Our big move!

Wow can't believe it's been a month since I last updated you guys! What a crazy month it's been! My husband accepted a new job out of state....so we moved to DC! Everything has been so hectic but we are finally getting more settled in! We moved to a condo which is almost 1/3 of what we lived in previously but are living in the city, battled our first blizzard, learning to live without a car- walking to work and grocery stores!

I'm so excited for this next journey in our lives! Now that we are getting more settled my mind has been coming up with a few new great blog posts so definitely stay tuned!

Since we are so new to DC let me know some of your favorite restaurants, stores, interior design stores, interior designers, anything!!! Let me know if you are ever here to visit too!

Enjoying a sunny Sunday around Dupont Circle

I found a Neiman Marcus....in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

I just love DC brownstones!

After the blizzard near Thomas Circle. Good thing we have underground car parking.

Downsizing into a 1/3 of the space takes some adjustment, but this new rug sure made it easier! 

Northern Lights in Iceland

I am starting to have a little time to upload some of my pictures from my camera from our Iceland and Germany trip. Here are a few photos of the Northern Lights we saw which was on my bucket list. On our first full night we got the call from the photograthat they lights were out and he quickly picked us up and we headed about 5 miles outside the city to get away from the light pollution. We were by the water and near the lighthouse. The ligths were lower activity, but at least we still got to see them.

We went out with Olgeir Andresson who is a famed Northern Lights photographer in Iceland whose photos have been featured in Times Square, on the Iceland postage stamp and various websites and publications. He helped me set up the tripod in the dark, get my camera settings right to be able to shoot the lights and the motivation and company to stand out in the chilly weather for 2 1/2 hours. So if you go to Iceland and want to go out to see the lights and photograph them with the pro, definitely look him up!

This is a little blurry since we had to try to stay still for 15 seconds which was the exposure we had to use in the dark.

German Christmas Tree

I can't believe it has almost been a month since my last post! The hubby and I went on an awesome 2 week adventure to Iceland and to the Christmas markets in Germany! So definitely more fun pictures to come! In the meantime, I had to share pictures of my German Christmas tree. I used a bunch of the ornaments I got last year in Germany for a themed mini pencil tree. Now time to unpack the new decorations I got this year! I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday season thus far!

Christmas at my Haus!

Here are a few pictures of my Christmas decor! Have you finished decorating yet? 

Some goodies I brought back from Germany, the ornaments and all of the mushrooms. I also got the table runner in Germany, but found the tablecloth here at Ikea.

Had to carry the wintry wonderland theme to the lighting too! I hung some of the German straw ornaments on there too.

I made this cone by hot gluing peppermints on it!

My mantel. You can see a few of the German Erzegebirde items I brought back! 

Amaryllis in bloom. 1 out of 3 are in bloom right now.

I did a lot of wrapping tonight so a tree picture with some presents.

Decorated tree

Close up of our tree. Lots of candy and blown glass ornaments! When my husband and I travel we try to always get an ornament. The prominent one in this picture was a cool champagne bucket ornament we got at Bergdorf's last year on our Thanksgiving trip to NYC.

Simple red berry front door wreath.

Jefferson Hotel at Christmas

My husband knows how much I love Christmas decor! While he was traveling for work, he was staying  at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA and he called to tell me he will take lots of pictures. I love how hotels do amazing Christmas decor. We are going to stay at the Grove Park Inn the weekend before Christmas and I can't wait to see their decor and all the gingerbread houses from their competition. What is your favorite hotel with Christmas decoration?

Pictures from the hubby's phone!

I think this may have been made out of gingerbread

Lastly, this weekend we entered our dog in the Reindog Parade at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. We got 2nd place for the Dog Pack Category (we entered with another doggie friend). It is so rare to get a photo of the 3 of us, so I thought I would share!

Advent

Since it's the first day of December and the first of advent is tomorrow I wanted to feature a post on advent calendars. Growing up I had a large handmade advent house that had doors I could open every morning from the first of December through the 24th. I thought it was the Christmas Elf bringing me my goodies. After being in Germany during the Christmas season I was overwhelmed by all of the advent calendars! When I say I saw over 100 styles that may be an understatement. I even found a doggie advent calendar I brought back for my little Charley.

Here is an advent house my mother in law got us a few years ago and Charley's doggie advent calendar! He got his first treat today!

My little reindeer! 

Advent Wreaths

Simple rustic advent wreath from Little Scandinavian 

Pinecone, bar and acorn wreath from Danish site Madogbolig

Advent wreath in topiary form from Madogbolig

Beautiful wildflower advent wreath from Hegegreenall-Scholtz

Advent Houses & Calendars

Insanely beautiful wooden Christmas truck advent calendar from Neiman Marcus

Gnome Santa advent calendar with little boxes that can be filled with gifts from Ikea

Paper 3D Gingerbread House Advent Calendar from German Steins

A few photos of some advent calendars I saw in Germany: 

I brought this advent calendar back from Germany and happened to find it online. This is hanging in my office at work. This one is not filled with candy, but images. I happened to come across this online in the US at Blueberry Forest

Large Santa hanging advent calendar

For the gents in your life, this was a large and heavy advent calendar filled with beer!

My mom's hometown, Iserlohn is celebrating its 775 year anniversary and the local confectionery store Spetsmann founded in 1939 designed this specialty advent calendar filled with truffles.