This Week: The Holidays!

It is that time of the year again, the holiday season is upon us.
And, since I am Little Miss Childish I love it SO much. Well, let me correct that…I love the season, I don’t love ALL the work and cleaning that goes with it.

Because, don’t you agree that before you put up all the decorations, the house has got to be clean and nice…Otherwise it is no fun decorating.

But, it is so gratifying when the house is decked out for the holidays. It takes me days to decorate. I have so much STUFF!! AND, I have to decorate both inside of the house, and outside! But once it is done, I am (usually) so pleased!

My dream is to have two Christmas trees. But since my current home is rather small, I only have room for one tree, so for now thats just the way it has to be! Peter, Karolina and I will have to trim our Christmas tree next Friday. Yes, next Friday. I am hosting my annual Christmas party next Saturday, so on (next) Friday my whole house has to just SCREAM Christmas!!! And it will…

Today, I went over to my friend (and neighbor and fellow blogger) Sara’s house to pick up some decorations she bought for me while she was at IKEA the past Friday. Sara had been out to nearby Middleburg over the weekend, where a Scandinavian shop is located. I have been to that shop many times and the things that they sell there are LOVELY!!! Only the best Scandinavian quality there!

Sara, she’s something…She has totally embraced some Swedish Christmas traditions. She throws a glögg party for friends and neighbors every year. She owns a Toarps krona that she decks out every Christmas. This year Sara bought three Swedish traditional seven armed electrical Advent candle holders. Now her house will look so Swedish come Christmas. I own five of those candle holders myself, so it will look like a Swedish street here!! SO cool!!
I just think it is SO fun!! AND it makes me SO happy!! And Sara, I am so looking forward to the glögg party later on in December!

Stockholm is totally buried under a blanket of snow now. I am so jealous of you guys living there!! To see Stockholm in the wintertime is nothing but lovely!!
It is on my MISS LIST by the moment for more than one reason!!

I hope we will get loads of snow this winter here in the DC area as well!!


As you all know we were in NYC over the weekend!! GOSH, I am so in love with that city!! I want to move there. I DO!! Washington DC feels like a small town when compared to NYC!!! NYC I love you so! It is so my kind of town.
And you know how people say that New Yorkers are rude…I have yet to meet a rude New Yorker. I don’t know what people are talking about. The only semi-rude people in NYC are the cabbies. But, how fun and friendly would you be if you had to drive up and down Manhattan every day? In that insane traffic!!

Here are some pics from our trip!!
















And it is Thanksgiving on Thursday! Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday! The biggest Holiday of the year!
We have a fun tradition in our little family. On Thanksgiving morning we eat breakfast in bed while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade live on TV from NYC. It is just so cozy to curl up in bed and eat. LOVE!! In the afternoon, we are heading over to Peter’s sister and we have dinner there together with Peter’s parents and my brother-in-law’s sister. Looking forward to it.
Friday, we have another tradition. We always, or I should say, Peter and Karolina always participate in Reston Town Center’s Holiday Parade for UNICEF. I watch them go by from the side lines! We do this together with Sara’s family. My friend Susanna’s kids participate as well. Afterwards, we go out for lunch with our friend Keith, and then we go to the movies. This year we are going to see “Four Christmases”. Very appropriate!!
After the movies, we participate in the Christmas sing-along as they light the Christmas tree in Reston. And we top off the evening with dinner in the town center as well.
A lovely tradition!!

All right, keep the holidays coming!! I am ready!!

How about you! Are you ready for the season?




Two more pics from NYC. Peter in the Husband's Resting Area outside a jewelry store...AND then the Store of Nygård Fashion! What the??? A typical Närpes sur-name in the middle of NYC! Nygård is such a common last name in the Swedish speaking parts of Finland. Funny!!