In A (Brown-Sugar-Encrusted) Nutshell

Merry late-Christmas-almost-New-Year’s!!!

We had a VERY busy week last week, with trying to get all our contractors in and out and done before Christmas.  With one exception, we succeeded!  The bathroom floor got tiled and grouted, the vanity got completely installed, the plumbing was all hooked up, and we *mostly* moved back into our closet and bathroom. 

As of Christmas Eve, we still did not have mirrors, so I was still using the guest bath for things like makeup and hair etc, but for the most part we were out of the way when my mom arrived for Christmas festivities!

Christmas was lovely!  Both our families are in different towns from us, so every year we have to get a little creative.  This year my mom visited for Christmas Eve and Christmas, and then on Sunday she headed home and we went to Hubby’s parents’ house a few hours away for the second Christmas.  Hubby has a very large family, so they’d already celebrated (mostly) but it was a nice holiday visit anyway.

Since I haven’t shown you any décor, here are some highlights before it starts coming down:

My impromptu centerpiece/tablescape (a charger with a footed plate in the middle, and with dollar store florals stuck underneath, plus a beaded garland):

Our tree:

Although I love seeing the beautiful decorator trees with huge toppers and gorgeous color schemes….our tree has special ornaments that don’t have any particular theme or color scheme , so it’s just a cozy mis-matched family tree for us.

And the mantle (yes I’m even showing you the sloppy looking surge protector):

Finally, our exterior lights:

These puppies went up last year…and didn’t work.  So they came back off the house and were returned to the store.  This year we got different lights and finally succeeded in getting them up on the house (and working!).  It’s not a huge display, but it was definitely an accomplishment for us!  (And the sweet little neighbor girls even “helped” me put the garland on the front pillars.)

Hope everyone had a great holiday!