Day 3: O Tannenbaum

This fabulous Christmas tree picture has been all over Pinterest:



Her simple instructions for how she got the photo? Turn your ISO all the way up, and your shutter speed all the way down (using a tripod).

My results weren't as great (I think the keys to the original pic are the reflective hardwood floors and, let's face it, the kid) but definitely better than Christmas tree pics of years past.











I wanted to replicate the dark, nighttime feel of the original photo, but they didn't turn out as dark as I thought they would so now I'm thinking it might be fun to try it with some daylight too.

Next week I hope to have some fun bokeh shots to share as well, that is if my subject (the dog) will cooperate!

Day 2: "That's My Jam" Christmas Playlist

I used to be big into the Christmas music. I couldn't wait for the random station that you'd never listen to any other time of year to start playing it 24/7. Now? Not so much. I think it's because the radio only plays the same 10 outdated songs over and over again.

But when I'm wrapping gifts or baking, I have to crank the Christmas tunes. (Oddly enough, I don't listen to Christmas music when I'm decorating, instead I watch holiday episodes of Friends. I do have all 10 seasons on DVD after all.) Enter, my 2011 Christmas Jams Playlist.

The tracks fall into a variety of categories, from Pop, to Classics, to Weird Techno, to Is This Really A Christmas Song? The key is to intersperse them evenly throughout the playlist, so you never know what you're gonna get.

For your listening pleasure, I've linked to each of the songs on YouTube so you can give any of them a test drive to see if you want to download.

1. Baby It's Cold Outside, by Lady Antebellum
A classic, and I love Lady A's version. 

2. Last Christmas, by Taylor Swift 

3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), by U2 

4. Tiny Christmas Tree, by Guster
Target put out a free album of holiday songs last year (some of them featured in their commercials) and this was one of the keepers.

5. Run Rudolph Run, by Chuck Berry
I'm not sure why, but this song reminds me of my days scanning groceries at the Piggly Wiggly. I knew the 50-song Muzak Christmas playlist so well I could tell you which song was going to play next. My customers were so impressed. 

6. Let it Be Christmas, by Alan Jackson 

7. Christmas Tonight, by Dave Barnes (with Hillary Scott) 

8. Where Are You Christmas?, by Faith Hill 

9. The Christmas Waltz, by She & Him 

10. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, by She & Him
My very favorite Christmas song in general. And who doesn't love Zooey? 

11. Step into Christmas, by Elton John 

12. Toy Jackpot, by Blackalicious
Another Target tune. I can't not dance to this song. 

13. Last Christmas, by the cast of Glee
Yes, another version of Last Christmas. I don't think you can ever have too many. 

14. A Christmas Song, by Dave Matthews Band 

15. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, by *NSYNC
There are two *NSYNC songs on my playlist. I ain't ashamed. 

16. I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You, by *NSYNC
This song reminds me of putting up our Tarheel Christmas tree at 713 N. Heritage Circle. Miss those girls. But not all the exam studying that surely followed. 

17. Christmas Tree, by Lady Gaga
This falls into the Weird Techno category. And possibly the Vulgar category? 

18. Hard Candy Christmas, by Dolly Parton
This falls into the Is This Really a Christmas Song? category. It's about a breakup. And it's pretty depressing. But I guess they can't really play it at any other time of year so it's become a Christmas song. 

19. New Again, by Sara Evans & Brad Paisley
Again, this seems more like an Easter song than a Christmas one to me, but it's on Sara's Christmas album, so I'll go with it.  

20. Do They Know It's Christmas, by the cast of Glee

I've also discovered that Pandora has some nice holiday stations. My favorites are R&B and Pop Holiday, and Country Christmas.

So, what's on your Christmas playlist this year that I should know about?

P.S. - When I'm not in the mood for Christmas tunes, you can currently find me jamming to Shake it Out by Florence + the Machine and Tongue Tied by Grouplove. If you haven't discovered either of these yet, you're welcome.

P.P.S. - You know what's not on my list? The Little Drummer Boy. In any shape, form or fashion.

Day 1: Holiday Tablescape

Since our holiday decorations haven't changed much from last year (you can take a look at them here) I won't bore you with the full tour. But over the 12 Days I will show you a few things that have been switched up or are new this year. First up: our dining table decor.

This switch up came out of necessity. I usually do alternating cylinder vases with pillar candles and pinecones. When I sent Lee out to the backyard to gather the pinecones this year (we live in NC, and the pine is our official state tree, so it seems silly to buy pinecones), he came back in with about a fourth of the amount of pinecones I needed. Now whether there really were less pinecones this year or he just got tired of looking, I'm not sure.

But I put on my thinking cap and decided to supplement the pinecones with some bright red and silver ornaments I had left over from years past.









I really like how it turned out. And I'm excited to be able to play around with the red when I set the table for our annual Christmas dinner party, instead of sticking to an all white and silver color scheme.

So what is your table looking like this year? Have you done a color scheme switch up, or are thinking about one? I've decided I want to change up my all-white-and-silver living room with some red next year, so fingers crossed that I score some good after-Christmas deals!

A New Look

Sorry I haven't checked in with you this week. That's because I've been busy giving the blog a (much needed) makeover! I know you're excited, right??

In addition to updating the design (tired of the gray, much?) I've also got lots of new features for you.

Over in the sidebar, you can sign up to receive notifications when a new post is added (so you'll always be in the loop). There are fancy new links so you can check out my Twitter feed, see what I've been pinning on Pinterest or email me in a jiffy. You can also easily find content by using the Search feature or clicking on one of the category blocks to see all posts related to that topic.

As for the main section, you'll now see some related "you might also like" posts at the bottom of each post. And don't forget, commenting should be easier than ever now (you don't have to have a Google or any other account) and I can reply back directly to your comment. So be a doll and leave me a note, mmkay?!

If you have any issues with the site or see anything that looks funky, holler at your girl. Because how can I remove the spinach from my teeth if I don't know it's there, right?

But that's not all folks! To celebrate my brand new look, I'm going to be bringing you my very own 12 Days of Christmas. 

Don't get too excited, I'm not going to be giving anything away. But I WILL be showering you with a new holiday-related post each day, starting Monday and running through Christmas Eve-Eve. It might be a recipe, a peek at our holiday decor, or just a cute picture of Sugar wrapped in Christmas lights. And that's WAY better than Ellen giving you an iPad or a Caribbean cruise, right??

Ok, maybe not. But committing myself to 12 straight days of posting is a lot for me, so it'll have to do for now. So be sure to stop back by next week for all the Crimmus goodness, won't you?

Seth's Senior Pictures

Some pictures from one of my Thanksgiving photo shoots to take you into the weekend.

On the rare occasion we had Seth dressed up and (somewhat) willing, Ann also wanted to get a brother/sister shot.

And then of course we had to do a few of Katie as well.

And by the way, unlike most taken-in-the-middle-of-a-field or let's-pose-in-a-rustic-barn portraits, these guys actually live here. As in, get to wake up and go to bed looking at these views every day. Pretty lucky, huh?

Thanks for being good subjects guys!

Thanksgiving Highlights

We had a perfectly lovely Thanksgiving weekend. Some highlights include:

1. Fellowshipping over shrimp stew at the Dawsons' on Wednesday night.

2. Wiley Dawson. He is a highlight in and of himself. First, he's showing Kristen how he can "textes". And then he's schooling Lee on his special blended bourbon.

3. Thanksgiving morning: Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, delicious turkey lunch, dog show, look through sales papers. It's the same routine every year, and that makes it perfect.

4. Annual picking out of the Christmas trees.

5. This after-lunch conversation:

Ann: "You know, Christmas sweaters are back in style this year."

My mom, indignant: "They were never out of style!"

Everyone: Pause. Followed by lots of laughter.

6. Kinston making national news for pepper spraying crazies at Wal-mart on Black Friday Thursday.

7. Four photoshoots including senior pictures, cheerleading pictures and two family Christmas card shoots.

8. Dinner and Black Friday evening shopping (it's the way to go, after the loonies have cleared out) with my favorite 20-month old and her not-my-favorite squeaky shoes.

9. Beautiful farm sunsets.

10. Spending quality time with our Tampa pals, even Sugar. These are two tired pups after spending all night catching up.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Ambrose the Turkey

Our cousins have a pet turkey (for now, let's just pretend that's a normal statement).

And apparently, he only responds to a strong, authoritative tone.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!