Our family had a very wonderful Christmas this year. For Adair and me, it was our first Christmas married. It was fun bridging our families. We hope that you had a wonderful holiday as well. Here are some photos from our Christmas celebration.
My favorite Christmas tradition is to make these oranges. I can remember back when we were little my mom showing us how to make these. The smell means Christmas to me. Martha Stewart has a “how to” on her website here. Her “pomanders” look very beautiful and very elegant. I like to be a little more free style about it. Making different designs- like a chevron, stars, swirls, etc. If you are looking for a new holiday tradition, you might want to try it out. Your house will smell incredible for days. Promise.
decorations at the mcgregor house hold are sparse – for a couple reasons. 1- we’ll be spending our holiday in tennessee 2- our land lord won’t let us have a real tree. bummer! 3- and we have a tiny baby kitten who loves to attack things- including our mini fake tree (** see picture below). and so to avoid any spoiled festive garb, we decided to have a glittery-neon filled-minimalist approach to decorations this year.
have a very neon and glitter filled holidays!
xx- adair
As soon as Thanksgiving was over, I started putting up Christmas decorations. Most of my decorations are handmade and I got a lot of my ideas from my girl, Martha. All in all, I had a lot of fun decorating for our first Christmas together. How did you decorate this year?
The Sing-Off had their Christmas special on this past Monday. It had all of your Chistmas favorites- Sara Bareilles and Ben Fold teamed up to sing “Baby it’s Cold Outside”, Shawn Stockman sang some Spanish, and they even threw in Justin Bieber’s new Christmas song “Mistletoe”. But the best preformance of the the night was from the boys from Nashville, Street Corner Symphony (with local musician Jeremy Lister, who toured with the group Ten Out of Tenn). They sang Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. Chills, my friends, chills.
One of my most favorite holiday sweet treats are Ginger Snaps. My mom makes them every year. The smell is intoxicating and with a glass of milk (which I never drink, except with these cookies) they are amazing. Jeremy and I recently went to a Christmas party where we had a cookie exchange, so I made a batch of these to take with us. I had never been to a cookie exchange party and it is such a good idea. You get lots of yummy cookies to take home with you- so fun!
Recipe:
Combine 3/4 cup canola oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup molasses, 1 egg. Beat well.
Sift 2 cups of flour, then add 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp soda, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp ginger, and 1 tsp cinnamon.
Mix up all well and chill. Roll dough into balls and the roll them in a bowl of sugar so that it coats the outside. Place dough on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees at 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!
Ok, so maybe it’s not that cold here in Tennessee, but it is Christmas time!!
And I absolutely love the holidays. From Thanksgiving day til New Year’s day, it is full of family time, yummy food, and lots of parties. But what do you wear to said parties? I am so glad you asked. My pinterest addiction is now your best friend. (All of these dresses and their links can be found on my pinterest page)
There is a little bit for everyone. I promise.
First:
The Christmas-y red dress
&
The elegant lace dress.
Second:
The LBD and some variations
&
my new favorite, the sparkle dress.
And last, but not least:
The classic white dress
&
the ever so trendy gold dress.
XO, Mary
With Christmas right around the corner, we thought that we would show you what is on our wish list this year.
Mary’s List:
1- one of these lovely little bags:
Fashion Luncheon Bag. With All My Heart Tote.
2- this lovely little sweater.
3- this lovely little candle.
Capri Blue Jar Candle, in Blue.
4- these lovely little earrings.
5- this lovely little cookbook.
Adair’s List:
I.this lovely little print
II. this lovely little dress
III. this lovely little necklace
IV. this lovely little book-
V. these lovely little shoes-
(part of Adair’s holiday decoration- taken via instagram)
Christmas music is one of my favorite things. Tis the season and I have the holiday spirit on all day, every day. Here are my all time favorites:
Carol of the Bells by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Linus and Lucy, The Charlie Brown Theme Song
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Amy Grant
O Come O Come Emmanuel by The Civil Wars
Believe by Josh Groban
The Christmas Song by Bing Crosby
Baby It’s Cold Outside by Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey
Silent Night by Johnny Cash
Do You Hear What I Hear by Carrie Underwood
Away in a Manger by Andy Williams
Santa Claus is Coming to Town by Michael Buble
I’ll Be Home for Christmas by She and Him
O Little Town of Bethlehem by Barbara Striesand
O Come All Ye Faithful by Nat King Cole
Silver Bells by Dean Martin
O Holy Night by Celine Dion
Hark the Herald Angels Sing by Mariah Carey
Auld Lang Syne by James Taylor
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland
These songs and many more on my Spotify as well, just subscribe to my Christmas playlist.
