Hello, friends, and welcome back!! How was your holiday?? I can’t believe that this is my first post of 2020, but I’m excited to be back! Although, it is pretty tough to get back in the swing of the work routine, isn’t it? I mean, today is the first time I’ve been out of the house in TWO WEEKS, so you can probably imagine how I’m doing right now. The shock! The sights! The sounds! When did the world get so bright?? It’s certainly a lot to take in and it has me thinking about our grand Christmas adventure — at home, of course! Because, really, that’s the best place to be for the holidays, if you ask me!

I thought I’d share some of those photos today! Think good family, fun games and delicious food (spoiler alert: A huge pizza is involved!)…

We kicked off the festive season with a family get-together! And when you have a family party and order a pizza called The Hurricane…you quickly realize that a photo can’t possibly capture said pizza’s size! Talk about huge!! And delicious!!

This year, it finally hit me: We’ve started a new family tradition! Every year, usually a few days before Christmas, I get my hair cut because, you know, you got to look fresh and fabulous for the Big Day! We then meet for lunch (this year, we went to a great Mexican restaurant AND we got Janelle to be in the photo!) and afterward, I, umm, do my Christmas shopping. I know. I’m that person.

And, yes, I’m also that person who doesn’t wrap her presents until the evening of Christmas Eve. Picture this: It’s almost 7 p.m. and there is a mountain of gifts and wrapping paper all over my bed. I’m furiously cutting, wrapping, taping (repeat!) as my mom shouts “Your dinner is getting cold; do you want to get food poisoning?” over and over. Suffice it to say, I got all my presents wrapped — and narrowly escaped a bout of food poisoning!

Speaking of food, we usually have a huge breakfast on Christmas morning and this year was quite possibly the most scrumptious, most delicious, most EVERYTHING I’ve ever had. My cousin Mona sent us a pancake gift set with pancake mix and syrup made in Vermont. Friends, you’ve never lived until you’ve taste the sweet taste of syrup from Vermont. It’s a transcendent experience like no other!

Look what I got for my mom! I dare you to look at this photo and not immediately declare me the Best Gift Giver of all time!! Go ahead. I give myself 5/5 saxophones!

How cool is the theme in my mom’s gifts to me?? WOMEN RULE — and rule the world, right?? Well, we’re still working on the latter, but I know we’ll get there someday!

Stella and Whitney are usually notorious frenemies. But, they cuddled together and sat under the tree together!! It’s a Christmas miracle!!

Also, Whitney on Christmas morning is exactly how I’ve felt for much of 2019 — watching what’s happening and giving the world so much side-eye…

It may have been 55 degrees outside on Christmas Day, but I still had a “Frozen” Christmas!! What wonderful gifts from my mom and sister!!

After having a leisurely morning, we went to the movies! I never thought I’d be snapping a selfie with my movie popcorn, but here we are…

Anyway, we saw Little Women! Have you seen it?? I’ll be doing a separate blog post on the film next week, but in the meantime, here’s my capsule review: I knew I’d like Little Women, but I’m here to tell y’all that I LOVED IT. Jo March is everything!! She’s fierce and tough and completely unapologetic about it all. Such a relevant character to women’s lives in 2019…

A+
10/10
ALL THE THINGS

We had such a fun afternoon decorating cookies with friends!!! Big thanks to my mom for making her famous almond cookies!! The recipe was passed down from my grandmother and these cookies remind me of all things family and love.

Plus, did I mention that they’re delicious?!? So. Good.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas in 2019 without a festive holiday photo filter…or two!! As usual, Snapchat was on its game with the filters this year, so I couldn’t help but capture the magic!

I hope everyone had an equally magical holiday and New Year!! Speaking of New Year, look for a post tomorrow about my mantra for 2020. And let me know how you spent your holiday!! I want to hear about it all, so be sure to leave a comment with all your stories!! xoxo

Yes, friends!! I did write Christmas trees in the title of this blog post! And it’s a true statement — we’ve got multiple trees around our house this year — more than usual, in fact!!

But, really, who am I to complain here? I love being the photographer every year when we decorate the Christmas tree!!! How cute is my mom?!? We put our trees up over Thanksgiving weekend. I thought we’d be content with just two small trees — one in the kitchen and then one in my mom’s room. And then, just like that, my mom bought another Christmas tree!! That Santa tree skirt, below, belonged to my grandparents and reminds me of my childhood holidays spent in Alabama with them!!

If you’re overwhelmed by those HUGE trees, I highly recommend a smaller tabletop tree! It’s just as beautiful and it makes the kitchen feel all kinds of cozy!!

Now this is what I call getting lit on a Saturday night, y’all

Also, a few words about the holidays…

A winter’s day
In a deep and dark December

I’ve always loved “I Am a Rock” by Simon & Garfunkel and find myself singing it a lot during this time of year.

And even though I’m generally an upbeat person, this has been my theme song for years. I’ve built walls. I’m sometimes afraid of getting close to people. I’ve used my writing as an armor of protection. I’ve felt like a rock and an island.

Holidays always have a way of making me think about the past. Last week during Thanksgiving, I got to thinking about how fall is such a hard season for me. My dad was diagnosed with cancer in the fall. And it was around Thanksgiving in 2010 that my severe depression took hold. I just remember watching the Macy’s Parade, something that was so full of fun and happiness, and I just couldn’t stop crying. A month later, I was hospitalized and it was so much scarier than any surgery I’ve ever had.

So I always get a little nervous this time of year about that depression coming back. Because it felt so all-encompassing, like it swallowed me entirely. Because I felt like I lost myself for a good 6 months. Because I worried every day that I’d never be Melissa again. Maybe I’ll worry every fall for the foreseeable future, but something I’ll never feel is shame. Depression is a physical illness and if you’re struggling, please never feel shame, OK??

But let’s end this post on a high note, shall we?? Too early for that classic “Naughty or Nice” Christmas tableau?? I’ll let you decide who’s who…

And I’d love to know, friends: Do you have multiple Christmas trees in your home? Or one huge one? Any other fun holiday tradition you’re looking forward to this season?? xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving 2019, friends!! I know Thanksgiving is actually still a couple days away, but I wanted to take some time to ask you a very important question: What are you most grateful for in 2019…??

As you can probably tell from those two pictures above, I’m SO INCREDIBLY THANKFUL for my mom and sister! That’s been the case every other year, too, but this year??? It seems especially salient. It’s no secret that I’m pretty frustrated with the state of the world — heck, I’d even go so far as to say that I’m downright angry. Things are a complete mess and it’s so easy to lose hope. I’ve found myself losing hope multiple times this year; I’ll probably lose hope again before 2019 is even over too — I mean, we’ve still got a little over a month left to go in this year. I’m constantly saying, “Now I’ve seen it all,” only to realize that, no, things can — and do — get very, very worse.

The truth is, there’s so much to get upset about, but that’s not what this post is about. I don’t want that to be what this post is about. At least not for today. We can have one day where we don’t dwell on all the bad things that are going on around us. We can have one day where we just enjoy good food and the company of our loved ones (sans politics talk, right?). We can have one day where we…just be.

Perhaps that’s the beauty of Thanksgiving and why I’m so looking forward to some downtime this week. We’ve earned it and we deserve it.

I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but I see you. I know the holidays are hard for so many people, myself included. Some don’t have families to go home to and others struggle with tense relationships, so please be gentle with yourself. Like I said, you’ve earned it and you deserve it.

So here’s to a restful and relaxing Thanksgiving 2019. I hope you celebrate in ways that bring you the most joy and love. I’ll be taking the rest of the week off, but I’m looking forward to coming back next week with exciting new posts, including this year’s Holiday Gift Guide!!! Any suggestions for categories?? Feel free to let me know! And follow along on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram since I’ll surely be chronicling my adventures there!

And I’d love to hear about YOUR Thanksgiving adventures, friends! Where are you headed? What delicious food are you craving? Any fun traditions in store? Have a great rest of the week!!! xoxo

[Bottom photo via Unsplash]