I scrolled up and down and realized I never posted about Thanksgiving break. Now that it's January, I thought I'd combine all the winter holidays into one massive post.
It was my parents year to have all the kids for Thanksgiving. We all arrived in Montana between Monday and Wednesday of the week - from D.C., Cincinnati, San Diego and Park City. Even Good Ol' Uncle Pat came along with me and Ben on our adventure. It was just like old times having him with us.
We saw several movies over the weekend, had malts and burgers at Norm's News, and of course, went to Sportsman Ski Haus... it wouldn't be a Stimpson vacation without it. Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic - complete with new gourmet additions to the menu such as pecan pie cheesecake, yams with a citrus twist, sweet potato casserole and delicious homemade cranberry sauce. I love that my mom and sisters try new dishes every year - it's so fun and unpredictable!
We also had the first annual Stimpson Turkey Bowl in the open yards bordering the golf course next door. It was a blast. We were all distracted by Reese in her snowsuit (it didn't look cold, but it was!). I couldn't decide whether to cheer or play - that was my strategy to confuse the opposing team. The game was short and sweet with only two injuries sustained... Mike Smith's hamstring, and his other hamstring. In the South we just say, "blessim."
For Christmas Ben and I stayed in Utah this year to be with his family in Layton. The entire family gets together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - instead of driving back and forth from Park City in blizzard conditions, we packed our jammies and spent the night at Ben's parent's. It was great to be with everyone for great food, Grandma Kathy's holiday story, and of course, lots of presents.
Ben and I left around 5 p.m. on the 25th, as we wanted to get home to open our own presents that we left sitting under the tree. We drove home to at least 18 inches of new snow, and still falling, in our driveway. It looked only 'powdery' to me and I encouraged Ben to pull the car in a little bit. We immediately were stuck. Oh great! We ran our things inside and changed into our shoveling clothes. We had no shovel but got creative with a large 40 gallon trash bucket and a garden shovel. 30 minutes later we had enough snow gone to pull the car partially into the driveway and out of the path of the dangerously large and unwieldy snowplows. (doing the whole driveway would've taken hours!)
Opening presents together was really fun. One for you, one for me, one for you, one for me... and so on. With only two people it goes pretty quickly but there were a few surprises that kept things interesting. Afterward we ichatted with Mom and performed a special excerpt from her most-recent fave movie, Love Actually, and also displayed on camera all of our new gifts.
The next day Ben and I hosted the Oviatts for a White Elephant party. The theme was unmistakeably revolved around underwear of all kinds; with pink fur, king-sized, and of the tighty-whitey variety. I ended up with "Abs of Steel" and one of Cindy Crawford's work out videos ("Yes! Just what I needed as the new year approaches!") The "fishnet leg lamp" from A Christmas Story also surfaced.
In preparation for the dinner I pulled out most of the serveware I received as wedding gifts. I enjoyed setting up and entertaining in such a fun kitchen. I even filled my punch bowl. My clam chowder turned out as a result of a little help from my mother-in-law and some much needed cornstarch. After the party, Matt & McCall and Meghan and Cody stuck around to have a spend the night and to play Time's Up. We played boys vs. girls and luckily all three rounds ended and we were still on good terms! Here are some shots of our game faces.
Since Ben and I have been together, we've spent New Year's at my parents in Montana. You may ask what was going through our heads in driving north almost to Canada during the dead of winter?? Yes, the trip is just too fun to pass up. Ben and I hadn't seen any of Dean's basketball games since he began playing for his high school team. We went to two of his games and he definitely impressed us... the way he plays reminds me of Deron Williams or Steve Nash. Quick, smart and a great sport. He's such a mini version of my Dad. So much.
Mom hosted a 'make your own sushi' party and had some friends and neighbors come over to enjoy the yummy food with us. It was delicious. We stayed for five days and the snow finally stopped in time for us to leave. I think Kalispell had some record snowfall. Luckily Ben was happy to stay home and read while we were pretty much snowed in. Mom, Linds and I just sat around and caught up on Mom's tivoed design shows.
The holidays flew by so fast. It seemed like a blur now that I look back. Let's hope dreary January and the rest of the winter can blow by just as quickly.
This year I forwent my crazy carnival decorations and settled on a simplified theme of green and chocolate. ( in past years I collected things I loved of all colors, orange, lime, purple, pink, turquoise) It all began with a trip to Home Depot where I saw these fabulously beautiful poinsettias that were white instead of red. I bought some and it was all downhill from there. I had hints of red in a few places, but other than that I only used the silver, clear, green and brown ornaments I had. 
My mom treated us with 15 feet of fresh cedar garland. I'm crazy for it. I love the way it drapes and gives such a great scent. I laid this up on the mantle and then a few days later added another cut of the same length to bulk it up a bit. I bought inexpensive spools of brown and copper ribbon and added some lights. Very easy.
With the extra cedar garland I wrapped the lazy susan on our dining table. As long as you don't have to move the garland much, it will dry and not be too messy. Notice the cute little clip on cardinal - with a feather tail - what a great find!
Symmetry makes this arrangement look complete when really its just a few topiaries and some unused ornaments. I usually have the trees and the urn out, but for the holidays I tied the pots with some extra ribbon and it helped tie everything in.
I don't really have many sentimental ornaments yet, as we have only a few Christmases under our married belt and we're still working on our own traditions. One of my favorite things to unwrap every year is our "Our First Christmas" ornament. Why do I love this? Is it cheesy? I can't wait for our kids to be teenagers and laugh at this ornament, but I think it'll be special over the years. If you don't have one, get one. Have it post-monogrammed if you have to. I always loved to see the felt ornaments we made as kids with my picture and my sisters pictures pasted on. I definitely plan on having them four our babies too. Whenever that will be. I'm sending one to Reese this week to cheer me up. :)
So here is our tree this year. It appeared a little short on it's normal stand so we put it up on a box and covered it with some remnant fabric. It worked great. I used some of the leftover twig lights from the mantle and stuck them in the tree for a little more light. Our tree is pre-lit and it's just too much for me to mess with stringing additional lights in. With a skinny tree it doesn't take much to make it look full. I used mostly beaded orbs, pine cones, snowflakes and stars... and clip-on birds which were so much fun.
I thought I'd miss the usual green and red but it seemed like with just a few accents of red it was this great pop of color. I found an inexpensive box planter and wanted to do a big floral arrangment in it. I picked out amaryllis, green hydrangea, a variegated boxwood with a pretty shade of purple on the leaves, and something similar to amaranthus. My 'associate' Derek whipped it all together for me in about five minutes. He is brilliant. I have loved it.
This is the ultimate classic. I started watching this as a little girl. I always wanted to dance and look like the sister Judy.
This movie has been playing on tv lately. I think the cast is great and I love the way the story revolves around different vignettes. My favorite parts are the Christmas play, Collin Firth's romance, and when Hugh Grant dances around his house. Oh, and Ben and I LOVE the hilarious British singer. And so does my mom.
Home Alone is another seasonal classic. But you must limit it to the original or the part II. No further than that.
I think there are only one or two holiday scenes in this movie, but the simple fact that this is my favorite movie to replay and replay justifies watching it over the holidays.
I love this movie. Much of it happens around Christmas and there are so many great lines. If you haven't watched it in a while, go rent it. It's a great movie.
When this came out a few years ago around Christmas we went out to see it as a family. What we originally thought would be a hilarious feel-good movie turned out to have a few more twists and deeper issues than we expected. I liked it nonetheless. In the past two weeks it's been on tv at least twice. I watched it twice, and cried at exactly the same three parts both times. I like this movie more and more.
I watched this movie as a little girl and was so entranced by not only the concept of the story but also the illustrations and, most of all, the music. I got this on DVD a few years ago as I was stocking up on books and movies I'd read and seen as a child, as a future library for my children. There is nothing quite like this movie.
I have this movie on my DVR from last week and can't wait to snuggle up and watch it. 
I love watching Elf and The Grinch - they remind me of my sisters and brother who still quote this movie sometimes. Holiday-whoo-be-what-ee?
Celine Christmas will always remind me of rooming with Lacey, Heidi & Taryn
Cheesy, I know, but the songs are good! Lots of them!
Don't laugh, Ben and I really love this song. It would be a misrepresentation to leave it off. Just admit you like it too.
I have been on the lookout for a great carafe. I guess the one I'm really looking for is a 'bedside carafe'. (others are for wine/juice and have no cup on top). I think the idea is novel and who doesn't wake up parched in the middle of the night? I found this one online at Crate & Barrel, but then I found one the next day for under $10. So I snatched it up. Do I have to take it off my list now? oops!
I had an ipod alarm clock a few years ago, but it stopped working. I found this one with a mirrored surface. Sorta sleek, right? After all, I'd have to find something that would look good next to my new carafe.
How many times have I blogged about Mistral Verbena? Every time gift-giving comes around for me, it's the first thing I think of. I LOVE the scent. I want to use it in the shower, for lotion, for hand cream, perfume... heck, I wish it came in hairspray cause then I'd be completely covered.
Maybe it's the Southerner in me that loves monograms and personalized stationery. I am slowly collecting my favorite design books, wedding books, entertaining and coffee table travel books. How fun to have personalized labels to put inside. I found this site when I did a search for personalized book plates online. I fell in love with this artist's style and his interpretations. They remind me a little of illustrations from a childrens' storybook. Hard to choose my favorite, but I love this one of the lemons.
Can anyone offer some feedback on rain boots, aka Wellies? I think they are so cute and now that I have some tapered jeans, I thought wearing a pair of these with the right pants would look good instead of very weird and bulky/kankle-ish. I found a few pairs that I like. Still can't decide. Hunter makes the original Wellington boot. Here are the pairs I like. * ** *** **** *****
