Oops I Did It Again

And we're back to the regularly scheduled program.  That is, I'm back at doing just outfit photos and not overloading my blog with various photos of Christmas 2011.  On second thought, let me take that last statement back, since apparently I'm still smothered in Christmas colored clothing.  Le sigh..I tried folks, really I did.  But something about these green tights keeps pulling me towards them!  Throw in some red accessories and then the cute little buttons and it's yet again holiday themed.  My bad ;)

So my Christmas was lots of fun.  I did a mini gift exchange with two of my thrifting pals on Monday.  It's so cool to be able to hop into a thrift store and buy items for your friends and they don't care if it's second hand or not!!  Makes my life infinitely better!!  My friends gifted me a cute velour owl art piece, a sweater, a pleated knit skirt and oven mitts!!  Totally fun :)  Then we watched White Christmas with Bing Crosby since I had never seen it before.  Such a cute campy musical, if ever I saw one, but I loved it.

So what about you guys?  Do you find it tacky if someone gives you something that came from the thrift store?  I just want to know what your opinion is.

Dress, Vintage

Sweater, Vintage

Hat, Vintage

Dolce Vita for Target Shoes, Thrifted (New!)

Tights, JC Penney

Buttons, Vivi Dot

My Christmas in Photos

When I was a child, my parents made sure to make Christmas a super special event every year.  My parents weren't the types of buy my sister and I toys and such all throughout the year, so when Christmas came that was our time to enjoy new fun things to play with and share.  Also, every Christmas when I was little, my sister and I would sleep in my room so to make sure we'd wake each other up on time and then casually tip toe to my parent's bedroom door to make sure we'd wake them up too.  The number 1 rule on Christmas morning was to not come downstairs until Mom made sure Santa didn't make a mess (or something like that).  Then after about 5 minutes of my parents setting up the camera (which felt like an hour when you're 8 years old) my parents would call us to the living room and then came the most euphoric feeling of the year.

Oddly enough, even though I'm 26, my parent's still make sure to give my sister and I that same feeling on Christmas morning.  It's a little different now, since Zach and I drive to their house instead of my sister and I trampling down the stairs to see our Christmas tree lit up with presents underneath. 

It was a fabulous Christmas morning and I'm happy to share all the photos of my family, myself, and Zach.

As you can see by the pictures of the dogs, it was a good time for everyone :)

The Twilight Eve

Nothing thrills my soul more than family merriment during our holiday season.  I also thoroughly enjoy dressing up in nothing but fancy holiday wear.  For church with the family I put on a very pretty vintage chiffon cream dress that I received a while ago from my friend Brittany and then put on this very Christmas-y jacket that was made in Austria during what I believe to be the 1950s.  Boiled wool coats are the warmest thing ever for frosty Christmas Eve nights.

Oh and of course I had to go the route of A Christmas Carole and take lots of ghostly photos during the twilight hour.  Oooooo....isn't it creepy?  I really liked the soft bluish glow with the twinkling lights behind me.  They make me feel wintry.

During our Christmas Eve my family decided to host a small get together with our family friends we've known for about 16 years and had a nice spread of sandwiches, beer, chips, and cranberry ginger ale.  It was nice getting together and enjoying some good conversation before heading out to our Christmas vigil.

Oh and the Christmas liqueur was a special treat as well!!  I'll be sure to post more photos another day of more family festivities. 

Vintage Dress, Gift

Vintage Jacket, Thrift

Cream Heels, Target

Tights, JC Penney

Anticipation

Oh my god!!!  Is it Saturday yet? I'm really super excited for a 3 day weekend full of family, friends, and presents.  Zach and I usually wake up extra early and do our gift exchange and then go to my parent's home for more gift giving and breakfast.  My dad makes killer waffles, so just typing about them is making me hungry.  

How about you guys?  What kind of plans do you all have for the holiday season?  I wish I could say that I was also flying up to Michigan to give my nephew a hug and meet my new niece, but holiday vacations are scarce to come by in the financial world.  So it goes....  But I am hoping to skype with them on Christmas!!

Oh and about the clothes.  I finally found the perfect boat neck striped top for romping around in during the weekend.  It's thrifted but its Ralph Lauren so the quality is pretty darn awesome for a t-shirt.  I absolutely love the button details and the fit.  It's my new favorite shirt.

Shirt, Thrifted
Pants and Boots, Target
Hat, Vintage

Holiday Blogger Party!!

I always love to host small groups of friends and bloggers!!  My apartment has cozy living quarters so it makes for fun intimate gatherings.  So of course I hopped on the opportunity to do a blogger holiday party!!!  I love decorating and cooking and booze, so why not?!  Just to be clear, the only reason why I love booze so much is because I found out you can buy cake batter vodka.  Huh, what?!!  Which can then be used to make Root Beer Float Martinis!!

So without further adieu, here are some photos from the evening and I'll be including links to everyone's blogs at the end.

Oh it was lots of fun playing Dirty Santa where we'd get to open and/or steal other's gifts :)  I received a cute little voodoo doll while others received copies of "How Starbucks Fought for It's Life Without Losing It's Soul" or even fabulous Lush bath products.  

 

All in all it was a fantastic evening getting to know bloggers better and just having a good time!!  I'm so happy we have so many people with similar interests so close by.  

Blogging Peeps Links!!!

Brittany, All This Weird Beauty

Chell, Versatile Control

Emily H. Fegan Baking

Julia, La Belle Oiselle 

Kelsie, With Lavender and Lace

Marleigh, Marleigh Sea

Rebecca, The Clothes Horse

Wesley, Suburban Living