{i call it "seasonal self portrait". ;) }

with the wedding behind me, i'm diving headfirst into christmas. only 10 days (!) left of my favorite season, and i want to be sure i enjoy it.

monday night, matt & i had our annual "Christmas date". the activities vary each year, but we always have one special date in December that somehow incorporates a seasonal activity. sometimes it's driving through the local Candy Cane Lane or painting Christmas ornaments at the local ceramic shop. this year we went to dinner and to Wight's Nursery in Lynnwood to experience the "Wonderland of Christmas" that takes over their store from November 1st to December 24th each year. crazy. i've never seen so many decorations, so much variety in themes and shapes and colors, and i quickly lost count of how many times the phrase "that is so stinkin' cute" left my lips. it's a good thing i don't live in a bigger house and have more disposable income - because i could see myself turning into the Crazy Christmas Lady with a tree in every room, etc, etc, etc.

other than that, life continues as normal as can be for a holiday season. i only have a bit of shopping for matt left to do, and nearly all of the other gifts are wrapped and under the tree. i have some baking to do - namely a few batches of my traditional magic bars (ooooh, i sense another blog post coming on), and i'm aching to make a gingerbread representation of our house (it's a disease!) but i don't know how feasible that is, given how much work goes into making the dough alone. my only real regret this season is my christmas journal, which lays wildly neglected on my scrapbooking desk, having fallen in place behind the other adventures of the last few weeks. perhaps i can make some attempt to catch up, though i don't even want to think about how long it would take me or how many pages i'd have to do each day to finish it by Christmas...

happy wednesday!