A Belated Christmas Recap!

(Our pretty tree and living room all decked out in Christmas cheer!)

So I know that Christmas was almost a month ago and the store shelves are now filled with a bipolar mix of red hearts and chocolate bunnies… but you know what? I’m a rebel (well a procrastinator, really), so darn it, I’m going to post Christmas photos anyway!

Hope you enjoy taking a peak into how we deck the halls in my home (we admittedly & proudly go slightly over board) and some special moments from my Christmas 2013… even if we are already half way through January 2014! ;)

Christmas 2013 -

Picking out a Christmas tree! It was an usually freezing Texas day but this is one of my favorite Christmas moments so I didn’t care. You just cannot beat the smell of a real tree! The loveliest aroma! And then some (but definitely not all) of our pretty ornaments.

Another picture of our Christmassy living room and some more holiday décor!

Christmas in our kitchen! The pink tree is definitely a favorite of mine, it adds a little Christmassy quirk! And for the second year we made the cute (& super easy)cupcake liner Christmas tree on the door (idea courtesy of Pinterest). The “Joy” and “Noel” banners are from a craft kit from Hobby Lobby. My sister and I both made one when she was visiting in October. It got glitter everywhere (almost a month later & still finding glitter all over the place) and would not stay up for nothing but it was really cute… and that’s all that matters right? lol

And yes, that is a Pillsbury Dough Boy cookie jar wearing a Santa hat :D.

Christmas dinner place setting. A close up of kitchen décor. And the adorable Christmas aprons my sister bought for my mom and I! The elf belongs to me and Mrs. Santa is my mom’s. Too cute!

Christmas desserts! A Black Tie Mousse Cake Trifle that I made and my dad’s traditional White Chocolate Raspberry Cake (wouldn’t be Christmas without it).

The trifle actually started out as a cake. I was making a copy cat recipe of Olive Garden’s Black Tie Mousse Cake but half way through baking, I encountered a little problem. After baking the cake in a regular cake pan your supposed to transport it to a spring form pan to assemble. Well the only spring for pan that I have is huge, way bigger than the cake was. So needless to say, I had no choice but to improvise. Still turned so delish (& pretty too, I think). Definitely want to try and make it the right way at some point.

More Christmas treats! Staying warm with some sweet apple cider on Christmas Eve. Wouldn’t be the holidays without peanut butter blossom cookies, would it? And Raspberry Linzer Cookies (delish & so festive)!

Some sugar cookie making! So to state the obvious, we cannot decorate cookies to save our lives lol. But it’s tradition and it’s fun!

So my mom and I got all creative and “Pinteresty” wrapping some of my sister’s Christmas gifts… and when she opened them up on Christmas day (over Skype, cause she lives in GA) she… didn’t even seem to notice a thing lol. But to her credit, she later said she was just sleepy and did in fact think they were really cute (well… actually she called them “hipster” but whatever).

My favorite Christmas gift!!! My parents bought me this lovely purple coffee maker! I’m completely in love with it, let me tell ya! So this is my little coffee corner, if you will. And yes, even the cow creamer gets a Santa hat in our house… cause you know, why wouldn’t it? ;)

New Years Eve with my family! My mom & I made tamales (not pictured) with my sister over Skype early in the day. It was my grandma’s New Years Eve tradition and we’re trying to keep it alive. They turned out so amazing! We also had some cheese fondue with French bread, played with sparklers, watched the ball drop, and prayed & toasted the New Year with some sparkling grape juice! A lovely start to 2014!

Last but not least, Christmas décor at the bay in my town!