By Invitation Only....an old fashioned Christmas!

Before I begin, just want to mention again that I am guest posting over at TG Interiors. I was asked to speak  about my blog, how and why I got started, what's happened since and about my online store. I think you might find it interesting! I was honored to be asked to guest at one of my favorite blogs so please do visit us there, click here to visit!

H there! It is time for our monthly By Invitation Only which by now you know, is when a group of talented bloggers get together to post on an agreed upon theme and it is so much fun to see each others interpretation,  I must say it's an honor to be part of such a truly talented and accomplished group. This months theme was a lot of fun......to create a perfect fantasy Christmas day. Fun, fun fun!

I cannot help but think of going back to simpler, less chaotic times, a time when families sat down to talk and didn't rely on texting to announce dinner is ready or that your chatty teen needs to call it a night  and you can still hear her talking, a time when friends socialized by sitting down face to face over a cup of coffee not by email, a time when kids were out on the neighborhood streets just hanging out playing ball, breathing the fresh air, when moms beckoned to their families at 5 pm for  dinner which the whole family would sit down for! So a perfect Christmas? It didn't take long to figure that out.........

This  brings me to my fantasy..... an old fashioned country Christmas. And my fantasy guests? My family, that's all I want for this special Christmas!  I would love to transport my family back in time just a few decades when the only technology might have been a new cool TV or maybe a cordless phone and that's where I might be happy to call it quits on technology. In my "fantasy Christmas"  we are spending it for the first time in our newly bought and fully restored country farmhouse. And it will be nothing but quality family time.  So welcome to my old fashioned country Christmas..........

      As we drive into town, the distant glow of twinkling lights greet us........

    And look at that, the carolers are already strolling through town, singing our holiday favorites!

  I always cannot help but get giddy with excitement when I get my first glance of our beautiful country home, standing proudly on a hill looking majestic in the white pristine snow.....

Its all lit up, and our beautiful Christmas tree fully decorated greets us when we enter (as long as I am getting to make this up...my dear husband drove to Vermont the weekend before and chopped down the tree, then fully decorated it and got the house all ready...yea, I know fat chance:)     We are all exhausted and have a few busy days ahead so we all decide to retreat to our rooms and call it a night. A few shots of our country abode......

  Its light, casual, elegant but above all inviting (dogs included)!    I light the fire in my toasty bedroom and dream of homemade waffles in the morning with the fresh Vermont syrup I got just down the road on our way in.....

  The next morning we all wake up, happy to put on our cold weather clothing and decide to go ice skating....no better old fashioned activity than that, so we head to the town pond which is in full swing....  

We walk through the winter wonderland to get to town for the festivities that await......

After an afternoon of skating and catching up with new and old friends alike.....our family returns later that afternoon to a homemade lunch while I have been busy putting the finishing touches on all the holiday decor.......

 

And a warm bowl of hearty chili is the perfect answer to those ravenous appetites...

  My motto while we are here is "leave your diets at the door", you have entered comfort food heaven people!  

We soon settle down for an late afternoon  of board games..oh yes we do love our board games. Christmas in the country is practically synonymous with board games. Fierce games of Monopoly and "every man for himself" Scrabble marathons are commonplace over here!     And of course we make time for some of our ol favorites.......

    After all this fun, I look at the clock and it's nearly 6:00 when we are finishing up a long Monopoly battle royale.....time for dinner!

  Looks like my mini chicken pot pies are ready to come out of the oven! Only prerequisite..you must come to the table in your pjs and robe. Comfort food calls for being comfortable!     No one objects to crawling into our cozy pjs, cashmere robes and socks..this is about as "high fashion" as things get around here and that's just how we like it!

    We are all wiped from a fun and full day, but not too tired to  grab one more bite of the fresh apple pie we picked up from the farm in town.....

We all go to bed dreaming of Christmas the next morning! We wake up to heavy falling snow..it could not be more perfect, it is truly a winter wonderland!

 

I hear a knock and sure enough, there's my trusty milk delivery...ahhh nothing like fresh milk in the bottle!

 But before I can get out of bed and touch my feet to the floor, my husband surprises me with coffee in bed, even with a small votive of flowers and a local paper!!!!! (remember this is a dream)

Before long we have all gathered around the tree and spend the next few hours, opening up each others gifts, reminiscing about past holidays and just lounging in our pjs while the snow continues to pile up outside.

  I start preparing our special Christmas dinner and all kinds of wonderful scents permeate the air......

Breakfast is casual and country but delicious (robes are welcome)!

After breakfast we spend a few hours in the kitchen baking delectable pretty Christmas cookies that look almost too good to eat! Almost being the key word :) 

After taking a long afternoon walk in the cold wintry air, we head back for our Christmas early dinner, as we are heading home, snow starts gently falling once again......

Before long we are sitting down to a wonderful country Christmas dinner, with a roaring fire as our backdrop, softly playing carols filling the air, all the while ensconced in our beautiful cozy home while the snow rages on outside.......

J. Hobick

After feasting on all of our tried and true holiday dinner staples until we literally cannot move a muscle...we all head into our own cozy nooks of the house to "recuperate", mine is my bedroom where a large roaring fire welcomes me and lulls me to a much anticipated snooze..........

 Of course the perfect ending to a perfect day is sneaking into the kitchen for a few yummy bites of leftovers.....

I take one last lingering look outside my window to take it all in and hope to keep a little of the magic with me as we head  back home tomorrow and out of the corner of my eye, you will never guess who I see........

Thank you for joining me on my fantasy Christmas day! Hope you enjoyed it....ho ho ho!

If you want to see other bloggers ideas of a perfect fantasy Christmas day click here. I assure you it will be well worth the time, as the talent is breathtaking! Thank you so much for joining me for my special fantasy Christmas, I had so much fun putting this together and would really love to be able to recreate this one year! Who knows.......maybe I will add it to my Christmas list:)


Don't forget to visit me at TG Interiors, click here.