Good Morning! I read something from Marianne Williamson this morning that I wanted to share. Sometimes, when we’re so busy and stressed as most of us are right now, we forget to be kind and forgiving. This seemed like an appropriate reminder.

“Practice kindness, and you start to become kind. Practice discipline, and you start to become disciplined. Practice forgiveness, and you start to become forgiving. Practice charity, and you start to become charitable. Practice gentleness, and you start to become gentle.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re in the mood to be gracious to the bank teller today; do it anyway - and watch how it begins to affect your mood. Just push the button of the self you wish to be, and the synapses that make up that personality begin to form. Your best self already exists in the ethers, just waiting to be downloaded. We become gracious when we decide to be gracious. We have the power to generate as well as react to feelings; to hone our personalities as we travel through life. In the words of George Eliot, “It is never to late to be what you might have been.” It is never too late to become who we really are.”

It’s here…the week of Christmas and the “symbolic” end to a crazy year that no one wants to repeat! I think it’s important to remember that we can still have great days and special times in spite of what’s going on around us. We just have to wake up and decide that it’s going to be that way!

We have a very large vacant lot next to us…it’s a wooded lot with many old trees and as far as I know has never had anything built on it. Not long ago, we had some tree work done and Baldy piled up the wood in the lot to use for fires. He has slowly been splitting it and letting it dry out. We truly love nothing more than to sit outside in front of our fireplace and stare at a warm fire. So many nights, we eat our dinner outside and then relax by the fire. Unfortunately, things have been a little busy because of the holidays, but soon, we’ll be back outside with our blankets and our bowls of warm soup staring at a magical fire and the beautiful starry sky! These pictures were taken in the woods in front of the woodpile. It think it’s so pretty and it makes me feel good to know that we won’t run out of wood for a very long time!

I’ve seriously been living in outfits like this and I know I’m not alone! Leggings are so practical and warm and Spanx are my hands down favorites. I think they fit better than most others and don’t stretch out while you’re wearing them! I paired them with my Marc Fisher shearling boots, a leopard jacket (so warm) by Lou & Greu from Loft (currently around $55 with code MERRY), and a black turtleneck. My bag is very old from Kate Spade, but I’m linking a similar one below!

I have two quick errands to finish up today, just a little bit of wrapping and grocery shopping to do. I’m close to being finished with holiday preparations and hopefully tomorrow, I’ll be back in the kitchen getting ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning.

We have a local butcher shop close to our home called Left Bank Butchery, that has been ranked in the top 10 in the nation (go figure)! Everything they sell is from a local farm and I love supporting them! Anyway, I bought a Porchetta pork roast that I’ll be making for Christmas Eve - wish me luck, because I’ve never cooked one before… but I’ve been doing a little research and think I can pull it off! The presentation should be beautiful and festive for Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, we’ll be having smoked salmon, hash brown casserole (recipe in this post), grits casserole (so Southern and so delicious), local bacon, eggs, my Christmas Tree Bread, mimosas and Bloody Marys. I really enjoy preparing the food, mostly I think because it’s a signal to slow down and begin to enjoy Christmas! To me, it’s all about sharing special moments with family! We’ll miss our little Sarah (who is in Germany with her husband and very pregnant) so much, but we’ll FaceTime and do the best we can to all be together!

What are your family traditions? Leave a comment and tell me about them! I hope you all have the best day and thanks so much for reading!