Lots of Festive Pictures Ahead

A few weeks ago, Jason and I enjoyed a day off together. It doesn't happen often. He has weekends off, I work weekends, so we have to take advantage when we can. I took the day off so I could attend his work Christmas party that night, but we decided to go to the Festival of Trees that day.

I must say, the trees are awesome, but the fudge totally makes it worth the trip. Just in case you are on the fence about going next year, the fudge is worth it.

We were surprised how busy it was for a Friday at noon, after parking at the end of the parking lot we passed like 10 close spots on our walk in. Figures.

I took some pictures of my favorites. The best trees are the ones that go all out with a theme and really nail it. If you're going to take the time to do a theme tree, you better do it right.

Like the "Up" tree.

Or the Alice in Wonderland tree.

Who doesn't love Snoopy? 

Question I asked Jason while there, How did Peanuts get wrapped into Christmas? Somehow they became the same thing and I don't get it.

And OF COURSE, Harry Potter. 

Lastly, my favorite tree. I know, you're all shocked it wasn't Harry Potter. But I had to pick an actual Christmas themed tree as my favorite. It is Christmas after all. 

A Christmas Story!

I got so excited about this tree. I'm jealous of whoever bought it. The designers of this tree totally nailed it.

Do you see the broken glasses? There are also soap bars hanging. Brilliant.

The Red Rider comics, the burnt turkey, the bunny pjs, everything was on this tree.

A Christmas Story is one of my favorite Christmas movies. I watch it every year with millions of others while they play it for 24 hours on TBS. I feel like I can't watch it before then, it's become part of the Christmas Eve tradition for me. I almost watched it this weekend but then thought, "No, I have to save it."

They also had gingerbread houses and some of them were pretty fantastic. They make my family's houses look pretty sad. 

Yes, those are lights on there gingerbread house.

The Miser Brothers. I did watch a little bit of that on TV the other day.

Again, with the Snoopy.

I was pretty impressed with this one. It looks like a real cabin.

The Up house may have been better than the Up tree.

I liked the stained glass windows.

A mini village.

 And now for the favorite gingerbread house,The Burrow from Harry Potter. :) Yes, I'm a nerd. But it's a Harry Potter generation, deal with it.

It's freaking fantastic. You can't deny that.

After all that, Jason and I did make it to his work party. Where we ate mediocre food and played bingo. If your work ever plays Bingo for a party, just stay home.

At least we looked good right? Jason told me he was wearing a red tie and I said I was going to paint my nails red so we would be that annoying couple that coordinates. That couple that everyone thinks is ridiculous but is secretly jealous of. Did we accomplish that task?

Tidbits

Here's a random collection of things that have gone on in the last few weeks.

This is a tree candle we sell at work. This is what they are supposed to look like.

 This is what they look like if they sit in a window with direct sunlight. 

Aren't they so cute? We all love them. They look so embarrassed. A couple people have already claimed them. There was no way we were going to throw these away. They make me laugh every time I see them. 

On Thanksgiving I brought some gingerbread mini town kits to do after dinner. They come with five small houses so you can make a town out of them. They are nice to decorate because they are small. It's fun to see what everyone comes up with. Here is our little town.

Front.

Back.

Jason went a little funky and added a nice big tree to his roof. I was a little jealous. 

We decided my house had a mustache. A mustache or it's just influenced by the Swiss style. 

My candy cane roof shingles. 

I love Christmas. I love Christmas decorations. So I started pulling them out a couple days after Thanksgiving. I haven't had a chance to finish them and it's driving me nuts. Tomorrow night, it's happening. But while I was working on the decorations that day, I did something bad.

I beheaded a Shepard.

Every piece of my nativity was wrapped in bubble wrap and when I pulled a piece out of the box, he went flying. He hit the floor and "SHIII" came out of my mouth. I stopped myself because I realized it really wasn't appropriate to swear over a nativity. (or at all, but sometimes I just can't help it.)

But all is well, Sarah had some glue and the Shepard is whole again. Can't even tell I broke his poor little head off. 

Work Shirt

Never wear the shirt work gives you to work unless you are required. That's what I learned this week. I went to work in a long sleeve thick shirt and got hot within the first 30 minutes. So I grabbed an extra work t shirt and wore that the rest of the day. Bad idea. Why, you ask? Because when customers are looking for help, my kelly green shirt with the company logo is a lot easier to spot then the sales associates in regular clothes and a name tag. It made it impossible for me to accomplish a task without getting pulled away by someone every five minutes. I had a coworker complaining about how she couldn't get anything done, she was also wearing the green shirt. I told her it was the shirt and she looked at me like I was a miracle worker. We both decided we are never wearing work shirts to work again. Thank you work, for providing us with nice t shirts, but I will never be wearing it to work again.

Fall Leaves

About two weeks ago, Jason and I took advantage of a gorgeous Saturday and went on a drive. We went up the Alpine Loop and it was beautiful. Jason took a lot of pretty pictures and while he was doing that, I was collecting leaves from the trees. They were so pretty I just had to take some with me. I told Jason that while he liked spending time in nature and taking pictures, I liked to take nature home with me and decorate with it. He said we were a good match. :)

Me venturing across the street to take some leaves. I also found some mini pine cones and stuffed my pockets with them. I told Jason I wasn't going to go get fake crap at a craft store when I could take the real stuff.

Back on the other side taking more leaves.

Jason getting some leaves for me.

The swirly clouds made some cool pictures.

Those two tiny black dots are moose! Jason has this crazy eagle eye that manages to spot everything while driving at the same time. In all my years in Yellowstone, I've never seen a moose, but I have on two drives with Jason this year in Utah.

There was nothing for me to put my leaves in except an empty Cheez-It box.

My loot. How pretty is that?

What I did with my treasure.

About two days later they started to dry out and get crispy, but they still look pretty!

Fall is my favorite. I love the crisp air, pretty leaves, pumpkins, and all the yummy fall scents. It's just so cozy. It was really nice to spend an afternoon up the canyon with Jason admiring how pretty Utah really is.