Christmas day was a nice relaxing day once my husband and I finished cooking.
We finished cooking early in the afternoon and had dinner around 5:00 pm and to our surprise it began snowing hard in our area around 4:30 pm on Christmas Day, so we pretty much stayed in since the temperature was really dropping after we had dinner. This year we decided to finally use our formal china that we had not used from our wedding. Each time that we would spend a holiday in our home we would always say that we would use the formal china and we would always forget.
Well, this year we took the formal china out of our buffet cabinet and we actually used it. We also sat down and ate in our formal dining room as well. We have never had dinner in our formal dining room. We have entertained in our home and we have used the dining room as over flow with sweets and other things like that, however, we have never sat down in the room to actually eat! I am sure that I am not the only one in this situation.
We pretty much use our eat in kitchen which has a pretty large dining table and island to eat all of our meals and we never felt the urge to eat in the formal dining room. Well, this time we stuck to our promises and we brought out that china and used it. I am one of those southern girls who grew up with the notion that you had to have formal and casual china on the wedding registry. However, now many brides are not choosing that route. It really depends on how you were raised. It was/is customary for brides to register for all of that pretty formal china as apart of their gift registry. We were truly blessed to get our pieces from our formal china. I think that we received about 15 to 18 dinner plates, which was more than what I registered for. The fact that it also went on sale the weekend of the wedding helped too even though I chose a reasonable pattern!
I am proud to say that we brought out the crystal goblets, formal flatware, and formal dinner plates that had never been used from the buffet cabinet. We said that we are going to try to use the formal china at least 2 -3 times a year. It is beautiful and I definitely want to make use of it. I know that I am not the only bride that has been married for several years and had not used the formal china. I did not have the table dressed up for dinner. I pulled some the decorations that were in the room to the middle of the dining room table to make it work. I like things simple. It worked out perfectly. The little charlie brown type christmas tree that I have in my dining room gave away a nice glow as it turns from white to Tiffany blue.
We had one candle and that was sufficient or our dinner. We love sitting down in the late evenings with the lights on from the trees and garland. Our home seems so magical with the soft flittering lights. I love relaxing and just looking at the trees throughout the holiday and the lights.
We had one new addition in terms of trees to our decorations this year. I had not purchased another tree since 2006. We added a unique colored tree to our living room this year which is a neat antique black type color since that room has chocolate and neutrals. It was actually on sale a few weeks before Christmas which made it even better.
After dinner, we sat down and watched movies as the snow covered our area. It was really a nice surprise and sight to see on Christmas afternoon. It was a really good thing because we are so used to going, going, and going that it is just wonderful to be in your own home over the holidays to enjoy it. We had not spent Christmas in our own home since Christmas 2008 and it was time to spend a holiday at home without traveling. Although I really enjoy being with my family on the holidays and all of the large crowds, it also feels good to be in your own home once in a while.
I must say that I was getting a little home sick from not being around all of my family a few days before Christmas, but I was okay by the time Christmas eve came and I realized that we both needed the rest and we did not need to travel for this holiday. I had a few tears on Thursday and Friday and then I was okay by Friday evening. I have a very close knit family and it really means a lot to be home for the holidays.
Anyway, here are just a few quick pics that I took before dinner, after dinner and a few others. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas Day filled with joy in His name. We are looking forward to 2011 and all of the new beginnings that we have in store!
Here is just a peek into our Christmas Day. I used my tiny cybershot camera to get a full picture of our main Christmas Tree in our family room so there is clearly a difference in picture quality in my opinion, but it is just to share. The smaller camera was easier to get a full length of the big tree versus my DSLR with the lens that I have.
11 comments:
Can I just say that your Christmas tree is huge lol...It looks like you need a ladder to put decorations towards the top lol I love it :)
Nevididi,
Yes, he uses a big ladder to put the tree together and the ornaments at the top. That tree is a chore alone! Not to mention the fluffing after it is put together.
wow! simply beautiful! you have such great taste and decorating skill. i agree about sometimes staying home during the holidays. plus, your day sounded very romantic :)
this year the traveling was the same as other years with the addition of sammy, who added about 10 extra pounds of gear :) our plan for christmas day 2011 is to stay home and hopefully have the grandparents come to us.
Thanks Joyce!
We have collected a little bit each year since we moved into our home. The first two years we spent on decorations, however, after we pretty much had a good starting point we only had to add a few ornaments and different things each year that were small. I look for deals after the holidays and right before the holidays when they go on sale. I really enjoy having the decorations up. It brings back a lot from my childhood.
Yes, I know that you were super tired carrying that big baby. My parents will be coming here for Christmas as we expand our family. His parents also are game with traveling at the holidays. They don't mind at all.
It was rather romantic having dinner with candle light and watching the snow fall. We really enjoyed peace and quiet and slowing down. Sometimes it is good to stay still.
I think that we may volunteer to host Thanksgiving next year and have everyone travel to us. I will keep you posted on that one! Thanksgiving is another huge family holiday celebration. I love family! I hope that you had a wonderful holiday with your families and little one and I can't wait for your date to come and go so that you can share pics! Excited for you.
I love it Kristy!
Funny you mentioned your wedding china. I used mine for the first time this Christmas too! I didn't receive everything because our wedding date is the weekend of Mother's Day and graduations. Since I don't have all the pieces, we only used the dinner plates and our formal silverware, but I'm determined to collect the other pieces now.
Thanks for sharing! Your Christmas was beautifully romantic and relaxing.
I took a picture of mine and I I'll post it for you to see :)
Angela,
We were also married on mothers day weekend! That is funny. We were so blessed because our formal china actually went on sale for that Mother's Day weekend and it was right on time. However, I did select an affordable elegant pattern.
My mother warned me years before I was married to not pick out something to pricy for folks to pay for! I have seen many brides in my past select patterns that are way to expensive and guests may not want to spend over $200.00 on one place setting or $80.00 for one small piece and they end up not getting hardly any pieces. You know what I mean?
We picked out something obtainable and that would be timeless. We have a Lenox platinum trimmed place setting and there is a place in my home state about an hour from I am from where you can get some replacements for your pieces as well if you ever break them if they are no longer sold in the stores. Let me know if you need the name of the place. They have a website as well.
Our pattern is still in the department stores where we registered. I think I have a few pieces that I want to purchase to have extras for larger gatherings if we use the formal china.
However, we faired very well with our pieces and we were truly blessed beyond measure with all of our gifts and monetary gifts. I still have stuff packed up in the basement that we have not used or do not have room to pull out in terms of extra appliances until we finish the basement with kitchen down there.
Keep an eye on your pattern when it goes on sale and you can rack up. You should be able to contact the place where you registered so that they can alert you when your pieces go on sale.
I cant wait to see your pieces!
I pickd something even more reasonable, Noritake Whitecliff Gold. The gold is discontinued but I found some pieces on line just last week. My guest had no excuse. LOL!
You are funny!
Check out Replacements l t d and see if you can find your pieces there. That is the place that I was telling you about. Let me know what you find.
You know how it is with weddings and guests purchasing gifts. It can go either way!
I love your Lenox China. Your pattern will never retire. That's why I like Lenox. Good choice!
Thanks Angela!
Yes, we went with a simple, classy, elegant and timeless pattern and we love it, although we have only used it once thus far!
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