Hi, friends! Long time no see. I took a little break from blogging, and I’m happy to return today. I tend to take breaks periodically. I admit that this time around it has had a lot to do with the time of year and the stress of my teaching job. It’s all caused a lull in creativity for the blog, and for that I apologize. I’m hoping 2020 brings more clarity and creativity for this space and just for life in general. But for now let’s recap the last month of 2019. Grab your coffee or tea or wine and let’s get started.
Naturally, we were in the total and complete holiday swing of things in the Norman household. I was still loving my decorations- mostly my tree and all the twinkle, and once the Christmas break rolled around, I was in full on movie watching mode. I have a blog post on my favorite holiday movies, but this year I tackled: The Holiday, The Family Stone, Harry Potter (the first two), Christmas Vacation, Elf, and numerous Hallmark movies.
I also got to watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season 3. Y’all know how much I love this show. I’ve watched seasons 1 and 2 over and over. I’ll be honest, season 3 had some great moments, but it was not my favorite one. I wanted so much more from it, and I hope they’ll go back to ten episodes for season 4 and answer all the darn questions I had during season 3.
Once school let out, we hit the ground running with Christmas celebrations. Our traditions changed a little this year in that we did them a little early since Andrew and Anna were spending the actual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her family. I think all of us thought it might be a little bit weird, but it was the greatest thing. It totally made for a more relaxed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because we weren’t running around everywhere. Anyway, we did our normal Christmas Eve traditions and opened up presents to one another and had a steak dinner. Then the next morning Santa came early!
Fun fact: My mom wraps all of our presents in different wrapping paper that she picks for us. This year I got buffalo check and pink ribbon. It’s a fun tradition she started once we got older.
Christmas Eve was spent at Paul’s Uncle and Aunt’s house with his dad’s brothers and their mom, Grandma Dot.
Since we had Christmas with my family the weekend before actual Christmas Day, we had a little extra downtime Christmas morning. We were lucky enough to cook brunch for our friends, the Bushes. We got to hang with sweet JW. Very happy Christmas morning, indeed.
Lunch and presents on Christmas Day was with Paul’s family. We had a great time but of course didn’t take pictures like we should have. I did manage to get the next two.
Another fun thing about being in your hometown for the holidays is when your friends who live out of town come home for Christmas. I totally reaped the benefits by spending time with two great friends. One who lives on the other side of the country now and one who lives just up the road in Auburn.
Cile and I forgot to take a picture, but we had a lovely chat over coffee at McDonald’s. (Greenville could seriously do with a proper coffee shop.) But Christy and I did manage to remember a picture after we got in our quality time.
My book club read Little Women for our last pick of the year, and some of us met up to watch the movie the day after Christmas. I thought it was a great film and would actually like to go see it again. It made me laugh and cry and was just an all around well-done movie.
We’ve been celebrating New Year’s Eve for a few years now with my brother. It’s looked a little different every year, but it’s always good fun. This year it was just the six of us, well, and the little guy you saw above. 🙂
Okay, now that we’ve covered the experiences of December, let’s talk about the things.
Paul and I always have an early gift exchange. We’ve been doing this since our first Christmas together. This year he gifted me several things that I’m definitely loving this month. My favorite are gold hoops that I never expected to get. They are timeless and beautiful, and if you aren’t shopping McFerrin’s, then you need to start. Jehle is always so kind and loves to make all of us Greenville girls look and feel beautiful.
The Loopy Case is probably something you’ve seen tons of bloggers using. Call me #influenced because I totally mentioned it to Paul, and he delivered. I had been eyeing the Opal case because of it’s sleek, white color but the opal quality catches the light just beautifully. Love it! Try this coupon code for 10% off if you want one: thankyou10. If that doesn’t work, let me know and I’ll refer a blogger that has a standing coupon code with them.
The leopard sneakers are another Walmart find and are under $11 right now on Rollback and fully stocked!
I also got some great booties. I’ve been in major need (I took a sharpie to my old black ones when we went to see Wicked!), and mom and Mrs. Robyn really came through for me this Christmas. Andrew and Anna gave me those really cute red heels from Target. Total transparency here: the boots are two different styles. The black ones are called the Camryn. The tan ones are called Alyse. But they are the exact same bootie. Legit cannot tell a difference. I linked them both to separate websites, but they can be found at most department stores, so if you have a coupon code for a particular store or have a store credit card, try searching there.
This is my second Simplified Planner, and I may never go back to another one again. As long as my mom wants to gift this to me for Christmas, I will keep letting her. I have written a whole blog post about it here, and I got the same one (The Daily) as last year. I truly love this product and use it every single day.
I found a new podcast, Sibling Revelry with Kate and Oliver Hudson. They interview other siblings and discuss all sorts of things. If you’re a fan of either one of these siblings and like interview type podcasts, you’ll enjoy this one.
And speaking of podcasts, we wrapped up season one of Adults (By 40) with our last episode airing January 1st. It has been a lot of fun to get to discuss things with these girls. We have all agreed to do another season and are even looking into having guests. As always, we’re open to any adulting conversations that you want us to get into.
On the last day of school before Christmas break, my students had just come off of a three day test. Whew! We all earned a sweet treat, so I made my homemade hot cocoa. It’s super rich and chocolaty, and I was happy to share it with some of my students who had never had hot cocoa before. I shared the recipe a few years ago but here it is again. It’s a good special occasion drink if you need one soon during these cooler months.
I know I shared it in last month’s favorites, but this faux leather jacket from Sam’s was on HEAVY rotation in December and still is. Love. It. But it’s low in stock and under $20! HURRY!
I think I’ve found my new favorite feel-good show. The Great British Baking Show. I randomly put it on as background noise while doing some household task, and I got hooked. I get so invested in these people baking things I’ve mostly never heard of. And all of the people are British or from some European country, and I love to hear the way they say basil, oregano, pita, and blueberry. It’s a must watch! Find it on Netflix.
Alright, I’ll leave you with my parents’ tree. See all the different wrapping paper? It’s hard to see Anna’s, but her’s was in one of her favorite shades of blue. I hope December was good to you, and that you’re looking ahead to a positive January and 2020 year. I’ll be back soon!
