Considering all of the recent heartache, all of the tragedy,
I’m feeling especially grateful to be home with my loves right now.
Today, all seventy-eight thousand members of my family are coming over to celebrate Christmas. And that makes it acceptable for me to bake myself manic, to wear something other than yoga pants, and for my mother to transform her house into a place not unlike Santa’s workshop.
A winter wonderland.
The menu: 5 pounds of my favorite meatballs and sauce, Italian sausages, 3 trays of lasagna, fresh challah rolls from our local bakery, a deli platter with every kind of cheese and cold cut you never knew existed, and my mom’s famous potato salad.
All of this
on top of appetizers, salads, and the irresistible desserts: White’s cake, Congo Bars, Lemon Squares, and on and on and on.
As you’d imagine, it’s red and green mayhem. It’s glitter-covered, elves-on-all-the-shelves insanity.
Wherever you are, I hope you’re able to spend time with people you love.
Thanks for the peek into your mom’s house – it’s lovely! The menu was a surprise; is that your family’s traditional meal for Christmas time? I think the carolers in the hall are my favorite decoration in the house. Love those lamp posts!
Merry Christmas!
Andie–this post, your photos, are so beautiful, so bright. You are so very lucky, and I know that you know it. Thanks for brightening our lives just by being you, during the holiday season and all year long. XO
Such pretty decorations! Looks like a house out of a magazine :)
it’s so true that that’s all we should be doing this holiday season. just enjoying every minute we can with our family and loved ones. so special.
i love how yellow and warm the photos are. and everything covered in red and green! i’d keep it that way all year if i wouldn’t get funny looks. as it is, i left my christmas lights up in my living room all through 2012. :-)
happy christmas!!
that is so wonderful!
happy holidays Andie! :)
Excuse me, Andie, is there any hot sausage left?
Bless your mother. The house looks magical. I can’t imagine how much time it took to put everything up and how much time it will take to put everything away I aspire to be like her one day.
Such a beautiful house. Lovely decorations.
Just lovely – thanks for sharing! Have a wonderful Christmas:)
Wow your mother’s house is so beautiful. I really love your pictures what kind of camera do you use?
Hi Rocio,
Thank you! I use a Canon Rebel T1i with the standard lens that came with it- I believe it’s a 35mm.
Happy Holidays :)
Andie
THANK YOU for sharing your beautiful Christmas home… such lovely photographs and decorations. And thank you for the inspiration and amazing recipes. May God bless you and your family. Merry Christmas!
Such a gorgeous house! Love it! Merry Christmas!
So beautiful! My heart breaks for Christmas this year…
Do you use a web host like GoDaddy or did you simply go through WordPress out of blogging curiosity?
Hi Jen,
I hear you and I commend you on your compassionate heart. This is such a tremendously difficult time, and it’s hard to find joy when others are suffering.
I use Dreamhost as my server.
Andie
You have a lovely home! I too am so grateful for the love of family and friends and the ability to spend the holidays together.
Love all the decorations!! Merry Christmas and have a wonderful time with your family!!!
Beautiful! Merry Christmas! I hope, when we own a house, to decorate it so beautifully for the holidays.
I love your website, you are an inspiration and your recipes are amazing!!
Wow, I can’t get over those decorations! Everything looks so professional. I love my family’s traditional turkey dinner but a feast with meatballs and lasagna sounds pretty enticing.
Gorgeous decorations!
I love the Christmas decorations! Your mum’s house looks like the ideal Christmas house haha. Merry Christmas :)
This is the third year straight that I have looked forward to your Christmas post. I just love your mom’s decorations and marvel at how she manages to move them around and use them differently each year.
Your mother has such a talent! Her decorations are incredible, and your pictures are just fantastic. I loved your post last year and was thrilled to see more this year! Hope that you and yours had a wonderful holiday, and thanks so much for sharing!
I feel like I just stepped into a Christmas wonderland, with all of the adorable, festive decorations!! I hope you had the loveliest of Christmases and here’s to a wonderful, happy new year! :D
Beautiful home! So pretty decorated all up. Thanks for the peak inside
Happy New Year Andie! Your Mom’s home looks absolutely gorgeous and I am head over heels for the stockings with the little puffs of boa on the toes. What a wonderful sense of style she has…(I’m guessing that she is a bit of a firecracker). The decorations put a BIG smile on my face and I ‘pinned’ them to my Christmas page as soon as I saw them. I don’t want to forget the great feeling that they gave me. Thank you for sharing your pics with us and more importantly for sharing yourself. I absolutely love following your journey…you write beautifully!
Diane