#AMonthOfFaves2016: I Love December

#AMonthOfFaves2016 has a great topic for discussion! Check out Tanya @ GirlXOXO and Andi at Estella’s Revenge for their takes on today’s topic.

Today’s Topic:

Thu. | Dec. 22 – I Love … December #AMonthofFaves2016 – Favorite holiday festivities, favorite ornaments, home decor, places to go, holiday drinks, holiday eats, holiday themed reads

I love December. I love looking at the tree when it’s all decorated and pretty (I hate putting up the tree- but let’s face it- you would hate putting up a 9 foot tree every year that you have to put the limbs in individually!) I love Christmas music. Getting holiday cards. Hot chocolate. Giving presents to my niece. Hanging ornaments.

What I love about December:

The Tree Decorated

It gets done a little bit different each year, but the ribbons streaming always happens. I went a bit heavier on purple this year (Alexa’s favorite color) and my burlap snowman is new.

This was the look 3 years ago. Before the hot chocolate accent wall and burlap snowman.

Ornaments

The Alexa ornament is still one of my faves. I have others that I don’t have pictures of (and that did not get hung up this year) Cowboy boot from my trip to Nashville, The Rockettes ornament that I won, and an assortment of Disney ornaments,

The one ornament I wish I still had was the Grover tree topper that my grandma bought for me when I was little. It was a set of paper ornaments and it was so sweet- Grover hanging out of the star, waving Hello to everybody! He had bangs and bruises from years of being loved by me and a broken arm 😦 BUT I still loved him. Until my brother threw him away. And yes, I’m still bitter.

Favorite Holiday Drinks

I don’t really have a fav drink for the holidays except hot chocolate. I sometimes find myself enjoying a glass of wine in the living room as I listen to music and watch the lights twinkle, though.

Nails

I have not gotten my nails done Christmas-y or winter-y this season. But last year, I went all Elsa like for the holidays.

Christmas Music

I adore holiday music. Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer (The Temptations version), Merry Christmas, Baby (CeeLo Green and Rod Stewart version), This Christmas by Vonda Shepherd, Deck The Halls by SheDaisy are some of my faves, but I also like many traditional ones as well.

Christmas Events

I used to visit Canton, City of Lights every year and then I got out of the habit (truthfully, got too busy!) But this year, my mom wanted to go- so I went with her and my dad. And it was fun!

Seeing Christmas through a child’s eye

Growing up, there were many kids at my Grandma’s Christmas Eve get together. She had 7 grandchildren. As we grew up, some of us married and had children- but some of us did not (or did 1 thing and not the other). In my 20’s- my older cousins were birthing babies- so we had a small influx of children (3 new kids in a short period of time) but until just a short time ago- no new babies! Until Alexa arrived. Being her aunt, I have always loved taking pictures of her at Christmas (well anytime, truthfully) but this Christmas will be her first where she’s excited about Santa, leaving cookies out and maybe even trying to spy on him as she’s supposed to be asleep.

My Snowman

Family

This was back in 2012 and we have not managed to get a family picture together since. Sigh. But spending time with my family, opening gifts, talking about what is going on, playing cards, eating good food and lots of snacks- that is what Christmas is to me. And it’s my fav part!

*What do you love about December?*

Link-Up Here: