happy holidays.

Happy holidays to everyone. I hope if you're going home, you've arrived safely (and without two flat tires, like we did). Tonight we're tasked with making the Christmas Eve meal, so I'm looking up recipes that should please some picky palates.

What's your favorite Christmas dish? Is it basically Thanksgiving deja vu or is it completely different? Does your family booze it up or do you stick to non-alcoholic beverages? Do you get to open a gift on Christmas Eve? (Me: Pretty much deja vu, and happy with it; maybe a glass or two of wine, although I'm considering a specialty cocktail for tonight; yes, but I already opened my gift at 1 a.m. this morning — a bike basket from Todd!)

white christmas.

I really want a white Christmas. I've only experienced a handful in my lifetime of Southern winters, and it's currently 75 degrees and sunny outside, but I still have this tiny unrealistic childish hope that we'll wake up to a blanket of snow on Christmas morning.

These photos are all from my Tumblr.

boat times.

Last weekend we went out on a friend's sailboat for the Parade of Boats. The parade includes dozens of boats, from yachts to kayaks, all decked out in lights and decorations. On the shore, people line up on both sides of the harbor to watch the event. We drank champagne, roasted hotdogs, and wondered why we don't do this every weekend.

charleston christmas magic.

Charleston is simply magical around the holidays, with twinkling lights everywhere, beaucoup festive events (we're going out on a friend's sailboat for the Parade of Boats tonight!), and Christmas trees everywhere you turn (plus the occasional palm tree decked out in lights). We may not have snow, but this is a great place to be in December.

We've already trimmed our tree, and the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, but I want to make my house even more festive. Here's some inspiration I've been pinning to my Christmas board.

thanksgiving.

I'll probably kick myself for saying this years down the road, but I can't wait to host my own Thanksgiving dinner. I love the six-hour trek home to Virginia — either to Todd's house or mine — but I look forward to having everyone come to me. I like to think I'll go all out, Martha Stewart-style, with fancy place settings and floral arrangements. Or maybe I'll just carry on the family tradition of keeping it simple with endless turkey, taters, green bean casserole, giblet gravy, and pies. Who's hungry? 

 

via. 

sparkle deficiency.

I'm currently wallowing in a vitamin D-deficient funk. The weather here is at its prime, but most days I'm stuck in the office until its nearly dark outside. When I get home, all I want to do is make dinner and curl up on the couch with a magazine. I'm excited for Thanksgiving to come and go, which means it's acceptable to break out the sparkley lights and start officially celebrating the holidays. Visions of sequined cocktail dresses, champagne, and Christmas trees are dancing in my head, so please forgive me if I jump the gun.

Images via Pinterest.

Other possible cures for the funk: Pancakes for dinner, Friendsgiving celebrations, bike rides, painting. How do you get yourself out of a funk?

happy halloween.

My favorite holiday is here, my pretties. What do you have planned? Since I don't have any kids to drag trick-or-treating, I think I'll make some chicken soup, carve a pumpkin, and cozy up on the couch with Hokus Pokus and a bowl of candy. It's good to be home.

house of love.

I think I might make one of these for Todd for Valentine's Day. He hosts trivia until 9 p.m. on Mondays, so it would be the perfect little romantic surprise when he got home. Pillows, finger foods, Kalimotxos ... Design*Sponge is full of the cutest V-day ideas.