Hope everyone had a lovely holiday with their loved ones!  Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Now that I live in Atlanta, I don’t see my family as much as I’d like to.  So, I look forward to the moments I can be home.  We spent the holidays in Virginia and will be heading to Hilton Head on Wednesday to see my husband’s family.  

December 23

Friday night I had my annual Christmas exchange with my college roommates Lanie, Lisa and Erin. Lisa hosted us for dinner at her condo in Alexandria, Virginia. Lisa ended up being my secret Santa and got me this Sephora favorites perfume travel sampler and Nordstrom “Oui” jewelry trinket dish.  I’ve been dying to get a new perfume, and with the Sephora sampler I can try a few different perfumes out and see which smell is my favorite.  Then, the best part of the Sephora favorites perfume travel sampler is you get a voucher for a free rollerball or travel spray of my favorite featured fragrance. So, say I like the Elizabeth & James Nirvana Black the best from the sampler, I’ll be able to reedem for the rollerball.  Such an awesome gift idea!  I may steal this idea for a holiday gift exchange next year.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is bigger than Christmas on my Mom’s side of the family.  Since my grandma has gotten older, my Mom has taken over the Christmas Eve traditions.  My Mom cooks Christmas Eve dinner and her side of the family comes over.  She’s 1 of 6 siblings and almost all of my aunts and uncles have kids, so it’s a full house!  We had a roast for dinner along with plenty of sides, including mashed potoatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, salad, corn casserole and plenty of sweets. After we stuffed our faces with the main course and peacan pie for dessert, the whole family played Head’s Up.

Christmas Day

On Christmas Day we opened presents and had breakfast at my Mom’s house with my immediate family. This includes my Mom, my two sisters (Alissa and Caylen), Alissa’s boyfriend Jake, my husband and I. Caylen’s boyfriend celebrated Christmas with his family.  Our household has been a girl’s domain, until the husband and 2 boyfriends infiltrated it. 🙂 My Mom got me a Clairsonic Mia 2 skin cleansing system and I’m really excited to try it out.  Alissa got me Aimee Song’s “Capture Your Style” book and I’m so pumped to read it and get some Instagram/blogging tips.  Caylen fulfilled my Christmas wish list with all my go-to makeup and skincare products.

After we finished presents at my Mom’s we went over to my Dad and Step-mom’s house.  Luckily my Mom and Dad/Stepfamily only live about 20 minutes away from one another in Virginia.  My Step-mom has 4 kids and my oldest Step-brother has 2 little girls. My once niece is 5 and the other is 18 months.  Spending holidays with little ones make them even more special.  We opened presents and had a late lunch/early dinner at my Dad’s. Christmas evening we went back to my Mom’s watched a movie and called it an early night.

My Favorite Christmas Present

I hate to say it, but yes I have a favorite Christmas present – and it is from my husband Jeremy.  I thought we were going to have a small Christmas this year since we just got married in June, so I got him a JCrew cashmere scarf and JCrew flannel pajama pants.

Before he gave me my present he made me sit in our bedroom with my headphones on while I was working on La Vie Petite.  Then, he made me close my eyes and led me to our balcony. He had me open my eyes and search for my Christmas present. I started getting annoyed because 1. it was dark so I couldn’t see anything and 2. it was freezing. Finally, he said “Oh, I guess I didn’t put it outside.”  So I went inside our condo all confused and oriented.  After I looked around for a minute, I saw a beautiful 27″ Apple iMac desktop sitting on our desk.  He got me the iMac desktop because my Apple Macbook Pro is a 2010 and getting slow and outdated. I had told him before I badly I wanted the Apple iMac desktop, but since we both have Macbook Pro’s and iPads, I didn’t think we needed to make such a big purchase until we bought a home.  But he’s just the best husband ever and and surprised me.  I’ve already been missing it while I’ve been at my Mom’s house in Virginia.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Even though everyone loves giving and getting presents, the most important part of the holidays is being able to celebrate and spend time with family.  Jeremy and I head back to Atlanta today and then will head to Hilton Head on Wednesday so we can see his side of the family.  Jeremy and I are both homebodies and love just relaxing with our families. We’re extremely thankful for the ones we have – because they are all pretty great!  Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

xx,

Lauren