After over a week of beautiful sunshine, we finally had a rain filled day, typical of Vancouver. It was a little blah here in the Hayward House as well. I am completely sleep deprived this week as Hallie has decided she would like to be fully awake from 4am until  6am. Oh and scream bloody murder. It’s been swell for my splitting headache that just won’t quit. She was doing really well through the night too. I think it has a tiny bit to do with her formula change – we had to change brands due to the fact that Target only had expired boxes on the shelves – wtf?! I was extremely disappointed; how are earth are you supposed to stay brand loyal when the company cannot even deliver the product? Anyways, that could have something to do with the fact that Miss Hallie is a bit cranky. So with the rain and the gloominess of the day, we decided to push through and cheer up. Time to decorate for the holidays! I dug out all of the boxes last week so that the craft room downstairs now look like santa’s workshop blew up in there. It is a challenge to do anything with a newborn, as many of you know, but I did manage to pull out some of my favourite ‘Winter Decor’ pieces.

Winter decor Definition: My way of sneaking up holiday decorations without pissing off my husband too much. He is a December baby so his birthday always got overshadowed by Christmas. This is why, I believe, he does not like Christmas Jingle Janlge, in any form, until way too close to the actual big day. His rule for me is nothing before December 1st, however if he had it his way, nothing would go up until a week before Christmas Day. Not on my watch! Hallie and I have been rocking to the Christmas Carols for a good couple weeks now. All of this made me resort to Winter Decorating. This consists of lots of neutral pallets, shades of white, shimmers of gold and silver, and anything to do with Winter. This includes fake branches and snowmen of course. I have actually grown to love this tradition and may even go as far to say that I prefer this style now to the typical red and green. It feels super festive without going overboard. While playing around with some table setting arrangements, I came across my most recent holiday purchases and thought that I should probably share my current holiday essentials. Below are some new purchases that I am totally looking forward to enjoying this holiday season. What are your seasonal faves?

Most of these items were scooped up on my jaunt to Seattle a couple weeks ago. For Baby Girl, Carters had the most adorable collections featured for the festive season. I can’t wait to get Hallie into these girlie ‘overalls’. The hat has already been a necessity from BabyGap, the Scottie Dog security blankie (Carters) is already snuggled into her arms and she is white knuckling it every chance she gets. Target was my go-to for entertaining friends. I am loving their collections from Nate Berkus and the Threshold Collection. The galvanized bucket is perfect for filling with ice and frosty beverages. The little gold ramekins are going to pair nicely with the Nate Berkus side plates and their black and gold motif. These plates were on Oprah’s favourite things list of 2014 and I couldn’t resist them. We are big appetizer people so I will be putting them to a lot of use over the next few weeks. Lastly, there are a couple items I picked out for myself (it’s amazing that once you have a baby, you immediately would rather shop in the baby section than for yourself; their clothes are just so darn cute!). Forever 21 is great for grabbing cost-friendly socks, tights and winter woolies. The socks and the toque are from there and though the quality translates to only lasting for a couple seasons, they will work just fine. Too cute for words too! J Crew has a great selection of knit sweaters, as always, and are the perfect source for finding good staple sweaters that you can pair up with everything. This Black and Heather Grey polka dot knit can easily be work with jeans, my leather skinnies, or even a dressy skirt for holiday cocktail parties. Super versatile. Last but certainly not least, Target had a pair of quilted black boots for an irresistible price. I may have way too many boots but I can always find room for one more pair.

This time of year is the best! I do love Thanksgiving but really, Christmas time takes the cake. I am so excited to have our baby girl here to experience it. This year might be a bit tight money wise but I truly do have everything I need. I am crazy in love with my husband, have the most perfect daughter in my arms, and a warm and cozy home to sleep in at night. Though I may post about the fun stuff (baking, crafting and shopping) this is the time of year to remember what is important in life; family. Can’t wait to share MY family’s holiday fun over the next couple months with you. It’s going to be so much fun!