Saturday Shoes: The End

For Christmas 2010, I gave my husband a gift of no new shoes for 2011. I held to my promise and gift. And today, I have likely become more discerning with future shoe purchases. But only 2012 will tell. Here is the collection:

...then again, now that I am reminded of these fabulous shoes, I might need to purchase a few pairs!

A December to Remember

1. Evenings Out

 Friends of our sponsored a table at the IJM benefit dinner.

We dressed up and had a fancy party supporting an incredible cause.

Tracey and David, on the right, are just a few of the fabulous people we were able to spend our evening with.

Click here to learn more about the International Justice Mission.

2. We went to the zoo! At night!

As our first experience with zoo lights, it was pretty magical.

Bonus: on the night we went it snowed AND there was a santa pub crawl.

do you see the bad santa in a chimney behind us?

3. Blate

Nikki, from Cupcakes for Breakfast, and I met for coffee in DuPont at Dolcezza. 

coffee, conversation, atmosphere,

all ah-mazing!

I cannot wait to go back in the Spring for their gelato.

4. I love my etsy shop.

Is that weird to say? I am having a blast making stationery. Fulfilling custom orders. And meeting new customers. I love it so much, I am giving you a gift. Each comment on this post that mentions my etsy shop will be entered to win either 

one of the holiday card sets (gift tag, snowflake, candy cane) 

or a custom baby onesie monogram set. 

All you have to do is leave me a comment saying which card set you would like. And if you want the baby onesie, tell me blue or pink plus the initial monogram to stamp.

Bonus entry if you favorite my etsy shop. Be sure to leave a separate comment.

Double Bonus: 25% off all hand-stamped sets this weekend with coupon: BLOGLOVE25

5. Talented Friends

Mark and I met up with some friends from high school at Baggataway's Tavern in Conshohocken when we were in PA for Christmas.  Mark and I were reminded that Brian is one of the coolest guys we know.  He makes great conversation, is a blast to drink with, and is living his dream. Brian is one half of the creative genius behind the band The Carpet Squares. They are making music without a production company and loving each step of the journey.

6. SPA

Christmas Eve, the ladies in my family were treated to a surprise spa day at Joseph Anthony.

Foot baths in the relaxation room, steam in the alpine room, relaxation in the brine room, massages, and a spa lunch. We returned home floating. It was a fabulous morning.

 7. Behr has a new love. Stairs.

That's all.

8. Red Stamp

Have you all seen Red Stamp? I loved the online papery and was sad when they closed to focus on their mobile platform. But now I love their mobile platform even more. Here are two of the cards that have been sent to our family recently, from my phone.

Here is a bit of the history and a review/how to.

Seriously, go download it from iTunes. You won't regret this.

9. New Years Eve Sparkle

These are a few of the nye images that are inspiring me. You can see the sources of these images and more inspiration on my pinterest boards holidays and party.

And with all of this inspiration, we have no party plans. I think we might snuggle and watch movies until 11:30. And then flick on the TV for perfunctory ball drop watching. And you know, something so simple will still be perfect. Perfect for us.

What are your new years eve plans? Are you going to be out on the town or cozy at home?

Oh, hi. You want a number 10? 

Well here is a silly video.

This is what happens when you give stupid people (aka me) an iPhone.

This is completely uneditted.

For the record, Mark was not holding his phone. I don't know why I said that.

The coolest part of this video? 

It reminds me of how we used to commentate our road trips when we were first dating. Still got it. Love.

 

And because I did this December review, basically over shared, and Behr's birthday is in a few weeks, I will be skipping a year in review, for now.

So there you have it. I am linking up with Elizabeth:

Christmas Morning

We have officially entered a new era of sitting on the front steps.

Behr is a whole lot cuter than the rest of us were anyway.

He is so excited but doesn't have a clue why. He just knows. It is in the air.

Everyone gathered in the front room, while Behr began to make his way over.

 

And now a video recap of Behr's first time seeing the Christmas tree and opening presents:

yes, that running commentary is normal.

it actually was a bit toned down for the sake of the video.

now you know why I tell folks that I am not the loudest in my family.

so excited once he finally got the hang of it.

he proud as can be!

realizing that it makes noise.

realizing that the camera might be more interesting.

eating one of mama's gifts. a pot stirrer that looks like a paint stick.

also serves as an effective teether in a pinch.

trying on his new hoodie with uncle mike.

and super excited about popouli's big gift.

that is, until he realized that it was only a snow blower.

and wasn't going to be taken out of the box.

And we finished off the morning with homemade waffles for breakfast.

Behr sat in his race car and jumped his heart out.

The end.

Behr is wearing Hanna Andersson pajamas.

I am linking up to small style over on mama loves papa.

Our Christmas in Pictures

Our Christmas bonanza* in pictures with just a few words of commentary at the end.

*save Christmas morning

that is extra special, so I am saving it for tomorrow.

family time, the girls just back from a surprise spa day

Christmas Eve at my parents with all of the little cousins

five kids under four

birthday buddy chloe

my cousin is only 4 days younger than Behr!

Lots of Cousin Love

enthralled with ripping wrapping paper

yia-yia

semi-anual photo shoot

Christmas morning church service, where we were married

Christmas Dinner with the Schreiber side

loving the box with cousin Sam, it is the simple things

sleepy behr

sweet moments with uncles and grandparents and great-grandparents

the day after christmas visiting more great-grandparents

our Chirstmas weekend was certainly a bonanza,

but we loved every second of time with family,

and every mile driven to get there!

 

joining elizabeth's christmas linkup:

Merry {part deux}

On the eve of the eve, I posted our "real" family Christmas card.

The one we mailed out to 160+ of our nearest and dearest.

Don't ask me how that many people make our list...

I shudder as I sit to write the addresses each year...hand cramp! 

It is like an annual wedding, sort of.

But friends, I feel like letting you in on the secret.

This gem of a card is what we really wanted to send. So we printed it up anyway. Thanks to the ever fabulous TinyPrints for having extremely flexbile designs allowing for ultimate customization. psst. we used the card: edgy name. Over the weekend, as we doled out carefully selected gifts to our family memebers, this was the accompanying message. A good laugh was had by all. 

And I know you have seen this picture before, but not all of the grandparents and great-grandparents and aunts and uncles are in the blog-o-sphere on a regular basis.

...more about Behr's first Christmas and our happenings coming soon!

Merry Merry

we hope you are enjoying blessed time with your loved ones

while we do the same

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Meeting Santa

Each December we look forward to Mark's office Christmas party. Good food, company and fun. This year we were even more excited, knowing that Behr would get to meet Santa {our good friend, Albert}. The decorations were beautiful and more than made up for us not having our own tree in our apartment. So how did that fateful meeting with Santa go? I will let the picture tell the story:

As we approached Santa, Behr began to dig his claws into me, even wrapping his little legs around my waist in an effort to cling for dear life. As soon as he was released into Santa's arms, he began to clamour, eventually letting out the building scream. He was so earpiercing, he managed to quiet the busy room. Knowing how much Behr loves Albert without the costume, and how deeply Albert cares for Behr, Mark and I could help but laugh hysterically. Our poor child received no sympathy from his parents. We scared him and then laughed our heads off. Someday we know he will too!

Fortunately, Behr gave a better reception to almost everyone else. He spent most of the evening hanging with two of my closest friends, Lauren and Christie, who visited us in the hospital right after Behr was born!

And Behr was completely enamoured with the tree. While I was able to get some cute pictures, the experience once again, made me ever so thankful that we don't have a tree this year. He tried knocking the tree over, eating it, and pulling the (plastic!) ornaments off. Incredibly, the professionally decorated corporate tree withstood the abuse from Behr. Meanwhile, I paid close attention to how strategically these ornaments were twisted and tied as to not come loose at the hands of a child.



Finally, I was beyond thrilled that we were able to capture a half way decent family photo!

Behr is wearing:

Shirt - Janie and Jack

Pants - Carters

Socks - See Kai Run

Shoes - Cole Haan

now Behr officially has nicer shoes than me,

but they were a great deal.

I think I snagged them on Gilt Groupe

I am linking up to small style.