high high #12

what a day for christmas spirit.

it started out great, with secret santas at work - yay!  i got my whole staff custom mugs with the pictures on them, which everyone seemed to really enjoy.  we were really all in the holiday spirit, and to top it off - winter storm warning for denver!  we are getting dumped on right now and should see about 8-10 inches before it lets up tomorrow afternoon.  SO, unexpected snow day for me tomorrow, which means my christmas vacation starts half a day early - RIGHT NOW!  whooo!

but then the day took a turn for the worst...  when i hear customers of mine who have fallen on hard times, i want to help them.  and in my line of work, that's not always possible.  i have made a solemn vow (to myself) to never be the woman who cries at work, so i held it in all day long until philip picked me up.

we were on our way home when philip reminded me that mom was doing a gift exchange with a single mother of three who we 'adopted' in our community this year.  philip and i bought toys for the kids while mom bought clothes for the whole family.  she was meeting the woman for  coffee and to give her the gifts.  we thought it might lift my spirits to go - so we went.  and WOW.  what a wonderful reminder of how blessed i am.  the mother  cried when we gave her the gift cards for groceries, and of course the rest of us teared up too.  just to see how grateful someone really was for groceries really put my holiday stress in perspective.

and i realized that while i wasn't able to help people out the way i wanted to at work, i still did something good for a family in need.  and i didn't feel so helpless anymore.  and that, along with the awesome winter storm we are having, was my high high.

friends, let's all remember what this season is really about.  friends, family and sharing what we have.  i hope everyone who reads this is able to pay it forward and do something nice and unexpected for someone who needs it this holiday season.

here's a few pics of the snow - and due to this we are headed up to keystone early!  huzzah!  i'm not sure i'll be blogging while on vacation, so we'll see.

outside tree

running inside! 

and one last thing...

i want to say a very special merry christmas to my pop pop.  he loved this time of year more than anyone else i've ever met in my life.  for the longest time i really believed he was one of santa's elves - he always knew just what i wanted, even when i swore i'd never told anyone (but my letter to santa).  he would be the one up at 5am in line at any store possible to get exactly what his grandkids wanted.  he's been gone for 5 years now, but i still miss him like crazy at christmas.  there's a line from the christmas carol 'wintersong' that always makes me think of him...

and this is how i see you

in the snow on christmas morning

love & happiness surround you

i'll throw my arms up to the sky

and keep this moment by and by

oh i miss you so

what a time to be thankful.

merry christmas to all and to all a good night.

xoxoxo

high high #11

my gift wrapping.  LOVE the paper from ikea and my fancy gift tags.  it's a joy wrapping each gift and i can't wait til everyone sees what i've picked out!

holiday update 2!

what a whirlwind weekend!  between buying and wrapping presents and planning (and having) our christmas party there has been zero time for blog updates!  but there’s always a bit of time to share photos ;)

after a week of running around like a crazy woman (well, moreso than usual at least), we had a wonderful christmas party saturday night!  the turnout was wonderful, the cocktails were perfect, the food wasn’t too bad (even my experimental spinach-artichoke dip was a hit!) and the company was perfect.  the highlight of the evening was a surprise guest – my brother AJ showed up, having just flown in from boston.  it was a great night with all the people i love around here :)

me & rach

my bestest girlfriends :)

SURPRISE! AJ showed up! 

my adorable husband, the bartender.

decorated tree - in the front yard :)

with the help of my awesome girlfriend W who showed up early, we got the house totally decked out.  we were even able to make sure of the christmas tree from hell, which now looks pretty cute.

so besides all the christmas trimming and shopping, i have spent a lot of time wasting my life away on pinterest (my sister bianca sent me an invite and i can’t stop pinning things!) and paperless post (thanks to the little things we do).  i am still trying to figure out exactly how pinterest works, so i don’t know if i can link to my boards or not but i’ll give it a shot here.  the best one are the baby shower ideas i have for my soon-to-be little niece!  i literally can’t wait until christmas when the cat’s out of the bag and i can blog 24/7 about how excited i am for baby to come :) anyone who knows me knows that i hate and am awful at keeping secrets!!! anyway, back to my holiday card.  last year i totally slacked and didn’t send out a holiday card.  when things started getting busy this year, i decided to do something easy and green by sending a fancy holiday card online.  sometimes online cards look really tacky – but i think the one philip picked out is super cute!  check it out:

the next few days are going to be just as busy – my mother-in-law and sister-in-law & her bf are coming in for christmas.  we are driving up to the mountains on thursday afternoon to spend the holiday snowed in, watching christmas movies and drinking.  now that’s what you call the perfect colorado christmas :)