Baby's First Christmas

There can't be anything more exciting than celebrating a baby's first Christmas. Evelina was only 23 days old when the holiday's rolled around, which meant she looked super freaking adorable (and tiny!) in her festive dress, but mama and papa were still feeling postpartum and sleep deprived. Before she was even born we had decided not to exchange gifts this year, but having a newborn completely consumed us even more than I expected and I never even got around to my favorite task- sending out holiday cards!  So it's not surprising that as much as I consider myself a picture taker/memory maker I wished I'd snapped even more. Thinking back, I know I was caught in the moment and wrapped up in soaking up her every breath, meaning I couldn't be bothered to pick up the camera, not that it's a bad thing I guess. At least we got some, but let's be honest, I'll never have enough!

The best part of this season was being close to family and friends, just spending time together, laughing, and loving on our newest girl.

Hope your holiday's were wonderful!

Merry Christmas!

The best Christmas present everrrr? See above.

The hospital snuck Evelina out on her second night and took this hilarious, adorable picture. Can't believe she's been our for 23 days now! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas, lots of love from us to you!

Merry & Bright

Merry Christmas! 

Love, 

Us

Christmas Crib 2013

Things are looking Christmas-y around the condo! 

Just GIF-ing Around.

Popping in with a GIF from our Christmas card outtakes, just because. 

Stay tuned to see which photo made the cut. 

Hope your holiday's have been happy so far! 

Cherish the Season

This is the part where I apologize profusely for not being around much this holiday season. I feel badly about it, but decided to take what little time away from work and errands and chores to celebrate the season with my loved ones, and it was so worth it. As I mentioned at Thanksgiving, it's been a year of gratitude and with that, I've cherished so many moments and have tried to really live the meaning of that word.

When we set out to create our Christmas card this year, I hadn't even browsed for templates before we started and after I uploaded the pictures we took on the beach at the end of our street (which I totally cherish), I popped onto Tiny Prints, put a few favorite shots into the site and voila, this one was staring me in the face. I'm so pleased with how it turned out because it really means so much to me on all fronts: being squeezed by my honey, standing in one of our favorite spots, cherishing this life we're lucky enough to live.

From the bottom of my heart I wish the the happiest of holiday seasons, safe journey's, lots of warm hugs, full tummies and memories to cherish a lifetime.

Have a very Merry. See you next year my dears.

xoxo,
Ash

P.S. Last year's card, and 2010's, too!

All Of The Lights

Last weekend we took a Holiday Lights Trolley Tour (also, BYOB as you may have noticed on Instagram) in Chicago with some friends. Ugly festive sweaters were involved and though there were four stops along the way, as you'll find below, I took most of the pictures at Zoolights (like I haven't been there six times before). What can I say, it just never gets old.

Festive activities are my favorite. What did y'all get into this season?

Christmas Crib 2012

While decorating for Halloween and Thanksgiving might have been new for me this year, theme-ing up for Christmas is an old standard. I used the same pink glitter deer I made last year and added some sparkly poms to use in place of bows, to add some pop to my gallery wall, and string around in various spots. I'm quite pleased with the amount of glitter and shine in my condo this Christmas and the silver pouf and white deer were my two favorite new home additions in 2012.

P.S. Christmas Crib 2011.

Holiday Links

An outtake from our Christmas card "faux-to" shoot :)

(It's faux because we use a tri-pod and remote, fun stuff.)

Just popping in with a few holidays links for your Wednesday...

The unofficial tour of some the best holiday windows.
Remember my vintage hair moment? Here's another easy peasy tutorial just in time for fab fetes.
This song. (It's my favorite this year.)
Sweet mini wreaths, that I bet would smell divine!
This year I used sparkly poms on strings in place of ribbons and bows.
And a festive frock that's a no fail for New Year's.


How's your season going so far?

It's beginning to sound a lot like...

via

It's November 1st, and you know what that means...  time to bust out the Christmas music! You better believe I've already started my holiday playlist on Spotify and intend to take full advantage of it on my long commutes.(It's a work in progress but feel free to subscribe below!) I know, it's a little early, but something about the passing of Halloween just signals jingle bells and carols to me. Don't worry though, it's only Christmas in my car, the tree and decorations don't go up until December. What am I, crazy? ;)

Happy almost holiday's everyone!

Be of Good Cheer...

...it's the most wonderful time of the year.

Happy Holidays to you & yours! 

I'll be taking a little break to revel in the spirit of the season, reflect 

on the past year and refresh for a new one. See you back here on January 1st! 

P.S. Hubby was the creative director for our Christmas card this year, didn't he do great? I was still stuck on inspiration from last year's snow city card, but since we can't send the same one two years in a row had no snow, he took the reigns and created a postcard using a combo of our many photo booth opportunities this year combined with a little street art inspiration. Fun, right?!

I'll Be Home For Christmas

This morning I heard on the radio that today is the busiest travel day for O'hare Airport. Some 203,000 travelers will pass through on the way to their final destinations. And yours truly will be right there among them. At 7:00pm. With a chance of snow. Wish me luck kiddos!

What are your holiday plans? Whether it's planes, trains or automobiles, I wish you a safe journey to your final destination. (Are you singing "I'll be home for Christmas" in your head? I totally am.)

P.S. If you need any carry-on packing tips I've got ya covered. Hopefully some of my fellow travelers have stumbled upon these. Move it along people.... ;)

P.P.S. Chicago's O'hare & Midway airports are offering free gift wrap through Friday - that's pretty neat, huh.

My Christmas Crib

Here's what things are looking like in my house lately...

I don't know about you, but I just love returning home to a festive house.

Especially one filled with glitter & sparkles! (I was vibing on pink & shimmer this year.)

It's safe to say I'm completely smitten with my little pink deer .

The guys are definitley sticking around a little longer after the tree is gone. Too cute to pack away!

What's your decor theme this holiday? Do you change it up each year or stick to traditions?