Enjoying the Small Things

Enjoying the Small Things

Christmas Day

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For the first time in–well, ever–the end of Christmas hasn’t put me in a sentimental all-the-fun-is-over funk.

Last year, somewhere between the last present opened and the first piece of pie cut for Christmas dinner, Brett found me in the bathroom, curled over the tub while I washed Dash’s hair, a tearful mess. It was like all those childhood Christmases where I cried when it was over and all the magic years of raising babies and all my love for the holidays had crescendoed to that very moment in the bathroom–a recognition of how much I have loved it all and how much it is changing, sweet and painful at the same time.

“It’s all changing, they’re getting older, these Christmases…I love them so much.” Sob, sob, blah, blah, blah. If I recall, I pulled it together for pie.

This year, I didn’t cry or mourn the end or say one word about how next year would look different. I sat back and enjoyed our little Christmas–just as it is–a maturity graduation I attribute, of course, to turning 40 tomorrow because I’m attributing every meaningless thing to turning 40. Drop a spoon in the kitchen: “Ha ha, look. I’m dropping things. Must be turning 40, eh?” Try a new lipstick color: “Gotta change things up, you know. Turning 40.” Puts clothes away instead of leaving them on the floor: “I’m a new woman! I pick things up! Yay, 40!” I realize this is annoying, but I can’t stop.

That said, yes, I do love so much about Christmas and I’m grateful for the memories we’ve made this month and the festive celebrations and all the pretty things that have added wonder to the past few weeks. But I can tuck them away without feelings of scarcity or sadness. Because 40, of course.

Some favorite moments from the past week…

Baking Santa’s cookies.

A hug he grabbed because he loved the little buns she put in her hair so much, he couldn’t help himself.

A check off our holiday bucket list with a trip to a nearby neighborhood that puts on the best light show.

Every weekend in December, it’s bumper-to-bumper slow traffic in this neighborhood–trolleys and buses come to tour it, residents host parties in their driveways, bands play Christmas carols and just about every family in Naples spends an evening touring the streets.

Another holiday bucket list finished (I think we had two unchecked items at the end), rolled up and tucked in the keepsake bin…with no feelings of scarcity or sadness BECAUSE 40. We’re doing this, folks. We’re doing this.

I was so proud to announce that I had all my wrapping done early this year and would not be staying up until 1:30 a.m. Christmas Eve to prepare.

But we all know how that ends. I stayed up until 1:30 a.m. Christmas Eve to prepare.

The Eve is my favorite. Christmas movies by the fire…

Writing our final words to Santa.
(Dash: “I’m not going to tell Santa I love him because he’s not in my family, and I don’t love him.” Touche, Dash.)

Annual tradition: setting up the reindeer runway in our driveway.


Cookies for Santa.

And putting all three kids to sleep in the same bed. It takes forever for them to settle down, but when they do, I take this photo every year.

And yes, I fully expect them to keep doing this in their 40’s (Because 40). I know this can happen because the mother in the book I Love You, Forever crept into her son’s room to cradle him grown man style, and if she can do that, then my grown kids can surely leave their spouses and children at home to come curl up in bed at my house to fall asleep and get their photo taken, not creepy at all. (We will absolutely reenact this scene to recreate a photo in 20 years, and it will hang in my old lady office someday.)

The final scene, 1:30 a.m. before I crashed, excited and happy.



And all the Christmas morning joy. Running to find evidence of Santa, Blitzen’s spit-out carrots (he doesn’t like them), snowy reindeer tracks (it’s magic North Pole snow that never melts), stockings and presents and Christmas breakfast, pajamas that don’t get changed until the afternoon, endless coffee and movies and family piled up on the couch. Grateful for these memories and the people in them.





And Nella’s little doll with Down syndrome. I’ll tell you more about it later this week. Let’s just say I changed my mind about dolls with Down syndrome because I used to feel very strongly against them, and this little baby has brought so much joy.

We’re still in cozy lazy day mode over here. Whatever you celebrate and wherever you are, I hope you all made some special memories this week and were surrounded by love.

The Great Big Chicago Christmas Post

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For the third year in a row, we escaped this past weekend for a heavy dose of holiday memories to a city that pours out festive feels from every corner, every storefront window, every street musician.

My kids look forward to our Christmas weekend in Chicago as much as Christmas itself, but this year perhaps no one was excited about this trip as much as Lainey. Her best friend Maggie moved to a Chicago suburb over the summer, and while the loss of her presence here has been patched over with FaceTime calls and daily texts, technology has nothing on the hug they shared an hour after we arrived and the three days that followed that included these two joined at the hip.

Christmas in Chicago musts for us include:

State Street Macy’s window displays.

Numerous stops for hot chocolate while we sightsee.

Riding the train.

Pictures on my friend’s apartment stoop.

…and so many night walks where we point out Christmas trees in windows and look for parties and pick which front door decorations are our favorites. We imagine the stories that are written in all the buildings we walk past, and my dad provides an ongoing soundtrack with the portable speaker he keeps in his pocket, full volume–all the Christmas carols, all the time.

New favorites this year:

Tea at the Drake Hotel with our friends and Brett’s sister (who is moving to Naples in just days, and we are so excited!).

A night time carriage ride through the city (we used Antique Coach & Carriage Co., just outside the old Water Tower). We all loved this one so much and will definitely do it again.

You bundle up beneath blankets and ride through the most festive streets, even a little stretch along Lake Shore Drive. We sang Christmas carols while the kids hollered to onlookers various holiday greetings that, I’m sorry to say, included “Tooty Christmas!”, “Happy Toots!” and “We Wish You a Merry Fart!” (followed by hysterical laughter).

Macy’s Santa. We’ve never attempted Santa in Chicago before because the lines were too long (because it’s the REAL Santa) and Nella isn’t much for seeing him face-to-face, but I was on a one-on-one date with Nella and ventured down to the enchanting Santa Land in Macy’s where Santa was visiting. I thought maybe we’d just check it out, but we came during a time when there were no lines, so I pushed it a little further, standing in line and suggesting we’d just “look at Santa.” not sit with him. When it was our turn, the red velvet curtain pulled back to reveal this magical festive nook and the kindest Santa, straight from the North Pole. When Nella was hesitant, sweet Santa suggested I sit with her alone while he walked away. Once she was comfortable, we asked if he could come back and she said yes. I asked if I could step away to take a picture, and she nodded yes again. And then Santa reached for a book and asked if he could read it to her. I didn’t think to check my camera settings–just started snapping. Magic, I tell you.

I don’t know how I missed the little playground tucked right next to the fire station near Michigan Ave all these years, but I’m so glad we found it this year. It was warm enough that the kids could actually enjoy a good half hour playing there before our next cocoa stop.

Another favorite this year was Christkindlmarket, an open-air German holiday village full of gift vendors and German food. I enjoyed my first (and hopefully not last) cup of Glühwein, the most delicious hot spiced wine, and picked up some keepsake treasures.

At the Bean, it was surprisingly warm enough for the kids to take off their coats for a bit.

Even though we didn’t end up with snow, we feel so lucky to have enjoyed such beautiful weather when we’ve experienced brutal winds on this weekend before. The sun allowed for more outdoor exploring.

And when the sun went to bed and the cold came creeping in, we made my favorite memories–the indoor kind, not dependent on what the city gave to us but what we brought to it.

Our wonder…

…our dance moves…

…and the suitcase of things we packed to “make it special.” Snowmen marshmallows for cocoa, a Christmas puzzle, our favorite jammies, card games and a candle that smells like a Christmas tree farm.

My dear friend lets us stay at her family’s apartment, and so many of our most memorable moments on this weekend happen inside this special place, set up with toys and so many little personal touches.

I think we could have skipped the city adventures altogether and let Nella play in this secret nook the whole weekend, and she would have been perfectly happy.

We’re smitten with this city and so grateful to tuck away another weekend of December memories together here.

…and even happier to come home to be together as a family, where we belong.

xo to you and yours.

Fun Gifts for Everyone on Your List

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This post is sponsored by TJMaxx.com

It is a true fact that the answers to many of my not-really-problems-but-let’s-just-call-them-that-for-the-sake-of-this-post have been found in the aisles of T.J.Maxx. Like the replacement for my too-short tablecloth, for instance, that I found in the home aisle one Saturday afternoon when I wasn’t even looking. Or the perfect gift for Nella’s friend’s birthday party–two picture books and an art set–not to mention a gift bag to wrap it in ten minutes before the party began, in my car, of course. Affordable exercise equipment to build a home workout area, shoes that don’t break the bank, a phone case so I can dispose of my cracked one and–surprisingly one day, tucked away on the beauty shelves–natural kid shampoo that made me giddy to find. This is what I love about T.J.Maxx–they offer a treasure hunt of products and gifts in just about every category you can imagine, particularly creatively inspiring for gift givers this time of year. Even better? They offer everything you love about T.J.Maxx stores online, so you can go treasure hunting without ever leaving your home.

I did this last week, heading to my office with coffee and a little hope to knock some gifts off my list, and I had so much fun clicking around TJMaxx.com to find beautiful gifts (and lots of brand names we love!) at an incredible value. You can use their category titles as guides or dive into some of their curated lists to find unique finds you might not have thought of — gifts for her, gifts for the fitness enthusiast, hostess gifts or gifts under $50.

I was looking for a teen girl gift, a stocking plush for a friend’s daughter, a small gift for a creative friend and some stocker stuffing inspiration for Brett. If you look, you shall find because look what I found!

Teen Girl: brand name record player, a vinyl to go with it and a letter board for her room. I got so excited when I found this not only because I know how much this music-loving teen will love this but because it was such a great value (I’ve seen how much these cost on other sites!). I went ahead and pulled the packaging off the letter board so I could write a little note on it and tie it all together to make the gift look pretty.

Stocking Plush: I love having some plush animal or doll be the finishing touch on a stocking. They always look so cute peeking out. I’m picky with plush though, drawn to sweet details and handmade goods. Those kind of plush can be expensive though, so imagine my excitement when I found this gorgeous doll (made in India) for less than $20.

If you type “plush” on T.J.Maxx search bar, you’ll find so many unique finds for kids. Okay, or adults.

Brett’s Stocking: I thought this one would be hard, but it was the easiest one to shop for. TJMaxx.com basically offers a cornucopia of cool guy stuff to fill a stocking from gadgets and games to underwear and socks. You can never go wrong with rolled up underwear in a stocking.

Creative Friends: One of my favorite things T.J.Maxx does well is offer a great selection of “little gifts”–candles, journals, books, art inspiration, earrings, pretty dishes, etc. that work great for small tokens of appreciation to friends, hostesses or teachers. We like to give generous gift certificates to our teachers at Christmas, but it’s harder this year with Lainey because she has so many teachers in middle school; and the amount we usually give in elementary school is not possible x 7 for one kid. Nella has a lot of assistants and specialists who work with her as well, so there’s more people to gift. Small thoughtful gifts work perfectly, and we find so many great things at T.J.Maxx. A book on creativity, a journal and a colored pencil set, all tied up with ribbon? Affordable, thoughtful and fun to give.

Anything you purchase on TJMaxx.com can be returned for free at any T.J.Maxx location, free shipping is available for orders over $89, and hundreds of new arrivals are added to the T.J.Maxx website each week, so you’ll find fresh gift inspiration every time you shop.

Our family has long been big fans of the T.J.Maxx treasure hunt, and having one more way to shop (in your pajamas, from your couch!) makes it better.

If you need a little gifting inspiration, check out their incredible values and have some fun poking around their site. There are so many great toys for kids too–I wish I had more really small ones to shop for because I saw so many unique toddler finds at incredible prices!