ONLY 3 DAYS AWAY

Christmas is only 3 days away! 2 days away in 10 or so minutes! J and I are up right now finishing some last minute packing for California. That's right, we are headed to beautiful Southern California in the AM and won't be back until 2012. I get to spend the holidays with my Mom, Dad, brothers, sister-in-law, Grandparents, Latvian relatives, and best buddy Kiersten.  And speaking of Kiersten, check out the picture she texted me from Denver this morning...

It's beautiful!  Looks like a postcard!  Denver has gotten a lot of snow lately so hopefully her flight to California won't be delayed.

Also, I wanted to quickly share some Christmas cards with you.  The first picture is personal cards J and I have received this year.  I should have come up with a more creative way to display them.  The scotch tape on the fridge method had to suffice.  I love each and every card.  It's always so much fun to receive the cards, letters, and pictures from friends and family that we don't get to visit with often.  The last two pictures are actually cards my department received at work.  I thought they were pretty clever though and wanted to share...  

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I'm going to try and write a blog post or two from California.  But in case I'm not able...

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Notice my oyster shells?  I'm quite proud of that little addition.  This is the same tree J and I had last year for the holidays.  January through November it lives outside on our front porch.  In December, we bring it inside for some lights and Christmas cheer.  The branches are too weak to hold any ornaments but that's okay because practically all of our Christmas things are in storage.  We'll get a bigger tree one day... the day we move out of our tiny New Orleans shotgun rental and into a historic Greek Revival waiting for some restoration and TLC.  A girl can dream...  In the meantime, check out these creative (or crazy?) Christmas trees I found online...

IKEA

Christmas came early in the Sullivan household this year! My parents very kindly bought me a new couch and dresser as my Christmas and birthday presents. I picked out the Kivik sofa/chaise lounge combination and a white Hemnes dresser from one of my favorite stores... IKEA! Hip hip hooray for IKEA and awesome parents! They get a bad rap sometimes (IKEA, not my parents). Just ask J. He doesn't share my enthusiasm for the Swedish retail giant. When you mention IKEA to him I'm pretty sure he'll start to complain about the incomprehensible directions and particleboard. And sure, those are valid complaints. But there's so much great stuff about IKEA that I can't help but forgive those issues.

IKEA preaches taking responsibility for the environment.  Apparently, all their employees are strongly encouraged to recycle. So much so that they don’t even have trash bins at their desks. They have to walk and deposit their trash in a common bin. The other hallmark of IKEA is great value. Straight from the horse's mouth, "the basic thinking behind all IKEA products is that low prices make well-designed, functional home furnishings available to everyone. We are constantly trying to do everything a little better, a little simpler, more efficiently and always cost-effectively." And the proof is in the pudding... an IKEA frying pan $2.99 and a Walmart frying pan $6.26. An IKEA shower curtain $3.99 and a Walmart shower curtain $8.47. Do you love meatballs? You can get 15 delicious Swedish meatballs served with mashed potatoes and lingonberries for only $3.99. If $3.99 is over your budget you can go with the $.99 breakfast plate that includes scrambled eggs, bacon, and potatoes. I could go on and on.

Re-live our furniture journey with J.  He spent a majority of last weekend building the sofa and dresser...

TA DA :)  All finished...

Thank you Mom and Dad for the great presents and thank you J for doing a lovely job putting it all together!  What would I do without y'all?!