O' There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Well, call me a nerd, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Holidays.  And I love making my home feel festive and beautiful.  I can't really help it.  My mom is the exact same way.  I remember Christmas feeling so magical for so many reasons, but high on the list was the atmosphere the Christmas decor created.  The lights on the trees, the candles in the windows, they make everything glisten and bring such a special ambiance to an otherwise ordinary space.  Even in college I loved coming home to a home so decorated.  So I come by it honestly I suppose.  

We did boxwood wreaths on the mirrors in the living area and I love how it turned out.

One of my favorite elements of holiday decoration is the Nativity.  After all, that's the reason why we have Christmas.  I like to have reminders in my home as many places as possible.

This nativity set was given to us by Shaun's mom the first year we were married and I LOVE it!

 The view when you come in.

 I went with mercury and candles for my table, and added a little more boxwood to my chandelier

 Upstairs we put our fake tree with all of our silver and gold ornaments.

I love the way this looks at night with all the soft white lights.

The little tree in the front window was a new addition this year, and it works perfectly in that spot.

 Chalkboard art is all the rage now, so I attempted to be artistic and made my own little Holiday sign when you come in.  It was fun, and I can change it out with the seasons.

 On our front door I did our tree card, another fun holiday favorite!

 And when you walk in the front door...

 And here's the basement.  We did the colored lights here and decided this is where we will have our Christmas morning.  After all, Santa will have to come down the chimney to leave the presents, and stockings are hung on the mantel with care.

So there you have it, the Calderwood Casa 2013!

~Happy Holidays~

First Winter Snow

The girls built a snowman in the backyard, but knocked it down before I could get a photo.  It was the best snow day!  It was so fun to have a  couple of days off before the holiday to get ready for Christmas.

The girls enjoyed their first sledding adventures at our new place.  We got a little bit of ice one evening, and they were able to sled all the way across our parking lot into our neighbor's driveway on their foam lightweight sled.  It was AWESOME!

 It was a chilly night, but fun to see all the Christmas lights reflecting off the snowy white ground.

Thanksgiving, 2013

I hope this was the first of many Thanksgivings in our new home.  Nana and Papa came over to celebrate with us.  We missed other family and friends we've been able to spend Thanksgivings past with, but I was excited to make my very first turkey on my own, and even more excited to decorate the table (anyone who knows this and should not be surprised).  Again, I looked to Pinterest and good friends for good recipe ideas, my mom makes the best candied yams and brought that and some jello salad.  We really had a great day!

The next day, we went out to the movies and saw "Frozen" with the girls.  Amelia does well in the movie if we keep the popcorn comin'.  That girl cracks me up.  On our way home we picked up our Christmas tree at Meadows Farms, and the girls enjoyed playing in between the trees while I warmed my hands by the fire pit the farm provides.  I think we got a great tree.

All decorated, stockings hung, and ready for Santa!

Girls Weekend: "Wanna Be Foodie Phillie Adventure."

In early November, I had the best visit with some of my favorite people.  My friend, Becca, just moved to Phillie with her husband and little boys so her husband could get his Master's at Wharton.  Fancy Shmancy!  We were glad to have Becca and Troy back on the east coast.  They were in Charlotte when Troy worked for Bank of America, but had been in Utah the past two years.  Katie and I took a little weekend adventure and drove up to see Becca.  Troy took the boys to his parents for the weekend, so it was a kid free amazing weekend!  Relaxing, full of good food and good visiting.  

We started our weekend at the Reading Market right in downtown.  We enjoyed some amazing crepes and took in all the sights, smells, and sounds of Reading.  I've never seen any place like it before.  For as many times as I've been to Phillie, this was a completely different type of visit.  We didn't do any of the historical sites, but I pretended to be a foodie for the weekend, so we'll call this our 

"Wanna Be Foodie Phillie Adventure." 

 Thanks to Becca who I consider quite the foodie, we got to smell and taste and visit places I may never have gone otherwise.

After Reading Market and grabbing some scrumptious hot cocoa, we walked back towards Becca's place.  That meant we got to walk through the park with the Love statue, and Logan Circle.  We also past the Capital, and though you can't see it all that well, it's behind Becca and Katie in the photo below.

After all that walking, we decided it was time for a pedicure.  

 We went back to Becca's to freshen up, and headed back out to explore the Italian Market District and find a yummy place to have dinner.

The Italian Market was filled with sights and smells.  We sampled cheeses and enjoyed seeing all the fresh produce.  We ended up eating a lovely Italian dinner at a place in the market that came recommended to us by some locals.  They're meatballs won for best meatballs ever on the food network.  It was family style, and it was great!

We spent the evening ... shopping!  It was so fun since I never get to stores anymore now that I have young children.  The idea of taking my girls into a mall or clothing store sounds about as appealing as poking my eyes out with a toothpick, so on-line shopping has been my friend.  But to shop... in the city... kid free... it was heavenly!  

The next morning we said our goodbyes to Becca, and Katie and I headed to The Parc, located right on Rittenhouse Square.  Becca told us Rittenhouse Square is the fancy shmancy place to live, and the Parc is THE place to eat.  Anybody who's anybody goes there.  Needless to say, Katie and I were not seated by a window (those seats are reserved for the people who know people).  But regardless of where we were seated, the food was amazing!  I mean, AMAZING!!!  Best brunch I've ever had.

We started with some hot chocolate.  Perfect!

 My cute friend that I just adore.  The world needs more Katie Boxers in it for sure.

 We ordered french toast, eggs Benedict, and quiche.  Don't judge us.  We couldn't decide.

And no regrets.  The food was phenominal.  

I've now decided Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise is my favorite way to have eggs, but maybe only if I'm eating there.  There's no way I could make mine taste as good.  Ahhh, just remembering it makes my tummy happy.

Are you salivating?  You should be.  If you knew how good this was you'd be drooling a little.

After filling our tummies with goodness, Katie and I headed back towards home.  We enjoyed visiting and the ride home and time went by too fast.  Sadly, our weekend had come to an end.  We are hoping to plan another girls weekend in the Spring.  Hopefully Kristin can join us then too, and we may even take the train over to New York and catch a play.  We're thinking Newsies!  Be jealous.  Be very, very jealous!

Pumpkin Patch and other Adventures, Fall 2013

My neighbor and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch.  This has become an annual tradition I suppose.  The pumpkin patch has some animals the girls can pet (insert photo below), some swings and a big slide, little chicks, a jump house, and of course pumpkins.  The girls look forward to our yearly adventure.  This year Shaun was at play practice.  He's in the nutcracker this year.  So it was a play date with friends.

And... other adventures means goofy photos of Amelia in her footie pajamas.  She's got so much personality.  And we've seen a new feisty side of Miss Amelia now that she's three.  Watch out world, here she comes!

And yet, she is still the most adorable and sweet and loving child I've ever met.  I took this photo below while we were waiting for Ella at the bus stop.  She's beyond adorable!  Love that munchkin.

Happy Harvest everyone!  I hope it's been a wonderful fall for all of you.

Catching Up: Halloween at the Calderwoods

We had two little princesses in our home this year for Halloween... Princess Tiger Lilly and a Barbie Princess

We enjoyed a church Trunk or Treat the Saturday before Halloween, and then trick or treated in our neighborhood on Halloween night.  Here the girls are at the Trunk or Treat.

Our neighbor (and Amelia's new best friend), Liam, enjoyed trick or treating with us.

 How cute are they?

 Liam's mom carved some awesome pumpkins.  Liam and his mom also went with us to the pumpkin patch (photos of that soon to come).  The birthday hat Ella stole from our other neighbor.  Well, it was given to her, but it doesn't necessarily compliment princess Tiger Lilly's vibe.

So Happy Halloween to my two little monsters.... er... umm, princesses!  Love you two oodles and oodles!