holiday recap

Here's a little recap of our little Christmas holiday.  This was our first Christmas away from home, as well as my birthday, so we wanted to make it special for just the two of us.  We had skype dates with our families, and my sister was the "Ostler Family Christmas Correspondent" sending me pictures, texts and videos of all the sweet moments back home.  We brought a few favourite traditions from each of our families, but all that aside, I was really excited to start our own traditions and make the holiday ours.

These photos are from my phone.  Not the greatest quality, a little blurry....oh well!

I hope all of you had a great holiday.  Thank you so much for all your support and lovely comments, it means so much to me to be so welcomed into this little community we call the blogosphere.

1 &2.  Yes, we had matching reindeer antlers

3. homemade ornaments made by my sister

4. Our Christmas morning breakfast tradition, Eggs Benedict

5. Our Christmas dinner, Cornish Hens, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Steamed Veggies

6. My birthday gift from the BF. I didn't ask for them, he did it all on his own!

7. My birthday cake.  Yep! An ice cream cake with Santa on it! (that's a tradition that will never grow old!)

holiday wishes

I hope everyone's holiday season is filled with friends and family, lots of eggnog, and few yummy treats.  

These are a few photos of our Christmas decor.  Not too shabby for our first Christmas on our own!

Merry Christmas!!

decorated

Before

We decorated our tree, Dougie, last night! 

I think he looks great!

After

the tree hunt

I found it! The perfect tree!

On Sunday, the Bf and I went out on the hunt for the perfect tree.  We wound up at this cute little tree lot where all proceeds go to charity, and checked out what they had.  And then, I saw it.  This cute one about 6.5 feet tall, nice and full, smelled so fresh, I knew I had to have this Douglas Fir! 

Let me introduce you to Dougie, the Christmas Tree!

Lights and Decorations to come!

p.s. The Bf wouldn't let me near the 9 ft trees :(

guest blogging

Check out my guest post over at Save Big, Live Better.  It's all about how to dress for the holidays and use your favourite little black dress so many different ways!!  Click Here!!

And be sure to check out Julia's Facebook Page for all the latest updates on how to save!

*Update: Sorry! The link leading to my guest post wasn't working!  It's all fixed now!*

making it through

The craziness of the holidays is upon us!

Things have been crazy over the last week or so, between shopping, wrapping, and well of course, work.  You guys know I work in retail and this is such a busy, hectic time of year.  I've found this year that the shoppers are so much happier.  No stressed out, strung out, negative people.  It can get really hard, there's so much to do, people to see and places to go.  I've seen a lot of people so far that are genuinely looking for that amazing gift for someone special and all the thought and time they spend making it perfect.  I love that!  

Hope you guys are making it through! Only 9 Days to go!!

Christmas Market

This past weekend I was off from work, and filled it with all kinds of holiday fun!  On Saturday the Bf and I visited the Vancouver Christmas Market.  It is one of the top ten rated Christmas Markets in the world and is designed after the markets across Germany.  

We went in the evening to watch all the twinkle lights and enjoy some carols.  We drank mulled wine, adored all the ornaments, and ate a lot of food.  We enjoyed pretzels with mustard, Bavarian sausages with onions and sauerkraut, and a Belgium waffle with  chocolate and whipped cream.  Needless to say, my belly was very happy! I definitely recommend a visit, the market goes till Christmas Eve!
I took a some photos on my phone.  Oh! and you can keep you mug...I mean, stein... for a small deposit!

pine cones

Friday was our three year anniversary and I can admit, I nearly forgot about it until the Bf mentioned a day or so before.  We planned on spending the day together and maybe going out for dinner, nothing too special.  When Friday came, we made a nice big breakfast and then went for a walk down by the beach, which I thought was to collect pine cones for a holiday craft I have planned.  As we made our way back up to a street he pulled me to the right and said "let's go in here!".  I didn't even notice where we were until we walked in....a spa!  He had planned earlier in the week and set up appointments for massages for both of us, and a manicure and pedicure for me.  Spoiled!! Let me tell you, a hot stone massage is the most de-stressing thing in the world.  I was so relaxed (read: sleepy) for the rest of the day, that we went for a quiet dinner at the local Swiss Chalet.  

Since it was all a surprise, no photos :(

just today...

I've got one more day of work left than I'm off for a long weekend! What a great way to kick off the holidays season, and a nice break before the craziness begins.  I`m looking forward to decorating my place with the cutest holiday decor, eating a few big breakfasts, and visiting the Outdoor Christmas Market.  

Hot Apple Cider anyone?! Me, Me! 

Did anyone watch the Christmas special at Rockefeller Center?  I love that Giant Tree!

What are you all doing to start off this Holiday season?

Travel Diary - Rome, Italy

 

It's been a while since I've dived into my travel diary and showed you guys another place I've been.  Last we left off in Mialn, Italy.  You can read that post here.  Today, we're staying in Italy but moving onto Rome.

  

Rome is such a historical and beautiful city.  Every corner you turn another amazing building, whether a church, museum, or a random ruin.  My Bf and I stayed in a great hostel that had a rooftop terrace.  Yes, the view was amazing!  They even held a pasta night and a sangria night, such a great way to meet fellow travellers.

 We visited all the must-see places.  The Colosseum (which was like 2 blocks form our hostel),The Roman Forum, Vatican City,  The Pantheon and tons of others.  Rome is the type of city where you can just walk aimlessly and well, yes get lost, but just simply explore.  We were both looking forward to Rome because shortly before we left for our European Adventure we watched the entire HBO series Rome.  There was a lot of stomping around yelling "Thirteen!!!!", good times.