what i love about the holidays.

christmas trees and ornaments.

candy canes. christmas cookies.

christmas music. crisp air. christmas lights.

the smells. animal hats.

christmas movies. gingerbread houses.

hot chocolate. a trip to the mountains.

christmas 2010.

this christmas was a little different for my family.

my grandpa passed away a week before

christmas after longterm suffering.

there is never a good time to lose someone,

but being that it was at christmas time made things harder.

we always went to his house for christmas eve.

this year we had to improvise and get my aunt

and her family to come to our house.

we ate lunch and opened up a gift

before going to the candle light service at church.

after church we came back to the house

for finger food with some family and friends.

every year since i was a baby my mom has

always made my brothers and i sleep on the floor

in her room christmas eve night.

even though we are grown, we still keep with the tradition.

christmas morning we opened presents,

and my mom's side came over to eat and open more gifts.

it was still a good christmas just different.

i feel like it will be like that until i have my own family

to make new traditions with.

tomorrow we leave for Park City.

i'm looking forward to seeing some snow

to keep in the spirit for a few more days!

merrrrry christmas.

opryland hotel & a gingerbread house.

on tuesday we ate homemade tacos that tessa made

then took a little road trip to the opryland hotel.

we went to see the lights and just walk around.

we ate dessert at one of the little restaurants inside

and delicious drank cappuccinos.

afterward, we continued my birthday celebration and

i got to up birthday/christmas gifts.

wednesday night we made a gingerbread house.

needless to say, icing the house is not one of my specialties...

scenes from franklin.

earlier in the week i went to franklin to

celebrate an early christmas.

we walked around downtown and snapped pictures

while doing some last minute christmas shopping.

i just {love} downtown franklin.

birthday celebration: part two.

as you know, i spent my real birthday in nyc.

however, every year my mom always has each

of us a family birthday party with food of our choice,

presents, and of course family and close friends.

this year we celebrated a little late, but

celebrated nonetheless.

hey, i can't complain. i love having a birthday for two weeks.

new york minute: part three.

our last day in the city was a rainy one.

we started off the day with breakfast at Fred's.

so good, so so good.

we then went through the MoMA.

afterwards, my dad had to leave to make

his flight.

we went in a few shops and

decided to take a break at Saks

for cappuccinos and chocolate cake.

we decided our feet were rather tired

by day four.

we then headed back to the hotel

to get our luggage so we could

make our flight home.

until next time nyc!

new york minute: part two.

saturday was my actual birthday.

it was a very memorable day complete with:
walking around the city,
breakfast at Dean & Deluca,
the Rockette's Christmas spectacular,
lunch at Cafeteria,
jumping around in central park,
dinner at the River Cafe,
and of course a few presents!

it was a birthday for the books for sure.