Hosting Christmas

After all of the hustle and bustle from the wedding, engagement parties, buying a house, etc. Stephen and I decided that it would be nice to stay in our home for our very, first Christmas as a married couple. We invited both of our families and have put a lot of effort in to making it comfortable for everyone! My mom has laughed as I have told her all I have done to prepare... She said "It's not easy.. you didn't know what you got yourself into." Apparently, I need to order a turkey, ham and beef tenderloin ahead of time! (WHAT?!)

Then I came down with the Flu... yep! My parents have considered relocating to the North Georgia Mountains and we went to search for homes/towns (some photos below).. they had a head cold, so I had to out do them and get the Flu.

 

Of course, even with head colds we had a wonderful time. Here we are in Blue Ridge playing trivia, team purple lips.

So team purple lips had to hold off on planning Christmas this week. Thank goodness for my dear friend, Blayne's, Holiday gift guide I was able to do some shopping from my bed! Here are a few photos of my decor... before the Flu.

One of my favorite decorations is our stockings, knitted with love by my Nana. She gave Stephen and I stockings before our wedding, they are so special to me and complete our home for Christmas!  Of course, Bugs had to have one too!

 

Sorry the light is so bad in this photo, but here is our precious tree! One of my favorite memories is the first Thanksgiving in Atlanta, mom and I had lunch at Serenbe with Mamaw and Papaw then drove to Callaway Gardens and on the way we stopped in a precious small town in Georgia on 41 South. They had a beautiful downtown, with gorgeous Christmas decor. There we stopped in a cute Holiday Decor shop and we picked out a lot of ornaments and ribbon for my tree. That is how I got my ribbon tree!

 

 A few special ornaments that were added to our tree this year.. this was from my Mom from Watersound where Stephen and I got engaged.

 

This was given to us at our wedding! Beautiful love birds... BUT I don't know who it is from?! It didn't have a tag! Anyone know who it is from??

 

This is from my cousin, Danielle! I love it so much.

 

This is from my Mother-in-law! It is so beautiful and special.

 

This is from my Nana, it says "Our First Christmas", it is so classic and pretty. The light bounces off of it and it twinkles.

Here is another Watersound ornament from my mom.

 I added left over garland to our chandelier. It looks so pretty contrasting against the crystal.

 

I am so excited to set my table for Christmas dinner!

 

Oh and my little elf dog, Bugs in his cute sweater... he just woke up.

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Break + Southern Gentleman Opening

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday on Saint Simons Island with Stephen's family. We had a lot of relaxing conversations by the fire and ate lots of yummy food!

I love the trees on Saint Simons! After all the food we ate Stephen and I went on a few walks and saw these beauties.. Thursday we went to dinner at the Cloister on Sea Island for Stephen's birthday. I was so excited it was decorated for Christmas already!

Saturday we woke up and drove back to Atlanta to celebrate the Kings!! It was such a fun, beautiful wedding!  The ceremony was at Christ the King, which was breathtaking. Afterwards, the reception took place at the Foundry at Puritan Mill. Kiley could not have done a better job planning, it was perfection.

 Best wishes to the Kings, we love y'all so very much!

Sunday night we had good friends invite us to the friends and family opening of Southern Gentleman in Buckhead Atlanta, a new shopping and restaurant destination in Atlanta.  We had a wonderful experience at the restaurant, I think they will do very well. It is on the second story, next to Shake Shack off Peachtree Road. It has a beautiful view of Buckhead, which I think was lacking in the restaurant scene in Atlanta.

 

The bar is in the center of the restaurant which gives it a relaxed feel. The ceilings are tall and the layout is very open but still warm.

 

The boudin balls and pimento cheese bites on the snacks menu are amazing! 

Stephen started with the cheesy bread as a small plate, he said its very simple, but delicious.

 

 I tried the pickled shrimp, it was very flavorful and different! I enjoyed it very much.

 

Stephen's Manhattan was better than he has had in a while and he is an expert.

 

For entrees we had shrimp and grits and burgers! All had wondeful feedback. The burger is pretty heavy, but totally worth it! 

They did a great job of mixing the formal decor with a warm and casual menu.

 Isn't the view pretty?!

 

Stephen and I both agree we will definitely be returning for more! It opens tonight to the public! I highly recommend going!

The outdoor seating has garage doors, I can't wait until Spring when they will be opening the doors and welcoming warmer weather.

 Southern Gentleman is brought to you by the same group as Tin Lizzy's, Big Ketch (Fave), Smoke Belly and Gypsy Kitchen, so you know it will be good!

Tis the Season!

I grew up in a family where Holidays are a very big deal and taken very seriously, from the decor to the presents! Because of this tradition, I have dreamed for years of decorating my very own home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have such wonderful memories of my mom going out in the woods behind our home and cutting smilax to decorate our home (a nice leisure of living in the country).  She would add deer antlers, gold star ornaments, ribbon and white twinkle lights. After visiting the Holiday Home last week I knew I was ready to start decorating our home! My very sweet Mother-in-law kicked started my decorating by buying some beautiful garland and wreath from Boxwoods for our cute yellow bungalow. I couldn't wait to add my touch to them!

First I started at Michaels, I bought gold pine cones, red berry stems, and gold balls stems.

I laid the beautiful magnolia garland down the middle of our dining room table.  I added our squash, pumpkins and gourds from Halloween to make the garland Thanksgiving/Christmas transitional :)

 

I then added the red berries, gold pine cones and some centerpieces "fluffers" from my coffee table (the round yarn balls).

 

I picked up some gold candles from world market for our beautiful Match candlesticks (one of my favorite wedding gifts).

 On each end I added deer antlers from our wedding centerpieces.

 Pretty good for my first dining room table decor! Next I added the berries and gold pine cones to the matching wreath. I hung it on our dining room door.

I also added the Pheasant tail hanger (also from our wedding). I thought it blended very well with the wreath. Don't mind bugsy and his bone...

 

My little helper :)

 

I was so in the mood for decorating and didn't want it to end... so I went to Trader Joes and bought a boxwood wreath to decorate too. I did the same and added berries, gold balls and gold pine cones.

 

Now I can't wait to do the mantle! 

After all that decorating, it called for snuggling by the fire and nice warm dinner made by the hubby :)

 

This is my first Thanksgiving with out my Czeschin family, and first with my Altenbach family! Very exciting, but a little strange! I have so so much to be thankful for, its truly overwhelming! My heart is so full! I hope everyone has a relaxing and wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones!