what I got myself for Christmas

If you didn’t get everything you wanted for Christmas this year, there’s still plenty of time to get it for yourself. And I’m not even kidding about that one as I buy myself Christmas gifts every year.

the best gift ever!

Wanderlust Wednesday 

If you're following along on instagram then you already know that I'm in Europe right now. And I will forever be grateful to my parents, for giving me the best gift ever. The gift of travel is one of the greatest things you can give in my opinion. But even better than that is the gift of quality time because I’m travelling with my little sister.

My sister and I are more than a decade apart in age so I have been there from the day she was born. I remember changing her diapers and making her bottles and babysitting. I was there for bath-time and her first steps. And as she got older, I taught her to read and helped her practice writing her letters. I even took her trick or treating every year (no parents allowed) Ha!

But with me moving away for college + grad school and her getting older, it’s harder to maintain that closeness. There will always be a bond between us that I can’t quite explain. But this trip together will give us a chance to expand our relationship in a different way. With her being a little older now, I don't want to just be her big sister anymore, I hope to be a true friend.

And traveling with someone will forever change your relationship with them for the better. I promise you that. So, you can see now why this trip really is the best gift ever. We’re headed for 9 days split between Italy, France, and Spain. There will be lots of adventures, lots of exploring, lots of girl talk, and lots of gelato ;)

december lately

Call it a cliché. Or call me basic for saying this, but this really is the most wonderful time of the year. 

Between taking a Christmas trip to Mexico with the husband and heading off to Europe with my sister in just a few days, there has been a lot to appreciate lately. Add in getting to see all the family that we live apart from right now, plus enjoying the non-stop holiday festivities and nothing beats Christmastime. Our schedule has been so busy and jam-packed but we’re also loving every minute of it. So here’s a peak of December Lately.

Started this month off with a Christmas trip to Mexico.

what we gave for christmas 2016

I know everyone will soon be sharing what they got for Christmas, but I prefer this version much more! Planning out and giving the perfect presents really is the best part of Christmas. And I'm just going to say it, we totally nailed Christmas this year. 

Sometimes picking the right gift can be stressful, but this year Tom and I really focused on parring down our gift list and simplifying things. Everything centered around giving meaningful gifts vs. simply buying things for the sake of the holidays. And when you have people telling you that you're a great gift giver, you know that you picked the right present. 

feeling festive

Merry Christmas Eve! 

it's that time of year again

We got our Christmas cards out a lot later than I had hoped, but they should arrive just in time for Christmas. We were beyond busy with finishing up our semesters in grad school, so these totally got thrown together at the last minute. 

a year of travel through ornaments

If you can believe it, I almost didn't do a Christmas tree this year. Things are a bit complicated by the fact that Tom and I are in a long distance marriage again. For one, I wasn't feeling like decorating just for myself. And it so happens that our Christmas ornaments are at his place…well not all them.

Somehow, I ended up with the ornaments that we've picked up during our travels this past year. I did decide to do a tree, knowing that it would be a bit sparse, but it turns out that we accumulated enough ornaments this year to cover a 6 foot tree! Who knew? Especially since we only picked up ornaments at about half our travel destinations. Here's a peak at some of the ones from my tree this year.

merry in mexico

I will forever be in love with our holiday tradition of gifting each other an adventure for Christmas. We started doing this years ago right after we got married. While I love giving and receiving all the things at Christmastime, nothing beats creating memories and once in a lifetime experiences that we will have forever. 

snow, rain, and hail at Mt. Rainier

We encountered every weather condition you can have during our time in Mt Rainier. Well everything except sunshine. As we went up and down the mountain, we alternated between torrential downpours, wind, fog, hail, and snow. Even still, I would never trade in this amazing day. Yes, I would have appreciated a little sun (and warmth), but nothing could stunt the beauty of Mount Rainer National Park. 

buying all the sweaters: november budget

Sharing this clothing budget a little late thanks to being in Mexico over Thanksgiving. Also, thanks to putting in 60 hour weeks with grad school. Thankfully, things are winding down and back to a somewhat normal schedule now, which gives me a little more free time to share about important things, like clothes. With the cooler weather surfacing, I realized that I had a huge gap in my closet...sweaters. Aside from a few obnoxious holidays ones, I had almost none. So November was a month of buying all the sweaters.