From us to you....wishing you a merry, merry Christmas and that you are surrounded by those that you love during this special time of year. XOXO

A Tradition in the Making...

Auntie, Katey, and {a nearly foiled trip from} mom... (crazy winter weather!)

Downtown...

City lights...

Shopping...

Dinner...

Night at the Sheraton...

and........The Rockette's!!!!!


What a perfectly Christmasy, lovely, special event...

Party, Party, Party!

Hard to believe that our Christmas party last weekend was our 9th Annual! celebration. The girls and I started this tradition back our senior year college and the party has continued each year in some form since then.
Thanks to Miss Jamie of All Trades for all her work in planning this year's celebration!


The two preggers of the party!



The next morning was another of our annual traditions...Girl's Gift Exchange! This year we gathered at Ruthie's new adorable house. We've changed the theme up from year to year, but this year was accessories! Everyone walked away with the cutest things.



I love our special traditions girls--you are all the best!

Hey Santa!!

Last weekend while I was volunteering at the annual Holiday Party at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance for patients and families, one of my volunteer friends asked if I wanted to get my picture taken with Santa. Why not right?! You are never too old to sit with Santa and make some Christmas wishes!!

Holiday Surprises

This year's Annuity Source Christmas party was filled with surprise after surprise! Every year our party is amazing and wonderful, but this year my boss wanted to keep it a secret as to what we were doing exactly.

She got us all rooms at the Hyatt in downtown Bellevue, and at 5:00 p.m. we checked in to get our first "clue"...these holiday rhymes/clues led us to each new location. There were drinks, appetizers, bowling, dinner at the new John Howie steak house...and probably the biggest surprise of all, an impromptu shopping trip to Nordstrom to pick out a piece of David Yurman jewlery!


Needless to say, we were pretty shocked and excited gals...kind of felt like I was in a movie! Lucky, lucky girls.




The gals I spend my days with! Yep, we're all pretty tan...

We ended the night with our traditional ornament exchange...and if you've been a part of this exchange you know it gets quite competitive. I walked away with cutie I had my eye on all night-- a cupcake in a cake stand ornament!


Hope everyone had a festive Merry weekend!

Not to toot our own horn...

But I'm going to anyways!

An excerpt from a review given of our OSSCS Messiah concert this past Sunday:

"Though the soloists play an exciting, glamorous, and integral part in every Messiah performance, the true stars of Sunday’s Messiah were the Seattle Chamber Singers, who served as the musical and inspirational backbone of the production. This enthusiastic choir, celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, delivered rousing performances throughout the concert, whether echoing the sentiments of a soloist or establishing a new mood. It was evident from the singers’ joyful expressions that the annual Messiah tradition is a labor of pride and love...

Shangrow’s vast experience and deep knowledge of the Messiah was delightful to behold. Each verse came alive in a different way, yet an overarching vision for the work was sustained."

And don't worry if you missed it this year...it's an annual tradition!

This weekend...

-made and enjoyed one of my favorite Christmas treats...Chex Mix!

-got my hair highlighted at an Aveda salon where they use 97% natural ingrediants in their hair color...PLUS a free hand massage and head/neck massage!

-gobbled up these delicious treats Jamie informed me of! minty goodness!

-had a fabulous time at the first ever "Supper Club" gathering at the Lovik's Photo via Miss Erin Ewing

-performed with my choir Handel's "Messiah" and loved EVERY SECOND of it. Of course I cried at the end again. It is one of my all time favorite holiday traditions!

Busy, busy, fun holiday season!

Favorite Day of the Year (or one of them...)

Getting the tree and decorating the house!!!

As I mentioned earlier, I am a Christmas nut and love just about everything about this time of year. So naturally that means I am one of those people who like to get the tree up and house decorated almost immediately following Thanksgiving.

This past Sunday, Nick and I went to the adorable tree farm out in Redmond (which we determined last year would become a tradition. Yay to us for sticking with it!), to find our tree.
My favorite tree of all is the Noble Fir but I am also quite fond of the Frazier as well. However, unfortunately as we were told from one of the little teenagers working the farm, these two trees had a rough year. The only ones you could find were the pre-cut ones which not only are much more expensive than cutting down a tree on your own...we decided a bit against the point of driving all the way out to a tree farm when you are going to cut your own tree.

So we searched and searched and found a happy little, lovely smelling, gorgeous little tree. I am quite pleased!

This Thanksgiving...

I am extra thankful for...

-My funny husband and sweet puppy...


-This baby bump that is growing...


-My amazing, wonderful, supportive family

-My equally amazing, wonderful, supportive friends

-Our health