Good morning. Are you waking up energized and ready to hit the ground running or wanting to crawl back in bed? I am somewhere in between. While I am looking forward to a productive week, I am also feeling the pressure to get organized and ready for Christmas. Our weekend was a whirlwind, that’s for sure. Here is what we have been up to in our Monday Morning Wrap-Up.

FAMILY TREE

I shared our living room tree over on Instagram. This is our family tree. It’s not perfectly styled and the whole family helps to decorate this one. It’s the one where we carefully unwrap each ornament that has been collected over the years. I have my ornaments from my childhood and I can already picture my kids taking their box of ornaments one day. Sitting in here, with a fire going, and just reading or staring at the tree is one of my all time favorite ways to relax this time of the year. What about you? Do you have a tree with all of the handmade and mismatched ornaments. Nothing better, right?!

I’ll have to take a closer shot but one tip I have is to add stems of berries. We have 15 to 20 little stems of red berries. They are so easy to set on the branches and help to give a disorganized tree a bit of symmetry.

SPECIAL NIGHT OUT

Saturday found us absolutely bonkers. Each one of us were pulled in different directions but all for great reasons. I volunteered at the Assistance League Christmas Tree Luncheon. It’s an event my mom used to be a part of. In fact she was always in charge of the centerpieces. It brought back so many memories. This cutie attended her first Bar Mitzvah. First the morning ceremony and then the evening reception. A dear friend of hers from over the years invited my daughter and her crew of girls. It was so much fun hosting them before they headed off to Laguna Beach. Hearing ten girls get ready . . . and all of the laughter in the house. . .well, there’s nothing better. I could listen to that all night long.

Mom fail with the blurry photo. But I loved the dress she chose all on her own. And she asked to wear a necklace that belongs to her Grammy. So special. Can’t believe how much she has grown up.

MAZEL TOV

We wrapped the gift with a big velvet bow and a mazel tov tag I made. Grateful my daughter was able to experience such a long-standing tradition for the Jewish faith.

DATE NIGHT

After the girls headed out with enjoyed a night out with friends.   I love this sequin top for this time of the year.

LAZY MORNING

It’s safe to say this little one was very tired the next day. We had a lazy morning  . . . extra coffee and a Hallmark Christmas Mystery. A nice excuse to stay in this for most of the day. I LOVE it beyond words. Then it was off for a busy day of sports.

VILLAGE OF MEMORIES

If you are on Instagram, you can hop over to see my stories about this Dicken’s Village and why it’s so important. This set belonged to my parents. My daughter insisted we use a few pieces to set up our own village this year. My dad took great care and pride in setting this up throughout the years. Even when my mom didn’t really understand, he still created a beautiful scene for her to enjoy. He was artistic and so talented and made it look so real. I wish I had thought to take a photo of it one of the years. Take a moment this holiday season and snap a few photos of the traditions you might take for granted. And certainly not on purpose, but you’ll never know what you will miss when it’s too late. Get those cameras out, girls!!

CHRISTMAS CHEER

This cozy corner got a little bit of Christmas cheer with this printable. I can swap it out each season but thought you might enjoy using this one, too. I stumbled upon it on Pinterest. Head over to  The Domestic Heart.  The fresh greens smell so good and the little white lights on the counter make me so happy. They give off a beautiful glow at night. I’ve definitely kept the decor super simple and easy this year.

I’m tempted to keep chatting away and sharing more photos because then I wouldn’t have to get going! I’m determined to get in a good workout and then conquer the day. But first, more coffee.

Have a wonderful start to the week.