Christmas prep & daily life

We're in the throes of two things: (1) daily life as usual, and (2) Christmas prep. It seems like there is so much to do each December and quite literally less time to do it because of additional events, gatherings, and happy (albeit time-consuming) activities.

Nonetheless, I haven't done a post about "our life lately" in awhile, so in the midst of daily life and work, this is what we've been doing:

• Ornament-making. I'm not sure where my mom found this pattern/technique, but you cleverly fold and pin fabric squares to foam balls and the final product is darling. I even made a few that weren't entirely "Christmasy," so we can keep them out throughout the winter
• Seeing The Oh Hellos in concert for their Christmas tour. A friend that I went with put it like this "It felt a bit like a worship concert, and my heart really needed it." I second all of that. Plus, it was so much fun, and they had fake snow for the last song! Beautiful harmonies and songwriting.
• Christmas music listening. This year, I'm really into Christmas music I listened to growing up, my favorites being Bruce Cockburn's Christmas and any of the Christmas albums from the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, but specifically, No

ë

l - Christmas at King's (1995). I have really fond memories of decorating the tree and listening to both albums with my parents and my brother. And this year, I'm finding that when I keep it "classic," I don't tire of Christmas music before Christmas, like previous years. Other perennial favorites: The Oh Hellos Family Christmas Album (see previous bullet point), and Josh Garrel's new Christmas album, The Light Came Down.

• Christmas partying with friends! Potluck dinner, gift swap, and knitting—the essentials, doncha know?
• A day date with Nicholas to get jeans for him and eat lunch at a new restaurant
• Modeling a friend's completed knitting project, just for fun
• Detailed list making about post office runs and gift wrapping (I have to squeeze it all in somehow)
• Drinking Constant Comment tea with a splash of whole milk and (sometimes) a sprinkle of cinnamon
• Quick midday Tuesday mocha date with him at one of my favorite coffee shops
• Still knitting away on Christmas presents!
• Working our way through our church's advent study together, either when we wake up, or before bed
• Feeling kind of bummed about my hair naturally getting darker, so I ran with a friend's recommendation for a salon and I got balayage highlights today! I can no longer say, "I've never colored my hair," but that's not worth being proud about, anyway. My hair is brighter and has more depth and I feel excited about it for the first time in a long time, especially with the chillier months ahead. Bonus: it will grow out more subtly because of the coloring technique, so I have more flexibility with what I do in the future. I love it.

But on that note, I'd better get back to my to-do list, or something won't get done! Happy ten-days-until-Christmas-Eve, friends! :)