I’ve wanted to link-up with The Blended Blog for a while, but this is the first time I remembered! Just in time for the holidays…
1 Real or Fake Tree?
I hope that I will always be in the real tree camp. Growing up we always had one real tree in the house at Christmastime. I didn’t know multiple trees was a thing. As an adult, I admit that we have a fake tree at the PI office and a fake tree on the ledge at home. Our main tree in the living room will be 100% real, though (when we get it).
2 Favorite Christmas Cookie?
I’m boring. I love my mom’s iced cut-out cookies. So good 🙂
3 Home on Christmas Morning or Travel?
I guess we technically travel? We drive about 10 miles out of town to my parents’ house in the morning, then we spend the afternoon/evening at K’s parents’ house (which is about 5 miles from our house)… We consider those places “home”, though. And we do a quick gift exchange when we wake up at our house with each other and the pups!
4 Clear or Colored Lights?
Honestly, I kind of like color on a tree, but clear on a house. We stick to clear, though. K has always preferred clear.
5 Send Christmas Cards?
Yep. Every year. I looove sending & receiving cards!
6 Favorite Christmas Present Received?
Uhhh… I’ve added a lot of pets to my family in December so let’s go with that! Enzo & Ly both came home on the 7th, my mom got me a bird on the 23rd one year (Noel!), and I got a hamster for Christmas once (his name was Jazz but he wasn’t healthy and he died pretty quickly).
Edit: I was reading other answers from bloggers and I remembered that one year I got my first cell phone. That was awesome 🙂 Also, Erica gave me/us a Lylee ornament one year and it’s seriously one of the most thoughtful gifts I’ve ever gotten!
7 Favorite Christmas Present Given?
Our first year together I made K a fleece tie-blanket. For some reason that’s one of my favorites because I was so happy to give it to him. I love finding the perfect thing for him.
8 Stockings or No Stockings?
Wait… why wouldn’t you do stockings?? Of course stockings!
9 Christmas PJ’s?
Kind of? Every year on Christmas Eve I wear my penguin pj pants to bed. I don’t know why I’ve deemed them the Christmas pants, but it’s become a thing for me. Lol
10 Favorite Christmas Carol?
I love ‘Angels We Have Heard On High.’ Most Christmas music makes me happy. Exception include: Santa Baby, Last Christmas, & All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.
11 Favorite Holiday Tradition?
I like picking out the tree with K (and sometimes a dog or two). I also love decorating my parents’ tree, which we go over and do each year. And Christmas Eve service at the church!
12 Early Shopper or Last Minute?
I get 75 to 80% of my shopping done early, but I fully utilized Amazon Prime til the end and I like popping into stores and seeing the decor.
13 Favorite Christmas Movie or Show?
The claymation movies are my favorite. A Year Without A Santa Clause, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, etc. I also love watching John Wayne movies on Christmas Day.
14 Favorite Holiday Beverage?
I love hot beverages so winter is really my time to shine 😉 Hot chocolate, hot apple cider, Starbucks Caramel Brulee latte. Anything spiked with Southern Comfort… ha.
15 Cookies and Milk for Santa?
Of course. And some carrots for the reindeer!
Well that was fun! 🎄
Life as Louise 
These posts are great and so festive!
You sound super organised with your Christmas shopping.
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I think it’s fun to read how everyone feels about the holidays 🙂
Around July or August I make a list in my planner of all the people I need to buy gifts for, then I start collecting them over the last half of the year 🙂 It’s worked out pretty well for me!
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LOOOOVE real trees! And how did that rapey Baby It’s Cold Out not make it on your list of Christmas songs you DON’T like?! 😉 And Joy to the World is my fave, up there with Angels We Have Heard On High
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HAHAHAHAHA. I’ll be totally honest with you- I really love the harmony and musicality of that song. I HATE the lyrics, though. I’ve heard some modern artists redo it with lyrics like, “I really must go / Ok, let me get your coat” so that’s how it slipped through. Hahahaha. Your comment made me spit out my coffee 😀
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We always had fake trees growing up and I’m too lazy to deal with a real tree but I love them. They just smell so great! I’m with K and clear lights are the best. 😉 I used to be an early Christmas shopper but now that I fly home, I am more last minute. Most of my family’s gifts I actually buy when I get home and possibly ship an item or two from Amazon directly to my parent’s home. And the Lylee ornament is the best.
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K would definitely be ok with a fake tree and clear lights, but I only let him win on one of those fronts 😉 Real trees are a real hassle, but I’m ok with putting up with it. Hahaha.
If I traveled like you I’d ship e’ry thing to my destination! Hahaha!
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How cool is your Christmas card?! I love it! Also love that Lylee ornament!
UGH, Santa Baby makes me cringe. Yuck, yuck, YUCK!
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Thank you! They ordered the Lylee ornament right before we brought Enzo home. I wish I had one of him, too. I’ll get myself one someday 😉
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Aw the dog ornament is too cute! I’ve always wanted to make one of those fleece tie blankets. I had the idea to do it this year, but I think I’ve run out of time on that one – just because December is already so packed. LOL Oh well, I could still work on some in the new year since it’ll be cold for a long time! My dog was born on December 23 but we didn’t get her until she was a few months old, but STILL! She’s a great Christmas/holiday gift. 🙂
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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Your dog totally counts as a holiday gift!! The year we got Enzo K just kept telling me that he was my Christmas present. Hahaha. I was fine with that 🙂
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I love reading about how my friends celebrate!! And I’m with you..I love hot drinks, so this is my time!
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Yesss! Nothing better than sipping on hot coco under the lights of a tree! 🙂 I love it!
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I don’t think that it would feel like Christmas without stockings! And yes to always loving to decorate the Christmas tree with family, and of course the Christmas Eve ceremony at church! And the Caramel Brûlée latte from Starbucks is so good, I’ve gotten them so much recently!
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Stockings have always been a part of my holiday, although now that I think about it I don’t know that I’ve ever seen my husband’s family do stockings… Hmm. I’ve never realized that. Well, WE do them 😉
Ever since I wrote this I’ve been craving a caramel brulee latte! Ha!
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I always love hearing what other people’s Christmas seasons are like! Picking out a tree is also one of my favourite things! This year we opted for a fake tree after a weird asthmatic reaction from me to our real tree last year which has me super bummed!
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It’s so fun to read about how other people celebrate holidays! That’s a total bummer about the tree!! It’s a good thing fake trees look so real! I can’t hardly tell when I see a faux one!
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I just had a Starbucks Caramel Brulee latte this morning on my way in. It really brightened up my dreary rainy morning! I love getting cards in the mail and most Christmas movies and music too. My mom’s iced sugar cookies are my favorite as well. Sometimes the basics are the best, you know?
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Yummyyy! I LOVE getting cards in the mail! I would be so sad to see the tradition die out 😦 To me, iced cutout cookies just scream Christmas 🙂
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This was a fun Q&A! I love to hear about everyone’s Christmas traditions. I love stocking stuffers and I love to wander around stores leading up to Christmas. I am usually already done shopping but it’s still fun and way less stressful.
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I agree completely with you 🙂 Wandering the stores once you’ve got everything checked off is quite enjoyable!
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I love this Q&A and mine goes up next week. I am firmy real tree in our house for as long as my husband will deal with it 🙂
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Hahaha- that sounds like us. K would happily buy a nice fake tree and be done with it. Not me 😉
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I’ve always been a clear light girl & Ricky was a color light… but I finally convinced him to switch 😉 haha It took YEARS of arguments every Christmas
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I gave in pretty immediately. I don’t think we’ve ever had a strand of colored lights in our house. Lol
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Aww Audrey, sooo glad you joined us! Loved reading your answers as I drink a warm beverage by the tree light. Your ornament looks just like your sweet pup.
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Thanks so much for hosting, Andrea! These were such fun & festive questions!
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That card is adorable!
We’ve had a fake tree for a few years. MFD wants to go back to real. I am still devastated by my aunt’s friend who had a tic family come in on a tree and wreak havoc in their house. I die thinking about it. MFD has zero cares. LOL. Eventually when we move I believe the plan is to keep a fake tree in one room and get a real tree also. We have so many travel ornaments, it will be a good split for us.
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Thank you!
I’ve heard terrible stories about real trees and I always keep them in the back of my mind, lol. I think a blogger once shared about a family of praying mantises that were in a tree and infested the house? *shudder*
I’ve given in to fake trees in the secondary places (the office, the ledge)… but I’ll keep dragging K to the tree nurseries for as long as I can. Hahaha.
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Real Tree! Colored Lights! Elf! Caramel Brulee Latte! Early Shopper! Christmas PJs! Angels We Have Heard on High is my favorite Christmas carol too, and I also love God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
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Yes! We’re almost holidays twins 😉 Haha! God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is a good one, too!
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Ummm…cutest Christmas card EVER! I love that!
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Thank you so much!! I always struggle with coming up with good pictures for the card. Haha!
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I feel the exact opposite about lights. And I gave up on carrots for the reindeer. We’ve done reindeer food, which is oatmeal and sprinkles and it gets thrown in the front yard. No clean up or remembering to eat anything.
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Haha. I honestly love all the different opinions on trees and lights. Really, there’s no wrong way to do it. Ha.
Oooh, oatmeal and sprinkles is clever! Maybe when we have kids we’ll try that! (Although the dogs love to clean up carrots after the reindeer have had their fill 😉 … lol)
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that ornament and then photo of lylee is serious PERFECTION. i don’t where that needs to be submitted but the whole world needs to see this!!!!
i am totally real tree camp, always and forever. ravery grew up with 4, yes FOUR fake christmas trees throughout his house. thankfully, he’s now been successfully converted to the real tree camp (thank goodness)
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I love that ornament so much. I need one of Enzo soon!
Four fake trees!! Wow! My parents always got a HUGE real one. Like, at least 7 ft. Lol
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I’m with you, I like colored lights on a tree too! I bought a cheap fake tree from Walmart when I got my first apartment and it has clear lights and I wish it was colored! Last year we got a real tree and put colored lights on it and it made me so happy!
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I think K would light the tree on fire if I randomly put colored lights up. Hahahaha. He passionately dislikes them. Lol. It’s ok- we have very neutral colored decorations (just a bunch of foxes, hahahahaha) so the clear lights actually look best for us 😉 For now!
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Iced cut-outs are THE BEST! I have Christmas eve at my house every year and plan to let the kids decorate their own. It’s gonna be a mess, but so fun! Your Christmas card is sooo cute!
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I have memories of decorating cookies with my mom- sometimes with friends or K being there to help, too. Those will be awesome memories for your kids!
Thank you!
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I’m so impressed with how you are getting things done and I love how you plan out for the next season what you’d like to do. If you don’t do it, routine life gets in the way and so many of those things never happen! I’m sure having a feeling of accountability putting it on your blog helps. 😉
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Oops, commented on the wrong post – that was meant for your fall/winter goals one, obviously!
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Hahaha- no worries 😉
Posting goals and fun things to do on the blog definitely keeps me more accountable. My mom and mother-in-law also read my blog so when they see something fun they’d like to do with me they ask me about it and we do it!
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