HAPPY NEW YEAR! Married Christmas Recap

Well hello! It's 2014! YAAYYYY!

This post is going to just be one big ol' recap, mostly done with through photo highlights. Let's dive in.

A Mike and Allie Christmas

This tradition started a couple years ago when Mike and I wanted to have a Christmas gift exchange of our own. At the time, I was living in NYC, and Mike flew in the weekend before Christmas to visit. I bought a cheap-o fake tree from the Duane Reade below my apartment and did my best to make my little place feel homey. 

It's fitting that the tradition started that year becuase that was also our last Christmas as boyfriend/girlfriend. A little over a week later we were back in NYC and Mike proposed.

Last year was our first and only engaged Christmas. Living in Atlanta and traveling home for the holidays we once again opted to exchange our gifts in our home under our tree. This year we did the same, and it's safe to say a tradition has been born.

Nativity handed down from my grandma and grandpa. That was a fun surprise to unwrap.

SNOW Place Like Home for the Holidays

That's right guys. SNOW!! I could not have been more excited to wake up to the sound of plows. It took me right back to my school days. The anticipation the night before a big storm. Rumors of school being canceled. The absolute quiet the swallows up the world when it snows. And then, waking up the the rumble of a plow coming down the street. I'd lie there for a few seconds imagining the winter wonderland that waited outside my window. 

When I peaked out by bedroom window on Sunday morning I was not disappointed. I suppressed a small eeeee! (Mike was still sleeping) and scurried out to the living room to watch the snow fall by the lights of our tree. 

Not too much later I was outside shoveling a path to the hot tub. Nothing beats a hot tub in the winter.

Doodle wanted to join in the fun.

Oh look a wintery clip for you...

Mike and I got lucky with our pre-existing holiday traditions. They fit together beautifully with the only downside being a 4 hour drive on Christmas day, but hey, I bet we miss a lot of traffic that way. My family has always been a big Christmas Eve celebrations house. We open our gifts on Christmas Eve. Our traditional holiday meal is our Christmas Eve Reuben. We always, ALWAYS, watch the Grinch (old-school, animated version) after dinner and before present opening. And the first gift to be opened...PJs!

The more matching the better!

Even the pups got in on the action.

Socie Winter Olympics

Inspired by the real-life Sochi Winter Olympics happening this year, I thought it would be super fun to have our own Socie Winter Olympics made up of Minute to Win It -style games. We cued up the Olympic anthem, did a quick opening ceremony with team photos, then got into the games.

Finland, Ireland, and USA

We had 6 events: Clothes Pin Drop, Caddy Stack, Speed Eraser, Face the Cookie, Nutstacker, and MarBowling. 

Face the Cookie was pretty hilarious to watch.

Sorry to have to say this, but Team USA was not victorious. 

Congratulations, Finland! Olympics well played.

Weekend+ Recap - Back to Midwest and New Clothes!

Oh Hey Hi! Good news, I didn't die from my cold. Yay!

Not only am I not dead, but I'm actually starting to feel pretty good. That cold really did a number on me.

Here's what's happened since my day in bed:

We Went to Michigan!!!

It was my extended family's holiday party AND Mike was able to set-up a residency interview at the UM hospital. Besides all the time spent catching up with family and eating delicious food (shout-out to my aunt who seriously hooked me up with vegan deliciousness!), my favorite moment happened on the flight in:

Just as we got through the clouds on our descent I saw it. My first real snow of the season. Eeeeee! It's good to know that I'll always me a Midwest girl at heart.

The cold weather has also added a new item to my ever growing gratitude list:

Husbands for window scraping. What a great thing.

New Clothes!

Monday was a big day in the Socie household. Mike's Black Friday purchase was finally ready for him. Let me tell you guys, it was worth the wait.

"I'm sexy and I know it"

That dude looks goooood. Who wouldn't want to hire a nice looking guy like that?

After all the sitting and moping and feeling sorry for my sick state of being, I started to get a little restless Monday afternoon. I had some chunky yarn and the perfect set a circular needles to whip up a new hat.

...and hubster with the photobomb win.

Guys, I don't want to brag, but I FREE-HANDED that bad boy! No patterns. No tutorials. Just a picture in my head of what I was going for. 

My new hat arrived just in time for our return to the North. Our trek begins tomorrow. Friday night we have a pit-stop and Bethy's house. Then Saturday we drive the rest of the way to my parents' place. Home Sweet Home.

Tonight is Mike and my Christmas celebration. We've got our gifts to each other and our stockings, Coco-nog and holiday spirits, Christmas movies flagged on Netflix, and a vegan holiday roast ready to go. I can't wait to get the vacation started!

Speaking of vacation, I'm not 100% decided on what will be happening on here over the next week. I'm hopping to at least pop in with some pictures here and there and MAYBE a video if you're lucky :) 

Less than one week til Christmas! GAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Ornament Tag!

2 weeks til Christmas!!!

So I'm not sure if tags really exist outside of the YouTube universe, but I wanted to do this one blog style so that's what I'm doing. Below I'm going to tag some of my bloggin' buddies for them to do the same thing on their blogs. Really though anyone is welcome to share their responses either in the comments below or by linking to your blog in the comments below. Also feel free to change/add to the tag as you'd like!

Tagging: Bee, Hilary, Sue,  Bethy (vlog it!), and anyone else who wants to join in!

1.) Favorite New Addition Ornament:

We actually have a whole bunch of new ornaments on our tree this year because last year my mom gave us a whole box of ornaments from our family tree, but the champagne glasses are brand new to any tree this year. We found them in a small boutique near Candler Park in, get this, JULY. Yeah we've been waiting a long time to put these guys on our tree. They are hand crafted by a local artisan, and are actually two separate ornaments. The hubby had the idea to hang them in clinking fashion. Very festive :) 

2.) Oldest Ornament:

This Santa is made from plastic, but not cheap-o dallar bin plastic. Early 1900's plastic. That's back when plastic was brand new and very very fancy. This ornament would have been a very big deal to have back then and luckily my family has managed to keep him safe as he's made his way down the family trees so that he can continue to be a big deal now. With him comes a paper written up by my grandma listing all the trees it has hung on beginning with my great great grandparents in 1904 all the way to my parents in 2004. And now we have him. Yay!

3.) Favorite DIY Ornament:

While sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to our honeymoon in Belize, Mike and I had the brilliant idea to hit up the duty-free for a nice bottle of liquor. We picked a bottle of patron and enjoyed tequila sunrises all week long. Being the sentimental type, I kept the cork and tag ribbon and made us a nice ornament to remember our time in Belize. Maybe the travel bottle will become a tradition and we'll have a whole tree of corks and caps someday.

4.) Most Nostalgic Ornament:

This set is awesome for a few reasons. One, the little book actually has the story of the Wizard of Oz in it. And two, it has been hung in the exact same spot my family Christmas for as long as I can remember. I'm not even sure if these are really meant to be ornaments, or what connection you can really make between Dorthy and Jesus, but these guys made our new tree feel like home.

5.) Favorited Gifted Ornament:

"Oh no, we only got one pinecone..." Cue Mike's uncomfortable face :S

Ok, I might have saved the best for last, at least in my mind. A few weeks ago a MASSIVE box arrived with none other than the beloved Milaeger's name on it. I braced myself for the winter awesomeness I knew awaited us on the inside and was still blown away. Inside was a beautifully boxed ornament set with all 12 of the German Bride's Tree ornaments. Each ornament is a symbol of a characteristic for a long and happy marriage. Some of my favorites are the House (protection and shelter), the Bird (joy and happiness), the Fish (Christ's blessing), and of course the Pinecone (fertility). 

Merry Wednesday to you!