Holiday Round Up / My Monochromatic Life

Hello er'body! I hope you all had a wonderful, fun and relaxing holiday. I needed one more day to recover before touching base with you all. We had very busy few days so I will try to wrap it up concisely and give you all the fashion details of my Christmas looks.

Our Christmas started on Saturday the 23rd. Between D and I's families, there are so many places to be we just did not have time for my immediate family. So on Saturday, we headed to my parents for our own celebration and gift exchange. We had a big dinner spread, including my ~~world famous~~ pasta salad. After dinner, we opened gifts. My niece could not wait much longer and I figured Reese would be getting tired soon so we let them go at it. My niece was fun to watch this year because she is three so gifts are super exciting. She was so caught up in it that opening each gift was like "got it, check" and then she would move on so she could take inventory of the goods. She did stop each time she got a bath bomb and would exclaim "BATH BOMB!" in the most excited little voice. It was so adorable. Reese got her first hand at some gifts. If I started to rip the paper she could rip part of it and then I would do the rest. She got some light up gifts that she really loved. She loves lights and dancing right now. It was pretty cute.

Sunday was the start of the busier day. At around noon we headed to D's parents for their party. They do a kind of open house style Christmas on Christmas Eve every year. Whatever folks have nowhere else to go come over and it's typically the usual suspects. Particularly important for D are his grandparents are there. D's mom makes these two soups every year and they.are.the.best.ever. She also does a lot of baking and so you basically go there and stuff your face. We also get to catch up with some of his cousins he does not get to see all the time so it's always nice. That night we headed over to my Aunt's house for Christmas with my dad's side. Now, we areItaliann so eating is basically the sole reason for getting together. My aunt makes hot dagos, we have salad, bread (of course) and my brother-in-law made cannolis. Made. From scratch. I went to heaven. We also had a small gift exchange. We draw names and keep a dollar limit. It's just part of the fun to do a small exchange with each other. We did not stay super late because of Reese but she actually did really well and not getting too cranky.

Monday morning we got up relatively early and did our Santa gifts with Reese. We got her two gifts and a little stocking stuffer. I was really excited to give her this one toy, a Bright Beats dance toy. She loves light and dancing so when we saw this toy we knew it had to be hers. For her stocking stuff we got her these amaze little pom sneaks. Aren't they freakin' adorable? She was super cute. Christmas day I got a little more casual fashion wise so I rocked this Santa Sweatshirt from Ily Couture.

Afterwards, we headed up to D's parents to do the immediate family exchange/brunch. We ate a delicious brunch with traditional cinnamon rolls and german pancakes before exchanging gifts. There are seven grandkids including Reese so lots of little ones running around. Reese started pretty good but started to refuse to sleep and just became a little crankier than normal. I think her schedule was just all messed up and she couldn't correct it, even with help. After a few hours, we headed to my parent's again for a chill evening. My nonna and great aunt were over so we did a little dinner and just casually hung out. It was a relaxing way to end the Christmas holiday before heading home to call it a night.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday too. How do you celebrate, if you do?

On Christmas Eve I like to dress up a bit more. Goes way back to when I was a kid. We always went to church on Christmas Eve and so we would dress up. Mom always had us in very nice dresses, typically matching. So I keep up this tradition for myself. I saw this sweater from Free People around Black Friday. In the photo is looked really red but in person, it is a bit more orangey-red. I decided I was still ok with it because I have a similar lip color that would work perfectly for it. It is also incredibly comfortable. It has a bit of a dolman type fit around the arms, but is asymmetrical around the waist. I really loved this paired with the skirt. I wanted a pleated skirt since at least last year. However, since last year this time I was the size of a house, it was not exactly my best look. Thie one from Everlane is perfect because it works well for a dressier occasion but also for work because of the fabric. This skirt flows well and moves with me to help create some shape. This is a little longer than the average pleated skirt so I love that it had this great movement. Completed with a classic bootie stiletto for a clean finish. I did wear some big blingy earrings but they were part of my Rachel Zoe Box of Style and I did not want to spoil it :)