things have been busy busy busy around these parts lately. our december days have been filled to the brim with christmas tree shopping and lighting and decorating, holiday parades, mall trips, santa visits and gift-preparation galore.

we took ellie to see santa about a week and a half ago. last year was great because she was too little to have serious “stranger danger” anxiety, but this year we knew her reaction was going to be one of PURE TERROR. look how carefree and unsuspecting she was while we were standing in line. “HI, SANTA!” (santa is great from a safe distance).

we warned st. nick that she would scream and try to break free – “just hold on tight,” we said – and told the teenage photographer to make it quick. here’s a side angle of the money shot, which is yet to be scanned.

followed by her sad face once she realized she was safe, yet still trying to come to terms with the trauma we had just put her through. evil, evil parents we are. luckily she perked up again pretty quickly. after all, santa had given her a bell necklace :)

the day after our santa visit we attended the pleasanton tree lighting and christmas parade with matt and alyssa. actually, we ate through most of the parade at a taqueria and then made our way down the street to watch the tree light up. it was a little anti-climactic, but that’s ok! it’s always a joy to spend quality time with the ginns <3

we’ve also been busy with all the preparation that goes along with deciding to bake the majority of christmas gifts you will be giving. (never again, by the way). ryan loves baking. my feet start to hurt by the time the dough reaches the oven. although, i’ll admit, i don’t mind making fudge. just a few steps and you’ve got 100+ squares of chocolate and butterscotch deliciousness. when giving edible gifts, fudge is the way to go.

then, of course, in addition to the actual process of baking, there’s the cost of all the ingredients that go into everything, PLUS whatever containers you decide to present them in. i like my stuff to look cute, so i spent a good hour and a half at michael’s picking out cookie tins and fudge jars and ribbon and fabric and, and, and … the gift tags! you can’t give a cute edible gift without a cute gift tag, so i ordered those personalized from tiny prints (of course) and all together the cost is probably equal to what we would have spent on individual presents picked out specifically for each person, and the whole baking thing requires a lot more effort. so! next year we’ll go back to regular presents, the kind we can buy online and at the mall and wrap up in ribbons and bows without getting any flour on our clothes :)

on that note, a photo ryan took of me and ellie during a morning cuddle, both of us with bedhead extraordinaire. i love it.

happy holidays!

my dear friend stefany, care package assembler extraordinaire and one of my favorite people in the whole wide world, sent me a wonderful box of goodies for my birthday. it came alllll the way from texas and arrived right on time. she’s so good! :) out of all the super cute and thoughtful gifts in the package, my number one favorite is a book called someday.

inside the front jacket there is a description that reads, “a deceptively simple, powerful ode to the potential of love and the potential in life, someday is the book you’ll want to share with someone else … today.” and it’s true. i want to gift this book to every mother and daughter i know. it’s that beautiful. seriously, people, i cannot read this book (out loud or in my head) without crying.

the illustrations are simple line drawings painted in watercolor, and the story is told in one line on each page. you’ll have to read it yourself to get the full effect, but just to give you an idea, this is how it goes…

one day i counted your fingers and kissed each one.
one day the first snowflakes fell, and i held you up and watched them melt on your baby skin.
one day we crossed the street, and you held my hand tight.
then, you were my baby, and now you are my child.

and when that day comes, love, you will remember me.

yeah … turns out i can’t type it without crying, either. if you are a mother or a daughter or a grandmother, you should own this book. one day i hope to be able to read it to ellie without my eyes welling up with tears. until then, i just feel lucky to have it :)

thank you so much, stefany, i love you!

(almost) every year, the lewis family (and children and spouses and friends) get together at grandpa alex’s house in san leandro to throw a great, big multi-family garage sale. believe me when i tell you, people, it is the garage sale of all garage sales. we literally have the BEST “junk,” and we sell it for cheap, cheap, cheap!

this year i sold (ok, shirley did most of the work because we had ellie to worry about and even then we couldn’t stay long) dozens of abercrombie, american eagle, express, ann taylor and ANTHROPOLOGIE tops for one dollar. all of them in good condition, too. i swear, i have the cutest clothes … if only i could still fit in sizes small and extra-small, i’d have the largest wardrobe of anyone i know. i’m not kidding, i used to shop a lot. anyway…

the lewis siblings – shirley, loretta and bob – deserve all the credit for their hard work. ryan and i don’t usually get there until they’re all set up (not on purpose), we always have to leave before they shut down, and we always make a few hundred bucks over the weekend. this year we only did one day, but we walked away with $115. not bad for stuff we won’t miss.

oh, and we always have donuts for breakfast and a great spread of food for lunch. sandwiches, fruit salad, chips & dip, cookies and everyone’s favorite cheeseball, among other things. ellie had a great time sitting and eating in great-grandpa’s kitchen booth just like her daddy used to do when he was little :)

there has been talk of doing it again next month, so if you’re looking for anything on the cheap, come on out and see us!

…cute baby not included :)

as my lovely friend and style advisor kat knows all too well, i’ve spent the last few weeks struggling with what i’m going wear to eric and tessa’s houston wedding coming up on march 6th. after several nights and countless hours spent looking at dresses online, i came across the perfect LBD during an impromptu trip to nordstrom rack.

part of my struggle included what shoes and accessories i would pair with said LBD. i knew i wanted to go with a color – preferably a bright one – to bring something more to the outfit than simple black. stylistic kat suggested going with metallic heels if i couldn’t decide on a color, like a silver, pewter or even gold. i thought that was a great idea because, hello, how easy is it to pair silver jewelry with silver heels? and it’s an evening wedding, so metallics would have worked.

but then ellie and i took an afternoon trip to our (ok, my) faaaaavorite store, anthropolgie, and it was there that i found this necklace. it’s a bit chunkier than the jewelry i normally wear and i knew it would be a challenge to find shoes to match, but i decided i was up for the challenge and i bought the necklace anyway.

luckily, i have SEVERAL very style-conscious friends, and another one of them directed me to a website called asos where she searched and found these shoes … just PERFECT to go with my necklace! alas, the company is located in the UK and we leave for texas in less than a week. wah wah. the perfect shoes were no longer within my grasp. out of reach. a no-go.

OR SO I THOUGHT.

you may have heard that ryan is in london on business this week – he comes back thursday – and a few days ago i had a lightbulb moment … have you figured out yet where this is going?

that’s right. my wonderful husband placed an order for those perfect shoes today, and they will be delivered to his hotel tomorrow. the timing couldn’t be more perfect. it’s like it was meant to be :)

when my brother and i were little, our parents always let us open one present on christmas eve. i imagine we’ll keep up the same tradition with ellie as she grows up, but since this is her super special first christmas ever, we decided she could have a present FIVE nights early :)

grandma bought her an adorable critter chair from pottery barn kids. they have a brown cow, a green frog, a blue hippo and a pink bunny, so of course she chose the pink bunny!

ellie was a little skeptical of it at first. the look on her face said, “what on earth is that? and what is it doing in our living room?” but then grandma started playing peek-a-boo with the bunny’s ears, and her expression turned into, “oh, i see. i think i LIKE that!”

“yes. yes, as a matter of fact, i like it very much.”

now ellie and her pink bunny chair are the best of friends :)

thank you, grandma!!! <3

tonight we had dinner at casa orozco with our favorite date night couple, matt and alyssa. i had been looking forward to it all day because the only time i’d left the house since tuesday was to go to the post office to mail our christmas cards. needless to say, i was craving a little fresh air.

ok, i was craving a burrito and a margarita, too.

when we picked them up, i was surprised to see alyssa holding a present wrapped neatly in pretty holiday wrapping paper. immediately i thought, “oh no! their gift hasn’t arrived yet!” followed by “oh well, just another excuse to hang out again before christmas.” she said it was the only gift she’d bought so far, and that she couldn’t wait for us to open it, so after dinner we did just that.

what was inside, you ask? only the cutest, most thoughtful christmas gift two friends could ever give a little family of three. it was a tradition in a box! the box contains an adorable little elf and a children’s book called the elf on the shelf.

the barnes & noble web site explains it well:

based on the tradition carol aebersold began with her family in the 1970s, this cleverly rhymed children’s book explains that santa knows who is naughty and/or nice because he sends a scout elf to every home. during the holiday season, the elf watches children by day and reports to santa each night. when children awake, the elf has returned from the north pole and can be found hiding in a different location. this activity allows the elf on the shelf to become a delightful hide-and-seek game.

such a cute idea! i’m sure this will be one of many traditions we carry with our family throughout the years, and we’re so touched they thought to pass it on to us <3