Favorite Holiday Season Must-Do's

'Tis the season for tacky holiday sweaters, twinkling lights and chilly weather. Now that our sweet baby James is here, the holidays are about to get more exciting, especially in the coming years, which got me thinking about all of my favorite things to do around this time of year.   Below, I've shared a few of my ideas to get in the holiday spirit. Please feel free to leave a comment to with traditions or fun things you do to celebrate!

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- Take family photos and send out Christmas cards to loved ones
- Pick out and decorate a Christmas tree
- Create a playlist of your favorite holiday tunes
- Invest in some new quirky or festive holiday decorations

- Watch Elf, The Polar Express, and Home Alone (just a few of my favorites)
- Hang stockings (I adore needlepoint stockings and the ones I get for our family are by Sferra which I purchased from here)

- Go ice-skating
- Have a girls night out and go see a ballet (a favorite of mine is The Nutcracker)
- Drive around and look at Christmas lights and decorations...particularly in Christmas Town USA (it doesn't hurt if you bring along and sip on some homemade hot chocolate)
- Bake and decorate cookies

- Go to a Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony
- Visit a local Christmas Village (this one in Uptown Charlotte is my favorite)
- Go to Christmas at The Library and see the live nativity scene (another fun local event in Charlotte!)
- Do a random act of kindness (here are 35 different ideas)
- Spend a day in your favorite PJ's
- Find a fun way to display holiday cards
- Serve a meal at a local homeless shelter
- Write a letter to Santa
- Read the nativity story
- Donate a toy to a local toy drive
- Go to a Christmas Eve service
- Celebrate each day of December with an Advent calendar
-  Open one small gift on Christmas Eve

 

Sea of Green

Happy St. Patty's day, everyone! I hope you all are wearing some sort of green today so you don't get pinched! This past weekend was all sorts of fun, but then again, I say that about most weekends :) Friday nights for Will and I are generally spent at home so last Friday went just like that...with the addition of some Papa John's pizza and an episode or two of Game of Throne's (anxiously waiting for the next season to start)! Saturday we woke up bright and early to meet up with Will's Sister at Cafe Monte were I enjoy an amazing plate of french toast. With our bellies full of food, we decided it was best to go home and take a nap before "starting our day". Smart move on our part I must say! 

After a few hours minutes of lounging around, it was time for us to head Uptown to meet up with some of Will's coworkers before heading to the St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl. I was nervous that I wasn't going to be able to find Caitlin and Allison but with a little wondering around, I found them in know time! I even ran into my other friend Allison T. before we even texted each other! I love when things work out that way.

After a few drinks and lot's of time in the sun, it was time for Will and I to head over to Taco Mac Sports Grill to meet up with a few other friends to watch the NC State basketball game. They ended up loosing to Duke but I had fun being able to relax, eat good food and laugh over our hilarious conversations. 

   
Before ending our day, we ran by Crate and Barrel to pick up a gift and then went home and called it a day. At this point we were exhausted. Exhausted from a day's worth of fun that is. Being tired and getting to spend a full day with so many people we care about was well worth it though I must say! On Sunday morning Will and I went and ate bagels at Bruegger's and then drove back to the condo and watched our church service from home. I love being able to do that when  you just don't have enough energy to make it to church! Afterwards, we had a little quality time together before Will had to go into work. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry, writing blog posts and catching up on some TV shows I had recorded. Like I said before, our weekend was fun. It was busy, but 100% enjoyable. What did you get into this weekend? Did you celebrate St. Patty's at all?