luke 2:14

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happy friday! read through luke 2 this morning about the birth of Jesus. such a special time of year to remember the love we were given. happy christmas season!

december mix

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hieeeeee! it's december, and everything is awesome. especially this mix i have come up with. not all of the songs are christmas tunes, but all of them are good. happy christmas season. if you celebrate the birth of Christ, make sure you spend some time focusing on that during this busy season. i find myself rushing around here and there and missing out on a chance to rejoice in this good news. happy christmas season and happy listening! (for another great christmas playlist, head over to the hippie memoirs. emma has curated an excellent mix of festive tunes!)

december mix

sing we now of christ : michael w. smith

the christmas song : sleeping at last

tiger striped sky : roo panes

every night : jon and roy

the happiest christmas : michael w. smith

place for us : milky ekko

you know me : air traffic controller

someday at christmas : jack johnson

last christmas : taylor swift

mexico : the staves

joy to the world : casting crowns

great christmas exchange 2013

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this year i participated in a fun blogger gift exchange hosted by oak & oats and elah tree called the great christmas exchange. the basic gist was that you submitted your name for participation and got someone's name in return for whom you would put together a christmas package of goodies. presents and new friends? oh boy!

i had a great time shopping for jamie who blogs over here. each participant was asked to list a few things they liked so whoever got their name would have an idea of what to get them. based on the bio i received about miss jamie, i found out she liked michaels art store, the color green, books of any kind, stationery, and craft supplies. armed and dangerous with this information, i went about putting a fun package together for her.

when wrapping gifts, i usually throw things into a bag with a piece of tissue paper and call it a day. that's hard enough, people! but this year i was totally gung-ho about using festive paper and actually wrapping my presents. maybe because i knew pictures of my gifts would be broadcast on the internet and i needed to up my game? unfortunately, because of my unprecedented enthusiasm, i ended up wrapping most of jamie's gifts before i took pictures of her items. doh. i did manage to snap a shot of the green caroline g. necklace and the pair of hand-studded mittens i made for her but the rest will remain a mystery. (until jamie links up!)

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the package i received from shannon was just as fun! (you can follow her on instagram here: @sk_griffith). i tried to show some restraint when her box showed up on our doorstep. i brought it inside and set it on my kitchen counter. i would wait until christmas to open it. i gave it a nice, solid pat. christmas eve at least. i picked it up and gave it a little rattle. down again on the counter. silence for five seconds while i wrestled the angel and devil on my shoulder. then off to the junk drawer for the sharpest pair of scissors i could find to cut the packing tape and pry it open.

inside i found these goodies!

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• a hand-crotched infinity cowl scarf. are you seeing this? it's beautiful! the colors are wonderfully complimentary, and it's warrrrmmm. warm will come in handy today as the high is supposed to be 27. 
• a leather bound journal and sharpie pens. fine point pens are the only way. (how did she know?)
• one of my favorite go-to brands for chapstick, eos. they rival burt's bees. 
• a delicious smelling candle and candle holder. my roommate and i have a small collection of candles on our stovetop. i keep them burning until the wicks are little black ashes floating in pools of hot wax. now that i've typed that out, this sounds like an incredibly dangerous thing to have on your stove.
• gigantic diamond ornaments. they also double as pretend engagement rings. i definitely do not have a picture of me doing that. 

such great treasures! thank you shannon for your thoughtfulness. and thank you to samantha of elah tree and beth of oak & oats for hosting such a fun gift exchange. i am linking up with them here and here! if you want to see even more pictures, search for #greatchristmas2013 on instagram. there are a lot of festive photos to peruse, but they will probably make you wish christmas was still here so be careful. there is no instagram lifeguard on duty. browse at your own risk.

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the books of christmas

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hope everyone had a wonderful christmas! i've been home since tuesday and pretty much all i've been doing is getting fed by my dynamic duo parents. they're both good cooks which is bad news for me since i hardly meet a food i don't like. dale bakes bread for breakfast. he hands the baton off to my mom who puts out a spread for lunch. they work in tandem for dinner creating bbq pork and parmesan noodles. i thought i escaped the freshman 15 in college, but it turns out it just shows up later in life and goes by a slightly different name. the christmas 20. 

christmas morning was really wonderful spending time with the regulars-the parents and two brothers-and, this year, the lovely addition of my older brother's girlfriend. she put up with us and joined in on the shenanigans and made us the most potent and delicious bourbon balls. hashtag keeper.

i got a lot of fun pressies including a mini pie baker. did not know that existed in the world, but it's got me up late at night thinking of all of the different pies i want to try. in my half-sleepy state, things like dill and caramel sound good together when, in reality, they are not. i need to concoct recipes when i am awake and have at least two cups of coffee in my body/brain.

one of my favorite gifts this year was a big pile of books. my mom is a huge reader, and i try to follow in her footsteps. she has books lying around all over our house. sometimes i find them stashed under couch cushions because she runs out of room and has nowhere else to put them.

there are three in particular i am really excited to start, and i want to tell you about them! for the next three posts, i'm going to brief each book and explain why i'm excited to dig in. i started this out as one post, but the words just kept coming and the post was getting way too long. i mean, i appreciate a succinct post as much as (i assume) the next person does. so, stay tuned and maybe you'll discover a new book or author that you'd like to further investigate.

what was your favorite christmas memory from this year? your favorite gift given and received?

the day before

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merry christmas eve. i am sitting in bed drinking coffee and having some time with Jesus, and it hits the spot. later today, after i pack my car with way too much stuff for a just few days at home, i'll be driving down to the land of the pines. i'm excited to go somewhere where i know i will be greeted with squeals from my mom, a huge smile and hearty hello from my stepdad, and a surprisingly big hug from my much-cooler-than-i little brother. 

we will catch up over coffee (or wine depending on the time of day i arrive). we will drive around town with my stepdad dressed up as santa and shout "merry christmas!" to anyone and everyone we see. we will get dressed for christmas eve service at my parents' church and light candles and sing beautiful songs. we will come home and eat irish stew and be allowed to open one present only. we will lay out our stockings on the couch. and even though i am 28, i will definitely have a hard time falling asleep tonight. 

hope each of you has a very merry and joyful day today. even if you are still scurrying around making last minute purchases and preparations, take some moments to breathe and relax and focus on the joys of the season. friends, family, love, giving and receiving. take it all in. 

on a related note, my good friend chelsea is an amazing writer and has recently published an article about this beautiful season we are in. take a few minutes and read; it's really wonderful. 

advent song

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this season of advent, this time that i wait in eager anticipation of the celebration of the coming of Christ, is a time to remember my faith and the wonderful gift i have been given. but it is not an idle waiting; it is an expectant one.  

i just found this advent song on noisetrade, and it is a beautiful reminder of what this holiday holds. plus, free music never hurt anyone. (if you're not into this particular song, browse the rest of noisetrade! there is tons of good music to be discovered, and i guarantee you will not be disappointed). 

happy advent season! 

tis the season

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it’s the christmas season! we have our apartment decorated with tiny tinsel trees, pink vintage bulb ornaments, and on our coffee table is a picture book called christmastime in new york city. i have not been to nyc during the holiday season, but based soley on the illustrated pictures in this book, i think i would like it very much.

christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. my faith plays a big part of why i love it so much. i think the lyrics to "o holy night" capture it perfectly. “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices!” Christ is that thrill of hope. in a world that is filled with hatred, war, crime, depression, and inequality, there is hope. it stands strong against my darkest days and my longest nights. it buoys me when i feel like i am sinking. it is the reason that i sing JOY to the world. 

i also enjoy this season because of how it seems to transform daily life into something a bit more magical. twinkle lights strung on front porches lend a soft glow to the passerby on the street. packages big and small are stacked in piles under the branches of the evergreen. community members come together to help those who might need an extra hand during this time of the year. family members and friends fly across the country and across the world to be with the ones they love. 

this holiday holds special memories from seasons past. there was the year my brother surprised us and came home early from where he was stationed in the air force to spend christmas with us. there was the year my dad built an entire toboggan run down the hill in our backyard. he carved the route for hours, scraping and smoothing the snow down to a slick track. we spent the rest of the day riding down the hill, screaming at the top of our lungs as the cold air stung our red faces. one year, when i was probably six or seven, the only thing i wanted was a new kids on the block wallet. i opened all my gifts in eager anticipation of finding this coveted status symbol and was dismayed when i didn’t find it under the tree. but santa is a tricky fellow. there was one last gift hiding with my name on it, and when i opened it, the baby faced boy band was smiling up at me in the form of a plastic, velcro-secured wallet. my belief in santa was firmly secured. 

this year, christmas day will be celebrated a little different as my dad is in idaho and will not be here to celebrate with us. we will wish each other “merry christmas!” across telephone wires. my older brother is dating someone special, and i’m sure the length of his visit with us will be cut short as he will be juggling the holiday between two families. but it doesn’t matter. the point of christmas is not that every tradition stays the same year after year after year. the point of christmas is joy, hope, thankfulness, celebration, love, family. 

what are your plans for the holidays? is it a special time for you? do you have any favorite holiday memories?

december mix

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what to do the day after your european vacation:

1. wake up at 4:30 am because you're still on england time 

2. catch up on theskimm and nextdraft

3. roll out of bed at 6:30 to make coffee

4. put together the best mix of the year

kids! it's december. you know what this means, right? this is the month for eating obscene amounts of food and candy and eggnog and nobody can say anything to you because christmas. there is logic in there somewhere. let me know if you find it before i do. 

i just got home from a lovely week of vacation in cambridge, england. my friends and i had an absolute blast, but now i am in a deep depression because north carolina doesn't seem nearly as exciting in comparison to cambridge's lovely walking streets and gorgeous views and beautiful architecture. (durham, i love you. i'm just going through the seven stages of coping).  

let's turn this frown upside down with some festive holiday tunes, shall we?

joy to the world, the Lord is come!

* december mix *

joy to the world : david archuleta

jinglebell rock : arcade fire

merry christmas baby : otis redding

marshmallow world : darlene love

o come all ye faithful : casting crowns

it's christmas! let's be glad! : sufjan stevens

let it snow! let it snow! let it snow! : ella fitzgerald

christmas lights : coldplay

baby, it's cold outside : louis armstrong

snow : sleeping at last

here comes santa claus : elvis presley

come thou long expected jesus : fernando ortega

angels we have heard on high : seabird

please come home for christmas : the eagles

have yourself a merry little christmas : andrew belle

christmas (baby please come home) : the oceanauts

silent night, holy night : faith hill


let us rejoice this christmas season! 

christmas recap

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what a wonderful holiday it was (and still is)! i have been having such a lovely time home with my family. i don't go back to work until january 2nd, so i have been having a long, extended holiday vacation. no complaints here.

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on christmas eve, as part of a fairly new tradition put into place a few years back, my stepdad donned his santa costume, and off we went on a holiday drive. santa delivered chocolates to the hard workers at chick-fil-a (where my little brother was working. haaaaa), visited one of our shopping plazas in town to wave at every passerby and shout merry christmas, and even made a personal stop at the home of one of our family friends. i think i should be embarrassed by this whole shenanigan, but i think it's the greatest thing ever. the looks on peoples' faces as they see santa driving a trailblazer makes my heart crazy happy. my stepdad is such a good sport about it, and really gives it his all when he yells ho ho ho out the window.

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that evening, my family and i went to candlelight service at church and then home to eat traditional irish stew for dinner. i don't know why we eat irish stew. we've been doing it for as long as i can remember, and i just go with it because it's delicious. after dinner, my brother and i went on a late night hot cocoa run. the only place we could find that was still open late on christmas eve was our local mcdonald's. i kind of hated myself for going there, but it turns out they know how to do hot cocoa riiight.

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on christmas morning, our living room always looks like santa's gift bag exploded upon arrival. our tree is buried under a mountain of things. it's quite a sight. we always open stockings first where we are usually guaranteed to find a toothbrush and an orange. this year i found a toothbrush, an orange, and a potato. a red skinned potato. nice.

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we took breaks in between presents to eat coffee cake, hashbrown casserole, and refill our coffee mugs, but then we were right back in the game. santa likes to get creative with his presents. for every good gift we receive (like a gift we actually asked for), he likes to throw in three or four wild cards. for example, i got a gift card to anthropologie (!!) and then proceeded to open a jar of pickles, a ceramic rubber ducky planter, and a bottle of lotion that smelled like a grandma.

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we went over to my dad's house later in the afternoon to open gifts and eat more junk food. it was glorious! my dad makes the best fruitcake and fudge of anyone i know. he showered us with gifts and then gave us eggnog and lots of food. in turn, he received a replica of the christmas story leg lamp.

christmas 2012 was a yet another wonderful holiday with loved ones. i'm trying not to be depressed that it's over. how many more days until we get to do it again?

how was your christmas?? tell me, tell me. 

christmas day

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happy christmas! having a great day with my family. both of my brothers are in town, and i am loving the fun and laughter they always bring. 

i pray that the love of Christ surrounds you and yours on this wonderful day.

christmas eve

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merry christmas eve! hold your loved ones close. 

decembrrr mix

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welcome to the best mix of the year, trick. it's christmastime. hit it. 

*decembrrr mix*

it's christmas : the polyphonic spree

raise the tree : trent dabbs

mele kalikimaka : bing crosby

christmas (baby please come home) : slow club

toy jackpot : blackalicious

come thou fount of every blessing : sufjan stevens

please come home for christmas : the eagles

get down for the holidays : jenny o.

marshmallow world : zach williams & the bellow

angels we have heard on high : future of forestry

merry christmas tonight : drew holcomb and the neighbors

drummer boy : justin bieber

christmas in the city : matt wertz

silver bells : sleeping at last

have yourself a merry little christmas : drew holcomb and the neighbors


the eagles' cover of please come home for christmas is my all-time favorite christmas song even though it starts off with the sad and lonely lines, "bells will be ringing the sad, sad news. oh, what a christmas to have the blues. my baby's gone, i have no friends to wish me greetings once again."

yes, that very depressing song about being alone at christmas is my top pick. i'm not sure what this says about me. i promise i'm not a scrooge.

what are some of your favorite christmas songs?

merry christmas season! WOOOHOOO. candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.

christmas blues

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is anyone else a little bummed the best day of the year is over? i always feel sad during the days following december 25th. the anticipation is over. there are no more wrapped presents under the tree. the work week starts again. i'm 12 lbs heavier. i've been hiding under my covers which is why this post is so far behind the blog wagon.

ok, i'm not really depressed. only a little sad, but that's just proof that my christmas holiday was fantastic! i loved the time spent with my family, watching their faces as they opened the gifts i bought them. we ate yummy homemade quiche and cinnamon rolls and drank lots of coffee from parker and otis. having everyone hanging out in the same room? so, so great.

on christmas day, we spent the morning at my mom and stepdad's house opening santa's gifts. santa brought me some sweet leather boots, the first season of parks and rec, clothes, monies, and mindy kaling's new book among many other gifties. that santa, always outdoing himself. not that i mind.

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oh, christmas tree. how lovely are your presents.

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he sees a camera, he looks away. 

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my mum is so pretty.

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world's cutest couple award goes to these guys.

later in the afternoon we headed across town to my dad's house. this year, for our gifts to each other, we tried something new. we did a chinese gift exchange/yankee swap/dirty santa/white elephant swap/whatever you call it. we were a little unsure how it was going to turn out (what if someone plays dirty and brings cat litter? or, worse, a kenny g cd?), but everyone played along and brought some stellar gifts. i'm going to speak for everyone when i say that my stepmom got the best gift-a singing justin bieber toothbrush and his new christmas album. i totes would have snatched those if i didn't already own both.

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she wishes.

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which one came first? the bow on my head or the glass of wine in my hand? 

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gravity ball as seen on tv. i know.

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little bros.

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i have a great idea. let's put things on our heads and take a picture.

more than anything, this christmas was a sweet time with my family. i am so thankful to have had the whole weekend off to spend with them. i love these memories in the making.

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yes, these memories. the ones of my stepdad dressed up as santa driving around town on christmas eve.

also, my family (including me it seems) doesn't know what a normal photo is. these are the best that i could come up with.

home for the holidays

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today i leave raleighwood to go home for christmas. 

i. am. so. excited.

i get to see my brothers, my parents, and our family cat whom i like to harass.

i will be making poor man's toffee in our small kitchen and probably taking up every inch of counter space.

i'll be house/kitty sitting while i'm home for a lovely friend who lives on a golf course. it's a tough job, but someone has to do it. actually, it's a really easy job, and i'm thrilled that i get to do it.

i get to attend my parent's church for christmas eve service.

i will drink the world's best cup of coffee made for me by my dad. he should be a professional barista.

i will eat too many cookies, pieces of fudge, slices of fruitcake, and cups of eggnog. did i say too many? i didn't mean that.

i get to spend christmas in the sweet little town of southern pines.

there will be no snow (sad), but there will be plenty-o-love.

love and jingle bells,
lacey

christmas at summersweet lane

i feel it in my fingers. i feel it in my toes. 

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christmas is all around me. and so the feeling grows. 

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it's written in the wind. it's everywhere i go.

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so if you really love christmas. come on and let it snow.

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you know i love christmas. i always will.

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my mind's made up. the way that i feel.

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there's no beginning. there'll be no end.

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cause on christmas. you can depend. 

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 "christmas is all around" by billy mack. aww, yeah. 

tis the season

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i feel like i've been at a loss for words the past couple of weeks. i should have a lot to say since christmas time is my favorite time of the year, but i'm coming up empty. 

it's not a bad thing! i've been having a great holiday season with friends and family, making gifts, baking treats, going to holiday parties, watching christmas movies in my pajamas, admiring all the pretty lights, attending a christmas play, volunteering at a kids christmas event, decorating our cozy apartment, listening to christmas music nonstop, consuming more sugar and candy canes than buddy the elf, etc. 

i feel like i've been so busy with my real world life that when the time comes to tell you guys about it, i suddenly feel verrrrry sleepy. i hope you forgive me. perhaps a virtual platter of candy cane blossom cookies will help?

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i do have one thing to share. i've been thinking a lot about this season of advent. growing up, we always bought a chocolate advent calendar at the end of november. every day, beginning december 1st, my older brother and i took turns opening the paper windows to reveal a different shaped chocolate piece. sometimes we shared, most of the time we didn't.

it was a fun way to count down till christmas day. a countdown until santa and presents and stockings. the deeper, less superficial meaning behind advent is something i only recently cared to think about. i'm glad santa is only concerned if you've been good or bad and not smart or dumb.  i'm slow sometimes. 

advent: the coming or arrival of something extremely important.

what a cool word advent is. i think one of the reasons i like it so much is because it's not a word that i hear very often. it's a special word reserved for special occassions. in this case, the celebration of Christ's birth.

the definition reminds me how much weight this single word holds. advent involves anticipation. advent refers to an eagerness, an excited attitude, a hopeful mindset.

it reminds me how i should treat the christmas season-to anticipate the celebration of my Savior with as much enthusisam as i treat christmas morning present time. i need to put an emphasis on the fact that advent is an action. it's an active countdown. it's something to be excited about, thankful for, hopeful for.

that being said, maybe advent is a word we should use more often to remind ourselves not only of the birth of Christ but of His return as well.

let the countdown begin! 

a very merry roommate christmas

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this past tuesday my rooms and i had our christmas together. since we're in different states seeing our families on the actual holiday, we like to set aside a night when we can exchange pressies and have a good dinner together. i had the day off so i made a chicken crockpot dinner with mushroom and herb risotto and, for dessert, warm apple pie filling over vanilla frozen yogurt. it sounds fancier/harder than it actually was. i mean, what am i saying? it was so labor intensive and extremely time consuming. don't even get me started on how rare and expensive the ingredients were. 

after dinner we exchanged gifts. my style of gift giving is usually to give a lot of little gifts. i can't ever afford a really big gift, and, besides, i think it's more fun to have a lot of pressies to open. i made her a few gifts and got her a cake cookbook (she has her own cake business), modern family season two, dark chocolate peanut butter cups, a pretty passport cover (she told her boyfriend that the only thing she wanted from him was a stamp in her passport. a very reasonable and low maintenance request if you ask me), green apple licorice (her fave), and softlips chapstick (because her boyfriend is coming home from deployment any day now).

i was next to go. i literally screamed when i opened the new justin bieber christmas album. she knows me, she really knows me. i've been listening to it nonstop which is very unfortunate for those around me who don't share the same love for him. she also got me a cupcake from our fave cupcake bakery, a metal spatula (i promise i actually wanted one), burts bees chapstick (i don't have a boyfriend coming home from deployment, but i have a right to soft lips, too), cute ankle socks, and three pairs of lacy panties. lacey panties was my nickname in high school. i made the mistake of telling my friends in raleigh about it and it stuck. i feel like i need to add that the name was given to me not because i flashed the entire school during a pep rally but because a classmate thought the connection of lacey and panties was funny. hilarious, actually.

the only low point of the evening when i got three calls back to back from work asking me to come in to work an emergency night shift. i ended up going in and somehow made it through. it helped that i worked with my friend liz, a cute (married) doctor bought us a pint of cookie dough ice cream, and we watched parks and rec on my laptop. we ended our shift by grabbing breakfast from the cafeteria and then went back to her apartment and watched tv until we fell asleep on the couch.

merry christmas to all. and to all a big, fat nap.

it's not too early