smells like holiday spirit

so i got back from cali late, late saturday night/early, early sunday morning. it was past midnight, so i guess that technically counts as sunday, right? after a long week away from home, all i wanted to do was enjoy the rest of the weekend within the cozy comfort of my own walls. let's just say that it was a very lazy sunday morning. :)

the dude and i did an teensy bit of shopping. i have a little booklet for 5 weeks of (free) gifts from the Body Shop. there is a coupon for each week, and a different free (full-size) product you can redeem it for. i hadn't gotten mine for the week, being in CA and all, so that's really the only reason i willingly went to the mall at all. surprisingly though, it wasn't even half as busy as i thought it would be. i guess everyone got their black friday fix?! once there, it was nearly impossible to miss all the "sale!," "50% off," "buy 1 get 1" signage plastered on every store window and door. we know each other so well, it took merely a glance to agree on giving in a little. we picked up some fabulously inexpensive things for each other (i know, i know . . . we really should have been ticking names off our Christmas shopping list!) at Old Navy, Express, and Victoria's Secret.

sadly, i was so caught up in finding my size at VS (is it just me, or is it sort of confusing trying to find anything in that store?), that i set my ON bag down and never saw it again. i was SO upset because i knew exactly where i'd set it down, and it was nowhere to be found just 10 minutes later! plus, along with my ON goodies was my BS freebie and my Toms sunglasses! i called VS, mall security/lost and found, and ON (in the hopes that someone thought to drop it off at the store it was purchased from) multiple times, but it wasn't turned in. :(

i know that i shouldn't obsess over it since everything lost was a material good. it's just that i work so hard to have a bit of spending cash. maybe whoever picked it up just really needed it a lot more than i do . . .

we also finally got to pick up our pups. holy were they beyond excited to see us! we were greeted with happy little bounces, whines, and endless kisses. i just love how dogs are 100% incapable of being unhappy to see you. even if you've only been gone for 2 minutes!

i spent the rest of the afternoon and evening completely wrapped up in taking down all of my fall decorations and replacing them with Christmas decorations! boy was there ever a smell of holiday in the air! oh, the cheer and simple joy it brings. festive tunes rang all throughout the house, as jared helped me put up the tree. it's a cute little tree we bought at Target 5 years ago! it loses "needles" every year, but you better believe i'll keep using it until it's bald and looks like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree haha! he's in charge of setting it up and lighting it; the rest he leaves to me. :)

maybe it's cheesy (if it is i don't even care lol) but we've had a tradition of buying at least 1 new ornament each year. we have our classic orb ornaments of course, but like to pick out a fun or cute "specialty" ornament every Christmas. this year, we found 4 must-haves at this little Christmas shop in Old Town Sacramento. 

here's why i chose these 4 among the hundreds of other ornaments. first, i am absolutely obsessed with nutcrackers. holy weird alert, i know! they're just so unique to me. different costumes, details, and the more glitter the better! so, when i saw this cupcake hatted nutcracker, i just knew i had to have him on my tree. at first i contemplated buying a full-size nutcracker, but holy moly are they pricey! $90 for the one i wanted, and it wasn't even the most expensive! then, my little peepers came across this handsome nutcracker prince (just like in the ballet!). the Nutcracker (1986 version only) is my all-time favorite Christmas movie, so there's that ha. the Grinch Who Stole Christmas (original animated version) and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer are classics Jared and i grew up watching, so it was a mutual like-like kind of decision. 

santa has helpers, and so do i lol. these two pups were so happy to be back home. they were like shadows the entire day, never leaving my side. :)

we'll sit on your lap and watch while you set up the tree.

drum roll please . . . doesn't it just look so festive? i love our happy little tree. :)

it's so funny, the decorations i have were just enough to fill up our old apartment and make it look decked out. we have so much more space in our new house that i actually need to buy more!

do you decorate for Christmas (or "the holidays")?

are you a pre- or post-turkey day Christmas decorator?

happy holidays! . . . and to all a goodnight! ;)