Best Christmas Ever

Our Christmas was all sorts of perfect. Eloise was full of Christmas delight and her sincere gratitude for each and every gift filled Chris and I with so much pride. She thanked the gift giver with a hug and a kiss and continuously proclaimed throughout the day, "This is the best Christmas ever!" And it was.

For months Eloise talked about the pink princess computer that she hoped Santa would bring. Her desire for this particular toy seemed to come from nowhere, then I pressed for why and it turned out she just wanted send emails like I do. Oh my little sponge! I was a bit reluctant to purchase a toy computer since cheap plastic, electronic, noise-making toys really aren't my jam, but Santa wishes trump parental objections. When Eloise saw her pink computer she did a little happy dance, clutched it to her chest, looked up to the ceiling (aka The North Pole) and said, "Oh Santa, thank you! It's my perfect pink computer!" I figured that the computer would have Eloise's undivided attention for the rest of the day but she opened up every gift with equal amounts of wonder and appreciation. Frozen was the other hit of the day and Eloise teetered around in light-up Elsa shoes from Unky T clutching her skating Elsa Barbie from my best friend, Di.

Christmas excitement proved to be too much for our youngest participant and Spencer didn't sleep for more than 30 minutes all day. But even without sleep he was his delightful self. Santa brought him a Manchester United ball (which, let's be honest, was also for Chris) and he was spoiled by our friends and family with awesome toys and adorable clothing (see navy polka dot bow tie above).

My parents - or Other Santas - surprised Spencer and Eloise with gorgeous wooden wagon that has big sturdy wheels and enough cargo space to cart two kids to and from the Papa park. We took the wagon for its inaugural journey to run errands, hauling a giant bag of dog food, diapers, baby supplies AND Eloise, no problem.

Our Christmas was lazy, fun and relaxing, filled with drinking, eating and playing with new toys. The kids were spoiled, we were spoiled and all of the prep required to get organized for the day was totally worth it. I can hardly wait for next year.

Just for Me

This Christmas I found it hard to put together a wish list that wasn't made up of practical items. Shelving for our kitchen, a desk chair, closet organization and a deep saute pan are all things we actually need, so they took priority. After seeing my list - even adults in our family are required to send around a Christmas list - my Dad asked what I really wanted. To be honest, shelves for the kitchen are something I really want, but if you're still wondering, Dad, I have a few more ideas that are (mostly) just for me.

{1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6} {7}

A fun umbrella for rainy days, a chambray tunic to fit over top of maternity pants (and a growing bump), some pretty gold bracelets, a luxurious candle in a favourite scent, a set of effervescent stemless champagne flutes, black booties with fabulous fringe, and a stylish (and still super comfy) desk chair for all those endless emails. Merry Christmas to me!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Indigo is a holiday wonderland this year. Their holiday collection is fabulous with so many home decor pieces and gift ideas (hello, look at that gold E!) to inspire the holiday spirit. Sequined throw pillows, gilded trays, effervescent glassware, and Kate Spade paper goods, I want it all!

Since I can't bring everything home I'll settle for sharing the items I'm coveting most.

{1} {2} {3} {4} {5} {6} {7} {8} {9}

PS. In case you're wondering, Christmas is just 37 days away!

Little Mommy

I read on Friday that there are 60 days until Christmas (thanks a lot Globe & Mail), which means that as of today there are only 58. Forget that Halloween hasn't even happened, my wheels are spinning to dream up crafts and gifts for what I consider the MOST wonderful time of the year. 

Eloise has entered a very nurturing "little mommy" stage and I am in full support of this. I was obsessed with my dolls as a girl and I'm quite happy to feed into Eloise's desire to play with them too. When she's not playing mommy to her main squeezes, Piggy & Pengy, Eloise takes great care of her doll, Baby Emma. Emma gets pushed around in her stroller and carried everywhere in her little bed but Eloise informed me that she would really like for Santa to bring Emma "a susu and some cwoving". Santa is on it. 

{amazon}

As it turns out, furnishing an entire wardrobe for Baby Emma - a Mon Premier Tidoo Doll from Corolle - is going to be expensive. Any outfits I can find that fit this particular doll, and the pickings are kinda slim, run around $25. I can do better than that! 

(Except for this one... this Corolle outfit is going to be pretty hard to top.)

{indigo}

A quick look on Etsy and EBay for 12" baby doll clothing didn't give me much more so I'm going to do what I usually end up doing and just make it. I can fudge the patterns by copying Baby Emma's own sleeper and use beautiful fabric scraps and fancy trimmings to sew up "cwoving" for Christmas. I'll end up getting the Corolle accessory pack as the "susu" seems to be really important to E, but the rest I can do myself. Baby Emma may even end up with new bedding for her possibly to-be-painted-turquoise crib. But with only 58 days and counting, I don't want to over commit. 

I Love

Since I am 100% hip hop (in my music choices) this sign by Oh Dier Living needs to be in my home. Preferably on the mantle.

{oh dier}

Naturally, it's gold and shiny. Holla.

Fun Food

Getting Eloise to eat real food is inevitably a struggle, but how could anyone - even my picky toddler - resist playing with these adorable handmade felt goodies I found on Etsy?

{comiditas}

{creationbym}

{northwoods toys}

{evalauryn}

But of course the sweets are my favourite ...

{yecco}

{littlepicklepotamus}

These would all go perfectly with Eloise's little kitchen!

Christmas Bliss

The Christmas bliss as I experienced through Eloise yesterday was unbelievably special. From the moment she woke until she finally succumbed to sleep 12 hours later she was a bundle of excitement, laughter and joy. She refused to nap - in fear of missing anything I gather - and crashed hard after playing with many, many, many lovely gifts and keeping us wholly entertained. We are so lucky to have such generosity in our lives.

I loved Christmas crafting this year with tulle, ribbon, baubles and glitter. I will admit a craft fail when it came to making snow globes - who knew striking the right balance between the amount of glycerin and glitter in the water was so precise to making it 'snow' -  but oh well, everything else turned out beautifully.

By far Eloise's play kitchen was my greatest achievement and I am pleased to say she loved it too. Watching her explore the kitchen for the first time yesterday morning and having her cook us 'eggs' all day today means that this present is exactly what I had hoped. I'll share the how-to soon.

Photo challenge

{image}

I'm not much of a photo taker and I am certainly not a good photographer. I leave that up to the professionals (hi Linds!).

This aside, what I would like to challenge myself to do in the New Year is to try and take just one photo, every day, with my iPhone and Instagram. They don't even have to be perfect photos, but by Christmas next year I would like to have enough footage to order a calendar from Printstagram. It would be such a neat way to watch how Eloise changes and a cool memento to remember the year that was.

I also think Printstagram's Tinybook has to be one of the cutest things ever. What a great gift for Grandparents!

{image}

Dear Santa

Dear Chr - er - Santa,

It's hard to believe that Christmas is just over two weeks away! This year is going to be so special with Eloise and I can't wait to see her excitement on Christmas morning.  Her play kitchen is going to be spectacular!

I know that Christmas is about the kids but I thought I should mention that I've been really good this year too. In case you were looking for gift inspiration I've put together a wish list of items I've been coveting all year. Fingers crossed that I made your nice list!

Merry Christmas!
xo Jordan

A stylish waterproof jacket for rainy days at the park. 

A pair of chelsea booties.

 (With sparkle? Yes please.)

 A sauté pan for winter stir fries.

A bottle of my signature scent.

A lace peplum shell to wear with black trousers for weddings.  

A 21" drop bed skirt to completely cover the legs of our bed.

An emerald handbag. It's the colour of the year, after all.

And Santa, I know how much you dislike Christmas shopping (for items the Elves cannot produce) so here's hoping that my wish list helps take some of the shopping-stress away. If not, there's always my birthday :)

40 Days

40 days. That's how many there are until Christmas, so said a sign welcoming me to the grocery store today. There are Christmas decorations on the shelves, Christmas music over the PA and apparently, just over a month to go before the 'big day'. How did this happen? I've just recovered from Halloween.

For the last few years we have been drawing names and following this rhyme for family gift giving:

"Something to wear, something to read, something you want and something you need."

Every person draws a 'wear', 'read', 'want' and 'need' for another member of the family so that they are buying just one gift in each category. This method of gift giving has worked beautifully for us and I look forward to continuing the tradition with Eloise.

Speaking of Eloise, I've got big plans for her Christmas present. This year she will be getting a play kitchen from Santa which I will be making using a bedside table; it's going to have a sink with a faucet, a stovetop, and an oven with a light. I've been looking forward to creating a special play kitchen since before Eloise was born, so I can hardly wait to get started on this project.

Check out my super score from the Salvation Army Thrift Shop yesterday for $9.

She's a little homely at the moment but I've engaged my dad to help with the cutting (you really don't want me around power tools) and I'll be converting this sad looking piece of furniture into a darling kitchen for Eloise.

Here are some of the DIY play kitchens that I've been looking to for inspiration:

{pinterest}

{young house love}

{pinterest}

Merry Christmas!

Just like Charlie Brown's, but with more sparkle!

'Twas the day after Christmas and Santa had come, the presents were opened, the turkey was done. We spent the day in jammies, just like you should, and were showered with gifts for being so good. Bike shoes for Daddy, a Kobo for me, a new ball for Granby and so much for miss E...

Alright, I'll spare you the rest, but I hope you had a Merry Christmas none-the less! (hehe)
 

We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas day and were all very spoiled, especially Eloise. No gift could have compared to joy brought by crinkly wrapping paper but she received the most adorable gifts from friends and family including her first soccer ball AND ballet shoes, and not one, but two pairs of Tiny TOMS. Too cute!

Chris and I agreed to skip big gifts to each other this year in favour of purchasing a new computer as my laptop has been slowly dying for about a year now (at eight years old it certainly doesn't owe us anything)! We are eagerly anticipating picking out an iMac tomorrow though I fear I may be losing Chris to the a fancy new computer for some time...

Anniversaries

With our second wedding anniversary just weeks away I have gifts (for Chris) and presents (for me!) on the brain. I love the history behind traditional anniversary gifts, so for our first anniversary - the traditional choice is paper - I gave Chris a beautiful sterling silver pen from Tiffany's to go with monogrammed note cards.

With seemingly obscure gifts on the list, like fruit & flowers for a fourth anniversary, it's really quite fun to see what you can come up with. Here are a few things I have in mind for for our second anniversary:

{image: fabric.com}

 Fabric for a new headboard

{image: Pottery Barn}

Monogrammed Sheets, in pale blue or grey

{image: Brooks Brothers}

A Custom Shirt for Chris

{image: Ikabags}

An Ikabags Stockholm bag for me!

Any other ideas?

Paper Hat Press

Molly, the little girl I look after, is truly a gem. I am lucky to have been her nanny for the past year and a half and am really going to miss her while I'm off on maternity leave. To let Molly know how much I care I have been searching for something special to give her as a 'going away' gift and I think I found the perfect thing.

Little Sparkle, a customizable book from Paper Hat Press

I learned about Paper Hat Press, a company that makes customizable books for children, on Zulily.com. But these are not your average customizable book, the books from Paper Hat Press feature really beautiful illustrations and allow you to add in details such as favourite foods and toys. I can even personalize the character in the story to share Molly's hair and eye colour!

Super cute, I just placed my order and can't wait to see the look on Molly's face when she receives a book all about her.

Three Peas in a Pod

While perusing Etsy the other day I came across the most adorable necklace. Aptly named "Three Peas in a Pod", jewelry designer Mu-Yin has crafted a pod out of sterling silver and uses freshwater pearls as the peas. I think this would make a fantastic Christmas gift for a mom- or grandma-to-be (*hint hint, Chris).

Three Peas in a Pod by Mu-Yin on Etsy

Have a look at the various pea pod necklaces on Mu-Yin's Etsy and while you're at it, be sure to check out all the incredible handcrafted jewelry she sells... there are more than a few items that I would love to get my hands on!