I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Christmas as I did.  This year was such a special Christmas for me.  Not only was it the first Christmas Luke and I got to spend together, but it was the first time he had been back to Richmond since October!  I certainly did miss this guy and am so thankful for the wonderful memories we were able to make this Christmas. I can't wait for many many many more with him! This was also the first time we ever got any joint gifts- it makes everything seem that much more real!  OMG we are really getting married...IN 61 DAYS!!! Eek, I am so excited.  

Christmas in the Byrne house is FILLED with family, food, and lots of entertaining.  Christmas Eve we go to Missy and Maggie's house for dinner. This year was our 21st year going!!! We have ham, turkey, lots of sides, bread and, best of all, apple cake!  Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Maggie's apple cake.  Yummm

We then all pile into the cars completely fat and full and go to the 11:00 service at church.  Christmas service is definitely one of my favorites.   It always warms my heart to sing Silent Night in the candlelight surrounded by the church family I grew up with.  It makes you forget about the craziness of December and remember, for at least an hour, the true meaning to the season- Jesus being born!  

In the morning we make the coffee, open presents and listen to Christmas music.  After most of the presents are opened we have brunch with the Williamsons.  

After brunch prep for dinner begins!  This year we had:

                  -rosemary marinated leg of lamb

                  -roasted garlic mashed potatoes

                  -asparagus 

                  -cranberry and goat cheese salad with a mustard vinaigrette

                  -yeast rolls 

         and for dessert:

                -creme caramel

                -my grandmother's gingerbread

                -classic white cake with salted caramel icing  

Dinner with my aunt, cousin and their family is always such a fun time.  Byrnes are quite loud and like to have 25 conversations all at once. Add a couple Greeks to that recipe and there is never a dull moment! We eat, drink, argue, talk, drink some more, and then eat dessert.  This year we played Taboo after dinner too.  I think it should be come a yearly tradition, although some people may need to practice a bit before Christmas next year!   It was so much fun though!  And of course, the girls won ;)

Coley and me before Christmas Eve dinner

 

Luke and me before Christmas Eve dinner

All the girls at Missy and Maggie's. This is the most perfect picture ever

The only picture of Christmas morning that is not too embarrassing to post. 

At brunch with the Williamsons

Cutting the lamb before dinner. 

The beautiful table!

All of the Byrne/ Eliades!

Then we had poppers! 

 

The king and queen of the poppers

The dessert table!

And of course, coffee and tea

Jeb, Luke, Tish and me. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Baking: Gingerbread Men

This weekend was very busy!  I added some finishing touches on the Christmas decor, finished addressing the inner envelopes for the wedding invitations, caught up on some planning for an awesome wedding I have in August, and, most importantly, baked cookies! 

Kate, the [not so little] girl I used to nanny for, and I had a day date and knocked out almost six dozen gingerbread people!   Below are some pictures of our wonderful work :)  

First we made the dough, then let it rest in the refrigerator for a bit, rolled it out, and then started cutting! 

then we let them rest a bit after baking 

Finally we decorated them...and, voila! 

and of course some had to be silly :)

Christmas on Seddon

My Christmas decorating has officially begun!  One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is decorating the house while listening to Christmas music.  I used to love going through the boxes of decorations
my mom has and figuring out what should go where.  This is only my second Christmas in my very own house so my "collection" is much smaller than my mom's, but there is still something so cheerful and exciting about arranging what I do have!  Below are some pictures of what I have done so far.  I think some candles might need to make their way into the fireplace along with some more greenery and Santa may need a friend to sit on the mantle with him. 

My favorite addition this year is my homemade garland from greenery I cut in my backyard.  It was so easy!  (I'll post a how-to later this week)  And yes, Luke gets a stocking even though he left me and moved to Chicago ;)

This is my one and only sweet nativity scene. Last year Luke and I went down to Knoxville to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family (my first holiday with them!).  It was so wonderful and this little nativity is a great reminder of that weekend for me.  Luke's mom and I spent the day after Thanksgiving decorating their house for Christmas and then did a bit of shopping the next day.

This candle is called Frasier Fir by Thymes and oh my goodness.  It is the best candle I have ever owned.  Go buy it.  Or at least go smell it.

This is my new favorite centerpiece.   I saw this epergne at an antique store down the street from my office and called Luke and told him all about it immediately after.  I was in love with it.  I had never seen anything like it before; it has handing baskets, vases, and a large basket at the top!  I had to have it but it just wasn't something I needed to buy at the time.  Well, when Luke came into town last time he surprised me by buying it for me.  He had arranged the whole thing from Chicago over the phone to make sure he got it before someone else.  I am so thankful for that man and the little (and big) things he does every day to show me he cares. Look at how pretty it looks ready for Christmas!  Eek!

I also made this swag from magnolia and other greenery in my backyard.  

Merry Christmas season, y'all! 

Late Night Calligraphy-ing

I can't believe the wedding is less than three months away!! Tonight I am getting a move on addressing all the invitations.

I took a calligraphy class a couple months ago mainly to take up some time while Luke is gone and I ended up loving it.  I am so excited I did it because it makes everything even much more personal and it is actually kind of relaxing.  (I know, weird right?).

 117 done, 10 to go! 

Welcome! and Engagement Pictures

Hi and welcome! What a better first blog post than to share my fiancé and my engagement pictures that I finally got in the mail?!

We took these pictures 7 weeks ago and I have been waiting (not very patiently) ever since!  We chose a couple different locations around Richmond for the pictures.  Luke and I met and got engaged here so Richmond is a very special place to us.   Since we are moving to Chicago after the wedding these pictures are even more special to us.

Our photographer, Lauryn Galloway, did such a wonderful job talking us through everything.  We are so excited to be able to work with her on our wedding day too!  Eek!

Here are a couple of my favorites :)

.....and to close the shoot, a bird pooped on my head.... seriously!  That's good luck in Italy, but yuck!