Touches of Christmas.

Though the weather outside is decidedly un-frightful, it's still pretty delightful down here in Florida around Christmas. I've been loving all the little touches of Christmas I've been sighting around town and at work. The above photo is from the lighting of downtown St. Augustine, when they turned on all of those wonderful white lights. It was incredible! We make it a point to drive through downtown whenever we get a chance now just to soak it up.

That same night also included a walk over to Flagler College to see their (epic) Christmas tree. It's massive, and it fits the glamor of that beautiful former-hotel perfectly.

I've also been helping out with the Christmas decor around the library. We've got several trees, a ton of wreaths, and too many cute little details to count.
I'm planning a special trip downtown soon to get some nicer photos of the lights, so stay tuned!

December in Florida.

All over the internet, people are posting photos of their little winter wonderlands. Freezing temperatures, snow-covered lawns, scarves & mittens... Meanwhile, in Florida:



That's right, shorts. It's been in the 80s most days, and our windows have been open in hopes of ocean breezes to cool us down. I'm thankful for the mild weather, but part of me wishes for sweater-wearing days as Christmas approaches. I want to wear the new coat I just bought!



It was even nice enough on Thursday for us to hold a picnic outside on our lunch break. Actually, scratch that, it was a bit too warm in that sweater and jeans I was wearing. At least the sky was a gorgeous blue. Despite the unseasonal weather, though, we've been loving our little drives to see the Christmas lights, smelling the trees, and decorating like crazy people.

What's December like in your part of the world?

Literary Snowflakes.

It's no secret that we love the holiday season. We put our Christmas tree up the second week of November, and are slowly but surely building up our holiday decor. I wanted to make some DIY decorations, and decided to make some very literary snowflakes to hang in the windows.

I turned these:


Into these:


Very simple, and it took maybe ten minutes.

Do you have any super-simple Christmas DIYs to share?

Holiday Happenings.

A few days before Christmas, Paul and I ventured up to St. Augustine to grab coffee from our favorite little place-- Crucial Coffee Cafe. It was decorated very sweetly, with lots of white lights and hanging ornaments. I was too busy trying to juggle two drinks and keep warm to take a photo of the outside, unfortunately. It was beautiful! As a consolation, below is a photo of Crucial Coffee I took on a warmer day.
It began as a blacksmith's shop hundreds of years ago, or so I've been told by the employees. Either way, it's lovely.
The following evening, we finally made it to Palm Coast's Fantasy Lights, out at the Town Center. It was freezing and windy, but we had a good time strolling around the pond and checking out the lights with our coffees to keep our hands warm. Most of the lights were moving, and so Paul came up with what he thought was a hilarious photo op-- him getting kicked by the donkey. :P
I wanted to note that this was our first holiday season not working in retail, and it was glorious. I'm very glad to be out of that world, and actually have time off. I get to be there for precious moments with my family, and it's the best feeling ever.
It was a lovely holiday season!

Merry Christmas from Palm Coast!

Merry (belated) Christmas!





We had a lovely, low-key Christmas in Palm Coast. We opened presents in the morning with my family, then waited until Elizabeth and Peter arrived from Tallahassee for a Christmas brunch, complete with mimosas. We relaxed together for the afternoon, until they had to leave (boo) and Uncle Brett arrived (yay!). We had dinner and then Paul got the most exciting gift from Uncle Brett:

A Fez!!