Happy New Yeeear!
We made it! I know that the world isn't going to magically right itself because we turned the 2020 corner, but these next 12 months have got some promise in them, ya know? I've got a bunch of new-year goodies to share soon, but I wanted to wrap up my Christmasing a bit before I get there. Here we go!
My favorite thing about this Christmas was the fact that we got our snowy wish! The boys and I wished and hoped and visualized for a snow-filled holiday, and we got it! We woke up to the most gorgeous winter scene - our yard looked like a postcard. We got a big blast of lake effect snow in the days that followed, and we went out and braved the elements as a family for a bit (and then followed it all up with some hot cocoa bombs). It's been a couple years since we've had a snowy Christmas, so this was a silver lining for a year when we couldn't visit our family.
Another favorite thing was the fact that my gifts this year were basically all geared towards coziness, cooking, and skincare. Like hello....have we done anything else in 2020?
These Bearpaw slippers are the best thingsss. I love them so much! So simple to slide on and so incredibly soft and cozy. I had a couple pairs of bearpaw boots that I wore into the grooound so I was really excited to get these.
This bunch of coziness is so exciting to me...so perfect for my quarantined, school-at-home, rarely put together situation. The two sweaters are so adorable (currently wearing the grey eyelash one and never want to take it off again), the Office hoodie will get worn until it explodes, and the argyle style pajamas are the softest things I've ever felt. Plus a bunch of cozy socks, a current must.
Not pictured is the buffalo check heated blanket my mom got me - because my cats have taken ownership of it and I'm not sure when they will allow me to use it again. ;)
More coziness. Barefoot dreams socks are the actual dream, and I love all these cute scrunchies. They came in some discounted gift sets from Target and I love them!
I was seriously hooked up in the beauty department! Moisturizers, my favorite mascara, eyeliner and brow gel, makeup sponges, chapstick, and two of my all-time fav Essie colors (pret-a-surfer and licorice - my other favs if you're curious are bikini so teeny and as if.)
While we're on the topic of beauty, here's another seriously quarantine gift I received. Since May-ish I've been cutting my boys' hair with CRAFT SCISSORS. No joke. They're the best scissors I have, but they're 100% not for hair. And because I didn't have clippers, I had to sort of wing it with smoothing out their cuts. It took forever, and we all hated it. I'm so excited to up my hair cut game with these! Also, my mom gave me the dry brush, and I've always been really interested in them - can't wait to try it.
So, into the kitchen now...I am SO EXCITED about this dutch oven! I've wanted one for a long time and just dealt without forever. It's kind of insane how heavy it is (a little afraid of how I will wash this beast? Haha) but I'm so so thrilled for all the goodies I'm going to make in it. Particularly rustic little round loaves of bread and yummy, cozy, winter dinners. I'm really excited about this cookbook, too. I LOVE Skinnytaste recipes, and this book is based on things you can do with your short-cut appliances like the Instant Pot, Crock Pot, Air Fryer, and Dutch Oven as well as Sheet Pans and Skillets. My kinda cooking.
These are little things, but make me stupidly excited. I've wanted some glass storage for meal prep and just working away from plastics for a while now, so I'm really looking forward to making use of these! The Rae Dunn spatulas were a cute little surprise, I love them! My sister in law sent them along with a set of His & Hers insulated wine tumblers. So cute. I also got a new stainless 1.5 qt saucepot that I didn't think to take a picture of before it made it through the wash. I've needed a second one for all those times I went to grab my only one and realized it was already in use on the stove.
Another favorite is my new favorite mug! My sister made it, as well as matching ones for herself, my mom, and our oldest friend. In the early hours of Christmas morning, before any of our kiddos were awake, we were all chatting in our group chat when I opened it. We all had time to wish each other a Merry Christmas before the chaos began, and I was so excited to fill my new mug and virtually cheers my new mug twins. That's a favorite memory of Christmas, for sure!
This was a totally unexpected gift that made me so, so happy! One of my best friends snuck this in a Christmas card that showed up a few days before Christmas and it totally made my day. I love it SO much!
The ornaments that Matt and I gave each other this year were a favorite! We watched through Schitt's Creek together this year, so not only is it symbolic and funny, but I meant the sentiment his ornament, too, so it was perfect! I told him to picture David singing it to him whenever he looks at it, haha. (I got his here.) And I only have a stock photo of my ornament because you know, shipping problems, but he totally knocked mine out of the park, too! I love it!!
One of my favorite things of our entire holiday was a new Christmas Eve tradition we started. It was based on the Icelandic tradition of Jolabokaflod. I put together a book box for each of the boys and Matt. They all had a book (multiple for the kids), a bookmark, a pair of cozy socks, and some nicer-than-normal chocolates like Lindor and Dove. We took turns opening our boxes, then after we donned our new socks, we sat and read books together and snacked on our chocolate. It was calm, peaceful, cozy, and so, so enjoyable. I'm super excited to keep this one going!
It was a weird year, for sure. But there were still some happy favorites, and I'm so grateful for all we still had this year. <3
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