Christmas may have been a few days ago, but that’s no reason not to show and tell!
Christmas is always a busy time in my family, and B is just now getting the hang of how my crazy relatives roll. It’s been quite a switch for both of us, celebrating holidays with each other’s families every year. I have a large extended family; my mom is one of four and my dad is one of three. Ten cousins, five cousins’ significant others, two boyfriends, one sister, and two baby second cousins mean lots of noise, lots of people, and lots of activity. I associate holidays with talking, catching up, photos, laughter, and tons of food. B, on the other hand, is accustomed to a very different family style. B and his brother K are the only children on B’s mother’s side, and his cousins on his dad’s side are about 15-20 years older than us. They live all over the country, and it takes an occasion like our wedding to bring most of them together. Holidays are typically celebrated with B’s mom’s side and are very quite. With no cousins, it’s just his parents, his grandmother, his aunt Sheila, and his uncle J. Quiet, quiet, quiet.
This year was a classic “run until your head falls off” celebration situation. I think I now get what it feels like to have a divorced family. Everyone wants to see you, and there isn’t enough time in a day to make everyone happy with how long you spend with them. I get it. I want to spend a ton of time with all of them, too (yes, I love my in-laws. They’re great!). We figured out a schedule that allowed us to have a little bit of “us” time, celebrate with paternal my grandmother, my immediate and extended family on my mom’s side, and his immediate and (abbreviated) extended family. Our parents live about 15 minutes away from each other, which is helpful, and my aunt (who hosts my extended family’s holidays) lives 15 minutes away from my parents. My grandmother is about an hour and 15 minutes from my parents, so it’s a bit more travel to get there.
Keeping all of that running and travel in mind, I wanted to pick out outfits that would be both stylish, holiday-esque, and comfortable. B’s parents’ house tends to be on the colder side (and I am always cold in the winter, so it’s bad), so I picked pieces that would be stylish and warm without all of the bulk.
CHRISTMAS EVE
Christmas Eve day started with B and I getting up early to open some of our gifts we got each other. It’s important for us to have our own Christmas as we begin our own little family unit. (Please note that that sentence does NOT mean we are having a baby. Two people can be a family unit. Thank you. Please carry on.) Outfit of choice? Classic red and pink striped pajamas. (Also, my grandmother made that quilt. MADE IT. Is she amazing or what?)
We then showered and changed for the rest of our day, which meant traveling to my grandmother’s house with my parents. We would be leaving my grandmother’s house in the early evening and going straight to church in my hometown after, which meant no time to full change outfits. Solution? Pack it all in advance and simply change bottoms. For the Christmas at Gram’s, I paired a goldeny-tan dolman sweater from Goodwill ($5) with a pair of dark wash jeans from Target ($8). To play up the goldeny factor of the sweater and be a little more festive, I added in a silver and rose gold waterfall necklace from Kohl’s ($4.80), a silver cuff bracelet from eBay ($0.40), a ruby ring my grandfather made (I come from a long line of creative people) and a pair of classic black heels.
To change for church, I kept everything but the jeans the same. To me, Christmas Eve service needs a bit more than just jeans, so I threw in a pair of opaque black tights ($6 Kohl’s) and a high-waisted black skirt ($5 Goodwill).
To wrap everything up, I threw on my cream wool dress coat from Moda International ($19.99 Goodwill).
CHRISTMAS DAY
Christmas morning almost always starts off with the same outfit: my Christmas Eve pajamas. My parents started a tradition with me and my sister when we were younger where they always give us pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve. I now have the biggest collection of pajamas. Ever. I’m not kidding. B and my sister’s boyfriend Jeff are now in on the tradition as well. I didn’t get a top with the bottoms this time around, though, so I had to supplement with the top I brought. What? It totally goes. Be nice, it’s Christmas.
After opening presents and eating breakfast with my family, we headed over to B’s parents’ to have Christmas lunch and gifts with them. I didn’t want to keep changing clothes with each location change (I don’t have unlimited access to free laundry here, people), so I picked something that would be comfy and appropriate for all of our family events. The first piece was a long sequin tank I found at Kohl’s a few days before. I had $15 in Kohl’s cash I needed to spend, so I found this shirt for $12… which means FREE! I then pulled a cranberry cardigan from American Eagle that I have had for eight years (HOLY MOLY!) from my closet to add some color and some warmth. I then put it together with the same jeans from the night before (what? Kate Middleton did it.). For shoes, I wore my tall brown boots for warmth and a more casual appeal ($29 from Amazon.com). These boots also allowed me to wear fuzzy, warm socks to keep my frozen feet warm! For accessories, I wore a silver sparkle headband ($0.75 from Joann Fabrics), three clear bangles, a leopard infinity scarf I made two days before (look for the tutorial!) and a pair of purple wrapped earrings from my parents.
So there you have it! How did you style your Christmas look? Honestly, if I stayed in one place, I would have stayed in those Christmas jammies. I would live in them all day if I could!
A Wife of Material 