Happy Wednesday! It’s that time of year when we all need some extra coffee to get everything done before Christmas! Last week we baked a ton of cookies to send to our family along with our Christmas cards. Jake had a little too much fun ordering decorative boxes and bows on Amazon to make them all pretty ha! We then had to walk all the way to FedEx to make sure they would get there on time. We thought this would be an easy errand, but lots to do behind the scenes. Now I understand why moms are always so tired this time of year!
After a long day I love putting on my pajamas and curling up in bed with a cup of tea and a good book. I recently bought this new pair of pajamas because they were on sale. I may have bought them because they were pink but I immediately fell in love with how soft there were! I often find it impossible to get changed into real clothes in the morning because they are so cozy!
I thought I would share photos of our home decorated for Christmas. This year we are seeing the positives of staying home all the time and went all out with our Christmas decorations. I should start that growing up Christmas was always a big thing in our house because my family loved Christmas and my birthday is Christmas Eve so it was always a really special time of year. We really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity of being home to enjoy our Christmas decorations so we used what we have accumulated over the years and purchased a few new items to decorate every single room. I love how our home looks and it’s made me very grateful for what we have. On our weekly family Zoom call, we all shared our homes decorated for Christmas so it was good to have a deadline to get everything up!
Linking everything that I can at the bottom of this post!
I have always loved walking through the big department stores during the holidays. My mom and I would head to the mall on Black Friday early in the morning and buy presents for each other and try the perfume samples on display. In college my mom bought me a Lancome beauty kit that was on sale for Black Friday and it was my first introduction to high end makeup. I loved how it looked on me and sitting on my dresser! A few years ago my mom and I were at the same department store and she bought me the Lancome La Vie Est Belle perfume after I spent a whole year smelling magazine samples! Since my first Lancome purchase, it’s become a tradition that I take advantage of Black Friday sales to treat myself. Once again I’ve been smelling perfume samples in magazines and fell in love with Lancome’s Idole perfume. This year I saw how good the deals were at Macy’s so I gave myself an early birthday present!
I love the combination of hints of rose, pear and vanilla making it a unique refreshing scent. Idole perfume is for the strong woman and this year has taught us we can do anything! It’s a fragrance made my women for women. It was created by 3 women who collaborated to create a scent that was sustainable and made from transparent and traceable. Leave it to women to create a fair trade perfume! The perfume bottle is also refillable for a discounted price so it’s environment friendly which I love!
If you are still looking for a gift for that girl boss in your life, I’ve found the perfect glamorous gift. In an effort for women to support women, this is the way to show it. It’s also the worlds thinnest perfume bottle and looks so chic on my perfume tray! I love that this perfume is long lasting and created to be an everyday scent for all women!
Start each day with some lipstick and a smile! I’ve been having fun getting dressed up to run errands or take mail down the street to the mailbox even if I wear a mask that hides it. #2020Problems Lately I’ve starting my morning getting ready at my vanity and drinking my coffee while listening to a Podcast or the new Taylor Swift album. I’ve found doing my hair and makeup can be really therapeutic and I forgot how much fun putting on makeup can be. For family Zoom calls and date nights at home, I’ve been making an effort to dress up because it’s something I have always enjoyed doing. When I get dressed and put on makeup I have so much more energy during the day.
I wanted to share a new lipstick I’ve been wearing a lot because it’s such a great shade for everyday and special occasions. I love the formula in the Tom Ford lipstick because it’s creamy and hydrating. I put it on in the morning and it lasts all day! Even after meals I noticed that the color was still on my lips and did not smudge!
I hope you give this product a try and treat yourself to a new gorgeous lipstick! A quick reminder as we finish up the year to keep smiling and start the day thinking positive. And on the days we need some extra help, put on some mascara and lipstick and you’ll be ready to conquer the day!
This week is when the countdown to Christmas begins as we wrap presents to put under the tree and get to sit on the couch enjoying our home all decorated in lights. If you are still shopping for presents, check out my gift guide here. Last weekend my family and I got together on Zoom and made cookies to send to each other. We had so much fun reminiscing, being able to ask about substitutes for ingredients and making a mess in our kitchens virtually together. I recently shared a blog post here about making new holiday traditions here where I shared how my family and I are celebrating Christmas together even though we are all in different states. Over the weekend I did a lot of prep work for scheduled content on the blog and other boring stuff around the house that had to get done so I could have a relaxing week. I hope you are all taking time to enjoy your homes decorated for Christmas and all of the lights. Stay tuned to the blog because I am so excited abut the content and collaborations coming to the blog soon!
Enjoying all of the Housewives on right now.
Caught up on The Spanish Princess on Starz this week when I wasn’t watching a Christmas movie.
At night I’ve been putting on BBC documentaries on Netflix while I’m in bed because they are so relaxing to listen to.
Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water at night to help take off my makeup. Even after I shower I use this on a cotton square and I’m amazed how much junk is still on my face.
My new Kevyn Aucoin mascara is a game changer and I’ve been wearing it every day the last two weeks.
I had some Old Navy cash to use so I picked up a few amazing pieces from Old Navy this week. I did a try on session on Instagram stories and shared pictures and links on the blog here.
This book is the perfect gift for the Hallmark movie lover.
Just ordered a bunch of photo collage magnets on Shutterfly to give to our family and they were very inexpensive because of the sale going on now.
Hot coffee in the morning in a Christmas coffee mug. Over the weekend I rearranged our cabinet so they are all in the front making them easy to grab! Still loving our new Keurig.
Our new sherpa comforter is probably the best thing I bought all year. It keeps us warm all night and makes it impossible to get out of bed in the morning.
This super easy and delicious sugar sprinkle cookie recipe. We added a ton of sprinkles in the dry ingredients to make them sprinkle cookies. With our second batch we used chocolate sprinkles and it gave them a nice hint of chocolate!
The themed place and bake cookies are still the best though 😉
Bedtime stories on the Calm App every night because it’s the only way I can fall asleep these days.
I’ve always loved the day after Thanksgiving because overnight the pumpkins are put back into storage and my family and I would start decorating our house for Christmas. We would watch our favorite movie, A Christmas Story, while we stayed up late into the night putting up garland in all of the rooms and decorating 5 trees throughout the house. With a birthday on Christmas Eve, we took Christmas very seriously in our house growing up. Even to this day, I get obsessed with Christmas traditions because it’s how we have always done things. It’s great to give and receive presents, but this year has taught me just how important having my family around during the holidays. The reason I love our traditions through December is because of the years of memories of spending time with my family. For all of those years that I worked retail, December was our busiest month but I would still give up sleep and work the closing shift so I could spend time with my family during the day.
This year looks different for everyone and Christmas is not going to be spared from this pandemic. My family and I are back to our weekly Sunday Zoom calls and we scheduled a different theme and activity each week to keep us connected during the holidays. I thought it would be fun to share some things my family and I are doing this month to make new traditions and to keep our favorite traditions going even in 2020.
1. Cookie Making On Zoom
One of my favorite things is Christmas cookies and my mom would always make a bunch of different kinds throughout the month. My brother and I would help with icing the sugar cookies and spend more time eating them! My mom, aunt, cousins, and I scheduled a cookie-making Zoom on Sunday and it was so much fun! We were all laughing over kitchen mishaps, my mom and dad made a cocktail while they waited for their cookies to bake and Jake and I spiked our orange juice with vodka and cranberry garnish.
2. Cookie Exchange
This year we learned that we really don’t need anything and if we did, we bought it for ourselves back in June. Our family is sending cookies instead of presents and honestly, this is the best decision ever! Jake had a bit too much fun ordering boxes, bows, and more to properly box up the cookies safely.
3. Gifts With Purpose
I donated money to the Arbor Day Foundation over the summer and got a letter from them recently about their campaign right now where you can buy trees in the rainforest in honor of someone. I thought this would be a great way to spend money on a good cause instead of clutter to wrap and send to someone for Christmas. My parents are donating money to Heifer International to buy a goat for a family in Africa instead of giving presents to extended family members.
4. Christmas House Tour
We decorated our house knowing that Jake and I would be the only ones to really see it and we were okay with that. For fun, my family thought it would be fun to do a house tour so we could see each other’s Christmas decorations. Without trying, my mom is going to win because she always goes all out for Christmas. With the scheduled virtual tour, I like that it gave us a push to all decorate and get it done with time left to enjoy it before Christmas.
5. Send Christmas Cards
Funny enough, this is the first year since moving to Philadelphia that I have Christmas cards with a photo all ready to ship before Christmas! We had to get creative since we wanted to take a photo with a timer of us in our home. While I got ready, Jake moved our couch and propped his phone up with a box so we could get the perfect shot. I was in charge of bribing Ed with treats! My family and I have loved sending snail mail to one another and I appreciate Christmas cards now more than ever.
6. Festive Cocktails
Earlier in the month, I sent Jake a ton of fun cocktails to try that I found on Pinterest and we have been having fun making them on the weekends. After work, we will enjoy dinner on the couch with a seasonal beer while we watch a Christmas movie and it’s been a nice treat.
7. Hot Chocolate Bar
Personally, I don’t like hot chocolate but I know Jake loves it. I went to Target and got hot chocolate mixes, mini marshmallows, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream so he can make himself a special treat. I also picked up a ton of Christmas themed chocolate for us (me).
8. Print Photos
It’s something I’ve been putting off for forever and I finally sat down and printed photos. Update picture frames, send some to family, or create a photo album. Going through photos of 2020 reminded me that there were good parts of this year too.
9. Call your mother
The day before Thanksgiving I broke down crying because I couldn’t find a pie pan. I was late to a family Zoom call because I was searching for the pan and when my mom called to see where I was, I told her about it in between sobs. It was so nice to have her to cry to even if was just over the phone but she was able to calm me down and told me she was having a hard time keeping it together too. When she told me that she was also struggling during this holiday season, I felt a sigh of relief go through my body because it wasn’t just me. Since then I have been Facetiming my mom to show her our tree and just calling to check-in. This time of year isn’t easy for anyone and it feels better to talk about it than pretending everything is fine.
Blonde Rosie Blog 