Merry Christmas, Y'all!

Happy, happy Christmas! That can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fireside and his quiet home!

- Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers

Merry Christmas to all of you and your loved ones! We hope you have the merriest of days, and find as much joy in this season as we do.

Love,

Harris, Courtney, & Lucy

Ferdinand the Christmas Tree

Post-Christmas

Well, here we are, folks. Christmas is behind us, and New Year's is just around the corner! We hope you and your loved ones had a very blessed and special Christmas, and are as excited as we are about the New Year!

Our Christmas was a little different this year. Of course, it was our first Christmas as a married couple, which was fun and exciting! Then, with Harris getting his promotion, and since they wouldn't have hired his replacement before the end of the year, he agreed to work a few days in his old job. Two of those days were Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Now, it ended up not being a big deal at all - he ended up not really even having to work at all on Christmas Day, but it did mean we were tied to staying in Norfolk. We were very excited about getting to spend this holiday together, and, while we would have loved to see all of our extended family, it was also fun to start some of our own traditions this year.

Santa had left an early present under our tree withe instructions that it should be opened on Christmas Eve. Inside, we found new pajamas for the family, hot chocolate and mugs, a box of popcorn, and copies of Elf and It's A Wonderful Life! You may have seen on the Christmas post, or on Instagram, for that matter, but, Lucy was not a fan of pajamas! She will wear a sweater or what have you, but I think the PJs on her legs was just too much for her. She was pitiful, but adorable.

Cookies were baked on Christmas Eve from the cake mix cookies recipe, and, after our traditional Thai takeout for Christmas Eve (fa-ra-ra-ra-ra, anyone?), we settled in with some eggnog and cookies to watch It's A Wonderful Life. Oh, that Jimmy Stewart. Just simply one of the best movies ever.

Christmas morning started off bright and early around here! Harris & Lucy were up at 3am (I woke up, and then proceeded to doze in and out of consciousness for another hour or so). We made some cinnamon rolls, turned on the tunes, and then set about the business of opening presents! Lucy was very helpful in the opening of all presents and stockings, not just her own. We got some really great stuff, including almost everything on each of our wish lists (Harris, Courtney, Lucy)! Harris said his favorite gift was the gift set from the Art of Shaving that I gave him, Lucy's was clearly the blue bone-like toy with taggies that was on her wish list, and mine was a Pandora bracelet from Harris!

Harris did such a great job of giving me a meaningful and special Christmas present (FYI - he is the best gift giver in the family). The charms he chose for my bracelet were: a flip flop (to represent our first date at the beach), a puppy (for our first child), a hot air balloon (for our engagement), and, for our wedding, a passport and a red pave heart. I loved it! (and cried, of course).

We made it til 10am before the Champagne was popped, and then it poured freely until lunchtime (when the wine was opened!).

Later in the day, when catching up with my friend Michelle about Christmas and her kids, I got the following text (just a bit of humor for any of my coworkers who read this blog):

We spent the remainder of the day eating, napping, talking to family via FaceTime, and so forth. Overall, it was such a wonderful day, and we created lots of fun family memories. The rest of this week, Harris will be working, and Lucy and I will be alternating between working hard (around the house), and hardly working (also around the house). It will probably be much more of the latter, but, shhh...don't tell!

So This Is Christmas

From our Family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!

Ligon Family 2013 Christmas Card!

Our Wall of Cards - We have so loved getting these from our family & friends!

Our Dickens Village for this year - Scrooge & Marley's Counting House

Lucy poses for Christmas card pics

Love having all these twinklies!

Our indoor icicle lights.

Our first tree as a married couple - love it so much!

Some new ornaments (from top): Norfolk skyline and mermaid, Virginia state bird,
Ligon Family 2013, mermaid

Mermaids galore!

Love the sparkles!

Our Wedding Day!

From Santa for Christmas Eve opening!

Lucy's Christmas PJs!

Family PJs!

Lucy hates hers.

Red Velvet Cake Cookies!

Butter Yellow Cake Cookies dyed Green!

Green Frosting!

Christmas Cookies!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it...Be 70 degrees the weekend before Christmas?!

Let us talk about the weather. No, seriously. This is the current weather forecast for Norfolk:

TodayDec 20

67°F

53°F

Mostly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

SSW at 14 mph

Details

SatDec 21

72°

61°

Partly Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

SSW at 14 mph

Details

SunDec 22

75°

62°

Cloudy

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

SSW at 19 mph

Details

MonDec 23

64°

37°

Rain / Thunder

CHANCE OF RAIN:

70%

 

WIND:

WNW at 10 mph

Details

TueDec 24

42°

28°

Sunny

CHANCE OF RAIN:

10%

 

WIND:

NNW at 14 mph

Details

WedDec 25

43°

32°

Mostly Sunny

Full Christmas Forecast

CHANCE OF RAIN:

0%

 

WIND:

NE at 7 mph

Details

I mean, come on! It is December. Christmas is days away. And we are looking at a high of 75 over the weekend?! I am so annoyed! Granted, I have plenty of Christmas memories growing up where I was wearing shorts on Christmas Day, and I am more delighted than I can tell you about once again living in the South, but is it so much to ask for just a nice cold Christmas? It doesn't even have to snow, it just doesn't need to feel like late summer! Weather, do whatever you want come December 26th, but give a girl a Christmas break, won't you? At least the weather has the decency to be in the low 40s on Christmas Day. It hasn't gone completely bat crap crazy, which is something. Okay, end of rant (note: poor hubs has been hearing this rant all week. Bless him).

Today is my second day of vacation, and I am reveling in it! Yesterday I started packing up and moving random stuff from our condo into a (much needed) storage unit. I finished that up this morning, along with some errand running, and now Lucy and I are just hanging out in the casa for the afternoon. A nap may or may not be imminent! Tonight, Harris and I are going to see a production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, which is one of our annual holiday traditions. Then, I guess this weekend we will be basking in the sunshine of 70+ degree days. Bah humbug.

From Our Kitchen: Eggnog Pie

As I am sure we are all out there making final preparations for our holiday meals next week, I thought I would share a delicious Christimastime dessert (that, if you recall, I in fact made for Thanksgiving!) as inspiration for next week's festivities. If your household is anything like ours, you have probably drunk your weight in eggnog this Christmas season, so it is only appropriate that you now try your hand at an eggnog pie! The best part about this pie (I mean, aside from the fact that it is delicious!)? It is a no bake pie! Completely homemade, no baking. I mean, that's awesome, right?

What You'll Need for the Crust:

• 10 tbsp butter, melted
• 2 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What You'll Need For the Filling:

• 1 quart eggnog (I recommend the Southern Comfort brand of eggnog - by far my favorite!)
• 2 (5.1 oz each) packages of vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

What You'll Do:

1. Melt your butter in a large mixing bowl, and add your graham cracker crumbs.
2. Mix in your brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir until well combined.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Spray a 9 inch pie pan, and place your crust mixture into the pan. Begin pressing down to form the crust along the bottom and sides of the pan.
   
   
   
   
4. Place the crust into the refrigerator to set while you mix together your filling (don't worry - it only needs to set for just a few minutes - roughly the time it takes for you to put together the filling). 
5. In a large mixing bowl, blend together your vanilla pudding mixes and eggnog. Mix well. Add in your cinnamon and nutmeg, and continue to mix until mixture begins to thicken
   
   
   
   
6. Get your crust back out of the refrigerator. Pour filling mixture into crust. At this point, you can garnish with whipped cream, cinnamon, or, as I did, some graham cracker sprinkles on top. Cover with plastic wrap, and place back into refrigerator until ready to serve. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Credit to original recipe

Christmas Wish List 2013: Harris Edition

Rounding out the family wish lists today with my sweet husband's list for 2013. There are a couple really good things on here that I think would be good for any of the fellas in y'all's lives, so take note if you have any last minute shopping to do!

01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06

01: We love North Faces around here, and, in the wintertime, at least, Harris usually wears one for his daily walks to and from work. We have had the same half dozen or so for several years, so it would be nice to get him a couple updated ones this Christmas!

02: Walking to and from work every day (as referenced above!), Harris definitely gets in lots of steps. This little wristband tracks your daily steps, stairs climbed, calories burned, distance traveled, and active minutes. At night, it tracks your sleep and even has an alarm to wake you up in the morning! He will definitely enjoy tracking all of this stuff.

03: We have a new Art of Shaving store in the mall, and recently went in to get a demo of how their stuff works. It's actually all pretty cool, and has a classic feel. Harris was given some samples, and thought the products were pretty awesome. Being in corporate America and having to have the clean shave definitely makes this worthwhile for him. The kit includes a bottle of their pre-shave oil (which Harris swears is what makes this shave so nice), a huge jar of their shaving cream, brush, and after-shave balm. There are four different scents to choose from, and they all smell really nice!

04 & 05: With the new promotion, I definitely wanted to celebrate a little and also update Harris' wardrobe a bit. He is pretty classic in style, especially when it comes to work, and virtually everything (okay, no just everything) in his work wardrobe is from Land's End. He loves their dress shirts and dress pants (and, well, really pretty much all of their stuff) the most. These supima shirts are incredibly soft, and he always looks really sharp, so anything new in this department would be a great Christmas gift for him!

06: This is actually something that I recently picked up on a whim in Bath & Body Works. I was in there updating my travel size stuff, and they had a sale on men's products as well. I really liked the way the CO Bigelow Elixir Blue smelled, so thought, why not! He has been rotating it with his Bleu de Chanel, and I have been pleasantly surprised at how good this smells! The scent also seems to last a lot longer than other colognes (sorry, Chanel) - he can put it on in the morning, and sometimes I can still smell it on him when we get in bed at night!

So, there you have it - the Ligon Family Christmas Wish Lists! I can't believe Christmas is in 7 days!!!

Christmas Wish List 2013: Lucy Edition

It was fun to put together my wish list for Christmas yesterday, so I thought I would make it a family affair. Since I figure Harris might like to be involved in putting his together, and since he is currently at work, I thought I would go ahead and share Lucy's wish list today!

01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05

01: Okay, so this is technically a baby toy, but we have bought baby toys for her before because she really likes stuffed animals, and she also really loves having tags/tails/whatever to chew and lick, so this seemed like a perfect little toy for her!

02: I think she will like all the little end pieces, but she will also like being able to play fetch with this toy.

03: She will personally hate this little coat, but it will be adorable on her, plus she gets so cold outside (okay, I know I sound like a crazy person now, but seriously, the dog shivers outside).

04: We like to use an elevated bowl to feed her, but all of those metal ones start rusting and I hate it. This seems like a great compromise because I can just wash the whole thing when it gets dirty.

05: Another taggy toy that she will love.

There you have it, all the things the pup needs for Christmas. And don't worry, I embrace my crazy.

Christmas Wish List 2013: Courtney Edition

So with Christmas Eve being a week from tomorrow (holy what?!), I know I am a little late to the Christmas Wish List game, but thought it would be fun to put together a few of my favorite things/things I am asking for this Christmas season to share with y'all!

01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06

01: These are my absolute favorite long sleeve tshirts. They are perfect for me, working from home, or running errands, and you can dress them up or down. I am loving the grey/black/white color palette for this winter, with pops of color, but will gladly take these in any color!

02: The Hobo Lauren wallet, in my humble opinion, is the only wallet worth having in this world. It holds absolutely everything (with lots of compartments), and even doubles as a clutch. I definitely need an update on mine, so this went on the list this year!

03: Remember those pops of color I mentioned? Well, since I adore dresses and tights, one of my favorite ways to incorporate some color is with some opaque tights! These are great (and really cheap ones) from Target...I love Target!

04: Also in need of updating this holiday season is my trusty Longchamp Le Pliage handbag. Confession time: I used to be a handbag-aholic. I had no self control in buying them, and felt the need to have a new one every couple months. Christmas of 2010 I asked for a Longchamp, and, aside from the occasional clutch or the like, I have used the same handbag for the past three years! Unheard of! I love these bags because they hold so much stuff, are classic, and they are washable - once during moving I accidentally dumped an entire bottle (read: broke) of soy sauce in my Longchamp. Took everything out, tossed it in the wash, good as new! My old one is red, but I am asking for a nice navy this year.

05/06: I am loving the graphic sweater trend that is happening right now, and would love a few to go in my wardrobe. I love these two from The Limited (currently running a 50% off special on sweaters!) and Target.

It'll be here before we know it, but what's on your Christmas List this year?

Thoughts on Being Lost and Other Things

I still play the new card. We have lived in Norfolk for just over 13 months now, and I am still playing the "hey I am new in town card". Especially non-helpful in regards to learning my way around is that I am exceptionally spoiled by not having to drive many places (save for the grocery store, the Target, and the Lucy places like PetSmart and the vet). All of our favorite restaurants, the movie theatre, the mall, the museums, the hockey games, the real theatre, the freaking opera for crying out loud, are all within walking distance, and I absolutely love it. But, again, I haven't really learned my way around this still-new-to-me area of the world. So, imagine my humor when I frequently get asked for directions. Not kidding, it has happened 3 times in the past 7 days alone. I always feel so bad for these poor people, and give them a very sympathetic smile as I hear the beginnings of their question, "Excuse me, ma'am, but do you know where I can find such and such place?". Out of these last three inquiries, I at least knew the street one old man was asking about, but still managed to get him lost because I had myself turned around (I was at the gas station, in my defense, and I barely go there once a month). So sorry, kind old man, so sorry. Wednesday, I was stopped on the street while walking Lucy (this is usually where these transactions occur), and I felt so bad because the lady was trying to get to the Children's Hospital, and I had no idea where it was. I know there is a thrift store nearby that donates profits to the Children's Hospital, but somehow, I didn't think that knowledge would be helpful to her. Luckily, there was a city official/park maintenance/something or other guy walking out of one of the gardens just as I had given her my woeful speech about not knowing how to help her, so I begged him to go be of assistance, and felt much better about myself. Perhaps I should try looking less friendly, and then these poor people will stop approaching me and having their hopes dashed when it turns out the friendly girl with the cute dog really can't help. I'm sorry, folks. My bitch face isn't real. It's for your own benefit, trust me. You don't want to approach me and ask me directions, I will only disappoint!

I finally got our Christmas cards ordered. It was quite the mad rush because, well, if you know me at all, you understand. I love the cards (bonus: the hubs actually did too!), we got sent the wrong envelopes (I ordered modified rectangular, but they sent square so now I won't be able to have super cute Christmas stamps on our cards. Horror of horrors), and I have them all addressed, and waiting to be licked and stamped. Which brings me to my point for this section - why have we not moved in the direction of ALL envelopes having those little peel and stick tabs? Why are we still in the dark ages of having to manually lick all of these envelopes? Seriously, how is this too much to ask? Sigh. I will add this to my list of things that I need someone to hurry up and get working on for me. Chop chop.

Finally, does anyone know if one can overdose on eggnog? We have been drinking it in our nightcap of hot chocolate, and it has been delightful. Slow down, December. I need to enjoy my 30 days of Christmas music, eggnog drinking, and sparkly feelings a little more thoroughly.

Adventures of a Christmas Tree

The day before Thanksgiving, Harris and I embarked on an adventure to find our first live Christmas tree. It was pouring down rain and freezing, but we braved the conditions to go cut down to Lowe's and pick up a nice 7-foot Douglas (or was it Frasier? It was one of those old man names) fir tree, and matching wreath. Aside from having absolutely zero idea of how many lights to buy for the tree (I balked at my Mom when she told me I needed about 600 or so lights. I bought 500. I regretted that decision, but luckily my hubby is an excellent light draper. Sorry for doubting you, Mom, sorry for doubting you), I think the whole thing was a success. I flew around Lowe's like a bee looking for odds and ends, while the hubs worked with the guy in the garden center to get our tree trimmed and wrapped appropriately. We hoisted the tree into our SUV and made it home, up the elevator, and into the house with very minimal lost needles. Success, I tell you, success!

As I mentioned, Harris was the lighting pro, and then, after my Thanksgiving nap, we spent some time in the afternoon trimming the tree with our collection of ornaments, old and new, and I took some time to trim our wreath for the front door. Also, in case you were wondering, I decided upon meeting our lovely tree, that its name was clearly Mickey. I wasn't too sure if it was a boy Mickey or a girl Mickey upon first introduction, but that was its name, so who was I to judge?

Lucy was very interested in the tree at first (a little too interested, if you ask me), and I spent a good portion of the day redirecting her from the tree, and our grossly expensive beautiful new tree skirt. Both of us could just picture it in our mind's eye: Lucy walking on over to the tree, hoisting up her leg, and, well, bringing the outdoors in. Fortunately, ever since the decorations have gone on, and presents have gone underneath, she seems to have little to no interest in the tree whatsoever. Crisis averted. I actually had to force her over to the tree to get this shot the other day.

I love being at home during the day and keeping the lights on as much as possible. Everything just seems lovelier in the light of tiny Christmas lights, don't you think? That's one of my favorite things about the view of Downtown Norfolk out our windows at nights - the buildings outlined with twinklies. It makes me feel both bright and comfy in my soul, simultaneously.

I am also in love with our new 2013 ornaments, and new family stockings. The stockings are needlepoint stockings from Land's End, and we each picked out our own design (well, except Lucy, but, you know, I think she would approve of the reindeer).

Christmas 2013 is off to a successful start! Now to finish the Christmas shopping, and enjoy as much eggnog as possible before the 25th!