Thanksgiving is over, and that means Christmas is ON! I am one of those people who loves all things Christmas… First of all, it’s a celebration of Jesus’ birth, and because of our faith, that’s pretty special to us! I typically don’t find this time of year stressful (besides the cold weather, of course), and I genuinely enjoy #allthethings that come with it… Decorating (in full swing around here!), shopping for presents, and wrapping said presents while watching cheesy Christmas rom coms on Hallmark or Netflix… What’s not to love?!
We’ve also got some fun Christmas crafts planned, and I’m hoping to share at least one, as well as a Christmas Home Tour similar to last year’s, in the next week or so.
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What We’re Listening To Now
In that vein, we’ve been listening to a lot of Christmas music around here, but for those of you who aren’t geeking out about Christmas as much as we are, here are some of the other new faves on our playlist.
I wasn’t allowed to listen to KDWB, our local pop radio station, until I was in sixth grade. I’m not sure if that’s because my parents’ were fairly strict and monitoring our influences, or if it’s because my dad was musically stuck in the 50’s and 60’s and didn’t want to listen to anything else. 😉 Whatever the reason, I grew up listening to mostly Motown hits, and my dad used to play a car game with us where he’d play a song and we had to name the artist and the year it came out. In my quest to earn my his approval, I actually became pretty good at the game and was probably correct about 60-70% of the time!
A couple of the songs I’m currently loving are reminiscent of those Motown songs, but in different ways.
“Problems, Problems” by Frankie – This definitely has the four beat tempo prevalent in Motown music, with an arpeggio heavy melody similar to a lot of what I heard growing up. The horns and gospel choir feel of the oldies has been replaced by synthesizers and layers of Frankie’s voice, but it definitely has a bit of a throwback feel. It’s catchy and fun!
“Solace” by Tommy Ashby – This is a much slower song (and short, at a minute and a half!), but it features a bit of the choir feel of old Motown. It has a completely different feel from “Problems, Problems,” but still reminds me of the music of my childhood.
“Singing Low” by the Fray – This song totally brings me back about a decade to when their first hit “How To Save a Life” came out. I was a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan at the time, and I just LOVED that song. Which basically means I listened to it on repeat over and over, just like a child (or at least my children). Because of nostagia, in my book anything by the Fray is worth checking out, but I especially love this song. It’s got the same moody with a beat feel that “How to Save a Life” had. At least that’s how I hear it. 🙂
“Silhouette” by Aquilo – If you like The Fray, you’ll like this song. It’s slower, but has that haunting emotional impact we Fray fans love!
We are also obsessed with all things Lauren Daigle right now, and have been listening to her latest album, Look Up Child, as well as her Christmas one. Wow, what a set of lungs that beautiful tiny little woman has. #jealous And I just love the way she shares her faith unabashedly. Even bigger things in the future for her, I think!
My New Toy
Adam bought me an early Christmas present, and it’s something I’ve wanted for AGES… Basically since we moved into our house five years ago! Drum roll please… Any guesses?
It’s a miter saw! He bought me this Ryobi one from Home Depot. I finally unboxed it and started using it today (after watching a few videos and reading through the manual, of course).
I have never done anything like this before, and it’s super simple to use with a nice clean cut. Basically, I am ecstatic about this gift. Adam knows me well. AND I gave lots of not subtle hints. Otherwise known as telling him exactly what I wanted.
My first project is building frames for my new Leigh Viner prints for my office, but after that, the fun miter saw project list I’ve built in my mind is pretty much endless… We’ll see how many of those projects actually happen (and how quickly), you know, since I’m a mom. And business owner. Amongst other things. 😉
“How To” coming shortly, once my frames are done!
New Stockings
My other early Christmas gift from Adam was new stockings from Anthropologie. I found one of last year’s Geo stockings on ebay, but the rest are currently available. And yes, Adam thinks I’m a little strange in my Christmas requests hints, but he knows I’m quirky, and frankly, I think he kind of digs that about me. 😉
I’ll post much better pictures for the home tour, but here’s a little sneak peek of the stockings. They are even better in person! And I just love how cozy the house feels with the tree up!
Well, I’m cutting this one short this month, as I’ve got to get back to editing my dad’s book. Trying to help him get it published in the next few months, so back to work I go! I’m so looking forward to December and all the things it brings!
