November Moments

Here is a random assortment of random moments that made November a little more magical.

I decorated for Christmas before we went to St. George for Thanksgiving so I could come home and jump right into the Christmas season. I had been researching Christmas trees for a long time since the lights on my old one were pretty much all going out and with the new furniture I got this year, I needed a slightly thinner tree. I finally ordered one from Home Depot and it was PERFECT! I was so thrilled with how it fit the space. I also love this tree because the lighting system is all in the middle rod, so no having to connect cords of each sections anymore! Putting it together was like magic, I would just attach a section and BAM! it would instantly light up. Louis supervised the tree instillation process.

I absolutely love my house when it is decorated for Christmas, everything is so glittery and beautiful.

I only buy one new kind of ornament a year, now that I have a pretty full tree. This year I got these gorgeous ornaments from Michaels. They have glitter, velvet and sequins, all my favorite things! I am so in love with them.

This year I got to spruce up my holiday village since my new sofa back is much bigger and longer than my old one, more room to play! I didn't get any more houses but I added lots more trees. Mom gave me a whole bag full of ones she doesn't use anymore so I didn't need to buy too many.

I also added a couple of tiny deer and little pink cars and they just filled me with so much joy. I couldn't get over how cute they looked.

With all the new little details, it looks just as magical from the back as it did from the front. Louis wanted to be part of the photoshoot, he posed perfectly.

In this area of the house, I added quite a few more decorations. I got that amazing gingerbread castle from Jolly's, it is the perfect Christmas centerpiece. I also added a garland over my new painting and switched out my autumn colored feathers for Christmas colored ones.

I got crafty and created these itty bitty trees to add in a little more of my vintage color scheme.

I also added this painting this year, the instant I saw it in the Deseret Book catalog I was in love with it and it matches my decor so well. I am thrilled with it.

This adorable metal sign was my purchase from the Christmas market this year.  

This was my view from my favorite corner of the couch, it made me so happy.

I expanded my decor upstairs this year, for the first time in a long time I am feeling creative and inspired and have the mental capacity to put more effort into different areas of life, it's so exciting! I didn't go crazy upstairs, I just added these garlands above the piano, so playing Christmas carols would feel even more festive.

I love the view from upstairs.

I didn't change much with the front entry decor, it just look so cute, I can't help but document it every year.

I love starting November off by doing boxes for Operation Christmas Child. Mom and I did it together again this year and we had so much fun. We were laughing so much in the toy aisles and just having the best time. Mom created a box for a girl ages 5-9 and I created a box for a boy 5-9.

After I had dropped off our boxes, we got an email saying they were headed to El  Salvador this year.

Mom and I have another tradition we love to do every year, we love to visit all the little boutiques around Salt Lake and see their fun Christmas displays.

This year we started at Jolly's

Then we headed downtown to do a little shopping at City Creek and get lunch at Nordstroms. We got a table right by the windows and had a great view of the autumn leaves. It was a pretty chilly day, so warm tomato soup hit the spot.

Then we went to The Garden Store on 7th East. This place is always our favorite, their Christmas displays are absolutely stunning. The second we walked into the store, we were greeted by this whimsical candy train station and we were smitten, it was unbelievably magical.

After spending several minutes taking in every detail of the candy train, we moved on to the rest of the store.

They sell gorgeous things here.

Next up was Every Blooming Thing.

We ended the day with a quick stroll through Bloomingsales.

We added a new store to our Christmas tour this year, mom discovered this store with her sister Sue one day and she loved it so much she wanted to take me back. I had heard of Knot and Spool, but I thought they just sold ribbon, I didn't realize they had a whole boutique. They will need to become a regular on our yearly tour, their Christmas display was fabulous.

After viewing Knot and Spool's winter wonderland, we went to Mom's current favorite restaurant for lunch, Stellas. She goes there all the time with Sue and guess who was seated a couple of tables down from us... Sue and her son Mike! We laughed at how much they both love this place so much, they both ordered the same thing, the burger, they must be sisters or something ;)

I got to go to another football game with dad this month. It was freezing that day, so we had to really bundle! Our boys played a great game and we walked away with a win!

The dessert table in the box is always so festive, I love it.

We got to celebrate Jenny and Beth this month! Mom ordered Baker's cakes in their favorite colors.

On Beth's actual birthday, I took her out to brunch to a place we had both been dying to try, Sunday Brunch. Beth dressed up and looked like a gorgeous, sparkly birthday queen.

The decor at Sunday Brunch is totally our jam, we were fan girling over every wallpaper, floor tile, and velvet covered chair.

A while ago, we had discovered we had both bought the same crown. It's so crazy how much our style is exactly the same but also vastly different. This was the perfect occasion to show off our matching crowns.

Utah had its first ever drone show and Beth and I went to see it. It was part of Illuminate, Utah's Light Art Festival.

"ILLUMINATE  is a free celebration of innovation and imagination for the community, art lovers, and families. Artists working with technology and using light as their medium will use Downtown Salt Lake CIty’s Library Square as a canvas to  create projection-mapped artwork, 3D Sculptures and exhibits inspired by the theme Mother Nature in Light."

The drone show was so cool!

We got quite a bit of snow this month which always made my early morning view so beautiful and tranquil.

For some reason, Louis was really into going out into the snow this year. Usually he says "hard pass" but he was feeling adventurous this year.

His little footprints in the snow were the cutest things.

On days that it didn't snow, we got out to view our morning sunlight. I would bundle up and it was actually pretty refreshing.

After morning sunlight time, and pretty much all throughout the day, the three of us would cuddle up together on the couch with our favorite blankets.

I could not get enough of Dinah and Louis this month, they always looked so cute and cozy, I took so many pictures on them.

Louis greets me with kisses when I get home at night.

He also discovered the drawers in my new bedroom dresser.

Louis didn't like it when I tried to do anything but cuddle with him on the couch. He boycotted my productivity.

One night as we were heading to bed I couldn't find Louis upstairs, I went looking for him and found him admiring himself in the hall mirror. He does this kind of often, I'm glad he has such high self esteem.

Dinah was my little cuddle bug all month long.

The tucked paws!

I met more adorable kitties at my local pet store. It truly is a miracle I don't own 50 cats by now.

I have been taking a break from work since August, mainly for health reasons but I'm also looking to maybe transition into another line of work. I did one last visit this month, for my neighbor down the street. Beasly and Halpert are her two King Charles Cavilers and I love them so much, they are so cute and so sweet.

She has added a new dog to her family, she rescued the sweetest Great Dane and named him Wally. All Wally wanted to do was snuggle, he loved hugs and wanted all the pets. He was still pretty young and still had quite a bit of that puppy energy.