How Evergreen Your Branches

I had never been to a tree farm before, but let me tell you...it was magical and exciting and made me very happy. It was almost to the extent of glee I feel when I'm surrounded by pumpkins or apple trees, but not quite since it's still winter, of course. But there's something wonderful about being surrounded by a ton of Christmas trees. I love festive and seasonal things!

My family and I always get our tree pre-cut from one of those tree lots. We never went and picked our own, probably because there's not really a farm close by enough and they tend to be more expensive. I think the experience and atmosphere of it all is worth it, but my dad would probably disagree. When I have my own place, I think that I will definitely go pick my own tree. Who wouldn't want to go be a lumberjack for a day and saw down a tree? I'd feel pretty awesome after doing that.

I love that this tree farm had tin garbage cans that they built fires inside around the farm so that people can keep warm. They also sold wreathes and other trimmings. I can't wait to have my own place to decorate for all the holidays. Thanksgiving had me thinking about where my family will celebrate the holidays one day. I keep toying with the idea that maybe my house will be where all the holidays are held. I know it would be a lot of work, but hosting and having everyone come together is always fun. I think it'd be so rewarding to be the place that everyone loves to come to and looks forward to going to on the holidays. I'd like to make Christmas Eve and all the holidays as special for my children and grandchildren as my grandparents and parents did for me.

I know that I've probably talked about this before, but I can't help but get all sentimental about Christmas Eve around this time of year. When my cousins and I were kids and my grandparents still had their house, they always hosted Christmas Eve. It was so magical to me. The house was packed with the whole family. It was hard just to move from room to room, even while being a small child. My grandpa did all the cooking and even made homemade fried dough with sauce to dip it in. Someone would call and pretend they were Santa and each of us kids would get a turn to talk to him. And we would always end up checking the sky to see if we could catch a glimpse of Rudolph's nose. The adults would egg us on, of course, saying things like "I think I just saw something red in the sky!". Later on when the Santa Tracker became a thing, we would watch it and watch for when Santa would be near us. My cousins and I would also always sneak into my grandparents bedroom where everyone put all the presents they had brought to see which ones were for us. I want to create the same kind of special and magical night for my family and kids the same way my grandparents did for me and our family. I'd love to give that to my loved ones.

Dress: ASOS//Sweater: Forever 21//Shoes: Dana Buchman via Kohl's//Tights: Simply Vera by Vera Wang//Belt: Forever 21

It's almost that time for me to start baking cookies like crazy. My mom and I make the same cookies every year, but I always change up a couple of them each year. Last year I made Reindeer Peanut Butter Cookies and Chocolate Crinkles, but this year I think I might make a hot cocoa cookie. I like to keep things Christmas or winter-themed and hot cocoa is a must in the winter! I'd love to make something with peppermint because I love how festive the red and white is, but I just can't get into the whole chocolate and mint thing. I hate mint chocolate. I also just think that a minty cookie would be weird and not my idea of a good time. Also, am I really the only one who isn't a fan of eggnog? Just it's name grosses me out. It can't be just me!

[A Charlie Brown tree!]

We had our first snowfall of the season yesterday. It wasn't very much, maybe a couple of inches. That's fine with me. I hate when it snows so much that you can't get anywhere. It's pretty to look at, but it's not fun to have to deal with when you need to get places. The worst is when it gets icy. I'm hoping that we don't get any major snowstorms this season, especially one like Nemo where the power was out. I'm ok with just light snowfalls like yesterday here and there.