Christmas 2019

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

We had a lovely Christmas Day just the 5 of us for the first time ever. With family spread out, bush fires, work commitments and a busy year,  Christmas Day this year was a much quieter day than previous years. As we usually host Christmas, it was definitely a different vibe!

Noah began our day nice and early at 5.30am due to excitement and the need to check if Santa had been! There is nothing better than a child's happiness on Christmas morning. Bliss!

We pottered around in the morning speaking to family and wishing them a Merry Christmas, preparing lunch and the boys playing with their new gifts.

I set the table using my beautiful hydrangeas as the centrepiece. Everything else was kept pretty simple to complement them. I used my yellow gingham napkins as they hadn't been used in a while, gold chargers + cutlery and metallic crackers were the finishing touches. A shiny, festive feel.

Even though it was just the 5 of us for lunch we had all the trimmings. Turkey, pork, roast veggies and stuffing balls and of course 3 different desserts. It's not Christmas without enough food for leftovers! Mum popped over after work for a late lunch so there was plenty to go around ;)

So Christmas is done and dusted for another year. I have pulled all the decorations down already and packed them away due to our renovations, so the house is back to normal.  Although I always feel that the house looks a little bare once the Christmas decorations are down. 

It takes a couple of days to settle back into normality.

How was your day? 

Getting ready for Christmas with Warriewood Square.

I've partnered up with Warriewood Square this Christmas season to shop for all of my Christmas gifts, styling needs and Christmas food prep. Warriewood Square has all I need, it's a one stop shop!

First up I shopped for some Christmas decorations to decorate our home and really get into the festive vibe. Kmart (the only one on the Northern Beaches) had so many fabulous items. My favourites are the garlands and our Merry + Bright banners. 

You can see more of the decorations I bought here and here.....

Swish Homewares + What's Cooking also had some beautiful Christmas displays to choose from and to give you some festive inspiration.

Next up it was time to get some presents ticked off my list. I especially love shopping for the girls in my life as I get to indulge in all things girly and pretty. It makes a fun change from always shopping for boys/men!

One of the best things about Warriewood Square is that there is so much variation of stores under the one roof. A fab mix of chain stores + independently owned shops.

The Health Shop has some amazing crystals + wellness products, Bright Flowers for gorgeous blooms, Sportsgirl for the cute bag and crystal book,  Cotton On Mega Store for fun accessories like this headscarf + earrings. I also couldn't resist this pink gin from BWS for my bestie. 

Pink drinks just taste better ;)

I also shopped for the boys. New sneakers for Finn from Athletes's Foot, beach gear + inflatables from Surf, Dive n Ski, notebooks + scented textas from Smiggle, pj's from Cotton On Mega Store, Lego from Toymate, PS4 games from EB Games. I also popped into the newly opened JB HiFi to get Simon a new portable speaker.

There were also lots of cool things in Australian Geographic and some fun novelty items for stocking stuffers in Fab Gifts + Cards. 

I also picked up a couple of treats for our dog Dash from Pittwater Pets. 

I also picked up a couple of items to decorate our Christmas table. We're having our smallest Christmas lunch ever as most of our family is away or working. We are down to just 6 people.

Such a change from the years we had 25 people or more!

I'm keeping things simple with a garland and a centrepiece of white Christmas trees.

I picked up the Bottle Brush trees, Christmas crakers, banner + garlands from Kmart. 

They also have the blush plates + gold cutlery. I've popped up a little sneak peek of the table!

Christmas lunch is one of my favourite occasions of the year. I love the delicious food, a cocktail and the whole family gathered at the table. We typically go the traditional route with several types of meat, roast veggies, salads and fresh bread. After a bit of a break we then follow it up with a few desserts.

Warriewood Square has 3 different supermarkets, Woolworths, Coles + Aldi plus Costi's Fishmarket, Fitzgerald's Fine Meat, Ruling the Roost and Bakers Delight.

This year due to our smaller numbers I'm thinking about mixing it up and having a seafood feast instead. Maybe fresh prawns, salads and a ham? 

Dessert for Christmas always includes a pavlova made by Simon. He always uses the Donna Hay recipe and it's always a hit and the first thing to be demolished! 

Maybe I'll get him to try a pavlova wreath this year.....

Of course the boys weren't with me whilst I was doing my Christmas shopping so we'll be heading back to Warriewood Square to visit Santa and give him our Christmas Wish Lists. 

I love the tradition of having a Santa photo each year. We've been doing it for 16 years now! Finn is a good sport and is still happy to participate in it each year with his younger brothers.

`The centre is also hosting lots of other Christmas activities in the lead up to the big day......

- Gift wrapping service (until Monday 24th December)

- Christmas Carols  (Sunday 18th - Sunday 23rd December)

-Bubbles + Baubles (Thursday 20th December)

There is also a stand to get a christmas ornament personalised.

Last on my list was to buy something to wear on Christmas Day. I always love a maxidress on Christmas as it's cool, comfortable and easy to cook and run around in while hosting.

I loved this dress from Alex & Nia

There are so many fashion stores to have a browse in. Plenty of options to find something to wear during this festive season.

It was so great to shop at Warriewood Square and have everything under the one roof. I feel amazing now that all my jobs are done and I can sit back and enjoy the lead up to Christmas.

There's lots of parking and easy access to the shops. I hate when you have to trek for miles back to the car when you're overloaded with bags!

So many great cafes, restaurants and a food court to sit down and have a bite to eat or a coffee to give you that extra boost to get all of your Christmas shopping done.

How are going with your Christmas preparation?

Are you hosting this Christmas?

This post was a collaboration with Warriewood Square but all thoughts are my own.

Our Christmas 2015

We've had a really lovely Christmas this year. It has been a more relaxed pace than previous years and I have to say I like it!

The boys were excited on Christmas Eve to put out their Santa sacks and leave a snack out for Santa and his reindeers. I love the magic and wonder of Santa and that whole Christmas vibe, especially while the boys are young (well 2 of them) I am soaking it up while I can. 

Christmas morning started at the respectable time of 7am. Santa sacks were rummaged through and we all oohed and ahhed over the gifts that Santa had left.

We only had a small group of us for Christmas lunch this year as most of the family had travelled to QLD and some had to stay in Sydney due to work commitments. Even with a smaller number of people there was still an abundance of food! It wouldn't feel like Christmas otherwise! ;)

We started off with a platter of nibbles and then had the usual turkey, roast pork and crackling, veggies, stuffing balls and Babymac's risoni salad.

Dessert was a pavlova made by Simon, plum pudding and custard, fruit and Jasper's favourite chocolate cake Christmas tree. Although he told me later that he now prefers vanilla cake, so this might be its last appearance! 

 I enjoyed dressing the table up for Christmas. It's one of my favourite things to do.

I went for a natural feel this year with a hessian runner made with some fabric from Spotlight, hydrangeas and some warmth added with gold candle sticks and copper mugs. Place cards were mini chalk boards and I made the wreaths from long sprigs of rosemary. Foil balloon letters stuck to the mirror added to the festive feel.  I decided on Christmas eve that I needed shibori/tie dyed napkins in blue so I made them myself. Too easy!

To make them I folded some of the napkins and popped a few rubber bands around them and the others I grabbed bunches of the napkin and put an elastic band around. 

I soaked them in the indigo dye for about 40 mins and they were done.

All in all it was a wonderful day, full of fun, food and spent with loved ones.

We even managed to get a family photo!

Today has been a quiet one at home, pottering around finding homes for all of the gifts. The boys have been playing happily with their new toys and leftovers have been eaten for lunch.

I've began pulling the Christmas tree and decorations down and restoring the house to it's usual state.

I like to have everything back to normal before New Years Eve, ready for a fresh start.

How was your Christmas? I hope you had an amazing day!