christmas eve random

Have had a really low-key, relaxing Christmas Eve...

Slept in, stripped the beds and got all the sheets and blankets washed

and back on the beds. 

Read my email and some blogs.

Met my in-laws for lunch at Famous Dave's.

Got home and took a mile walk with the hubby.

Since then, we've just watched some TV, played Dominoes

and Backgammon while drinking wine and munching on 

some pretzels and chips.

Going to watch our favorite Christmas movie ~

A Christmas Story 

when it comes on TV in 1/2 hour.

In the meantime...

My "baby's" 21st birthday was on the 19th!

We took him out to dinner at Weber Grill.

You can see where he gets his wavy hair from. :-)

 

Tim is a drummer and he needed a new snare, so that was his

main birthday present.

And, of course...what's a 21st birthday without a six-pack

of different, cool beers?

Totally changing subjects (told you this was going to be random!),

I had to share this shot of Clementine and Zippo.

I thought it was so sweet how they were sleeping with just the

lower part of their bodies touching.

Monkey is very hard on scratching posts - he really tears them up.

(He likes my couches too, unfortunately.)

Here's the happy kitty with his new scratching post.

My movie is just about to start, so here's wishing you all a

happy, healthy, and joyous Christmas.

little bit of Christmas kitchen decorating

I don't do much in my kitchen as far as Christmas decorating.

Just little touches here and there.

I would love to set a beautiful holiday table, but two of my cats

seem to think that tablecloths are made for their napping space.

Cat hair on a table isn't exactly appetizing.

I seem to have a "thing" for red and white this season.

Hubby asked me what the pomegranates in the fruit bowl were for.

I told him they were for decoration. I thought they looked so pretty

with the green apples.

He said, "You're kidding, right?" 

Silly man.

Went with the red and white theme in my china cabinet, too.

Couple of little shelves on one of the kitchen walls...

I pinned the vintage Christmas cards to this birdcage that hangs 

in front of the kitchen window. 

Would probably look prettier and more festive with bittersweet

or some kind of garland wrapped around the top of the cage...

Might get to that later. Or never. ;-)

My snowmen shelf...

Just 8 more days...are you ready?!

decking the living room

I've actually been working on Christmas decorating for over a week,

but kept playing with and rearranging stuff.

We don't put up a tree anymore.

We stopped doing that after Phil (our firstborn son) passed away

a couple of years ago.

We would put up a tree if Tim (secondborn son) still wanted us to, but he doesn't.

Perhaps "someday" we'll feel like putting up a tree again.

Maybe when (hopefully!) we have a grandkid or two someday.

I still like to decorate in the living room and kitchen though,

since I do like the holiday decor and these two rooms are our

main living areas.

At first, I had these vintage Christmas cards hanging above the fireplace...

but, changed my mind and now have "current" Christmas cards hanging 

above the fireplace instead.

I found this cute, little wooden sled decoration at Goodwill.

It seems very well made (Germany?) though there's no label

of origin on the bottom.

I always have a hard time with vignettes on the console table

no matter what the season. I think it's because of the

vast amount of white space between the table and the picture

that hangs on the wall. I think it helped to use this 

cake stand for elevation to fill in that white space.

I've had this ceramic reindeer and sleigh forever.

My aunt made it for me when I was first married.

It always has a place of honor in my Christmas decor.

I found these two holiday pillows at Target last week.

I like how the red bird adds a pop of color to the beige sofa.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but the tree on the beige pillow has 

some sparkly sequins.

Hardrock, Coco, and Joe sure liked the pillow! ;-)

Another wishlist project...have a big "window" cut out in this

main living room wall. It's the main supporting wall of the house,

so we can't knock down the entire wall, unfortunately. 

The kitchen is on the other side. It would be so cool to have

one, big open space.

I don't think I ever showed you our new front door.

It's hard to get a good picture of it because of the light, 

but it looks so much better than the old, ugly white door 

that was there before.

My favorite part of the door is the leaded glass windows.

They let in some light, but it's diffused nicely in the summer,

so that the room doesn't get too hot.

I hope to show you my kitchen holiday decor later in the week!