... that it was Christmastime!

I was a little sad that we weren't able to stay in California for Christmas, but I did love getting our little apartment ready for the holidays! We set up our clearance Christmas tree from last year for the first time

And of course my favorite little Christmas tree as well

Kar got me all inspired with her homemade wreaths and I whipped this beauty up, which I am quite proud of if I do say so myself.

Then we wanted to share some Christmas Cheer with our friends, so Matt and I decided to make treats. It's kind of a Harrison tradition to make candy and caramel for the neighbors, so Matt made caramel and I wanted to make peppermint Christmas cookies.

So cute, right??

WRONG.

Biggest. Fail. Ever. But did it stop us from giving them to people? You bet it didn't! We covered the whole pan in white chocolate drizzle and peppermint chunks, cut it into squares, and nobody even knew about my shame. So really, it was a win for everyone. Yeah, let's just go with that.

I didn't have time to redo the cookies anyway, I was way behind on making my stocking stuffers, as per usual

It wouldn't be Christmas Eve if I wasn't up all night long finishing up presents. But it was worth it! Homemade rice socks for everyone!!!

We had a pretty good Christmas this year, even if we knew most of the presents we were getting because they were all bought in Vegas on Black Friday. We opened our presents at home, then spent the rest of the day at the parents' house. We even brought Xena a Christmas bone.

She was thrilled.

I think the fun of Black Friday really got to me, because it awoke my inner love for post-holiday-deal shopping.

Ever since I can remember, my mom has revered the week after Christmas. Every year right after Christmas, she hits up every single Hallmark store in the surrounding area and gets all of the adorable holiday items on clearance! She buys enough gifts and trinkets for all her friends and family, then she puts them all away in a box and saves them until next year. Then when Christmas comes around again, she already has all of her Christmas shopping done, and she gets a great deal on it all! Genius, right? Well, the Black Friday bug bit me hard, cause all I wanted to do after Christmas was shop for deals! I think I was also missing my mom, cause I saw this little Christmas countdown calendar and it reminded me of one that my mom always hung up at Christmastime at our house, and I couldn't resist it!

I also spent a month (or maybe two... or three...) going to every Walgreens and Walmart in the Salt Lake Valley looking for all sorts of ridiculous knick knacks and trinkets to hoard away until next year, including this little cheese plate

I looked high and low for this particular cheese plate. It became an absolutely ridiculous obsession, cause I couldn't find it anywhere. And I seriously looked EVERYWHERE. I eventually gave up on it after wasting waaaaaaay too much time and gas.

And then I found it 3 months later at a DI for $1.

I love Christmas!