November 30, 2011

Home for the holidays?

While I do love to be home for the holidays and not do the traveling, there has always been a part of me that would love to celebrate Christmas in another city - specifically London. There was a great article in Travel & Leisure a few years back and it has stuck with me.  Wouldn't it be fun to be tucked away in a little cottage in the countryside or a flat somewhere? 

Maybe someday we will do that with our boys when they are a bit older and we don't have to worry about Santa coming down our own chimney.

where: jasper james
where: jasper james
where: jasper james
where: note to self
where: jasper james
where: jasper james
where: patterson maker


November 28, 2011

to Elf or not to Elf

where: photos by Lindsay for from me to you xo
Does this guy come to your house?  He's come to ours every year for I don't know how long.  
This year he came extra early, arriving the day after Thanksgiving.  
(My husband thought that was very clever.)  
My 6 year old is obsessed with him.  She draws him pictures and writes little notes to him.  
She talks to him about what she wants for Christmas and how she's been so good to her brothers that day.  (I wonder he can tell she's completely manipulating him.)

So.  Is he a fixture of Christmas for the month of December where you live?  
Do your kids run downstairs each morning before opening their advent calender, 
looking for where their Elf is hiding this time.
And when he's in the same place, 
what's the explanation to your questioning children that you give?
To be honest, I think next year Elfy, as we call him here, will be taking some needed time off.  
Is that allowed?

Holiday Movie Favorites...

At this time of year I love to watch some of my all time favorite holiday movies to really get me in the spirit. Linds I know your family watches It's A Wonderful Life every Christmas Eve.  Here are a few I pull out year after year...

where: sony pictures

where: universal

where: liberty films
where: fox 2000 pictures

If you haven't seen elf I highly recommend it - serious belly laughing!

where: new line cinema
And of course the classics for the kids (and for us).

where: mom
where: classic media
where: warner home video
where: classic media
Merry Merry!
xo

November 22, 2011

November 20, 2011

Somebody's Mom

where: pretty mommy
Do you ever catch sight of yourself and think "I can't believe I'm a Mom?"  Like just now, my boys have been playing outside on this unseasonably warm November day, and as the sun is starting to go down I raced outside to give them coats so they didn't catch a chill.  They both yelled to me as I turned to head back inside "thanks mom!" I saw my reflection in our door and thought...   "I'm their Mom - funny." 

Or do you hear yourself saying something and think "did I just say that?"  Some days I still feel like I am in college and have a hard time believing that I'm "all grown up." That I am responsible for someone other than myself and that this is my life now. I'm not complaining. I love it. I wouldn't want anything else. It's just sort of funny and catches me off guard from time to time.  Does that ever happen to you?


November 17, 2011

Let the Holiday craziness begin!


where: real simple

Hard to believe a week from today is Thanksgiving.  And then we roll right in to decking the halls.  Where does the time go? I really and truly am going to try to get all my Christmas shopping done the week after Thanksgiving so that I can just enjoy the merriment of the season and try not to get run down and exhausted like I usually do.  Have you been perusing all the "gift lists" in the magazines?  There really are some great new products out there so I've gotten lots of good ideas. My kids are already so excited and have started asking how many days until Christmas. I must say I am looking forward to Dec 1st - my official kick off day to start playing nothing but Christmas songs.  But maybe this year I'll start the day after Thanksgiving shhh.




November 15, 2011

It's been awhile!

Hi all!  Have you noticed my absence?  
I'm so missing my blogging life and dying to get back into it but I have to tell you, 
this fall has been full. 
Full of all things children and house and baby.
It's been a lot.  The good, the bad and the ugly.

From Me to You xo is where I can go and do what I love and it's just for me. 
 It's so fun and creative and stimulating and the best thing to do with your best friend 
and I would never let go of it.  
Just bear with me until Finn is in Kindergarten!  How long is that??

In the meantime, HOLIDAY is one of my favorite blogs and I check in with it daily.  
Today's post is an adorable reminder for all of us who are parents and who sometimes forget 
what treasures we're dealing with.  
(Hope you don't mind that I'm reposting it Tiffany!  It's too sweet not to share.)
xo

November 7, 2011

Paperwhite season

where: real simple
If you love to have your house filled with Paperwhites (or amaryllis) at Christmas, like I do, now is the time to get your bulbs ready for forcing.  They say it takes between 4 and 6 weeks to force the bulbs to bloom.  I've been pretty lucky with the timing, except for last year when they all bloomed the week after Christmas. Fingers crossed for this year.  I love to use a mix of containers and sometimes just set the bulbs on rocks instead of putting them in soil.  Once they start to grow intersperse twigs with the blooms to help them stay upright and not tip over. Another great idea and one that is very festive is to use the branches with the red berries on them, don't know what they are called but you can usually find them being sold this time of year.  Here are some ideas -
where: martha stewart

where: white flower farm

where: martha stewart