2015 Holiday Season Recap - Part I

And just like that, December is over! It went by incredibly fast. In addition to being so busy at work, we decided to throw a Christmas party, visit out of town family for Christmas, host a brunch with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and their kids and throw a NYE party! It was tiring, crazy but a whole lot of fun!

A quick photo before our Christmas party. Thanks goodness my cousin snapped this photo because it's the only one I got of both of us. 

D and I after the party. We were exhausted!

We flew into Canada a couple days before Christmas and celebrated with our family. My cousin and I love to bake so we tried this new crepe cake with Nutella ganache recipe. Truth be told, it was ok. I think we need a little practice to perfect it. 

Canada's version of the States' Black Friday is called Boxing Day and usually occurs the day after Christmas. My cousin and I had a great time shopping for Christmas decorations and clothes! We stopped at Tim Horton's for a french vanilla cappuccino and Canadian maple custard-filled donuts. YUM!!!

After Christmas, we went to see the canyon lights at the Capilano Suspension bridge. It was freezing outside and the bridge was so scary, but before it got dark the views were amazing! We made it across safely and toured the treehouse course. 

D and I also walked across the glass bottom bridge. Luckily for me, it was too dark to see how far up we were. Heights make me a little uneasy so not seeing what was down there made it manageable for me to walk across. 

Day 4, we did a Vancouver day! First stop, Luckys Doughnuts. They were delicious and definitely not your average doughnuts. Top Row/Left to Right: Peanut Butter and Jelly | Champagne | Salted Caramel | Chestnut |Old Fashioned |Apple Fritter

We also stopped at Beta 5 for some cream puffs. 

Clockwise: Apple Pie | Salted Caramel | Smoked Almond | Douglas Fir

Here's the Douglas Fir up close because it was just so stunning!

Our last day in Canada we decided to sightsee at Canada Place in Vancouver. We ate at Bow Down in Gas Town and walked off all those calories with the cousins. 

Stay tuned for Part II!

xx, Shiela

Christmas Cards Display

Again, I love this time of year. I know, you all are probably tired of hearing that. But, I can't help myself! Another tradition I love is sending and receiving Christmas cards. I get so excited to see the different ones that come in the mail.

I usually just prop them up on a bookshelf in the living room or some other haphazard display. This year, I decided to display them in the shape of a wreath on a large mirror in our dining room area. So simple, and I love how it turned out!

xx, Shiela

Christmas Time!!!

I love this time of year! The chilly weather, sights and smells of Christmas time is just the best.

Ok, so we're friends right?! Right. So, confession time. We started decorating  in early November, which, I'm usually super against decorating before Thanksgiving. I'm a one holiday at a time celebrator. It's a thing people. Anyway, this year, I could not wait! I justified the early decorating situation because we had a Christmas party scheduled for the second week of December (this past Saturday, actually). So, decorate we did.

First up, our front room tree and my absolute fave! We decided on a flocked tree because well, it's stunning!

My favorite ornament. I can't help but smile. We gave this version of our Christmas card to family. We figure, they won't mind our faces on Christmas tree ornaments. 

My second favorite. This one we picked up from our Disneyland trip in early November. See this post for the recap of that trip.

Up next, our family room tree. I'm a sucker for traditional tartan decor so of course I had to incorporate some of that in our Christmas decor this year. At first, I wasn't sure if not keeping in with the same neutral decor throughout the house was going to clash. Our house is an open concept but still definitely has defined spaces. Ultimately, I decided that it's ok to break rules in decorating. More about that in another post. 

And lastly, our other Christmas card. This version we sent to friends. I figure it's better than our faces on an ornament. Ha! I just loooooove. 

xx, Shiela