Scenes from Christmas

I can't believe Christmas came and went by so quickly! I think just flew by once Thanksgiving came and now here we are about to walk into a new year. I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas holiday with family and friends. Nothing better than that, right?

Here are some snapshots of what my holiday looked like!

On Friday evening, the Hubs took me to see The Nutcracker ballet performed by Miami City Ballet. This is my all time favorite ballet. It is such a sweet memory of my childhood because my parents took me a few times to see it. My husband is a super macho man so he wasn't entirely into the idea of watching a ballet, but in the end he actually enjoyed it!

Christmas Eve was spent at my uncle and aunt's house for the traditional family dinner. My extended family is about 50 strong and every holiday get together is filled with an abundance of delicious foods, fun (although SUPER competitive) games and lots of picture taking. I am usually the one initiating the photo ops (much to everyone's dismay) but for some reason, I did not take ONE picture this year! There was just too much going on! Super bummed because my outfit was pretty cute. Ha!

I did much better when it came to Christmas Day though! My brother and his wife were in town so the family met at my parents house for gifts and brunch. My mom does not slack off when it comes to brunch. She makes a million courses and we get filled to the brim.

(that would be banana/pecan stuffed french toast - heavenly!)

(My brother's dog, Lily had her first Christmas with us!)

And the gifts. I was definitely spoiled this year. I didn't even snap pics of them all (this year was not the one for photo taking apparently) but if you remember my wish list here, I did get the pink Clarisonic system, Zumba for Wii & the monogrammed pendant!

(Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty)

I was also blessed with some other books, movies, cds, perfumes and such. The BIG gift from my husband this year was a white iPad2. Sure I wanted it but Apple's price tags almost nauseate me so I kept telling him to not take me seriously. He did anyway. I still cannot believe I have it and it's taking me forever to figure it out but he said that it was like a "Go get 'em tiger" gift in regards to my ventures into blogging. It was really sweet :)

I'd love to know what your Christmas looked like and what gifts you got this year!

And don't forget to take advantage of the 50% discount for your first JewelMint purchase, courtesy of the MBA Seattle team! Details can be found HERE.

A Christmas Roadtrip

This past weekend my family and I road-tripped it to Orlando for what has become our new holiday tradition - a mini getaway to celebrate the Christmas season at Disney World! It started the Christmas right before the Hubs and I were married and it has happened every year since. Coincidentally my brother and his wife happen to live in Orlando so it works perfectly, especially on the years they are unable to drive south and spend Christmas with us.

I brought my camera along for the trip but didn't pull it out once, so here are some photos from the trip courtesy of my trusty iPhone. Enjoy!

We stayed at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Bonnet Creek resort which had only been open for two months prior to our stay. I would definitely recommend it if you visit the Orlando area. This hotel was a-maz-ing! Check out some of the decor...

Some shots from Downtown Disney -

The next two shots feature displays made entirely of LEGOS!

 Dressed up for dinner -

And the randoms -

This display is made entirely of chocolate! It smelled heavenly :)

Peppermint Patty martini

That's all folks! Sad thing is that I just realized how few pics I took of people, haha!

Oh well, better luck on family photos this weekend ;)

And don't forget to take advantage of the 50% discount for your first JewelMint purchase, courtesy of the MBA Seattle team! Details can be found HERE.

Deck the Halls

I had originally planned to post this a week or two ago, but life has been non-stop since Thanksgiving and it totally slipped my mind until this week! If you remember my other decor posts (Halloween & Thanksgiving), then you can probably guess that Christmas is my big she-bang when it comes to holiday decorating. I don't even think I have a gazillion decorations or even that my stuff is super amazing, but it lights my face up every single year when it is all set up. I'm like a kid in candy store when it comes to Christmas :)

So we will start with the outside - this is mostly the handiwork of my husband!

Our front door - you can also see the net lights for our hedge & the icicle lights from the roof

These candy canes line our walkway & they were a new addition this year...so cute!

This mini tree stands to the left of our front door - I added a few decorations to spice it up

This wreath is the best part of our outdoor decorations. For one thing, it's huge & rocks my socks. But most importantly, my aunt made it & she is the queen when it comes to decorating wreaths (or really anything). I asked her a few years ago to help my naked wreath, we went shopping for supplies & then she put it together. Amazing-ness, I tell you!

Now onto the inside!

Our living room table - pretty simple with red candles, snowflake candle holders, a giant etched vase & some cranberries, acorns & glitter mini ornaments as fillers

We have a double sliding glass door that takes up one wall of our living room so I threw on two lighted garlands & added extra lights (in red, white & green) & a bow on either side.

On one side of our bar counter, I have some candle holders featuring Santa, gingerbread men & red scrolls (all from PartyLite) & more acorn/mini ornament filler.

The other side features more candle love in the form of trees & a gingerbread house!

On one side of our tv - Mrs. Claus & a crystal Christmas tree

And on the other side you will find Santa & a crystal angel

And finally, our tree! This year we got a real one (which smells amazing, by the way!) & our theme is red, green & white. Whimsical & fun. Growing up, my mom always decorated our trees in a glamorous, chic way & I loved it! But the Hubs & I decided to keep it more traditional in regards to our colors...even the wrapping paper matches!

A special decoration gets added every year in the form of a Mickey ornament to commemorate how many Christmases the Hubs & I have shared together since getting married. It's a tradition we started year one & since the family goes to Disney right before Christmas every year (check my post tomorrow!), it makes it convenient to get an ornament personalized for that year & try to alternate between red, white & green ornaments.

Can you find any of the Mickey ornaments in the tree photo above?

So that's it! The Kelly household in all it's Christmas glory! Isn't it pretty?! :)

If you are a blogger & you have a post with your Christmas decor, I would love to see it! Leave your link in the comments below!

And don't forget to take advantage of the 50% discount for your first JewelMint purchase, courtesy of the MBA Seattle team! Details can be found HERE.

My Not So Fancy-Schmancy Wish List

So yesterday I shared my wish list for all things fabulous but not so affordable for me or those who wish to spoil me with presents. Today's wish list is a little bit more wallet friendly. Husband, pay close attention! ;)

Farmer's Market Baskets

Clarisonic Cleansing System

iPod Nano

Zumba Fitness for Wii

Monogram Pendant

Navy Striped Blazer

And if you follow me on Instagram (@theprettyfactor), you might have seen these glittery Steve Madden platforms that I am kind of obsessed with!

So there it is...a bit of my wish list this year. More affordable than yesterday's list, no? Of course all girly things like clothes, jewelry, perfume and the like are always welcome!

Let's see what Santa (aka the Hubs) brings me!


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