christmas time is here!!!

*cue charlie brown song*

my goodness i love this time of year. also i realize i have been absent like mad... i have been a busy little cookie lately. i worked every day last week. i am so totally jealous of those people bragging about their awesome black friday finds. i went to sleep at midnight and i got up at 4:00 a.m. for work... i left at 4:30 a.m. and didn't get back until about 4:30 p.m. .... so..... i spent almost 12 hours straight working at the mall... that's nuts people! it was semi-horrible. well, actually the first 6ish hours weren't so bad... it was the next 6 that will really getchya. i'm not really a big black friday shopper anyway, so to work all day was kind of shocking to me. but i guess i made lots of money instead of spending lots... so i guess that's the good thing about it.

anyway, so i have been so busy with work, shopping, decorating and thanksgiving-ing. i had a wonderful thanksgiving with my family. my parents hosted it, and we had a yummy breakfast bake together, then later we had probably the BEST turkey i ever had. it was so juicy and yummy.... i wish we had thanksgiving twice a year! or maybe 3 times.... or maybe like, once a month.... i love it : )

so anyway, the good news is i have this whole week off! i don't know how that happened, but apparently this week is a slow one for our store usually since everybody spends all their money over the weekend. whatever, i don't care the reason.. i'm gonna get all my shopping done and just take some time to be lazy and enjoy the season. so. excited. : )

i'm mostly done with my christmas decorating actually. i figured i would just show you a few pieces here and there considering i took about a bagillion pictures... so enjoy some christmas pictures : )

have a very happy holiday season!! take time to relax and enjoy it. but don't relax too much.. i want to see everyone's home decorated for the holidays! : )

linked up to rhoda's mantel party

don't tell me it's not.

it's officially the holiday season!!!!! only a few short weeks until thanksgiving! and then christmas!!! then new years!! whoa. the excitement, people! i cannot believe it's holiday time again. it feels surreal. i keep thinking, nooo it's early yet. i'm just over excited.. then i realize it's 23 days till thanksgiving.. my favorite day of the year!!

thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. i'll tell you why. it kicks off the holidays. when christmas comes it seems over so soon. but thanksgiving comes and you know that everything is about to get christmas-y and wonderful. and shopping! oh the shopping... : ) i don't dread christmas shopping. i enjoy it. i wait for a time when phil and i can go together and we just enjoy ourselves. we don't pressure ourselves, we just look for the right gifts, we might eat out together, get some starbucks or something.. and just have fun enjoying the christmas-filled stores. it's so fun. we start now though, because i think trying to fit all the christmas shopping into december, along with parties, baking, decorating, wrapping and our christmas traditions we have to do every year.. it's too busy, and i don't enjoy being that busy. and listen. the holidays are to enjoy people!!! : )

okay. so i already did a fall mantel.. and i told you i changed it again, so i guess this is my thanksgiving mantel. i know, you don't believe me. but i really think i can leave it this way until i do my christmas mantel! i hope... : )

much more simple than my fall mantel i did earlier this year.

i painted my pumpkins white too... they were super cute before but i felt like the orange and yellow were clashing with the blue wall and there was just something i didn't love about it.

i know i'm crazy for changing my mantel again, especially when i have to change it again for christmas.. but i didn't love it. i liked it, and it was okay... and there were certain aspects of it i loved, but i didn't love it as a whole. so i changed it. because if there's anything i know, it's that i should love the space i live in. if i don't love it, i need to change it or i need to change me. this time i changed it, and it turned out lovely : ) it's a lot more feminine and romantic than the fall mantel i did earlier, but that's what i like! so oh well : )

i am determined it will stay this way until thanksgiving.... i really do love it this way so i'll proably make it. probably...... ; )