Holiday Bliss!

I absolutely love the holidays! How could you not be in a good mood with all that the holidays bring: great Christmas movies, amazing Christmas music, fun holiday parties, great times with friends and fam, baking, and just enjoying the JOY of the season!? I just can't get enough. This past week/weekend, I went to the grove to see the Christmas decorations + LOVED It. Totally reminded me of New York City! And then this past weekend, I went to Christmas Lane in Oxnard to see the Christmas lights there. I love love love Christmas lights + decorations. I can't wait till I'm able to do a huge outdoor display of my own!:) I am going to go all out - Clark Griswald style.. haha!

Love holiday traditions!! What are your favorite holiday traditions? This year I got to start two new traditions! I went to my first cookie exchange + loved it. Love the concept of everyone baking + then sharing the cookies & swapping them. I attended this year, and want to host one next year! I am already excited to plan it. So fun! Also this year, I am obsessed with Christmas ornaments! I seriously love them + want to buy them all! I started three different ornament exchanges with friends -- and have gotten a TON of ornaments from it. I LOVE it. Will definitely continue that. It's great, because obviously with this economy, not everyone can do gifts, especially outside of your immediate families -- so an ornament exchange is great, because you get one in return + it's something that everyone can use! Who doesn't want/need ornaments? I will definitely be getting a bigger tree next year -- just to fill it with new ornaments. :)

Speaking of ornaments -- if you need any, a great place to go is Kohls!! They have GREAT sales on ornaments, and you can get really cute ones for cheap! :)

This weekend, I also got to do two more of my annual traditions (it was a very busy weekend!) -- Me + my two best friends did our Annual Baking Party! It's so much fun to get together + bake, and was fun this year because we added an ornament exchange. :) Secondly, my family had our annual Seven Fish Feast. It's an Italian tradition, where everyone brings a fish dish (crab dip, calamari, shrimp dishes, etc...) to share. It's supposed to be Christmas Eve, but we always celebrate early. Lots of fun!

Another great tradition, and probably the most meaningful for me, is Project Adopt a Family! Every year, I adopt a family for Christmas. In the past I have gone through Lutheran Social Services + adopted from there, but this year, my non profit that I am on the board of directors for, Cancer Hope Foundation, adopted two families from our cancer camp. Two very deserving families. Soo, I just decided to focus on that. This year, things are hard for EVERYONE with this economy so I knew it would be a challenge. But I am COMPLTELY BLOWN AWAY by the response I got from my own friends & family for these two families! I sent out an email to my closest friends + family, and got an amazing response. Tons of people volunteered to buy gifts and/or gift cards + it was a huge blessing. This last weekend, I drove all around picking up gifts from friends that had gifts to donate, and it was just amazing to see! My entire trunk was FULL of gifts to give -- I felt like Santa! :) It was so great, and amazing to see everyone come together to make a difference. It's amazing the impact you can make when you pair up with people! Totally the ripple effect -- Love it :) So a HUGE THANK YOU To the awesome people that donated gifts and/or gift cards: Debbie, Robin, Angela, Dino, Jess & Eli, Debbie & David, and everyone else. Sorry if I'm missing anyone! I can't thank you enough - I am very grateful + hope you know that you made a huge impact in the lives of others :)

I just love traditions :) Always looking for new + fun ones to add.

Hope everyone is doing great.. Only 3 days till Christmas! INSANE! Even though I feel like I've tried to savor this season, it has still flown by. I still have so much to do!!! But tonight, I must go home + rest, because I need to fight off being sick, and after an insane weekend like the one I just had, I really need to rest up! :)

Lots of Love!
xoxo