Christmas Eve 2011 with the family

Hey Ya'll... To all the wives, spouses, significant others who worked so very hard in preparation for this Christmas holiday... WE DID IT! WE SURVIVED! And boy was it all worth it.

This year was my very first time hosting our annual Christmas Eve party. It funny, because earlier this year when Mr. Lovely and I were house hunting... let the truth be told... I was hunting for a house that fit perfectly for Christmas. We found it. We decorated it. And we partied it in... it was everything I imagined and so much more... to say the very least.

Any who, during the preparation of the party, my grandmother, Oma taught me many family traditions in the way our family celebrates Christmas Eve. And one of those traditions is where the lady of the home wears an apron sent from Germany that was past down year to year. I was honored to wear it this year. At the end of the night, I fell deeply in love with this apron. My grandmother saw how happy I was in this apron... she walked up to me, hugged me and whispered in my ear "It's yours. Merry Christmas". I jumped for joy. I love these kinds of things. Past down from generations. That have meaning and so much love attached. Thank you Oma. I love you forever.

As the clock was ticking closer and closer when the party began, the food was slowly pouring through the doors. I have never carved a turnkey nor a ham... but this night, I learned. Pretty interesting when it comes to carving. It's like an art. An art is well appreciate =)

However, I did discover the art of the spiral ham and I must admit... this is my kind of carving. All ya gotta do it pick and pull. Time saver and life saver. LOVE YOU SPIRAL HAM CREATOR! You are my new best friend! =)

Everyone came styling in their best Christmas attire. Especially this little cutie. She is my Godmothers baby girl, Kiki. She is almost as cute as my...

Sweet niece/Goddaughter Tianna. Isn't she a beaut?

In order to receive your gift, it is tradition to sing as a family in front of Santa and my grandparents a Christmas tune. In my early years, I remember just having 6 performance being sung. My mother and her 5 siblings would sing with each of their families. But as the years went by the families multiplied as the next generation began to make their own families. So what was 6 performances is now 13 performances.

Below is my mom and dad. Do you see Santa? {hehe, that's my baby brother, Jacob}

My cousin Franchesca, her boyfriend Josh and her son Christian.

My cousin Aubrey, her husband Victor and their 3 handsome boys.

My cousin Valerie, her boyfriend JT and their son TJ.

My cousin Chris, his wife Liona and their 3 beautiful boys.

Auntie Jeanie and Uncle Jerry

My uncle Frankie, Auntie Gina, Auntie Ginny, cousins- Taylorm Miki, Bugsy, Ryan and on the laptop/skype is my cousins Dane and Carrera which couldn't make it to the gathering but appeared for singing =)

My nina Tina & Nino Tony. My cousin Briana and her boyfriend Eric.

Myself and Mr. Wonderful singing Silent Night.

Uncle Pat, Auntie Jen and their two boys Brandon and Cole.

My sister Karina, her husband Trevor and their beautiful babies Isaiah and Tianna.

Awww, look at the proud soon-to-be grandparents.

My younger brother Jaryd and his daughter Aleah

{His wife and son JayJay were in Arizona and was unable to join us this day due to a family member passing. Please send your prayers out to the Bezada Family}

Another tradition is that we sing happy birthday to all the December babies.

I was so happy that my husbands parents came to celebrate with us.

My daddy and his favorite 3 ladies!

I love this picture.

My mom and all her siblings {with the exception of her brother Eibe}

And that's all folks. I hope your Christmas holiday was filled with Family, Love, Joy and Laughter.

Hugs and Kisses

OUR FRONT PORCH =)

Our front porch totally makes me smile. I wanted it to be full of greens but a little pop of cheer to brighten things up.

For a little more eye candy, I tucked away a few hidden treasures underneath the poinsettia

And there he is... The Love of my Life... on his way to work!

Our house is now dripping icicles!

{Thank you baby for all your hard work. It sure paid off!}

All glowy and ready for Christmas.

Tonight, Mr. Lovely and I will be hosting our very first family Christmas holiday party. A guest list of 70 will be gracing our home tonight. Please send us your positive and cheerful vibes as we are anxious and nervous to throw our first big party at our house! Eeeek!

What about ya'll? What will you be doing tonight? Any special plans?

Our Christmas Card Display & Family Room Reveal

CARD DISPLAY

I'm super proud of this display... We stated off by posting our Christmas cards on our fridge. It was fine for the first 5 cards, but any card after that began to look a bit cluttered. We were not able to appreciate each card our family and friends sent us =( So, I had to come up with a solution...

I took a 9 foot ribbon all dazzled in shimmer and wrapped it around a pillar that we did not cover in garland. Bought a set of regular clothes pins....

and VOILA! A neat and organized holiday card display where each and every card is appreciated and loved by all =) Not bad for a $5 DIY project! All smiles here!


OUR FAMILY ROOM
Here is where the kid in us came out... Decked out in colorful nutcrackers which my husband adores!

3 stockings.... for myself, the hubs and our baby Zeus! This year, I'll keep the stockings simple and plain... but who knows how these stockings will look next year in 2012. (hehehe)

This amazing garland was given to us by my auntie Jeanie! Bless her heart... When she brought it over, it was love at first sight!

Our little Christmas Village

Does this scene look familiar?

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE! Our brother Jacob Manibusan gave us the honor of displaying this gorgeous set at our house this year. ((Love you Jake!))

Well, that is it for today! YAY! Stay tuned for tomorrow's post! I'll be revealing the front of our house all dazzled in Christmas Cheer!! =)

In the meantime... how did you decide to display your Christmas cards this year?

FEATURING: Our Christmas Dinning Room

Being that we've only resided here for a few months, this room isn't as full of furniture and decor as we wish it would be but we made due with what we had and decorated it the best we could.

So without further ado, I present to you... our dinning room!

We decided to relocate our end chairs that go with our dining set and bring them down to the formal area. We've been on the hunt for the perfect wing back chairs or over sized comfy chairs for this space, but once again, decided to work with what we got... and I think it looks mighty fine here =)

Simplicity...

I love it when you can take an old item such as this milk glass vase and recreate it into a modern arrangement just by piling pine cones inside...

Our table centerpiece...

My favorite part about decorating is thinking outside the box...

Flowers are not always a "must have" when creating the perfect centerpiece.

Here, I tool 3 apocrathy jars and filled them with simple holiday cheer:

1. Ornaments

2. Pine Cones

3. Freshly cut holly berries straight from our yard

One of my favorite parts of this room would have to be this pretty little display. Why? Because this gold leaf wreath compliments my parents mirror so well. This mirror means the world to me since it was one of the first items they purchased together as a married couple over 30 years ago.

And what is Christmas without a Nativity Scene?

After all, He is the reason for the season.

Welp, there ya have it, our dining room in a nut shell! =)

Have you decorated your dining area in Christmas Cheer?

UP NEXT: Our Winter Wonderland aka Our Family Room

Our 1st Christmas >>> Featuring: Our Tree!!!

Wow, it's been a while since I've been back and boy it does it feel good! =) I missed ya'll! Since my last post back in June, there has been so much goin' on in our lives... IE: Our home is no longer under construction! YAY! It is now complete... well, almost... now we are filling up the rooms, slowly but definitely surely! I am one happy camper =)

On another note which may be the biggest contributor on me coming back is that it is CHRISTMAS! My most absolute favorite time of the year. Truth be told, I think I'm a little crazy about it. One would ask themselves, "Why would Jaryce be so crazy about a holiday?" and my answer to you would be, "Well, all my life I have been the Christmas elf. I've helped pretty much everyone in my family decorate their trees as well as decking their house out with holiday cheer. Come to think about it, I can't recall a year where I haven't decorated at least 3-4 houses dueing the holiday season. Through the years of decorating others homes, I have been able to make mental notes of what I would want and what I don't want. I've pretty much been imagining how my home would be on it's first Christmas and I am ecstatic to finally dress it up in everything I hoped it would be.

But in order to make my dream a reality, I started shopping for decor a few years back. No, I did not have a tree to decorate nor did I have a house to fill up, but I did know that one day, I will have a home and it will be ready for the holidays. And when that time comes, it will be nothing short of spectacular.

So for the last 3 years, I did major "after the holiday" sale shopping and am excited to finally display my treasures! =)

So, without further ado, I present, our 1st CHRISTmas Tree!

All warm and toasty... {below}


Upclose & Personal


To dress up a simple topiary, alls ya gotta do is add lights and poinsettias and BAM.... gorg!!

For me, vintage ornaments gives trees that sense of comfort, that homey feeling, that little warmness we all love to feel... especially, when they are passed down from someone near and dear to your heart.... like a grandmother ♥ {below}

I went with a color scheme of gold... typically, when decorating within a certain color, I like to give it more depth by using all different shades of that color. In this instance... golds, champagnes, taupes and other colors of the same palette such as browns and bronzes give this tree the perfect glow without being overbearing with GOLD.

The key to my heart, which Mr. Everything holds!

Dripping crystals make me smile =)

This is EXACTLY what I was looking for when shopping for a tree skirt.

1. The color cream to soften the overall look
2. The crystals to shine when reflecting from the lights. {{There's nothing like a little bling}}

3. And the faux fur to give it the glam that this tree is SCREAMING!

Some ideas I've been pondering...
1. Possibly adding some copper swag throughout the tree
2. Adding bunched up pointsettias in browns, golds and creams to act as a tree topper

3. Giving the tree more texture by adding twigs sticking out

Welp, there ya have it. Our 1st Christmas Tree! =)

Up Next: Our Formal Dinning Room filled with Yuletide Glee!