It's Christmas Time!

Yes, we did it. Mr. SE and I have already started decorating for Christmas this year. We're hosting a holiday party on December 4th and traveling for Thanksgiving, so this was our last weekend to get the house in shape. Our previous Christmas trees were either from college or hand-me-downs (we have 3)- so we were excited to buy one of our very own.

(all the lights are clear- but the picture makes them look somewhat colored)

We chose a gorgeous 9 ft pre-lit beauty from Home Depot, and scored a great price. The theme for our downstairs area is red, gold, and silver. I've been purchasing little accents to have around the floor, and I'm really happy with the look so far.

The tree still needs to be decorated, so I don't have any pictures to post now. But I'll be sure to document our first Christmas in this house, and our first Christmas as newlyweds. Have you started decorating yet? And did you do anything special to celebrate your first Christmas as a married couple? We're really looking forward to starting some traditions of our own!

Christmas Recap: Gifts for My Mr.

Mr. SE and I love to cook together. We've done several classes at the Viking School, and we're doing another one this spring (more on that later). While registering at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, we paid special attention to the cookwear that we chose. The debate became heated. I was rooting for the non-stick team, and Mr. SE for stainless. We ended up registering for a little bit of both, but I could tell Mr. SE was feeling a little bit sad. So for Christmas, I decided to buy him the pan of his dreams. The 11" stainless pan from Viking. You should've seen his face light up when he opened it!

Also, it's no secret this man loves some blu-ray! He also loves Dexter, and is still quite upset about the season finale that aired earlier this month. I have a weak stomach, and I don't enjoy CSI-type shows, so he was really surprised when he opened Season 1 and 2 of Dexter.

Of course, I also threw in the obligatory boxers, along with two button down shirts from BR. I think Mr. SE was very pleased with his Christmas gifts this year!

Christmas Recap

I hope all of you enjoyed a healthy and happy Christmas holiday! It was a blast being back in DC, and I'm definitely thankful for the time I got to spend with my family. That being said, it was hard to be away from Mr. SE for Christmas itself. Hopefully next year both of our families can celebrate the holiday together!

Mr. SE and I exchanged gifts before we went our seperate ways, and he treated me to this. A fantastic Blackberry Tour! At first I was really confused and frustrated, but I'm already in love with it.

My second gift was disguised within a word jumble of lyrics. The lyrics? Black Eyed Peas. Mr. SE and I are going to see these guys on February 12th at the Sommet Center!

How was your Christmas? I'm enjoying catching up on everybody's holiday through their own Christmas recaps. Next time I'll post about what I gifted Mr. SE (clue: it gets really hot), and my family (lots of Etsy goodies!).

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, readers! I'm spending Christmas up here in DC at my parents' house. We've enjoyed lots of good food, and many laughs so far. Last night we had my mom's famous shrimp scampi and attended the 9pm service with my dad's side of the family. This morning we opened gifts as a family, with my aunt that traveled down from New Jersey. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard about the snow storm that slammed the DC area. Here's what I'm looking at out our back window.

{beautiful}

Mr. SE and I received rights to our online gallery earlier this week, and I can't wait to share the photos with you soon! Yay, JCP!

Hermitage Hotel

We had a jam-packed weekend last week. On Friday, we had Mr. SE's company party at the Hermitage Hotel. There were several hundred employees and we had private use of the lobby and ballroom. What a grand hotel! I'd never been inside before, but I was glad to get a sneak peak. Why, you ask? Because we booked our wedding night there. Yes, sight unseen. Mr. SE and I aren't very fancy pantsy people, so we didn't need a grand suite or anything extravagant. We booked a normal room and got a great rate from Hotels.com. {world-famous bathroom}

The biggest pro of staying at this particular hotel is that it's less than a block from our reception cite. So once again we'll have GREAT photography opportunities. One time I saw the most precious pictures of a groom and his new bride walking to their hotel after the reception. I loved it so much, and knew that I wanted to do the same thing for our wedding. Another plus? We don't need to use any form of transportation- so it's cheap!
*At this point in time I've been on hold with Airtrain for 41minutes. How can I change/cancel my flight (for a fee, obviously) if I'm on hold until we take off?!?

It's Time to Get Tacky

Aww, yeah. Last night we had Mr. SE's office party at The Hermitage Hotel. The hotel was super nice, I'm sure glad I just booked our wedding night there. Tonight we have our Christmas party with my friends. Get ready to get tacky....*Don't judge if you see us wearing something eerily similar. This was 2006 so it's not like a back-to-back repeat. And I might add some new accessories....

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

It's only November 11th and I'm already on a big Christmas kick. Mr. SE made me wait until November to watch Elf, and I just watched another Christmas-ish movie today: The Holiday. This movie is one of my absolute favorites! It's one of the two movies that I brought while studying abroad in Paris (the other being Hairspray), and I never tire of watching it. I love the development between the two sets of characters (Iris& Miles, Amanda & Graham), along with drooling over Cameron's fabulous sweater collection. And Arthur completly makes my day- he's the sweetest, cutest elerly man and his relationship with Kate warms my heart.

What holiday movies to do love watching every year? I'd love to add some newbies to my list!