With no work or school to get us up we have been sleeping in. Unfortunately now I am having trouble getting to bed before 2:30. Even as a little girl I was a night owl.
We had a wonderful white Christmas here in Nashville. My son made a video of the last 24 hours. I thought some of you might enjoy a little peek into our Christmas.
I am going to sign off for a few days. I wish all of you a time of joy and peace. 
I know that I am a little late but I saw this move for the first time tonight. I loved it! Sitting by a fire watching a movie as a family, all nine of us, knowing that there is no school tomorrow ...it doesn't get a lot better than that.
She is also my daughter and she is a bon bon. There is nothing like watching the art of ballet to put me in the Holiday Spirit.
Hope you are all having a joyful Friday!
I am not sure if any of my family reads my blog but you are my friends. So if you would like to enjoy 35% off any of our goodies just enter the code: "thirtyfive" at check out. This will end tomorrow 9pm central.
We were so excited to be in the new motif magazine. (the gingham elephant) All of you vintage fans will be in love! 
We are not guaranteed one every winter.
It makes it hard to find Jack.
It is nice to have a hill in your back yard.
All the pics were taken by my hubby.
I am loving this vintage clip art wreath from The Graphics Fairy. Now I just need to figure out how to use it.
I picked through loads of boxes to find as many old ornaments as I could find. Could you ever have too many? My daughter grabbed most of the blues and reds to go with her union jack vibe room.
I was thrilled with my leftovers.
Got these two plastic candy canes.
The bottle brush trees (from an earlier goodwill excursion) love to sit around our table. I love the added sparkle from our vintage ornaments just right for Sunday morning breakfast.
I found two boxes of bottle brush trees at Goodwill that made the table look very festive.
Of course we use our napkins.
I had been wanting to try this recipe and this was the perfect event. We all loved it. It is my new favorite winter salad. (Roasted Butternut Squash salad with warm cider vinaigrette from the Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics.) I served it with some of my home made whole wheat bread and mimosas.
I love my faux holly garland that I have had for years.
This is what NOEL looks like with 7 children. (The "E" is in the large to be glued pile)
I have never meet a bottle brush tree that I didn't like. I am going to be adding some to the store in the next few days.
With decorations finished I can concentrate on a few goodies for my little ones. If only their lists didn't keep changing.
I love getting all of the goodies down from the attic. Little touches here and there.
Most of my ornaments are from my favorite thrift stores.
I have a thing for tinsel trees.
Some of my favorite were made by my very talented children. These were made by my 17,15,13 and 11 years olds when they were respectively in Miss Donna's 4 year old class.
All photos by me.
And they insisted that we get dressed up. (I was very happy in my jeans.) Charlotte is wearing the dress she had me make her for her graduation. It is our Gigi dress (much shorter).
We only eat in the dining room twice a year so it feels very special. If you have little ones stop blinking because they that's how long it takes for them to grow up.
Too cute. My Gwen would be so pleased and proud to carry one your purses!
My daughter and I bake together all the time! We would both love the adorable matching aprons!!
This is one of my favorite things to give to a girl. When we go on a long trip I usually put together a similar assortment of goodies for my own girls. They feel so grown up carrying a purse and the treats inside will keep them busy on the journey.
Today you can win your favorite KH women's dress. Post this on your blog for 10 extra points to win.
party dress with smocked hearts. My Claire loves pink and hearts. This dress was made for her!! She is my 3rd girl, so she has not had many new dresses. She would look precious in this.
Happy Thanksgiving! Leave a comment to win any of our night shirts. Post it on your blog for extra chances.Beautiful!
I am very thankful as I sit on the computer in our kitchen. My 17 year old boy has decided to bake a cake with my 5 year old littlest girl. She rides on his shoulder when they get things from the pantry. Life is by no means always this sweet but I love it when it is!
Today we are giving away any children's dress and a matching doll dress. Just leave a comment and tell me your favorite. The doll dress fits 18" dolls.
Lucky for me tin can treats is available for weddings, parties and events. Melodie at tin can treats knows how to do a vintage party better than anyone.
I am having so much fun putting together these giveaways. Today I am giving away this long necklace and two bracelets. I love to wear fun jewelry and have lots of my favorite colors to choose from but I find myself grabbing my wood jewelry most often.
This photo of our home was taken by Bjorn Wallander for Country Living.
The Place I Call Home
by Charlotte Hughes
The house on Estes street hides behind the unruly bushes. The broad black drive slides up to the large garage that still has a strobe light that goes off when the doors slam. Up the stairs past the wall of letters you reach the small yellow room that connects the two parts of the house. It is not in the middle of the house, that’s the front hall, but it is too pretentious so we come in the back. The front hall is for running through when you realize you’ve forgotten something. It is for rolling up the rug and sliding across in your socks. It is for walking past the living room, the one no one really lives in until Christmastime. Past the front hall is my favorite hall, the hall with the magic window and tall shelves full of old leather books from centuries past. It leads to the bedrooms, all but one and a half of them. Each bedroom is different. My parents’ bedroom is cream with a massive wooden bed that is always warm and soft, no matter what. My sisters’ room is pink, crammed full of blue sleigh beds and scattered with clothes. Sophie’s room is snowy white and immaculate: the sharp edges softened with fluffy comforters and small sheepskin rugs. Underneath the house there are more rooms and more hallways. There is a soft cream room with a house and a secret garden to play in, and a hard grey room with washing machines and a projector. It is where we watch car chases and bank heists and love stories and battles. Hidden in the corner of this room, behind old garage doors is a bed. It is a half room, just a bed and a closet. This is where my brother stays when he is home from school. On the other side of the house, on the other side of the yellow room is the kitchen. It is a big room, it has to be. It is where we spend our time: where we bake cookies for school and make bread for lunches, where we eat spaghetti and hamburgers and sit and read by the fire. We eat around its round wooden table and curl up in its massive white couch: a couch where there is no uncomfortable way to sit. Right off of that room, the room we truly live in, is my room. My room is a deep blue sea, changing colors with the light, anchored by the rust red couch and soft white island where I sleep. It is an unfinished room for sure, but no room is ever truly finished. The empty expanses of wall are places to plan and dream and think about, places that are not truly empty, just waiting. It is where I go to escape the loud noises of my younger siblings and think for myself. It is where I go to escape in dreams so realistic I wonder if they actually happened. In my room I can be my own person and think my own thoughts. But it is only one room in many. The hallways sprawl to other rooms with pianos and coloring tables and shell cabinets and guitars. Rooms that I do not visit except on occasion, rooms that are pushed from my mind because even it cannot keep up with the daily changing attitude of my house.
The home, Templeton, that also belonged to her mother C.Z. Guest.
I am not too old for hand-me-downs.
I totally understand if she doesn't want to give me the whole house.
I would be happy with some of the lettuce leaf porcelain.
All of the photos are from Habitually Chic. All or most were taken by Douglas Friedman for Harper's Bazaar.
