something soft touching the feet.

I’m presently trying to convince Hubby how cool a used wood pallet wall would look instead of these fake, painted bricks. Texture, Nature, wood…it would bring lots of neat elements to this side of the house. I’ve seen it done here, but it would be all around our fireplace instead of as a headboard.

Since Hubby isn’t on board just yet with my wood pallet idea, let’s simply enjoy our fine green steed. He has been with us for quite a while now, too, and I’m happy to report that the potty training went very well. Hardly any accidents.

Look at that smug grin. He seems to know a secret that none of us do. I hope it has nothing to do with his recent potty training success.

One last view of a horse. I love this part of the house because of all the bright colors. But it needs something more. If I can’t get Hubby to like my wood pallet idea, then maybe I will paint this as a feature wall.

Wood would be way cooler.

So, now you’ve met and re-met all of the animals in our place. I certainly have fun trying to meet our animal-acquisition quota each month. And the best part is that not a single one of these animals sheds or requires feeding!

That we know of…

A New Addition to the Family

No, I'm not pregnant. But we did add a silver gazelle to our family after visiting my favorite local store.

I hadn't been to TJ Maxx in over three weeks. That is probably a personal record for me.

So when I went in on Saturday to look around, it felt like a completely new store! So much to see! And so many cool, new accessories. I accidentally found my gazelle head and knew exactly where he should go in our house.

So, while my Healthy Choice lunch was cooking in the microwave (I'm all about homemade, afterall), I hung Mr. Gazelle right where I wanted him. I still crack up every time I see him! He is so fun. Animal heads are the latest craze, and I've been keeping my eye out for one in white. Everyone seems to have a rhino head in white. But you know what? I am so in love with the silver gazelle that I've completely forgotten what a white animal would have looked like on the wall next to our entry door!

He's perfect. And funny. And friendly. But he petrifies my nephew, Evan. Which makes Mr. Gazelle even more of a conversation piece as you enter our home!