Luv all the blue decor. Wish I could be there when you light up the monster wreath with all the icicles around, I'm sure it will be stunning. I am in the same boat as Fun2BHere just surrounded by boxes and bins. It always looks worse before it gets better. Just came inside from putting up the garland outside, I think it's 34 degrees out. Just letting my fingers thaw out. I'm jealous, I sure wish we were done outside. I'll post pics as soon as we are done. Thank you for the inspirational pics I needed that.

Punk: The candles are actually a cheat. I took a plain blue gift bag, chopped it up and covered ordinary white candles in it. I've done that several times for colors that just aren't available. Of course this wouldn't work if one actually wanted to light them I don't think. Can we say "fire" , eek. ((Luvs)) , it's good to "see" you.Thank you! Yes, I generally do all of my own florals :). Very rarely do I find something I can leave alone. lol

We have some variations from year to year, but my dad (twice widowed) comes for Christmas from about two hours away. He's here now and will stay til Monday. I don't have siblings and extended family lives very far away. I am grateful that he is a very youthful 76 and has no problems making the drive! This afternoon, as always, we let the kids open their present from us -- always 2 or 3 books for each. Then they open gifts from each other, which is a tradition they started on their own and I find it very sweet. Tonight we will go to a "fancy" restaurant like terriks, and then to our neighbor's house across the street for a couple of hours. Even though my kids are 10, 16, and 19, even the older ones like to go to bed early on Christmas Eve so they can get to Christmas morning! Ssnta always leaves the kids' stockings outside their bedroom doors. I'm considering stopping that tradition this year, because DS, age 19, has some kind of interior alarm that wakes him at something like 4 am every Christmas and I can hear him grabbing the stocking and dumping it on his floor. He is like a little kid every Christmas. Santa puts the rest of the presents in the basement playroom (the tree is upstairs in the family room) -- a great idea Santa came up with many years ago because that's where the toys belong, after all. We'll have a huge breakfast (egg/hash brown casserole, fruit salad, chocolate croissants, cinnamon rolls) and then snack-ish food throughout the day -- cheeses and crackers, fruit, pigs in blankets, etc. My SIL and BIL will stop by in the afternoon, and family friends will stop by for dessert. And I will probably be in bed by 9 pm!

@Jilly - I am also kind of curious why everyone you know would have the same preference. I have found that people who live in older homes seem to like the yellower lighting while more modern homes like whiter lighting, but that is just local observation. It does seem to make sense to me. My MCM home has all the clean lines large windows and is brightly lit and most of the homes that are 100+ years old are darker in general. Window tax of the time created the row homes with windows only on the front and back of the house and many of the homes were built prior to public electricity, so the limited number of outlets and lack of ceiling lights is also common. They don't feel like they were supposed to be light and bright and the whiter light may feel quite stark in those homes. Most homes built from the 1970s forward seem to have the lighter brighter feel although they may not be as light filled as the MCMs, they are much lighter and brighter than the older homes.