#«as to why i bought one in the first place: it's rainbow tinsel. it is so tacky. i love it.»

[cthonicascendant]

«in other news our personal kringlefucker is up.»

[mandrs-writes]

Christmas Traditions

The front door slammed open with a loud thud that reverberated through the entire house. Curious, Levi went to go see what all the noise was about when he spotted Eren dragging a large pine tree through the narrow door. Sweat dotted his forehead, his brow pulled down in determination as he tugged at the green monstrosity.

“Levi!” He grinned as his eyes met Levi's, bright and gleaming like the green and blue Christmas lights sparkling outside the frosted window. “Help me out here?”

“What the hell, Eren,” Levi said, crossing his arms as he watched the kid struggle with the large Christmas tree. “You bought a tree?”

Eren froze mid tug, looking quizzically over at Levi. “Well, yeah. It’s December! I looked, you didn’t have an artificial one so I thought I’d go get us the real deal!”

“I don’t want it.”

“What?” Eren gaped, the tree drooping in his hands as his shoulders slumped. “What do you mean, you don’t want it?”

“I don’t celebrate Christmas.”

“But—” he huffed, seemingly at a loss for words. “Why not?”

Levi shrugged, not really sure what he could say. That he hated the fact that it overshadowed his birthday? That it reminded him of the family he never had as a kid? “I don’t know. I just never have.”

He frowned. “Well, that changes today. So c’mon and help me with this damn thing.”

Knowing it would be foolish to try and fight Eren on this, Levi conceded, taking the prickly tree into his arms and tugging it into the living room. He was always too stubborn for his own good. “Now what?”

“Just hold it there for a sec. I’ve got everything we need out in the car.”

Eren ran off, leaving Levi alone in the middle of their living room with a tree twice his size wrapped up in his arms. The rough little needles pricked through his sweater, making his skin itch and the scent of pine overwhelmed his senses. He scrunched his nose, leaning away from the damn thing to try and breathe in some normal air, but the smell of it was everywhere, clinging to his clothes and hair.

“Don’t look so angry,” Eren said as he returned with a box full of ornaments and tinsel. Shit. He was really going to go all out on this, wasn’t he? “This will be fun!”

Decorating a Christmas tree was the last thing that Levi would consider fun. But there was a brightness in Eren’s eyes that he couldn’t deny. “You and I have very different definitions of fun.”

Eren rolled his eyes. “Don’t be such a Grinch.” 

Hange used to say that about him all the time, but he never really understood the reference. All he knew was that it meant he was spoiling the Christmas cheer of others. If it had been anyone other than Eren, he wouldn’t have cared. But it was Eren and he didn’t want to rain on his parade, so pushed the annoyance deep down inside of himself, watching as Eren kneeled down beside him.

He set down the box, rummaging through it until pulled out a tree stand that he placed in front of the large bay window. Coming over to Levi and the green monster clutched in his arms, he helped him place the damn thing into the stand.

“There!” Eren stepped back, smiling.

Surprisingly, it was the perfect size for the living room, not too tall and not too wide. Eren must have taken the time to measure everything out which said a lot about how much this meant to him. Levi didn’t understand it, but he would try for Eren’s sake.

“Now what?” he asked, stepping over to Eren’s side as he peered up at the tree.

“We make hot cocoa, listen to Christmas music, and decorate it, of course,” he said, finally slipping off his heavy winter coat, hanging it up by the door. 

“I’d rather have tea,” Levi said as Eren went off into the kitchen. He reluctantly followed after him.

“Sorry Levi, but it’s Christmas tradition to drink hot chocolate while decorating the tree. And since this is your first time, you must adhere to all of the traditions, like it or not,” Eren said, grabbing a tin of chocolate powder from the cupboard. 

“Fine, but you’re making it,” Levi said. Not like he knew how to make hot chocolate anyway. Sweet drinks weren’t really his thing.

Eren smiled warmly at him, a soft tenderness in his eyes that warmed Levi’s skin. No matter how often he looked at Levi like that, it always managed to steal his breath away. He’d never get used to it, having someone love him as deeply as Eren did. It was just far too surreal to believe sometimes and he wondered when he was going to wake up from this dream.

Leaning against the island, chin resting casually in the palm of his hand, he watched as Eren prepared the hot cocoa. Humming quietly to himself, he warmed the milk on the stovetop before adding the chocolate powder to it. Once it was all mixed together and steaming hot, he poured the mixture into two mugs, plopping a candy cane into each of them with a smile.

Eren slid the drink over to Levi, watching him expectantly as he took a sip of it. A creamy sweetness washed over his tongue, followed by a hint of mint from the candy cane. He swallowed it down with a hum as it warmed his stomach. He had to admit, it was pretty good.

“Do you like it?” Eren asked, eyes wide in anticipation.

“Mhmm,” he nodded.

Eren smiled, his shoulders sagging with relief. He stepped around the kitchen island, his palm cupping Levi’s jaw as he peered down at him with half-lidded eyes. Levi returned his gaze, breath stuck in his throat as Eren leaned forward, stealing his lips into a soft kiss. It was sticky and sweet, his tongue tasting like peppermint as it dipped into Levi’s mouth. All the tension he’d been holding in his shoulders melted away as Eren’s thumb brushed against his cheek, their tongues dancing together in a familiar rhythm that never failed to warm Levi’s heart.

When Eren finally pulled away, Levi was left breathless, his cheeks burning with warmth and affection. How Eren still managed to have such an effect on him, he’d never understand.

“What was that for?” Levi asked, his voice light and breathy.

Eren stepped away, licking his upturned lips. “For indulging me.”

Levi couldn’t help the half smile that snuck onto his face. If playing along with Eren’s Christmas cheer made him happy, he would do it again and again just to see the joy that lit up those deep green eyes.

“Come on, we have a tree to decorate,” Eren said, grabbing his mug of hot chocolate, heading back into the living room. Levi followed after him, chewing on his bottom lip. He didn’t have a clue how to decorate a Christmas tree, never having one before and he really didn't want to mess this up for Eren.

He set his mug down onto the coffee table while Eren thumbed through his phone. An upbeat melody played through the speaker as Eren set it down on the table next to his drink. While he didn’t know the name of it, he’d heard it plenty of times before. It played everywhere he went, following him around like a taunt when he would go to the grocery store or turn on the radio. 

But Eren was rummaging through the box, pulling out a string of lights and tinsel, tossing them haphazardly to the side as he sang along to the words, looking up at Levi periodically. The song no longer seemed taunting as Eren sang along to it, and whenever he peeked up at him, his heart did a little flip in his chest. 

“Plug this in,” Eren said between verses, tossing a string of lights to Levi.

He begrudgingly did as he was told, plugging the cord into the wall socket and watching as the string lit up with blues and reds, greens and yellows. It lit up the small room, the lights reflecting off the hardwood floors like rainbow glitter.

“Now we just wrap it around the tree like this,” Eren said, demonstrating by placing the string of lights within the pine needles, threading it through the branches.

Levi helped place it on the opposite side, spacing the lights evenly apart from each other. He peeked through the tree, spotting Eren on the other side, the multicolored lights sparkling in his eyes. Their eyes met through the branches and he tensed, feeling awkward for getting caught staring.

“What?” Eren asked, his head tilting to the side as he peered around the tree to better look at Levi.

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “You just look nice—happy.”

“I am. I’m excited to spend the holidays with you.”

His breath caught in his throat and he stepped back from the tree. “Really?” 

This would be his first time spending Christmas with someone other than Hange and Erwin. And while he didn’t mind having dinner with them, it was never something he looked forward to. It’d always felt like a chore or an obligation since there was nothing he could really do on his birthday since everything was closed due to Christmas. Maybe getting to spend it with Eren would be different, something special.

“Of course,” Eren said, stepping around the tree, taking Levi into his arms, his hands resting on his hips. “I’m going to make you do all the traditions you’ve been missing out on with me.”

“Oh joy,” Levi deadpanned, rolling his eyes. While he didn’t have any interest in partaking in said traditions, if it meant spending time with Eren, Levi would do them. It didn’t matter what they did, just being around him was enough.

He chuckled, pulling Levi closer to press a kiss to his forehead. “It’ll be fun, you’ll see.”

Letting go of his hips, he turned to grab a string of silver tinsel, handing an armful of the gaudy stuff to Levi. “Here, do the same thing with this and I’ll start putting the ornaments on.”

Levi sighed, doing what he was told, placing the tinsel between the strings of lights while Eren placed the various different shaped and colored ornaments on the tree. 

“You’re placing them too close together,” Levi frowned.

“No I’m not,” Eren huffed, stepping back to appraise his work. “It looks good!”

“It’s too crowded. It’d look better if you spaced them out more,” Levi said, pushing Eren away so he could readjust his work. 

“Hmm I guess you’re right,” Eren frowned, shoulders slumping as he continued to place the decorations onto the tree.

Levi snorted at his dejected expression, shaking his head. “That one should go over here,” he said, taking Eren’s hand and moving it to the perfect spot.

Eren scoffed, pulling back his hand. “No. It would look better up there.”

“It’s to similar in color and shape to the other ones, it’d look better down here,” Levi argued.

“I thought you didn’t care.”

“If I have to look at this damn thing everyday than I want it to look good,” Levi huffed, placing his hands on his hips as he looked up at Eren. “You’re being too messy with your placements.”

“Is that right?” Eren smirked, shaking his head. “Fine, then.”

They continued to place the ornaments onto the tree, arguing over which ornament went where. It shouldn’t have been so amusing, the back and forth banter of something so trivial, but it made Levi’s heart full, his chest light. On more than one occasion he felt himself smiling which only made Eren all the more driven to tease him.

“Okay! Time to place the star at the top,” Eren said, handing the topper to Levi. It was bright yellow and it glittered in the soft light of the Christmas lights. He looked up at the top of the tree and frowned. It wasn’t the tallest tree he’s ever seen but it was definitely taller than he was. There was no way he was going to be able to reach the top of it. He turned to Eren and scowled at him. “C’mon, hop to it!” Eren prodded, looking all too pleased with himself.

Scoffing, Levi got onto his tip toes, stretching out his arm for the top of the damn tree, struggling to reach. “Eren, this is idiotic, you know I can’t reach,” he grumbled, trying to hand the topper back to Eren.

Eren laughed, pushing the star back to Levi. “It’s your first Christmas tree, you have to finish it off.”

He groaned, jumping up, trying to throw the damn topper onto the top, failing miserably. Suddenly, Eren was behind him, wrapping his arms around Levi’s waist, picking him up off the ground.

“Eren,” Levi gasped as his feet left the ground, his body tensing at his sudden loss of footing. “Put me down.”

“No,” he chuckled, squeezing him. “You’ve gotta top the tree, Levi.”

“You’re so annoying,” Levi huffed as Eren lifted him up like he was a child. Cheeks burning with embarrassment, he reached out and  placed the topper on the top of the tree, the golden star gleaming in the low light. “There. Now put me down, brat.”

Eren did as he was told, placing Levi gently back down on his feet. But he didn’t let go of him, pulling Levi into him, resting his chin against his shoulder as they both appraised their work.

The tree glowed within their small living room, a beacon of silver and gold, colorful lights reflecting against hardwood floors and white walls. As the sun set outside, casting a soft light through the windows, the tree lit up the dark room, giving it a homey feel that felt incredibly cozy. And as much as Levi wanted to detest the damn thing, it looked beautiful.

“Happy?” Levi asked, peering at Eren from the corner of his eye.

There was a softness in his eyes as he looked at the tree, the slightest smile on his lips. He hummed, turning to press a delicate kiss against Levi’s cheeks. “Very.”

Warmth spread across Levi’s skin and he melted into Eren’s embrace. If this is what Christmas traditions were supposed to be like, then maybe he could tolerate them. He could see himself doing this again with Eren in the future. And that was something he’d never expected. 

Maybe Christmas wasn’t all that bad, after all.

[tyrustrash]

Eyes Locked, Hands Locked

At Cyrus’ first Christmas get together, the group exchanges gifts. However, things take a turn when a secret about TJ is revealed. Later that night during guy’s night, the boys play truth or dare, which leads to a confession from Cyrus. The night ends with TJ and Cyrus sharing a special moment that can impact their relationship.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

Everything is alright, which is what he keeps telling himself. It all had to be perfect, why wouldn’t it be? It’s not like today is anything important, only their first Christmas as an official couple. Maybe Cyrus is fine, or maybe he’s completely losing it while keeping a calm expression. Can anyone blame him? He finally gets his first boyfriend, in which they are in their fifth month together which is longer than he expected, and with an older boy. Well only a year older but it still counts. Ever since they made it official on that bench, Cyrus had been trying his best to make sure everything is perfect, because TJ’s perfect. The boy is great with kids, an amazing athlete, and is improving his math grade thanks to Cyrus’ tutoring. It amazes Cyrus that TJ would want to be with him for this long, even after meeting his family and fully seeing what his life is outside of school. However, Cyrus has had moments where he paranoid himself with the thought of TJ dumping him due to being too boring and excessive with his planning. Heck, even today might push TJ to the limit and decide to end things. The only thing keeping Cyrus calm is the concept of Christmas is suppose to be about the spectacle, and thinking that TJ isn’t capable of breaking up with him on Christmas, but perhaps the next day.

Cyrus is currently finishing decorating the living room of his father’s house since it is his weekend with him. Some might say it’s sad he can’t spend the holiday with all his parents, but he didn’t really mind, since they don’t even usually celebrate it. Although it took a lot of convincing, his father agreed to let him put up a Christmas tree and other items because he knows how much TJ means to him. What he didn’t know was how expensive Christmas is. From ornaments, tinsel, lights, to even presents, Christmas has to be one of the most expensive holidays. To help cover the cost of the goods, Cyrus had extra Bar Mitzvah money saved up to help pay. Cyrus didn’t mind spending what he would have spent on college because college can wait, love can’t.

Placing the last few ornaments on the tree, Cyrus takes a step back to admire his work. He smiles simply realizing why people overhype this holiday above the others. It’s about the creativity, the beauty, the sense of accomplishment after spending hours setting up decorations and wrapping presents. He takes a looking at the specialized ornaments he either bought or made for his friends. A yin yang symbol for Andi, lightning bolt for Jonah, a basketball with the female symbol for Buffy, Marty gets a salt shaker, Amber got a roller skate one, and finally for the best boyfriend ever a piano with a rainbow keyboard. The tree itself is filled up with lights that are in rainbow order, Jewish themed ornaments, and the tree topper is Baby Yoda holding the LGBT flag. He then recounts the presents making sure each friend has one under the tree. He nearly chokes when he sees that the most important one is missing, which is TJ’s. He frantically, yet carefully, tosses the others to the side to check in the very back. Still not there. He stands back up and calms himself before he totally losses it. The last thing he needs is to lose his cool before the most important moment of his relationship, so he uses the tips his parents uses on their clients to revert to his normal state. He doesn’t want today to be ruined, and also stress doesn’t go with his outfit.

Moments later a knock on the front door rings throughout the house, followed by the loud chatter from outside. Cyrus, finally reverted back to his calm yet nervous state of mind, runs to the door and practically breaks the hinges from his strength. He sees all his friends gathered around on the front porch, each holding a sack of gifts. Cyrus invites them all inside and tells them to seat themselves anywhere in the living room.

TJ is the last one of the group. He stops in the middle of the door frame, barely four inches away from Cyrus. He takes his hand and places it on his boyfriend’s shoulder. He rubs it down until he reaches his hand, which he then holds. He uses his other hand to brush Cyrus’ hair out of his eyes and push it to the side. He smiles the says, “Merry Christmas, Muffin. Or should I say Happy Hanukkah? What about Feliz Christmukkah? I don’t know what to do, maybe I should stop talking.”

Cyrus giggles and blushes. He looks up at TJ, who has a confused expression and is smacking his head with his free hand. Cyrus grabs his hand and brings it down to the other. “No, keep talking. You’re adorable when you’re trying to figure things out. And don’t worry about what to say. This is just as confusing to me as it is to you.”

“You think I’m adorable.” TJ says in his most flirtatious yet charming voice. “Because I think you’re adorabler.”

“I like it when you make up words.”

“Then you should come visit me in English class.”

“Oh yeah? If I do that, then you have to come to my biology class.”

“And do what?”

At that, they both begin blushing so hard that their cheeks could be tomatoes. TJ rubs the back of his neck as Cyrus shuffles his feet. It isn’t until Buffy comes back to get them back to normal. She grabs them both by the collar of their shirt, well Cyrus’ shirt and TJ’s hoodie, which is light blue with a penguin drinking hot chocolate.

“Come on already.” Buffy says as she practically drags the boys to the living room. “We all want to open presents. Marty is getting antsy and Amber is trying her best to keep him in his seat so he doesn’t rip open the gifts.”

Entering the living room, Cyrus nearly faints at the sight. Marty straining to reach the pile of gifts on the table as Amber sits on top of him, while managing to hold Andi’s hand. Jonah has a bowl of popcorn in his lap and is throwing pieces of it in the air to try to catch in his mouth, but of course he’s bad and pieces go all over the couch and floor. Cyrus’ head twitches at the idea of TJ thinking this was a bad idea and wanting to end things. Before he can dissolve the situation, TJ steps forward and clears his throat. It’s time, Cyrus thinks, it’s all over.

TJ plants his feet into the ground and places his hands on his hips while sticking his hip out to be a little sassy. “Marty, boy, you can wait five minutes. I know you’re excited, so am I, but Cyrus wants this to be perfect and you acting like a child isn’t part of being perfect. Jonah, just eat it like normal. You’re making a mess and I don’t want Cyrus to be busy cleaning up after you when the mess could have been avoided. Amber, sweetie, no need to sit on him. If you want to sit on someone, sit in your girlfriend’s lap. Please, everyone, let’s have ourselves a good Christmukkah.”

“A what?” The others ask in unison.

TJ doesn’t respond, but rather turns to Cyrus, wraps his arms around his waist, and pulls him in to a hug. He rubs his back to try to sooth him. “Don’t worry your pretty little head. Everything will be perfect, because you’re perfect.”

As the others either clean up or straighten themselves, Cyrus looks up at TJ and gives him the softest smile. He reaches up and places a hand on the back of TJ’s head. The fluffiness of it makes it feels as soft as marshmallows. He can tell TJ has been using the new green apple scented shampoo he got him for his birthday, mainly because the scent is strong enough to fill the room.

Cyrus pulls TJ’s head close to his own and presses their foreheads together. They glare into each other’s eyes as if they were looking at the starry sky. If they look long enough, they swear they can see a twinkle. They push closer until their noses touch, then they rub them together and giggle. This is the most physically romantic thing they have done so far; they haven’t even kissed yet, primarily because Cyrus doesn’t want to rush things and possibly make TJ want to break up with him. He also thinks that TJ has probably had better kissing experiences, which makes Cyrus even more hesitant.

Jonah stands from the couch that he was sitting on and slowly steps forward to the couple. He clears his throat, causing the two to look at him. “Um, how about them presents now? I like it when you two act like the cute couple that you are, but we’re waiting.”

TJ and Cyrus chuckle as they break apart, but making sure to hold hands since it’s their thing. They sit on the couch Jonah was on, joining him as Buffy sits on the recliner. They all begin passing out the gifts and open them, while Marty does. The rest wait until all the presents are distributed.

At the end, Cyrus smiles as he walks to the tree and gathers the gifts he had picked for them. After giving them out he sat back down and waited for the happiness to begin.

Of course Marty is the first one to unwrap his, and he isn’t hesitant to let out a screech as he sees the new running shows. Andi takes out the 150 piece art set from the bag and thanks her friend. Amber already is wearing the necklace she got. Buffy smiles upon seeing her new custom-made jersey. Jonah seems to like his new pride themed skateboard that he gives Cyrus the biggest bro hug he had ever given.

Looking around, TJ seems confused as his gift hadn’t been brought out. He looks over at Cyrus and raises an eyebrow. Cyrus gives him a devious smirk as he walks back to the tree and grabs a sizable box from the very back. Walking back, TJ gets up and meets him halfway. He helps him carry the box and place it on the table. They both get down on their knees, just staring at the box. TJ glances at Cyrus, who simply nods.

TJ slowly unwraps the box, making sure to not make a mess. He straightens the unwrapped paper flat across the table and opens the plain white box. Once he peeks inside, he lets out the loudest gasp and covers his mouth.

“Is this real?” He asks. He reaches inside the box but pulls away before he could touch what’s inside. “Cyrus, is this for real?”

“Yeah. It was easier to get than I thought.”

“What is it?” Andi asks as she brushes Amber’s hair. Amber returns the favor by adjusting Andi’s headband.

TJ finally grabs the contents inside the box and pulls it out. He is too speechless to say anything. He simply shows the basketball signed by LeBron James to his friends. They all gasp, especially Buffy who nods in admiration.

“I was easy to get.” Cyrus says. “I went to one of his games and waited outside the locker room and asked him to sign it.”

“Cy-Cyrus.” TJ stutters, still in shock. “Th-this is perfect.”

“Only the best for the best boyfriend ever.”

TJ carefully places the basketball back in the box before he leans over to give Cyrus the biggest and tightest hug ever. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I gave you that crappy gift.”

Cyrus pats his back. “That crappy gift is just fine. I love that history book about Jewish culture. I was planning on getting it anyway.”

The two hug each other for a few more seconds until Marty decides to say something. “Why just a hug? With a gift like that I would’ve given my partner one big of a kiss.”

TJ and Cyrus pull apart. TJ looks at Marty with the sincerest look he could give without giving away the fact that he wants to smack the boy across the head. “Cyrus doesn’t want to kiss just yet.”

“You’ve been dating for five months and you two haven’t kissed yet?” Amber asks. “What’s the hold up?”

“We’re waiting for the right time.” Cyrus quickly responds.

“Waiting for the right time never stopped TJ.”

At this, TJ stands up and walks over to his sister. Amber stands too and the siblings stare at each other. “Amber, please stop talking.”

“I thought you were going to be honest from now on. Doesn’t your boyfriend know about all the people you’ve kissed? Especially ones that were on the first date?”

Cyrus stands too, but a little away from TJ. “How many guys have you kissed?”

“Cyrus, baby.” TJ says as he takes a step to his boyfriend, but Cyrus steps back. “It was before I met you.”

“How many?”

“Five.”

Amber crosses her arms. “Now tell him how many girls.”

“What!” The group shouts in unison. They all have their mouths wide open in shock.

Jonah shakes his head. “Bro, I thought you’re gay? No issue if you are or aren’t, but bro, really? Girls?”

Cyrus also shakes his head. “Yeah, what about the girls?”

TJ groans. “Only three. But none of those kisses never meant anything.”

“Then why did you kiss them.”

“Because I’m young and dumb. The reason I’m waiting to kiss you is because I care about you and I actually want this one to mean something. To be as special as you are.”

The girls let out a collective awe. Cyrus blushes. “Ok, I forgive you. But wait. Aren’t you gay?”

“I wasn’t sure back then. Now I know and you’re the one.”

The girls awe again. Cyrus walks over to TJ and gives him another hug. The clock on the wall chimes. Everyone checks the time and groans.

Andi stands and grabs her stuff. “Well, today has been interesting for a lack of a better word.”

Buffy joins her and Amber by the door. “See you guys later.”

The girls leave. The four guys look at each other before Marty jumps in the air and shouts “Guy’s night!”

The boys run down to the basement where it had been turned into a hangout space. The room has a huge couch, a flat screen tv, a ping pong table, a bar area, and fridge. Marty jumps onto the couch as Jonah sets up the table for a game of truth or dare. TJ and Cyrus reach the bottom of the steps, still holding hands.

As Jonah finishes setting up the game, the other three join him by sitting around the table. Marty begins the game by choosing a dare, which wasn’t a shock to anyone. But what was a shock was the dare itself, which would require him to run across the neighborhood in only his underwear. What also wasn’t a shock was his immediate response to the dare by running out of the house while taking of his clothes. Cyrus made sure to cover his, and TJ’s, eyes as soon as he saw Marty in only his boxer briefs.

Upon returning to the house faster than what the others thought, they went back downstairs. Marty had a smirk on his face knowing he would never back out of a dare, especially one that showcased his skills of running.

Cyrus’ turn is next. He chooses a truth card, which leads to groans coming from the others. They all expected him to pick truth on the first round, and on every round. As Cyrus looks at the card, his face turns to a scared expression. He places the card back on the bottom on the deck, causing the others to be excited.

“No no no.” Jonah says. “You can’t change the card once you’ve picked it. Unless you want to pick a dare.”

Cyrus gulps at the thought of doing a dare. But he also doesn’t want to say what the truth card wanted him to reveal. He thinks for a second about lying, but that would be breaking the rules and he couldn’t do that. The longer he waits to say something, the more the others get excited.

“It can’t be that bad.” Marty tells him. He grabs the card and tries to look at it before Cyrus snatches it from him.

TJ places a hand on Cyrus’ shoulder. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, we promise we won’t tell anyone. What happens in the basement, stays in the basement.”

Cyrus hesitates for a second before he takes a deep breath. He slowly lifts the card and reads it. “Who was your first kiss?”

Jonah lets out a sigh. “Boy, that’s what got you worked up? Just say Iris and let’s move on.”

“Who’s Iris?” TJ asks. The others look at him. Cyrus gulps realizing he never told TJ about her.

“His ex-girlfriend.” Marty tells him while eating some of the pretzels from the bowl.

TJ looks at his boyfriend in confusion. “You had a girlfriend? And kissed her?”

“Twice actually.” Cyrus says with a hint of embarrassment. “And it was before I met you.”

“Why were you afraid to answer? I don’t care.”

“But I do. And I don’t even care about those kisses because they were with someone I wasn’t in love with. I don’t consider that my real first kiss. And the reason I haven’t wanted us to kiss yet is because I wanted to make sure you were the one, and now I know that you are. I’ve been waiting for the right time.”

The others are silent. TJ stands and offers his hand to Cyrus, which he accepts. TJ helps him stand up then he leads him upstairs.

The couple walks to the window in the living room. They stand where the night light shines through the window and lights up the room. The light hits their bodies to where it creates an aurora around them.

With the help of TJ’s hand on his chin, Cyrus’ head is lifted up to where their eyes meet. Cyrus places his hand around TJ’s waist. “TJ, why are you doing this. Why did you bring me up here?”

“To do this.”

TJ moves his hand to behind Cyrus and places it on his neck. He pulls him in closer and tilts his head. TJ moves down and connects their lips, which causes that special spark people always talk about when they know they’re kissing the one. TJ’s lips are as soft as cotton candy, which Cyrus likes. Kissing Iris never felt like this. This is more passionate, more caring, more like the entire world has stopped just for this. The only thing that brings Cyrus out of his daze is TJ pulling away.

“How was that for a first real kiss?” TJ asks as he gives Cyrus the dopiest smile.

Cyrus doesn’t know what to say. That kiss was the most perfect thing he has ever experienced. Better than his Bar Mitzvah, which was nearly perfect. Although Iris is the only comparable kiss he has, he knows this one is the best he’ll ever have because it was with the only person he wants to be with. Without responding with words, Cyrus only leans forwards gives him a kiss in return.

[koala-soap]

Content In Your Presence

Chapter Three

Pairing  Foreign Reader X Japanese Shouto Todoroki

Summary  Moving to Japan seemed like the only option left open to you, to escape your rapidly increasing problems that latched themselves onto your life back in Australia. As if to cut it off, wipe everything off the table, and have some sort of a new start for yourself, despite the guilt that stuck to you like rust. Through getting lost at airports, loosing luggage and being surrounded by a foreign language, moving to Japan managed to weasel it’s way into being the best decision of your life, thanks to someone you met on the balcony next to you: a sweetheart called Shouto Todoroki.

A lovely story about a foreigner falling in love with a Japanese sweet heart, and all your adventures and mishaps together.

。。。。

With it now being your second official day in the county of Japan, it made you glad to have some sort of responsibility to busy yourself with; give yourself the feeling of being productive, rather than sitting in your small apartment slurping on roasting hot noodles from a cheap plastic cup bought from a petrol station. For the next three weeks, you were had a small and simple job, and that was to water that nice old lady’s plants every weekend during her absence.

Having no clue on how to tend to flowers or any type of plant didn’t stop you though, and having this quaint little responsibility beat ending up working long shifts in a dull super market or a little sweaty fast food place crammed with oil and fat fingers. This way, you got to help someone out and have cool breeze in your face.

But that’s enough of that, because as of now, you stood at the end of what seemed like a maze of numbers, welcome mats and corridors. Just earlier, you had set off on a mission following the bright blue line on your phone guiding you to the address, and now that the short elevator ride was over, it was time to find the correct numbered door.

Your phone now sat snug in the tight pockets of your jeans, as concentrated eyes swayed from either side of the hallway, in search of a two digit number that kept repeating in your mind.

After a minute of wandering past countless doors neighbored with mats and boots and even small plants by them, a door with the number ‘38’ etched into it’s golden plate popped up on your right. Like a switch being turned on, the rigorous eyes on your face lit up like that of a Christmas tree covered in shining tinsel; and just like was planned, a cold metal key was left lying lonely under the scratchy welcome mat for you to let yourself inside.

It slid smoothly into the lock, and the door had slowly opened up to a colorful apartment inside. Unlike your own, there were colors all around. The couches that first greeted you when you entered had multiple knitted blankets flopped over their sides, bright tins of various cooking ingredients lined up against the kitchen counter, and strings of rainbow beads draped down in front of the sliding door opening up to the giant city outside. There was also a smell of soothing incense singing around in the air.

“ Dude, my apartment sucks. ” You mused to yourself with a chuckle.

The air outside was crisp and refreshing, the large green watering can in your hands quickly filling with water sprouting from the hose on the wall.

The white cap that hugged your hair kept the sun’s warm rays out the way, and only when the can was half-way filled did you rotate the creaky tap and attempt to pick it up. Water sloshed around inside and rounded out the top onto your slippery hands, trickling like a gentle shower head over the tiny succulents shortly after. Your strained hands held the water source over each plant pot, with greedy soil who slurped every drop up into its dry dirt.

Once all were happy and watered, the dripping green can sat happily in its spot by the coiled hose, and your hands rested on your hips to admire the view in front of you. However, once your wet hand reached up and around the back door’s handle to pull it back, it made you skin grow cold despite the shining sun when it laughed in your face that it was indeed… locked.

“ Oh, come on, please, no.” It ignored your desperate plead and sat smugly closed in its place. Whimpering and with eyebrows screwed together in exhausted worry, you gently placed your head against the cold glass. “ Am I supposed to sleep out here? Like, c'mon…”

After tugging on it, thinking it may just be jammed, you realized it certainly was not. You stood staring at the furniture mocking you from inside also, rapidly going through your options. Fujiko was away for the entire weekend, hence why you were here in the first place, and climbing down was only a job for super heroes since you were on the fourth floor. You couldn’t call the apartment’s reception either, since it was abandoned for the weekend.

Once the panic settled in, you were left to sit on the balcony floor waiting for god to answer your prayers for the door to just magically open. The sight of the neighbor’s matching sliding door caught your eye, and you peeped through the thin black railing and thought about asking them for help.

Being the positive soul you were, you decided to give it a go. So long as they were home and weren’t an axe murderer, what could go wrong?

A small sigh filtered out your nose to prepare yourself with whatever was about to happen, but it really was the only thing that you could do in this situation; calling the fire department sounded a bit too dramatic to you, and Fujiko was over two hours away enjoying time with her kids and grandchildren.

Your wet hand gripped onto the thin railing and you looked over to the matching balcony just in front of you, pondering how to get their attention without being excessively loud.

Your body strained to stretch as far over the railing to swerve your eyes past the door blocking your view, one thong covered foot lifting slightly off the tiles. When a sudden noise busted through your concentration, it was a quick struggle to not fall over the side and onto the busy streets below.

Flinging your head around, you see a young male stepping out his sliding door with a concerned but unsure look on his sleepy face, a hand flicking rouge strands of bed hair from it. The stranger was still clearly in pajamas from the baggy shirt and shorts, but his lively eyes suggested he’d been awake for a while.

He eyed your strange situation. “ ねえ。。だ。。だいじょぶ です か？[ Hey.. Uh.. Are you okay ? ] ”

“ はい、 はい、だいじょぶ。[ Yeah, Yeah, I’m fine. ] ” Once you popped your cap off, ruffling the hair off your sweaty forehead was a relief. An uncontrollable fit of nervous laughter jumped from your lips, and out of nervous habit, scratched the tips of your sweaty ears. You really didn’t like speaking Japanese to native people, in fear of them judging you. A wave of English words gushed through your mind, and you realized your vocabulary wasn’t good enough to explain yourself.

“ しょくぶつ に 、あの。。[ I’m here to.. water.. plants and uh… ] ” Your eyebrows sank together, and your hands waved about in circles to think of words. His gentle eyes follow your finger to the glass door. “ たちおうじょう [ Stuck . ] ”

Despite his empathetic gaze, you giggled relentlessly with unimaginable embarrassment at yourself with a hand clamped over your mouth. He’s silent for a few moments, eyes internally arguing over a decision before saying with only an impressively small amount of an accent, “ Do you speak English ? ”

The sheer look of absolute shock slapped into you was honestly priceless, and for a measly second, the strained laughing ceased for a second from behind your hand. It was as if the cogs in your brain had come to a complete stop and malfunctioned right in front of his eyes, and shocked eyes stared at him for a while, though clearly impressed. Just like your own, a very faint chuckle of nervousness left him. The hand on your face quickly shot down, and your eyebrows arched up to make your smile naturally kind as can be. “ Yeah! Oh my god, that was so strange, your English is so good! ”

The stranger’s eyes scrunched to make way for his shy smile. The beginning of your excited outburst was a little too fast for him to understand, but he got the end. “ Thank you. Were you saying the door is… stuck? ” The small pause he took was for him to shift through various English words until he landed on the correct one.

Two delicate hands placed the white hat back on your hair, and you giggled again when thinking of your horrible attempt of communication earlier. “ The key’s inside and I locked myself out here… Rookie mistake, I know. ” You chuckled.

“ Ah.. ” He nodded knowingly while his brain whirred about inside to try remember what 'rookie’ meant, but found nothing. The rest made sense to the stranger, anyhow. “ Okay, uh… hm. ” He seemed stuck for what to do as well, just as you were.

Fiddling with the tip of your left ear, face scrunched in thought and you looked at the handle. “ Can we pick it ? Or is that just in the movies ? ”

He puffed out a breathy chuckle, and scratched his head. “ Maybe.. You have uh.. それ なんだった？[ What was it? ] ” Quiet Japanese mumbling made his eyebrows furrow, and then pop up when he got the word and made a motion with his fingers to show what he meant. “ A pin ? Bobby pin? ”

You shook your head with a face full of apologetic guilt. The young man lent back to peer into his house and said, “ Hang on. ” Before hopping inside and making a bunch of thudding sounds.

He reappeared with a small grey box resting in large hands, patches missing reflective metal from being scratched off with what seemed like age. It clanged with tools inside, and he crouched down to open it on the floor of the tiled balcony. Things clanged against each other, until a small and thin metal tool that slightly resembled tweezers lifted out in his hand. “ I’m pretty sure this open locks… I promise I’m not a part time burglar, though. ” He smiles, and grunts to stand back up.

“ I’ll take your word for it. ” You joke back, and he quickly reaches a hand past his door to grab a screwdriver from a cabinet. “ Are you a mechanic or something? You have so many tools. ”

He quietly chuckles for a second with the tools in his hand. “ No, I’m not that cool. I’m studying to be a doctor. I just have them for convi- convin- convinience ? ”

You reassured him of his English with a nod paired with kind eyes, and he smiled shyly. “ Now how should we do this ? ”

Agreeing to letting him hand over the tools for you to try was apparently a big mistake, because even after a while of him leaning over the railing to observe your confused fiddling and directing you, the lock still remained stuck in its place. The pieces of metal in your fiddly fingers wiggled around inside the key hole, and were lifted or twisted depending on what the kind stranger told you to do. It remained hopeless though, and you stood defeated with the lock laughing at you.

“ This is so freaking hard. ” You mumbled mostly to yourself, tongue stuck out to assist in balancing the tools in the intricate place you had them.

“ Would like me to help? It’s fine. ” He offered, and soon enough, Shouto found himself hanging off the edge of his balcony railing, one hand in yours for balance as his leg reached out for the neighboring railing with his butt sat uncomfortably on his. The gap was only about half a meter wide, but the rock hard concrete and racing cars beckoned his body to fall.

The second foot with a large sandle weakly hanging from it leaped from the metal underneath it, and with a few stumbles, the tall man had succesfully made it to the other balcony with all four limbs. You let his hand go, and winced when you caught a glimpse of the busy streets below.

“ You okay ? ” A voice couldn’t sound more worried than yours, but the stranger simply kicked his dad sandles off and sighed out all the suspense that grew inside him.

A confident nod made your nerves ease themselves. “ Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. ” He panted heavily and switched from the gap he just leaped across to the shaken young lady in front of him again. “ Easy peasy lemon squeazy. ”

You snorted, and soon both got back to opening the stubborn door.

“ 愚かなロック。。[ C'mon, you stupid lock.. ] ” It was after five minutes that both of you realized he wasn’t much better than you. He did manage to get something in the lock to click, so whatever that was was hopeful. The man currently stood hunched over, hair flopped anywhere it desired, hands delicately twisting the tools with the tip of his tongue poking out. The screwdriver was angled ever so perfectly, and the other tool was twisted to the left carefully. Both you and him jumped at the sound of a rather loud click coming from inside the door, and he decided to risk it and put his hand around the handle.

He pulled on it, and it slid along the hinges to reveal the prize inside. Shouto sighed with exhaustion and grinned with triumph; you were jumping around excitedly.

A tsunami of relief crashed down onto you, so much so you could melt and cry. This generous stranger had just wasted forty minutes and jumped a balcony for you, and now you wouldn’t have to sleep out there for two days. “ Yes! Oh god, you did it! Thank you so much! ”

He nodded, just as triumphed as you. “ No problem, my morning was rather boring to begin with. ” He breathlessly chuckled. “ Now I can say I jumped a balcony. ”

“ You sure can, my god. ” You laughed as well, “ I’m [______] by the way. ”

You both shared a chuckle over the fact you were just doing this now, after the chaos had happened. The stranger pocketed the tools with grey, oily fingers and said with a heavy accent and smile, “ I’m Todoroki Shouto. ”

[artificialqueens]

Do You See What I See? (Jinkx/Dela) - Sammy Indigo

A/N: Read as Jinkx and Dela attempt to control their staff. Also, Dela enjoys tinsel as a scarf.

It’s only November third when Dela walks into the main meeting room on floor seventeen, with eight minutes to spare, dressed head to toe in Christmas apparel.

Tacky Christmas apparel.

Some of it isn’t even clothing.

Jinkx grimaces at the headband adorned with LED fairy lights. Dela grins as she gently places her briefcase down at the head of the table and flicks something behind her ear. The lights begin flashing a rainbow of gaud, the reflection catching on her glasses.

On leaving the house earlier in the morning, Dela had been dressed in her usual dark pencil skirt and blazer. The suspiciously large lunch bag she had toted into the car with her, now makes sense, although Jinkx is slightly confused as to how she managed to miss Dela packing tinsel hair pieces and bauble earrings into the cooler at home.

Jinkx continues to openly stare. Dela is wearing sparkly red tights under a sweater dress featuring a snowman. The snowman’s carrot nose is disturbingly 3D and protrudes very closely to Jinkx’s face as Dela takes her place standing next to her chair.

The intern sitting two seats to Jinkx’s right coughs and seems to choke on his own spit.

“Calm down, Giovanni.” Jinkx hears Violet say from next to her.

The coughing intern composes himself. Violet sighs loudly. Latrice walks into the room, takes one look at Dela, and walks back out again. Sharon is supposed to be setting up the projector for the meeting, but stops in favour of leaning against the far wall, arms folded, and black lips pursed in judgement.

Jinkx sighs when she spots Dela’s scarf is actually a string of golden tinsel. When she looks closely, Jinkx can see where Dela’s neck is beginning to become irritated by the plastic; little red bumps turning into blotches even as watches. Dela seems not to notice, or at least not to care.

Dela removes her jacket, (a seemingly once understated red trench that Jinkx had been planning on wearing at some point in the spring during their vacation to D.C., now adorned with hand-applied strips of green ribbon) and does a little twirl for the people in the room.

Farrah claps, and Vixen gives her a withering look before going back to whatever she’s typing out on her laptop.

“Well?” Dela prompts, when no one else contributes. “What do we think?”

Farrah squeals. “Oh, so festive!” She claps again. “Miss Dela you look wonderful!”

“Thank you so much, Farrah.” Dela says brightly, still standing at the head of the boardroom table. “I’m glad you seem to think so.” She glares very briefly in Jinkx’s direction. “The rest of you are just scrooges.”

“No.” Sharon says, going back to fiddle with the projector. “The rest of us just happen to own a calendar.”

“Exactly!” Dela says. “’Tis the holiday season!”

“Tis November third.” Sharon says.

There are red and green pompoms somehow sitting snugly in Dela’s black bun. There’s a sprig of fake mistletoe woven in her hair, too.

Jinkx eventually speaks up. “Hanukkah is closer than Christmas.” She sounds exhausted, unintentionally, despite the fact that she slept for nine hours last night.

Dela pushes up her sweater dress sleeves to reveal a blue and white striped shirt that falls to her mid thigh. Jinkx suddenly realises that the sparkly tights are actually stockings, and the shape of the suspenders can be seen under the shirt when she looks closely. Jinkx tries to hide the fact that she’s blushing. She clears her throat and Dela smirks, throwing her a wink.

“Blue and white for my baby.” Dela says. “Hanukkah. Got you covered, Jinkxy.” She blows her a kiss.

Jinkx rolls her eyes but can’t contain the half smile that makes her cheeks ache as she tries to supress it, the blush slowly subsiding.

Violet sighs loudly, again. “Gross.”

“No it’s not.” Farrah squeaks. “It’s sweet. I think it’s adorable.”

“Thank you, Farrah.” Dela says.

Vixen smirks at her laptop. “Kiss ass.”

Jinkx snickers and Dela glares at her for real this time.

“Some professionalism, please.” Dela says and claps her hands once to get their attention. “We’re in the workplace, remember, and I am your boss.”

“Professionalism?” Sharon scoffs. “You’re dressed like the inside of Santa’s asshole.”

Giovanni bursts out laughing and claps a hand over his mouth. Violet rolls her eyes and Vixen’s shoulders are shaking behind her laptop.

Dela looks less than amused so Jinkx tried to make intimidating eye contact with each person in the room. They all begin composing themselves, pulling out notepads and reference articles to prepare for the meeting. Except Sharon.

Sharon switches on the projector with a press of her remote without looking away from Dela. When she slowly makes her way to her own seat, Dela thanks her in an overly sweet voice that doesn’t fool Jinkx for a second. Sharon’s eyes are so narrowed they’re almost closed.

“Alright, now that we’re all here-,”

“Latrice isn’t.” Farrah says innocently.

Sharon interrupts. “Latrice has no time for this level of unprofessionalism.”

Dela smiles at her. “Do you want to spend Christmas unemployed?” She snaps once more in the tooth rottingly sweet tone that Jinkx has learned to fear.

All eyes flick to Sharon, who sits up slightly straighter in her seat. “You’re too nice. You never fire anyone.” She says.

“Maybe so.” Dela agrees, still smiling and pulling out her chair to take a seat. “But Jinkx does.” She touches Jinkx’s hand on the table. “Right, sweetheart?”

Jinkx gives Sharon her best ‘mean face’. “Alaska would be pretty mad if you got fired.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Sharon says.

“Wouldn’t I?” Jinkx grins.

Giovanni is looking between them in awe.

Everyone else in the room has gone back to preparing for the meeting, bored with the confrontation that most of them are used to by this point. Giovanni’s still pretty new. Jinkx isn’t entirely sure that they haven’t scarred him for life at this point with all the fiascos that go down on a daily basis at the company, but he’s apparently known Sharon since he was eight, so some mental scarring has probably already occurred, anyway.

“I fucking hate you both.” Sharon says. “You know that? Right? It’s fucking November.”

Giovanni gasps like he’s watching a telenovela.

Violet and Vixen are quietly discussing the merits of double entry in the latest account they’ve been focusing on. Farrah is going over the latest audit report, highlighting in a bright pink marker.

Dela smirks. “November is only one month before December. Don’t forget that, miss ‘I wear pumpkin earrings year round’.”

Sharon flushes in a rare show of sensitivity and pulls her hands up to her ears. “Alaska bought me these.” She rubs the little studs under her thumbs.

Dela smiles, genuinely, this time. She squeezes Jinkx’s hand. “And Jinksy bought me these.” She points to the flashing headpiece.

“Um,” Jinkx says, “no I didn’t.”

“You’re undermining me, sweetheart.”

Jinkx shakes her head. “I love you, but I am not being held responsible for,” she looks Dela up and down, “this.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m a classy girl.” Jinkx says. “Not tacky.”

Sharon scoffs at the same time as Dela, and Violet looks up from her work to nod her agreement.

Under his breath, Giovanni whispers, “Oh my God.”

“I’m sorry.” Jinkx says, addressing the whole room, despite the fact that Farrah and Vixen are completely ignoring her in favour of their work, “are you insinuating that I am not classy?”

Dela tries to pull her in for a kiss. “We’re not insinuating anything, darling.”

“No.” Sharon says. “We’re saying it outright.”

Giovanni gapes at her. “Lasky’s gonna kill you.”

Sharon grins at him.

Jinkx bares her teeth. “Not if I get to her first.”

“So,” Vixen says, still looking at her computer, are we all agreed that the best way to go is double entry, despite the extra cost of hours?”

No one replies to her.

“Guys?” She tries again, glancing up. On seeing the stand off happening between Sharon and Jinkx, she rolls her eyes. “Why are we even having this meeting?” She mutters. “What’s the point?”

“Now,” Dela speaks with an air of authority that makes Giovanni sit up in his chair, “stop this, both of you.” She glares at Sharon and Jinkx equally. “We need to be professional.”

“Fire her!” Violet coughs from behind her hand.

Sharon throws the projector remote at her. “Shut your whore mouth, Chachki.”

“I didn’t even say anything, you witch.”

“Oh, you just wait until you want to borrow my clothes again-,”

“As if! I would never wear anything you call ‘fashion’.”

“That’s not what you said when you came crying to my door asking for help with what to wear on your first date with-,”

“I was talking to Alaska, you old tired goth!”

Sharon points at her. “How the fuck dare you.”

Violet shrugs.

“I gave you my vintage Spooky Kids shirt.” Sharon shakes her head. “That’s a prized possession and I gifted it to you.”

“Whatever.” Violet flicks her long ponytail over her shoulder. “It’s probably not even vintage.”

Farrah drops her pink highlighter in shock.

Violet smirks. “I don’t even like Marilyn Manson.”

Farrah gasps loudly. The rest of the room falls silent.

“And,” Violet says, with a little shit eating smirk, “I gave it to Goodwill, anyway.”

“No!” Farrah yells.

Sharon stands from her chair. “You didn’t.”

Violet folds her arms and gives Sharon a measured look. “I did.”

Dela hides her face in her hand. “Oh, God.” The flashing LED headband slips over her eyes.

“Violet.” Sharon says slowly. “Take. That. Back.”

Jinkx jabs Violet in the side with her pen. “Fuck, Violet. Just tell her you’re lying before she hits you.”

Violet looks at the ceiling, breathes once, then looks back to Sharon. “I’m lying.” She says in monotone.

“Prove it.”

“What?”

Sharon points at her. “Prove to me that you still have it, or I’m telling Dela what you did in the fourth floor bathroom with-,”

“Ah!” Violet shouts, standing up and almost launching herself across the table at Sharon. “Shut up, shut up!”

Sharon smirks. “Prove you have the shirt, Violet.”

Dela looks at Jinkx. “What did she do in the bathroom and with who?”

“I have no idea.” Jinkx mutters. “But I can’t fucking wait to find out.”

“Look, look.” Violet holds her phone out to Sharon. “See. This was two days ago. I’m wearing it. See.”

Everyone in the room watches as Sharon takes the phone from her and considers the photograph. A collective sigh of relieve occurs when Sharon gives one decisive nod, and hands the phone back.

“Okay.” She says. “I believe you. You bitch.”

Vixen nods. “Right, so, now that no one is being murdered today, are we going to discuss accounting…no…?” She looks to Dela. “This meeting going to cover anything other than festive fashion and Sharon’s stupid goth shirts.”

“Hey!”

Dela holds up a finger. “Wait, what happened in the fourth floor bathroom?”

“Nothing.” Violet says far too quickly.

“Not what Adore told me.” Giovanni says.

Violet hits him.

“What?” He says, moving his chair closer to Jinkx. “Adore told me, that Courtney told her, that Pearl-,”

Violet reaches over the distance he’s created to slap him on the arm again. “Giovanni, I swear to fuck, if you don’t shut up-,”

“What happened?” Dela asks, again. She turns to Jinkx. “We are totally discussing this over wine tonight.”

“Oh, of course.”

“Violet, I’m your boss, you know you can tell me anything.” Dela says.

“Um, no thank you.”

Sharon smirks. “A little selfish of you to keep such a good story from the group, Vi.”

Farrah smiles, all innocent if it weren’t for the twinkle in her eyes. “That’s not fair, Sharon. From what I hear, Violet is very giving.”

Sharon, Giovanni, and Farrah all go hysterical at the same time. Violet grabs her planner from the desk and storms towards the door. “Fuck all of you!”

Dela watches her leave. She turns to the rest of them. “She was talking to you guys.”

A few seconds pass and Sharon sits back down in her chair, propping her feet up on the table. She leans back, inspecting her nails.

Dela clears her throat. “Let’s all do a little prep, and we’ll begin the meeting in five.”

They all go back to their files and reports. Sharon pulls up the presentation on the projector.

All is quiet.

And then,

“Violet ate Pearl’s ass in the second cubicle of the fourth floor bathroom.” Vixen says. She doesn’t even blink. “Can we talk about accounting now?”

[imamotherfuckingstar-lord]

Not Another Day

Bucky Barnes x you

Summary: Bucky tries to convince you he’s serious about his feelings - you think he’s just drunk.

A/N: Written in first person, it’s a late Christmas story. Commissioned by @jasmineladjevardi

I stood next to Natasha, sipping on a fruity drink, listening to Clint tell some off the wall story about Budapest. The redhead kept interrupting, pointing out the flaws in his story and when the two started bickering about what truly went down, I laughed and walked away. I looked around the small bar and saw Steve and Bucky playing pool, so I strolled over and asked if I could join.

“No need to ask, doll,” Bucky grinned and handed over his pool cue. “I can show you how to play if you want?”

“Down, Barnes,” I teased, taking the cue. “I know how to play.”

Steve laughed and placed his cue against the table. “I’m gonna go grab another pitcher of beer, you two play the next game.”

I watched as Steve strolled away from the pool table and looked over to Bucky, who had a lopsided grin on his handsome face. “What are you looking at?”

“Your beautiful face,” he mused and I rolled my eyes, pushing away from the table over to him.

“How many drinks have you had?”

He laughed and shook his head, gently grabbing me by the waist to pull me toward him. I giggled when he tried to embrace me, shrugging him off.

“Okaaaay, it’s time to call you a cab.”

Bucky pouted when I patted his chest and turned back to the table. He watched as I sized up with my cue and took a shot, hitting a solid into the right corner pocket. I grinned and looked over my shoulder to my drunk competitor.

“I told you I can play,” I stood up and nodded to the table. “Clint and I had a lot of downtime when we both got injured a few years back. He calls me his prodigy.”

“You might be better than Steve.”

“Don’t tell him that, he gets really competitive and last time I won him at chess, he wouldn’t stop asking for a rematch.”

Buck laughed and walked past me, but not before pressing a kiss onto my clothed shoulder. I froze, eyes following him suspiciously as he took Steve’s cue, made a shot and missed. He sighed and looked up at me, still in the crouching position against the pool table.

“I might need a few pointers, come here.”

I glanced around to where Steve now stood with Nat and Clint and took a small breath before placing my own cue down. Bucky straightened up as I walked up behind him, I tell him to get back down into shooting position - he does what he’s told and I stepped up behind him, my fingers gingerly holding up his elbows a bit higher.

“Deep breath, eye on the ball - you know where you want it to go,” I whispered into his ear and Bucky nodded, taking the shot and of course, getting it into a pocket. “There you go.”

I smiled and moved away from him, ready to retrieve my cue, but Bucky grabbed a hold of my arm. Slowly I turned and stared at his handsome face, and nearly ran for my life when his eyes found mine with a softness in them. It was damn beautiful and I was sure it wasn’t the alcohol I had been drinking.

“Let me take you out this weekend.”

“Oh, sure,” I laughed, tugging away from his gentle grip. “Bucky Barnes wants to take me on a date?”

He groaned in annoyance, running a hand over his face. “Why can’t you ever take me serious?”

He’s teasing.

“Listen, Buck,” I said tightly, because I didn’t like being teased in the slightest. “I know you’re just being a good guy and pitying me, but I don’t need it. In fact, I have a date this weekend. So let’s get your drunkass a cab.”

Bucky’s face fell and he didn’t say another word as I walked away to Nat, because she had my purse and winter coat.

“Listen, I’m heading out,” I announced, grabbing my coat off Nat’s chair. Slipping it on, I nodded to Steve. “Your boy is drunk, he’s saying some stupid crap and I gotta go.”

“You good?”

I  smiled at Nat and thanked her when she handed over my bag. “Yeah, just, Barnes likes to tease me and I don’t like it.”

“He’s not -”

Nat glared at Clint and he abruptly shut up. I shrugged it off, wanting to get home. “It’s all good, I’ll see you guys tomorrow. I’m headed home, night.”

….

“Clint, are you sure you left it in my apartment?”

“Yes. I remember, because you had ordered that crappy pizza from down the street. I remember pizza and man, that was disgusting.”

I sighed and walked up to my apartment door, cell held up to my ear. “Barton, if your arrow isn’t here, I’m gonna be mad. I was enroute to the Tower. I better not miss Steve’s meeting.”

“Are you there yet?”

I said yes as I walked into the main lobby, smiling at the doorman as I strolled over to the elevator. I got in and pressed my floor level, asking Clint why it was important to have the arrow now.

“I could have brought it over tomorrow.”

“I need it now,” he insisted, shushing someone in the background.

“Is that Nat? Tell her I have the wine for tonight’s girl’s night in.”

“She’s busy,” Clint blurted out. “Where are you?”

Feeling slightly put off by his sudden urgency, I ignored his question and hummed loudly into the phone. Clint yelled for me to stop, but I kept going until the doors opened and I announced I was now on my floor, a few feet from my apartment door.

“Good, good,” he sighed. “Have fun.”

“Have fun?”

He hung up and I stared down at my cell for a moment, confused as hell. “What the heck, Barton?”

Not knowing what his deal was, I shoved the cell into my bag and made for my door, grabbing the keys out to unlock it. As I opened the door, I thought of all the places Clint’s stupid arrow could be, that I didn’t notice the Christmas decorations placed in the hall. Tossing my bag down on the side table, I pulled off my coat and walked into my living room.

My movements were halted when Bucky appeared from the kitchen, a plate full of cookies. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were store bought or homemade. He smiled carefully as he approached my coffee table, placing the plate down and putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

“What is this, Buck?”

I gazed around the room, it was still a few weeks until Christmas, but there were lights hanging over my windows, mistletoe placed over the kitchen door. It was all amazing, but my eyes fixated on the new Christmas tree - it was decorated beautifully, the silver tinsel and lights, the red and blue ornaments.

“I’ll be honest, Natasha helped me with the tree,” Bucky confessed, edging a bit closer to me. “But it was my idea..”

My eyes found his and I smiled. “Bucky, you didn’t have to do this. I’m not mad about the bar the other night. This far too much for just a simple apology.”

Bucky’s head dipped back and he laughed. “Babe, come on! You have to learn to take me more serious.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand..”

His face relaxed and he took a deep breath. “You have to know how in love I am with you, I thought I was making it very clear.”

My heart stilled for a pure second as the word love dangled over my head.

He loved me? Like love love? Like the way I..

“I’m always hinting at it, but you never take it serious. Steve said I should come out and tell you straight on. So this is me saying I love you, I have for quite some time..”

I glanced around the room one more time, before letting everything click into place. All the times he had pushed for a date, showed affection, was caring - all of it and I ignored them, thinking he was just messing around. All the time I had wasted not being with Bucky, because I didn’t think it was possible, but it was.

“I love you, too, Bucky,” I grinned, rushing over to him.

He held his hands out and when my body pressed against his, Bucky held me tight and pressed a deep kiss into my hair.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear that, doll.”

“Well,” I said, pulling away with a smile. “Now you won’t go a day without hearing it. Merry Christmas, Bucky.”

“Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

Forever tag (tagging in everything I write, no matter the fandom)

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[littlemissheartfilia]

Pride Is What We Are

Submission for @ftlgbtales When We Take Different Paths!

Another piece set in the universe of The Rolling Pin (I have so many new ideas for that fic cuz why not) Set a year later from the events of the first chap.

Part(s):  [1]    [2]

Summary:  Sting, Rogue and their co-workers from The Rolling Pin have been through a lot together in only one year. Now they take to the streets of New York for Sting's first ever Pride March, and make new unlikely friends.

Pairing(s): Stingue, Yukinerva, Orfus, Lyoke (LyonXLoke blame @dreamingoffairys) 

Setting: Modern Day AU - Part of The Rolling Pin universe.

A throng of people rustled against each other shoulder to shoulder, like cattle being herded. The sun beat down relentlessly, threatening to sear off any layer of skin that exposed itself in the summer heat.

The world was a million shouting competitions playing in repeat on full blast. It left a dull roar in Sting’s ears like he was standing in the inside of a megaphone during a particularly rowdy protest, but it exhilarated him.

Sting grinned from ear to ear as Rogue lifted him on their back to give him a full view of the parade. The sea of people was just as diverse as the rainbows they were representing. Flags of every sexuality, in every color imaginable waved in the air,  as dense as trees in a forest.

“Do you see him? Do you see him?” Rogue kept asking. They leaned with the flow of the crowd and Sting’s shifting weight.

Sting scanned the area as the crowd shuffled ever closer to the street where the parade was. He could see the floats and the celebrities and the musicians faintly through the waving flags and posters. Pride was starting and Sting wanted to see everything.

“Not yet,” Sting called down to Rogue, having to shout in order to be heard. “Are you sure he’s in the front?”

“What?” Rogue’s head lifted between Sting’s thighs and their eyebrows furrowed, trying hard to hear Sting over the roar of the crowd.

Sting placed both hands on Rogue’s forehead and leaned down so their faces were almost touching. There was a moment where the balance shift almost toppled them but Rogue wasn’t as clumsy as Sting was. They kept them both grounded. “Are you sure he’s in the front?”

Rogue nodded, finally understanding what Sting said. “Yeah, said he had first float rights or something-” Before Rogue could finish speaking the crowd picked up in volume. Screams of excitement rang out and Sting felt like they had suddenly been transported to Shawn Mendes’s sold out concert hall. It seemed spending Pride in New York City was bad news for their eardrums. He probably wouldn’t be able to hear anything tomorrow if this kept up.

Sting whipped his head back to the street, the shift in motion once again almost throwing Rogue off balance. Sting ignored their protests in favor of complete focus on the parade. It was already ten past the hour the parade was scheduled to start, but given Sting’s experience with schedules and public venues this was actually early for the event.

The floats, which had been stationary before now began blasting music and the crowd went wild. A very familiar voice whispered into a microphone that cast reverb around the entire park. “Are you ready to have some fun?”

In his excitement Sting slapped the top of Rogue’s head repeatedly. “That’s him! He’s there!” Sting shouted pointing to the first float in the parade. Sting barely recognized the company van they had rented out now.

It was fully repainted with the gay pride flag colors, and the varying sexuality flags of all their co-workers on top to complete it; demi for Rogue, gay for Sting, bisexual for Yukino, lesbian for Minerva and pan for Rufus. But the real attraction was what the van was tugging along behind it. It was a rather small float compared to some of the others behind it but Sting, Rogue and their coworkers had all put a lot of effort into making it. And damn it if he wasn’t proud.

It was a stage decked out with a raised center and stairs leading down each side of it, giving access to see the performance from all sides. Sting had even bought some of those inflatable dancing tube men and painted them different sexuality colors. They waved erratically with the force of air from the pump, plastic tassels flapping wildly on the top of each one’s head.

Walking a bit ahead of the float were Yukino and Minerva, standing on either side. They had both chosen to wear extravagant outfits that featured the bisexual and lesbian flag colors on it. Yukino’s outfit was primarily the purple and blue for bisexuals. She wore a blue form fitting short pencil dress that stopped just before her lower thigh. On her back was a fluffy looking cloak that waved in the wind and showcased the flag of her sexuality.

Minerva was waving to every person they passed with a huge smile on her face as she strutted by in her bikini-esque outfit. She was a gradient array of violets and lavenders, showing her stomach and wearing a deep purple cardigan that almost swept to the ground.

Standing perfectly center on the stage was their co-worker Rufus. Sting barely recognized him in drag, but Rufus, or rather Regalia when he was in drag, pulled it off so well. How long had he had those kind of curves? Regalia was dressed majestically in a form fitting rainbow striped dress. He wore a wig that flared out wider than his own shoulders, it was pepto bismol pink and matched a little too well with the sequined dress.

And although Sting had warned him against it Regalia still wore his signature pink feathered hat. Only now, the feathering had been replaced by glittering silver tinsel that reflected all the different stage lights pointed at him. It combined with his over the top makeup that highlighted every curve in his cheekbones and made his eyes two times bigger. Needless to say, Regalia was glowing.

“I’m ready to get down tonight,” Regalia rolled his words in a way that made him sound like he was purring. He bent down into the sexiest pose Sting had ever seen, showing his ass to the crowd and smirking. Sting had to admit he was entranced by the way Regalia moved his hips. He couldn’t figure out if he was attracted to it only because he knew Regalia was a guy or if Sting isn't actually as gay as he thought.

Suddenly the music kicked up in a high tempo and Regalia began pounding his fist with the bass, strutting along the stage and hyping up the crowd. Sting threw his arms in the air and cheered as loud as he could.

Rogue’s hand came up to slap his thigh and they clumsily presented their phone to Sting. “Oh right!” Sting said, remembering how Orga had asked to get video footage of his boyfriend being the queen he is. Of course Orga had already seen much of the performance, having helped Regalia get the choreography down for weeks, but he would only be able to see a frustratingly small glimpse of the final show from the rearview mirrors of the company van. Someone had to drive the float after all.

While Rogue somehow managed to walk them closer to the fenced off street Sting began taking video of the float as it passed. He made sure to zoom in at all the right times and to follow Regalia the entire way as he danced and sung around the stage.

Sting knew how much effort the rest of them had put into making this float look great but he hadn’t thought about how much effort Regalia put into his performance. It must have taken him weeks to learn how to move like that. Unless of course Regalia was just a natural at it. Sting wouldn’t be surprised to find that out either.

They followed the float for as long as the crowd would let them. Eventually Rogue put Sting back on his own two feet after almost toppling over on somebody. He got some of the best shots when Regalia occasionally leaned towards them and blew a kiss to the camera or gave them a sultry wink. Sting also made sure to get shots of Minerva and Yukino as they danced around the float somehow in sync with Regalia while constantly walking forward to keep with the float.

The entrance of their float filled him with about as much pride as this day was made for. He felt on top of the world even as his co-workers rounded the block and continued down the other mile stretch of the parade. For the first time Sting was aware that they weren’t the only ones who had prepared stages and performances for this occasion.

He was torn from the euphoria of watching Regalia’s float go by when another, even bigger stage began blasting music and shooting lights and glitter bombs into the sky. It was an instant tone shift and one which startled Sting by how sudden it was.

Standing high on a float that reached for the sky were two extravagant drag queens. Sting couldn’t tell which one was more eye-catching. One of them wore taller stilettos, and an even more form fitting dress than what Regalia had on. Sting hadn’t thought that possible but this drag queen proved there’s curves in all the right places if your dress is stylish enough. The dress itself was like something out of a mardi gras parade, and with all the colors of the rainbow on it, it fit rather well for this one. Her makeup was smoky, making her pale face pop in contrast with her dark eyes, black hair, and bright pink lips.

The second drag queen was moving wildly about the stage. Running the edge of the float so she could bend down and reach out to the people waiting in the streets. Hands and arms stuck out over the metal fencing on the street like thorns in a bramble patch. It was just enough for the eccentric queen to catch some high fives and lingering hand holds.

The way she moved highlighted everything about her flowing dress, and if Sting wasn’t mistaken that was not a wig the shorter drag queen was wearing. Her orange hair had been spiked to full volume at the roots and hit with cans of hairspray until the rest of the long locks fell to her shoulders almost like a lion’s mane. The dress she wore was short but it flowed like silk and the fabric was cut to show impossibly smooth hips framed by glittering diamonds. Sting found himself more attracted by this queen’s legs though. They were only slightly exposed   under rainbow colored fishnet stockings that managed to both leave nothing to the imagination while daring you to imagine so much more.

Sting’s jaw dropped. “Who are they?!” he cried, turning his disbelieving face to Rogue who was by his side. Rogue had a slight frown on despite the glorious display that was so clearly a fan favorite.

They shook their head. “Leo Leona and Tigressa Vistairs,” they said and Sting had half a mind to understand Leona was the one with the fishnet stockings and orange hair like a lion’s mane, hence her name. “They show up at pride every year, and every year they upstage us and take best float prize.” Rogue finished, something close to bitterness in their voice. Sting widened his eyes, he had never heard Rogue’s tone of voice slip anywhere close to things like the bitterness of envy.

Sting gave a small chuckle and Rogue almost glared at him. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were jealous.”

Rogue huffed and puffed out their cheeks cutely. Leona and Tigressa’s float was close to passing them but Rogue pretended to be more interested in the street and the swirling mass of shouting fans around them. “It’s not jealousy if they cheat!” they blurt out.

Sting laughed some more. “How can they cheat? All you have to do is make a pride float. And isn’t the whole point of this to celebrate who we are? Why get caught up in the display of it?”

Rogue sighed then. “I know, it’s just-” They crossed their arms and leered at the float as it passed by them. Leona and Tigressa blew kisses and winked in their direction and the crowd roared around them. At one point, when Tigressa was closest to Rogue she uncapped a bottle of party glitter and tossed it over the crowd. The glitter caught the light and sparkled like fireflies in midday. It did everything to accentuate her curves and draw even more attention to her already glittering mardi gras bikini.

The exploding glitter landed on Rogue and rested gently in their black hair. They frowned at Sting as if to say, see what I mean?

Sting gave Rogue a patient smile. “So they have a lot of special effects. We don’t have to be the float that beats them do we?”

Just as the words left Sting’s mouth Leona and Tigressa’s music faded out and Tigressa adjusted her mouthpiece so she could speak to the crowd. “I hear Regalia performed before us, how’d you guys like her?” The crowd cheered. “Do you think we have Regalia beat or what?” The crowd went wild. “After all,” Tigressa droned on and Sting’s smile faded. “What’s a drag queen without all her special effects?”

There was no describing the deafening roar that slammed Sting’s ears. In a matter of seconds he could hear nothing, even the shouting of each fan as it grew in volume so much it dulled to a low roar.

Sting and Rogue shared a look. Rogue lifted their eyebrow and when the fans died down as Leona and Tigressa’s float carried on, they awaited a response. Sting gave a shrug, “Alright maybe they’re a bit show-offy.”

Rogue scoffed. “A bit? They’re like this every year. Always calling Rufus out and one-upping all the hard work we do.”

Sting thought for a moment. “Have you ever actually talked to them?”

Rogue seemed flustered and avoided speaking as more parade walkers went by and the crowd around them shuffled in excitement. “I don’t need to talk to them,” they said finally.

“That’s shortsighted. I’m sure if you just talk you’ll understand a bit more about them. Maybe they just want a friendly competition?”

Rogue groaned, a sound which was lost in the murmur of the large crowd but one that was also plainly visible on their face. “I don’t think-” Rogue began but Sting interrupted by grabbing their arm.

“Don’t make excuses, we can talk to them at the end of the parade. Now c’mon, we gotta follow Rufus and Orga to meet them by the finish.”

[magziraphale]

For @auroargraves in honour of beginning Christmas.

Please consider:

Graves who has a secret love of the holidays. He loves the trees, the lights, the snow, the whole she-bang, especially in New York (he’s a bit of a magpie by nature). He likes to take walks in December just to look in all the windows. Because he doesn’t decorate himself, never has. 

As a child decorations were for show rather than spirit and he was never allowed to touch them. Now he figures there’s no point, there’s no one at home and he’d just have to take them all down again in a few weeks. He’s not sure he’d know where to begin anyway. So he gets his little fix of Christmas brightness elsewhere and pretends he doesn’t know why he doesn’t walk so much the rest of the year.

But the first Christmas since he bonded with the niffler (and Newt but that’s a different story), things begin to change.

It starts at the beginning of December when other parts of MACUSA are putting up the first decorations and trees. He’s sitting at his desk doing paperwork and vaguely wondering where his little shadow has disappeared to when the little devil practically rolls through the door (he’d left it open a bit in the unlikely event of Niff being unable to get through the closed door). On his floor is what looks like a giant ball of tinsel. The little shit has clearly made the rounds and stolen all the shiniest things from the trees.

He untangles his companion, who proceeds to excitedly squeak at him, shaking the tinsel. Long lines of gold and red and green are still streaming out into the corridor and he looks up to find Newt, flushed and breathing heavily in the doorway, looking a bit like he’d showered in glitter.

“Newt, do you think I should get a tree for the office?”

Newt, looking from the excited niffler who is now dancing with the tinsel to the brightness in Graves’ eyes, tells him it’s a marvellous idea.

It quickly becomes apparent that Graves has no idea what he’s doing. So Newt helps him. They pick out a tree together. Graves buys enough decorations to furnish half a dozen trees.

Graves sets all the garlands and tinsel and baubles out on the floor of his office and lets Niff inspect them all to his heart’s content.

He’s also bought a santa hat that has golden thread woven through it. Newt thought maybe it was for Graves, but is delighted when the man shrinks the hat to size and sets it on Niff’s head. The little bugger has never looked more smug.

The tree is, aesthetically speaking, a bit of a disaster. Every colour of the rainbow is there, the branches so laden with baubles they have to use spells to keep it in place, and there are probably twice as many lights as necessary. It’s perfect.

Graves and Niff have matching expressions of awe when Newt finally puts the star on top, and Newt feels something melt or maybe burn inside him. The eyes of all three are just a little damp, but their smiles could rival the tree in brightness.

[tenroseforeverandever]

Dear Father Christmas Chapter 6: 24th December, 2021

MASTERPOST

Characters:  Tentoo; Rose Tyler; Jackie Tyler; Pete Tyler; Tony Tyler; OC Hope Tyler-Noble; OC Charlotte Tyler-Noble; OC Wilfred Tyler-Noble

Rated: Teen

Tags: Family!Fic; Kid!Fic; Pete’s World; Letters to Santa; Christmas Fic; Family; Fluff; Hurt/Comfort; Angst; Romance; Love

Summary: When Rose Tyler was little, she always wrote a Christmas wish list to Father Christmas. As she grew older, the wish list became more of a letter to someone she could confide in once a year, but she fell out of the habit somewhere along the way. Now, as a new mum, celebrating her daughter’s first Christmas, Rose takes up writing her Christmas letter to Father Christmas once again.

Rose’s Christmas letters are excerpts from her life with her beloved Tentoo and their children in Pete’s World, written once a year, for each of 31 years.

Chapter Summary: Rose is beyond frustrated when the children’s creative intelligence results in an explosion of melted candy canes.

Notes: As always, my thanks to my darling betas mrsbertucci and @rose--nebula for offering their unstinting support and insightful comments. ((((hugs, ladies))))

Thanks to @doctorroseprompts for their 31 Days of Ficmas prompts. A reminder that I am using the prompts very much out of order, but I intend to use them all. The prompt I used today was Candy Canes.

Also read at: AO3; FF.net; Teaspoon

December 24th, 2021

Dear Father Christmas,

Ooooooh, some days I just want to tear my hair out. Today, in case you couldn’t guess, is one of them. It was completely mad! The Doctor aggroed (full Oncoming Bah Humbug), the TARDIS is in a snit, the children are in solitary lock-up until the foreseeable future (imposed by aggro-Doctor), and I have candy cane melted into my hair. The smell of burned sugar is everywhere! And on top of all that we’re expected at Mum and Dad’s in a few hours for Christmas Eve, and I’m not even sure we can pilot the TARDIS in her current state. We’ve been travelling this past week, so Mum suggested we could stay at the mansion overnight tonight and open pressies with them Christmas morning. Honestly I just want to go to bed and stay there for a very, very long time.

Even though it’s completely against everything me and the Doctor agreed on, this is one of those days when it’s really tempting to consider cheating a little with the timelines and stealing a few hours to give us a chance to get it together. It’ll never happen, but it’s sure nice to think about.

Actually, the whole of autumn has been a bit of a challenge, if I’m being completely honest. We decided to do try something new this year. When the school year began in September, we enrolled Hope at her own age level to help her to socialize (that’s another story! Let’s just say, some attitude adjustment was necessary.) That meant taking the TARDIS out on the weekends to explore and educate the children, Doctor-style, which was lovely. But, it also meant the two kiddies left at home during the week whilst Hope was at school weren’t having their intelligence challenged as much as would be considered ideal… for them. It’s a constant battle trying to keep on top of them to figure out what they’ll get into next.

I don’t quite remember why we didn’t enroll them in the Torchwood Nursery… Some nonsense about me needing to be home to do the school-run, morning and afternoon, and since they had each other for company, they might as well stay home too and drive me mental while they were at it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Santa, it was a mutual decision between me and the Doctor. We talked it over and decided since he’s enjoying working in the Torchwood labs so much, he should keep doing it, and he relieves me whenever I really need it. It’s just some days I find myself questioning my life choices...

Anyway, the upshot of it is, this past week, we thought we’d give ourselves a nice break. We took Hope out of school a week early for a few days of hols before settling back to Earth-life over Christmas. It started out great, exploring cave life on Naotol-ri-Pibol one day and observing the process of the Grand Canyon gradually forming over eons from the TARDIS doors the next. (That little trick always floors me: to have the TARDIS hover in one point in space, but move through time, so the evolution of the planet plays out like a time-lapse film before your eyes! Brilliant!) But our final stop, yesterday, was the absolute best Christmas planet in either universe: 63rd Century Yultidia! I know, I know, the name is cheesier than my mum’s festive nutty cheese ball, but it sure makes up for it in many wonderful ways.

You’d love Yultidia, Santa, for a chance to get away. It’s completely impractical and over-the-top, not at all suited for building toys, but still everything’s decked out in Christmas cheer. And there’s so much to do: reindeer-pulled sleigh rides (not that that’s anything special for you), shops, carnivals and amusement parks, ice skating, sledding, and all kinds of other winter sports. There’s brilliant, posh hotels and restaurants, the ultimate hot chocolate, and the most wonderful spas… ever! You can guess where I spent most of my time. You and Mrs. Claus should come and treat yourselves to a post-Christmas massage some year. You deserve it!

(I could bloody use another massage, myself, right about now.)

So, while I was enjoying my day at the spa, the Doctor and the brood went exploring. They went snow tubing and they each got to ride a reindeer. And then they went shopping…

Hope, being the most diplomatic of them all (and not just because she’s the eldest… it’s just her nature) convinced her pushover of a Daddy (she has him wound around every single one of her little fingers) to allow the three of them to buy, in addition to a soft toy each, Christmas decorations to add to Gran and Grandad’s setup this year. Of course they chose the tackiest, most garish multicoloured garland possible. Now I’m not talking about tinsel-garland, yeah. I’m talking about fake metallic tree branches in every shade of the rainbow and then some. A bit naff. Not that Mum would mind one little bit. Even though she’s gone a bit posh, living in luxury these last few years, she could never be accused of being particularly sophisticated in her decorating tastes. And besides if her grandkids want something, her grandkids get it.

They also bought a huge box of candy canes to hang from the garland, and no doubt from other places as well, given the quantity of them. I’m not quite sure what the Doctor had been thinking, allowing them to buy so many. Probably thinking with his sweet tooth instead of his brain.

Anyway, they picked me up from the spa, and we all went to a restaurant to have our tea. Soooo good! They have Christmas Chips! I can’t begin to explain the flavour. Gooorgeous! So after enjoying some hot chocolate and mince pies for dessert we all headed back to the TARDIS. Me and the Doctor left the three kids to play in the console room. They were looking all innocent, oohing and awing over their purchases and plotting where they would hang everything when they got to the mansion. Basically, they seemed content, so we headed down to the family room to watch some Scrooge. Biggest mistake ever… but we wouldn’t know that until this afternoon.

In retrospect, we should have known. The three of them were being awfully quiet for children who were “playing”, but we were just so happy to have a quiet evening to snuggle together, we didn’t want to jinx it. When the movie was over, I went to get them ready for bed. They had already tidied up the garland and candy canes, and Wilf was nodding off, hugging his new stuffie reindeer. I got them all into a bath to wash the glitter off them, then into their new Christmas jimjams and straight to bed. Nothing seemed amiss. Same this morning when I made banana pancakes in Christmas shapes for breakfast, although there was rather a little too much chatter about them getting to see Father Christmas (you!) hiding pressies under the tree this year.

We decided to spend a little longer on Yultidia. They all wanted me to go tubing with them! So much bloody fun! Then we had lunch and bought a pile of Christmas goodies for Mum, Dad, and Tony, and gifts for Hope’s teachers and the folks at Torchwood. They’d get them a little late, but that’s okay. I know you’re thinking “time machine”, Santa, but remember, me and the Doctor agreed not to cheat with the timelines, and anyway, those sweets are worth the wait.  

We all bundled back into the TARDIS, and got ready to go: the kids were all buckled in and squirming, so excited to show Gran the garland. The Doctor did his usual dance around the console switching switches and pushing buttons, and I followed behind, making sure everything was set just right, then both of us once again. I know it sounds tedious, but these days… safety first!

Then, the Doctor’s running his hands through his hair and telling me “Something doesn’t feel quite right. Something’s off. I just can’t put my finger on it.” And as he’s fishing for his sonic, I can’t help but see our three little angels giving each other guilty looks and biting their little lower lips. And all I can think is “Oh, bloody hell…”

Next thing I hear is the buzz of the sonic, then a violent rumbling coming from the candy cane box under the console, and I’m throwing myself between it and the children as fast as I can. Flames come shooting out of the box, and the Doctor’s just standing there gawping and saying “What?” over and over. I mean, at this point, Doctor, does it matter?

Suddenly the whole thing explodes, bits of melted and burning candy cane go soaring around the console room, sticking to everything. And believe me, hot candy cane burns are not to be taken lightly. The stuff was everywhere, in our hair, on our clothes (the kids had managed to come out of it with only a little stickiness, thank goodness.) But, worst of all, some of the molten sweet had seeped into the TARDIS controls.

The Doctor lost it. Completely lost it. I could see he was scared shitless. Things could have been so much worse, and he was over-reacting as a result. Like I said earlier, he put the kids in solitary time-out rooms. They were blubbering and apologizing and begging. At least Hope and Charlie were. Poor Wilfred, was just sobbing and sucking his thumb, really frightened and not quite realizing why his Daddy was so angry.

After the kids were settled, the Doctor gingerly ran his sonic over the TARDIS console and deemed it would be hours before she’d be ready to fly again. She just grumbled and dimmed her lights. I wonder if she would enjoy a nice spa treatment…?

Anyway, the Doctor just went down to interrogate the little hooligans, so I’m taking the time to record my letter to you now.

Holy crap! Hang on just a minute, Santa! Now, that plonker is crowing away to the kids about how brilliant they are. Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he is! And they’re all laughing and talking some bloody technobabble language I swear they all made up. I’ll make them laugh, all right! I’ll be right back. Looks like Mummy Scrooge is going to have to step in after all.

--ooOoo--

I’m back! Honestly, that man is such a pushover! If I hadn’t stepped in… The brood may be little but they’re definitely smart enough to learn that they have to be held accountable for their actions. I saw their faces when Daddy thought there was something wrong, and they knew it was probably their doing. So accountability! No matter how clever their little invention was!

So, right now, they’re giving the TARDIS her “day at the spa”. They damaged her, and they can fix her up again. They’re polishing and buffing her, and the Doctor is helping them take apart the damaged bits and they’re all putting them back together. The Doctor’s even letting Hope use his sonic for the really stuck-on candy, and the TARDIS is humming in appreciation. My lovely, baby TARDIS. She’s such an important part of our family and it doesn’t hurt for us to remember that once in a while.

In case you’re wondering, it turns out the little inventors were devising a surveillance system to watch for you coming down the chimney. They had rigged each and every candy cane with miniature cameras they found in one of their father’s storage cabinets. (To answer the burning question that must be on your mind: no, I don’t know why he had them. I think it must have been from when Hope was small and he wanted to be able to keep an eye on her everywhere she went.) Anyway, long story short, they rigged them up incorrectly (they were a bit dodgy to begin with, mind) using some wiring they had pinched from under the TARDIS console that was completely incompatible. So, when the Doctor activated his sonic, he ended up reversing the polarity of the neutron flow (or some rubbish like that) and BLAM! Candy cane fireworks!

All I can say, is thank goodness we found out about it before we got to Mum and Dad’s. Can you just imagine Mum’s reaction to having peppermint-scented goo all over her living room? Blimey, what a nightmare that would have been!

Well, it’s time for everyone to get bathed and dressed again (right into their jimjams, I’m thinking.) Then off to the mansion to put up some rather naff garland (minus the candy canes!), hang some stockings, and as it’s been a very long day, a quick tea and off to bed.

Happy Christmas! Love to all, Santa. And here’s hoping you don’t encounter any exploding candy canes on your travels tonight!

love, Rose

[nightmare-afton-cosplay]

The Heart-Wrenching Reality of Revisiting Your Childhood Home, Decades Later

Briana Haas-Zak

I can’t let go of my childhood home. That big, beautiful, brick house in Fremont, OH, has a hold on me much like the first boy I kissed. Even now, as a middle-aged adult living in New York City, I find myself pulled back to Wood Street even though the house was sold long ago.

Twenty-five years ago, in fact. Just as I was moving to New York to start my career, my mother sold the house where I had spent most of my life. I was suddenly faced with the fact that not only was I uprooting, I was simultaneously losing my anchor to my past. And yes, it hurt, more than I like to admit.

Since I returned to Fremont often to visit family, I’d also routinely revisit my childhood home. Much like a stalker who hadn’t fully moved on from an ex, I’d do casual drive-bys and admire my old home from afar. I’d often think about knocking on the door to ask if I could take a peek inside, but felt it wasn’t worth a restraining order.

My childhood home on Wood Street

Briana Haas-Zak

These drive-bys continued for 15 years. Then lo and behold, in 2010, I was actually invited inside.

What it’s really like to revisit your childhood home

It turns out, a friend of mine from high school had bought my childhood home. Once he heard I was in town, he invited me to drop in.

To say I was eager to see the place would be an understatement. I imagined walking through each room, accompanied by my husband and daughter, while imparting tales of sliding down the staircase with cousins during holiday parties, or showing the exact spot where we put our tinsel-covered Christmas tree every year.

Unfortunately, my excitement was short-lived, as my friend had failed to mention that he was renovating the place, and had already ripped everything out.

While I hadn’t expected to see the same ’80s furniture and decor, I wasn’t prepared to see my home stripped bare. The staircase, which I’d remembered as so grand, now looked basic and unimpressive.

The grand staircase, which seems not so grand now

Briana Haas-Zak

We made our way to my bedroom, where I used to cover the walls with rainbows and posters of heartthrobs like Rob Lowe, Michael J. Fox, and Barry Gibb. But now, there was no evidence that I’d ever been there at all.

I had one last hope: I headed to the closet. Inside, in a spot where you would have to know to look, I found it: I Love Mike.

This phrase was written by a lovesick teenage me back in 1987. By now, of course, Mike was long gone and forgotten. But seeing those three words filled me with a weird feeling that was both exhilarating and devastating, tinged with loss and hope all at once.

Unless you’ve discovered a treasure like this at some point in your life, I’m not sure I can capture this experience in words. But the closest I can say is that in an instant, this strange, bare, empty house felt like home. My home.

In my bedroom before my heartthrob phase

Briana Haas-Zak

Why people have a hard time letting go of their childhood homes

I’m not alone in this strange, tortured attachment.

For many of my friends—both those who’ve moved away and those who still live in the same town—childhood home drive-bys seem to be a regular routine. Some even stop to surreptitiously snap selfies on the front porch before the new homeowners notice. One woman who lived too far from her childhood home to spy on it in person regularly resorts to Google Earth.

Some work up the courage to knock. And occasionally, they get invited in. Some find it to be an amazing experience. As one acquaintance of mine put it, “It was magical, akin to traveling back in time.”

Others, upon finding that their home is for sale, pounce on the opportunity to attend an open house.

Jennifer Winograd used this tactic to revisit her home in Houston. While it got her in the door, she wasn’t prepared for how difficult it would be to see the changes that had unfolded since she’d left.

“The owners turned my bedroom into an office, and covered our beautiful pool with an awful koi pond,” recalls Winograd. It wasn’t all bad, though. Inside an upstairs closet, she located some sticky remnants on the wall from an accident with her brother’s Stretch Armstrong.

“We could never get all the pieces off the walls,” she says. “And, nearly 40 years later, it couldn’t have made me happier.”

So why do so many people stalk their childhood homes?

“Visiting your childhood home is about reconnecting with the innocence and the positiveness of a childhood gone by,” says psychotherapist Mark Jeremy Trybulski.

Trybulski even admits to doing it himself. “As we grow older, the memories of childhood fade and the home acts as an anchor in reestablishing one’s identity,” he explains.

Yet changes and renovations to the home by new owners can be jarring. One friend told me they were angry about a sports team banner hung on their old house; another wasn’t happy with the choice of “Smurf blue” paint.

How to revisit your childhood home without getting arrested

Since so many people long to revisit their childhood homes, I’m sharing best practices for getting inside when a drive-by isn’t enough:

Just knock. Know that you’re not guaranteed entry; don’t take it personally.

Ask for a tour. Ideally without the current homeowner! In my case, since a high school friend had bought my home, I was able to walk unattended with my family so I could be open and honest about how I was feeling.

Be prepared for changes. Had I known what I was walking into, I might have braced myself. Even the smallest changes, though understandable, can really throw you for a loop.

Maybe Thomas Wolfe was right when he wrote, “You can’t go home again.”

I know I will never again experience my dog playing in that front yard, or my brother trying to put out his latest fire, or me and my best friend sitting on the roof outside my bedroom smoking cigarettes. But that doesn’t mean those memories are gone. They’re with me. They’re also in my house on Wood Street, like ghosts that only I can see when I drive by.

Me and my brother with our pets in front yard

Briana Haas-Zak

The post The Heart-Wrenching Reality of Revisiting Your Childhood Home, Decades Later appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

from https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/heart-wrenching-reality-of-revisiting-your-childhood-home/

[jerseyisforlovers]

Holiday House Tour 2017

I don’t know why I’m always compelled to start these holiday house tour posts by type-shouting “SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” but there I’ve already gone and done it. ‘Tis the season. Moving on. Here’s how we decked our proverbial halls for Christmas this year. As you may have heard in last week’s podcast, we’re continuing last year’s mission to simplify our holiday decorations. We still want our home to feel festive, but in a way that doesn’t feel too crowded and overwhelming (or take too crazy long to set up and take down). So the living room is pretty much just all about the tree and the mantle.

sofa / side tables / chairs / round marble table / blinds / ottoman / similar lamps & TV table

The tree is an artificial one that we’ve had for over five years.  It has some of the most realistic looking branches we’ve laid eyes on when it comes to fake trees, but at this point most of its original light strands are burnt out (we had a good run!) and last year we gave up trying to fix them (Sherry spent 30 minutes hunting down the wrong bulb only to replace it and watch the entire strand blow out again ten minutes later). So at this point it’s mostly lit with these strands from Target.

It took a few tests to find lights that matched the warm-ish color temperature of the original bulbs (all the LED versions were too blue looking) so we’ve hoarded a few extra boxes for down the road. The ornaments are all a mish-mash of sentimental and homemade items we’ve collected over the years and I think this year was the most fun the kids have had helping us decorate it. Maybe because they’re finally both old enough that Sherry and I are shouting “BE CAREFUL!” and “DON’T TOUCH THAT ONE, IT CAN BREAK!” less and less throughout the process.

Christmas tree / similar rug / similar tree skirts / similar stocking / garland / similar mirror 

Our typically colorful fireplace (which you can see in last year’s holiday house tour) is more subdued this year, thanks to Sherry’s greenery kick and this faux magnolia garland she bought a few months ago. She noticed it looked a little dark up there at first, so she added some ceramic white houses we’ve had for a few years (these are similar – ours are actually ornaments with the hangers cut off) and some battery operated fairy lights to bring some lightness to the mantle.

faux magnolia garland / similar stockings / battery powered lights / similar ceramic houses / similar mirror

We did pepper in some nods to the season on the living room bookcases too, but they’re easy to miss at first glance. I actually didn’t notice the mouse until I uploaded this photo (which I took!). Let’s play a little game of Where’s Waldo (Waldo the mouse, not that guy in the striped shirt).

Those small figurines are hand-me-downs from Sherry’s mom and it takes everything in Sherry’s power to not keep them out all year (miniatures are her true weakness in life). The holiday “terrarium” is a DIY project from a few years ago and we picked up the pink wooden trees at the gift shop of our local botanical garden last year during an office Christmas party (not our office – that would just be weird – it was for the ad agency where I consult).

pink trees / gold frame / holiday shadow box / our book ;)

The kitchen is also showing some holiday restraint this year. We’re using the area under the floating shelves to house the wooden house advent calendar Sherry picked up from the Magnolia collection at Target. I’ll be honest that we were a little perplexed as to how to actually use it as an advent calendar. Do you pull the “block of the day” out front as you count down? Move a little bow from house to house as you go? We decided just to turn them all around to hide the numbers and flip them to reveal each one as we go.

advent calendar / paper flowers / green candle / gold frame / shelf brackets

Hilariously enough, the description on the Target website doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that it’s an advent calendar – and weirdly suggests gluing them into their storage box (???). Guess there are lots of ways to use this thing.

Sherry did pepper some ornaments and greenery elsewhere in the kitchen, though. And yes, we’ve officially jumped on the letterboard bandwagon thanks to our friend Mandi at Vintage Revivals who surprised us with this one. You can get them on Amazon or on her site (where there’s a buy-2-get-1-free deal with the code FREEGIFT). We’ve been planning to take it the beach house, but decided we’d have some fun with it here first. Home Alone anyone?

letterboard / similar cutting board / blinds / page-a-day calendar

The K.I.S.S. greenery theme continues in the foyer (that stands for “keep it simple stupid” and not the face painted heavy metal band who famously flaunt their tongues). It doesn’t take much to get that wintery feeling in here, since the white-on-white stuff with all those layered textures already feels pretty cozy, so Sherry just added an evergreen branch and a white feather tree. I’m happy to report that this vignette can last us well through winter, so don’t be surprised if you still see it hanging around in March.

similar baskets / similar acrylic table / similar white feather tree / large glass vase / similar mirror

We also referenced Sherry’s hoard of bottle brush trees in last week’s podcast and this year she decided to cluster them in the office since they’re so colorful. It works well because that room is pretty busy (both visually and literally) so they fit right in.

similar bottle brush trees // round mirror / parsons desk / bookcase 

Nothing really happens upstairs except for a few mini trees. My personal favorite is the one that sits in the bonus room, because it glows from down the hall and we can see it from outside in the driveway too. This is a photo from last year (forgive me) but it looks pretty much exactly the same this year. We boxed everything up together when we packed it away last year (the tree, its ornaments, and even the extension cord) so setting it up was easy and fast.

similar rug / vintage rocker / similar tree / sofa / globe

This is another photo from last year (gasp!) but again, it’s nearly identical this season. It’s our daughter’s artificial tree that we added several years ago when she was old enough to handle the “responsibility” of her own little tree (aka: don’t pull ornaments off and put them in your mouth or attempt to hang them on the dog). The tree came with its own little plastic pot at the base, but Sherry likes to slide it into one of her woven baskets (that she painted) which looks extra cheerful.

similar lidded basket / similar tree / quote art / door color: BM Cinco De Mayo

What’s new this year is our son’s tree, since he can finally be trusted with one of his own. He picked out this green tinsel tree himself ($8? sold!) because, well, he’s three and it was just about the coolest thing he’d ever seen. Scratch that – it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen once we added a string of colored LED lights to it. Each year we let the kids pick out some new soft ornaments for the shared tree in the bonus room, but we let him sneak his favorite one (this knitted wreath, which he lovingly calls his “Christmas Donut”) onto his tree, along with some shatterproof balls.

dragon & gorilla baskets / similar woven baskets / similar rug / tree / lights / bookcase

I’ll admit it makes me feel a little Scrooge-y to keep talking about pulling back on our holiday decor, but as Sherry said in the podcast: we’re really just trying to focus on the decorations that make us all the happiest, and cut out the parts that seem more labor than love. Everyone loved putting up ornaments this year, so we focused on the trees. Sherry’s favorite pun of her entire life is “boots with the fir” – so those fir-stuffed boots landed on the porch with glee. And she loves going wreath making with the girls, so she made this hilariously giant one this year (which you probably saw on Instagram).

similar wreath / red boots / welcome mat / fake trees in those black pots (yes they’re fake!) / door color: BM Blue Lake

And, well, I love my shed. So while Sherry was off wrestling half of planet earth’s magnolia leaves onto a single wreath, I picked up a few strands of colorful LEDs and some roof clips to bring some cheer to my little home away from home. I’m not brave enough to attempt this on our real roof, but I thought this would be a fun way to dress up the backyard without being 30′ from the ground.

Plus, the kids are super into rainbow lights this year, so it felt like the perfect place to deviate from the all-white lights that live in the front yard. Methinks it might need some more though. Maybe next year!

Actually, the main thing on our list for next year is an artificial tree for the beach house. We don’t think we’re going to be there enough this season to really make it worth it, but you can bet your britches I’m gonna be hunting down a discounted artificial tree on the 26th to have there next year! Maybe even an extra tall one since we have 9′ ceilings downstairs in there.

And for good measure, let’s wrap this post up with a little “Get The Look” mood board that Sherry put together. It’s not a comprehensive list since so many of our decorations are a few years old, but we did our best to find comparable items and to link to the exact things we have & love whenever we could (like the magnolia garland, a few of our ornaments, our new advent calendar, and yes, that’s our exact tree in the middle).

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18

Happy holidays everyone!

Psst- Want more holiday posts and ideas? Here are a bunch of holiday & entertaining posts from years past.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Holiday House Tour 2017 appeared first on Young House Love.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 http://ift.tt/2Aw8hqr via IFTTT

[gitsygiddy]

Holiday House Tour 2017

I don’t know why I’m always compelled to start these holiday house tour posts by type-shouting “SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” but there I’ve already gone and done it. ‘Tis the season. Moving on. Here’s how we decked our proverbial halls for Christmas this year. As you may have heard in last week’s podcast, we’re continuing last year’s mission to simplify our holiday decorations. We still want our home to feel festive, but in a way that doesn’t feel too crowded and overwhelming (or take too crazy long to set up and take down). So the living room is pretty much just all about the tree and the mantle.

sofa / side tables / chairs / round marble table / blinds / ottoman / similar lamps & TV table

The tree is an artificial one that we’ve had for over five years.  It has some of the most realistic looking branches we’ve laid eyes on when it comes to fake trees, but at this point most of its original light strands are burnt out (we had a good run!) and last year we gave up trying to fix them (Sherry spent 30 minutes hunting down the wrong bulb only to replace it and watch the entire strand blow out again ten minutes later). So at this point it’s mostly lit with these strands from Target.

It took a few tests to find lights that matched the warm-ish color temperature of the original bulbs (all the LED versions were too blue looking) so we’ve hoarded a few extra boxes for down the road. The ornaments are all a mish-mash of sentimental and homemade items we’ve collected over the years and I think this year was the most fun the kids have had helping us decorate it. Maybe because they’re finally both old enough that Sherry and I are shouting “BE CAREFUL!” and “DON’T TOUCH THAT ONE, IT CAN BREAK!” less and less throughout the process.

Christmas tree / similar rug / similar tree skirts / similar stocking / garland / similar mirror 

Our typically colorful fireplace (which you can see in last year’s holiday house tour) is more subdued this year, thanks to Sherry’s greenery kick and this faux magnolia garland she bought a few months ago. She noticed it looked a little dark up there at first, so she added some ceramic white houses we’ve had for a few years (these are similar – ours are actually ornaments with the hangers cut off) and some battery operated fairy lights to bring some lightness to the mantle.

faux magnolia garland / similar stockings / battery powered lights / similar ceramic houses / similar mirror

We did pepper in some nods to the season on the living room bookcases too, but they’re easy to miss at first glance. I actually didn’t notice the mouse until I uploaded this photo (which I took!). Let’s play a little game of Where’s Waldo (Waldo the mouse, not that guy in the striped shirt).

Those small figurines are hand-me-downs from Sherry’s mom and it takes everything in Sherry’s power to not keep them out all year (miniatures are her true weakness in life). The holiday “terrarium” is a DIY project from a few years ago and we picked up the pink wooden trees at the gift shop of our local botanical garden last year during an office Christmas party (not our office – that would just be weird – it was for the ad agency where I consult).

pink trees / gold frame / holiday shadow box / our book ;)

The kitchen is also showing some holiday restraint this year. We’re using the area under the floating shelves to house the wooden house advent calendar Sherry picked up from the Magnolia collection at Target. I’ll be honest that we were a little perplexed as to how to actually use it as an advent calendar. Do you pull the “block of the day” out front as you count down? Move a little bow from house to house as you go? We decided just to turn them all around to hide the numbers and flip them to reveal each one as we go.

advent calendar / paper flowers / green candle / gold frame / shelf brackets

Hilariously enough, the description on the Target website doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that it’s an advent calendar – and weirdly suggests gluing them into their storage box (???). Guess there are lots of ways to use this thing.

Sherry did pepper some ornaments and greenery elsewhere in the kitchen, though. And yes, we’ve officially jumped on the letterboard bandwagon thanks to our friend Mandi at Vintage Revivals who surprised us with this one. You can get them on Amazon or on her site (where there’s a buy-2-get-1-free deal with the code FREEGIFT). We’ve been planning to take it the beach house, but decided we’d have some fun with it here first. Home Alone anyone?

letterboard / similar cutting board / blinds / page-a-day calendar

The K.I.S.S. greenery theme continues in the foyer (that stands for “keep it simple stupid” and not the face painted heavy metal band who famously flaunt their tongues). It doesn’t take much to get that wintery feeling in here, since the white-on-white stuff with all those layered textures already feels pretty cozy, so Sherry just added an evergreen branch and a white feather tree. I’m happy to report that this vignette can last us well through winter, so don’t be surprised if you still see it hanging around in March.

similar baskets / similar acrylic table / similar white feather tree / large glass vase / similar mirror

We also referenced Sherry’s hoard of bottle brush trees in last week’s podcast and this year she decided to cluster them in the office since they’re so colorful. It works well because that room is pretty busy (both visually and literally) so they fit right in.

similar bottle brush trees // round mirror / parsons desk / bookcase 

Nothing really happens upstairs except for a few mini trees. My personal favorite is the one that sits in the bonus room, because it glows from down the hall and we can see it from outside in the driveway too. This is a photo from last year (forgive me) but it looks pretty much exactly the same this year. We boxed everything up together when we packed it away last year (the tree, its ornaments, and even the extension cord) so setting it up was easy and fast.

similar rug / vintage rocker / similar tree / sofa / globe

This is another photo from last year (gasp!) but again, it’s nearly identical this season. It’s our daughter’s artificial tree that we added several years ago when she was old enough to handle the “responsibility” of her own little tree (aka: don’t pull ornaments off and put them in your mouth or attempt to hang them on the dog). The tree came with its own little plastic pot at the base, but Sherry likes to slide it into one of her woven baskets (that she painted) which looks extra cheerful.

similar lidded basket / similar tree / quote art / door color: BM Cinco De Mayo

What’s new this year is our son’s tree, since he can finally be trusted with one of his own. He picked out this green tinsel tree himself ($8? sold!) because, well, he’s three and it was just about the coolest thing he’d ever seen. Scratch that – it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen once we added a string of colored LED lights to it. Each year we let the kids pick out some new soft ornaments for the shared tree in the bonus room, but we let him sneak his favorite one (this knitted wreath, which he lovingly calls his “Christmas Donut”) onto his tree, along with some shatterproof balls.

dragon & gorilla baskets / similar woven baskets / similar rug / tree / lights / bookcase

I’ll admit it makes me feel a little Scrooge-y to keep talking about pulling back on our holiday decor, but as Sherry said in the podcast: we’re really just trying to focus on the decorations that make us all the happiest, and cut out the parts that seem more labor than love. Everyone loved putting up ornaments this year, so we focused on the trees. Sherry’s favorite pun of her entire life is “boots with the fir” – so those fir-stuffed boots landed on the porch with glee. And she loves going wreath making with the girls, so she made this hilariously giant one this year (which you probably saw on Instagram).

similar wreath / red boots / welcome mat / fake trees in those black pots (yes they’re fake!) / door color: BM Blue Lake

And, well, I love my shed. So while Sherry was off wrestling half of planet earth’s magnolia leaves onto a single wreath, I picked up a few strands of colorful LEDs and some roof clips to bring some cheer to my little home away from home. I’m not brave enough to attempt this on our real roof, but I thought this would be a fun way to dress up the backyard without being 30′ from the ground.

Plus, the kids are super into rainbow lights this year, so it felt like the perfect place to deviate from the all-white lights that live in the front yard. Methinks it might need some more though. Maybe next year!

Actually, the main thing on our list for next year is an artificial tree for the beach house. We don’t think we’re going to be there enough this season to really make it worth it, but you can bet your britches I’m gonna be hunting down a discounted artificial tree on the 26th to have there next year! Maybe even an extra tall one since we have 9′ ceilings downstairs in there.

And for good measure, let’s wrap this post up with a little “Get The Look” mood board that Sherry put together. It’s not a comprehensive list since so many of our decorations are a few years old, but we did our best to find comparable items and to link to the exact things we have & love whenever we could (like the magnolia garland, a few of our ornaments, our new advent calendar, and yes, that’s our exact tree in the middle).

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18

Happy holidays everyone!

Psst- Want more holiday posts and ideas? Here are a bunch of holiday & entertaining posts from years past.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Holiday House Tour 2017 appeared first on Young House Love.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 http://ift.tt/2Aw8hqr via IFTTT

[jgomez10x]

Holiday House Tour 2017

I don’t know why I’m always compelled to start these holiday house tour posts by type-shouting “SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” but there I’ve already gone and done it. ‘Tis the season. Moving on. Here’s how we decked our proverbial halls for Christmas this year. As you may have heard in last week’s podcast, we’re continuing last year’s mission to simplify our holiday decorations. We still want our home to feel festive, but in a way that doesn’t feel too crowded and overwhelming (or take too crazy long to set up and take down). So the living room is pretty much just all about the tree and the mantle.

sofa / side tables / chairs / round marble table / blinds / ottoman / similar lamps & TV table

The tree is an artificial one that we’ve had for over five years.  It has some of the most realistic looking branches we’ve laid eyes on when it comes to fake trees, but at this point most of its original light strands are burnt out (we had a good run!) and last year we gave up trying to fix them (Sherry spent 30 minutes hunting down the wrong bulb only to replace it and watch the entire strand blow out again ten minutes later). So at this point it’s mostly lit with these strands from Target.

It took a few tests to find lights that matched the warm-ish color temperature of the original bulbs (all the LED versions were too blue looking) so we’ve hoarded a few extra boxes for down the road. The ornaments are all a mish-mash of sentimental and homemade items we’ve collected over the years and I think this year was the most fun the kids have had helping us decorate it. Maybe because they’re finally both old enough that Sherry and I are shouting “BE CAREFUL!” and “DON’T TOUCH THAT ONE, IT CAN BREAK!” less and less throughout the process.

Christmas tree / similar rug / similar tree skirts / similar stocking / garland / similar mirror 

Our typically colorful fireplace (which you can see in last year’s holiday house tour) is more subdued this year, thanks to Sherry’s greenery kick and this faux magnolia garland she bought a few months ago. She noticed it looked a little dark up there at first, so she added some ceramic white houses we’ve had for a few years (these are similar – ours are actually ornaments with the hangers cut off) and some battery operated fairy lights to bring some lightness to the mantle.

faux magnolia garland / similar stockings / battery powered lights / similar ceramic houses / similar mirror

We did pepper in some nods to the season on the living room bookcases too, but they’re easy to miss at first glance. I actually didn’t notice the mouse until I uploaded this photo (which I took!). Let’s play a little game of Where’s Waldo (Waldo the mouse, not that guy in the striped shirt).

Those small figurines are hand-me-downs from Sherry’s mom and it takes everything in Sherry’s power to not keep them out all year (miniatures are her true weakness in life). The holiday “terrarium” is a DIY project from a few years ago and we picked up the pink wooden trees at the gift shop of our local botanical garden last year during an office Christmas party (not our office – that would just be weird – it was for the ad agency where I consult).

pink trees / gold frame / holiday shadow box / our book ;)

The kitchen is also showing some holiday restraint this year. We’re using the area under the floating shelves to house the wooden house advent calendar Sherry picked up from the Magnolia collection at Target. I’ll be honest that we were a little perplexed as to how to actually use it as an advent calendar. Do you pull the “block of the day” out front as you count down? Move a little bow from house to house as you go? We decided just to turn them all around to hide the numbers and flip them to reveal each one as we go.

advent calendar / paper flowers / green candle / gold frame / shelf brackets

Hilariously enough, the description on the Target website doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that it’s an advent calendar – and weirdly suggests gluing them into their storage box (???). Guess there are lots of ways to use this thing.

Sherry did pepper some ornaments and greenery elsewhere in the kitchen, though. And yes, we’ve officially jumped on the letterboard bandwagon thanks to our friend Mandi at Vintage Revivals who surprised us with this one. You can get them on Amazon or on her site (where there’s a buy-2-get-1-free deal with the code FREEGIFT). We’ve been planning to take it the beach house, but decided we’d have some fun with it here first. Home Alone anyone?

letterboard / similar cutting board / blinds / page-a-day calendar

The K.I.S.S. greenery theme continues in the foyer (that stands for “keep it simple stupid” and not the face painted heavy metal band who famously flaunt their tongues). It doesn’t take much to get that wintery feeling in here, since the white-on-white stuff with all those layered textures already feels pretty cozy, so Sherry just added an evergreen branch and a white feather tree. I’m happy to report that this vignette can last us well through winter, so don’t be surprised if you still see it hanging around in March.

similar baskets / similar acrylic table / similar white feather tree / large glass vase / similar mirror

We also referenced Sherry’s hoard of bottle brush trees in last week’s podcast and this year she decided to cluster them in the office since they’re so colorful. It works well because that room is pretty busy (both visually and literally) so they fit right in.

similar bottle brush trees // round mirror / parsons desk / bookcase 

Nothing really happens upstairs except for a few mini trees. My personal favorite is the one that sits in the bonus room, because it glows from down the hall and we can see it from outside in the driveway too. This is a photo from last year (forgive me) but it looks pretty much exactly the same this year. We boxed everything up together when we packed it away last year (the tree, its ornaments, and even the extension cord) so setting it up was easy and fast.

similar rug / vintage rocker / similar tree / sofa / globe

This is another photo from last year (gasp!) but again, it’s nearly identical this season. It’s our daughter’s artificial tree that we added several years ago when she was old enough to handle the “responsibility” of her own little tree (aka: don’t pull ornaments off and put them in your mouth or attempt to hang them on the dog). The tree came with its own little plastic pot at the base, but Sherry likes to slide it into one of her woven baskets (that she painted) which looks extra cheerful.

similar lidded basket / similar tree / quote art / door color: BM Cinco De Mayo

What’s new this year is our son’s tree, since he can finally be trusted with one of his own. He picked out this green tinsel tree himself ($8? sold!) because, well, he’s three and it was just about the coolest thing he’d ever seen. Scratch that – it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen once we added a string of colored LED lights to it. Each year we let the kids pick out some new soft ornaments for the shared tree in the bonus room, but we let him sneak his favorite one (this knitted wreath, which he lovingly calls his “Christmas Donut”) onto his tree, along with some shatterproof balls.

dragon & gorilla baskets / similar woven baskets / similar rug / tree / lights / bookcase

I’ll admit it makes me feel a little Scrooge-y to keep talking about pulling back on our holiday decor, but as Sherry said in the podcast: we’re really just trying to focus on the decorations that make us all the happiest, and cut out the parts that seem more labor than love. Everyone loved putting up ornaments this year, so we focused on the trees. Sherry’s favorite pun of her entire life is “boots with the fir” – so those fir-stuffed boots landed on the porch with glee. And she loves going wreath making with the girls, so she made this hilariously giant one this year (which you probably saw on Instagram).

similar wreath / red boots / welcome mat / fake trees in those black pots (yes they’re fake!) / door color: BM Blue Lake

And, well, I love my shed. So while Sherry was off wrestling half of planet earth’s magnolia leaves onto a single wreath, I picked up a few strands of colorful LEDs and some roof clips to bring some cheer to my little home away from home. I’m not brave enough to attempt this on our real roof, but I thought this would be a fun way to dress up the backyard without being 30′ from the ground.

Plus, the kids are super into rainbow lights this year, so it felt like the perfect place to deviate from the all-white lights that live in the front yard. Methinks it might need some more though. Maybe next year!

Actually, the main thing on our list for next year is an artificial tree for the beach house. We don’t think we’re going to be there enough this season to really make it worth it, but you can bet your britches I’m gonna be hunting down a discounted artificial tree on the 26th to have there next year! Maybe even an extra tall one since we have 9′ ceilings downstairs in there.

And for good measure, let’s wrap this post up with a little “Get The Look” mood board that Sherry put together. It’s not a comprehensive list since so many of our decorations are a few years old, but we did our best to find comparable items and to link to the exact things we have & love whenever we could (like the magnolia garland, a few of our ornaments, our new advent calendar, and yes, that’s our exact tree in the middle).

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18

Happy holidays everyone!

Psst- Want more holiday posts and ideas? Here are a bunch of holiday & entertaining posts from years past.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Holiday House Tour 2017 appeared first on Young House Love.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 http://ift.tt/2Aw8hqr via IFTTT

[jennarocca]

Holiday House Tour 2017

I don’t know why I’m always compelled to start these holiday house tour posts by type-shouting “SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” but there I’ve already gone and done it. ‘Tis the season. Moving on. Here’s how we decked our proverbial halls for Christmas this year. As you may have heard in last week’s podcast, we’re continuing last year’s mission to simplify our holiday decorations. We still want our home to feel festive, but in a way that doesn’t feel too crowded and overwhelming (or take too crazy long to set up and take down). So the living room is pretty much just all about the tree and the mantle.

sofa / side tables / chairs / round marble table / blinds / ottoman / similar lamps & TV table

The tree is an artificial one that we’ve had for over five years.  It has some of the most realistic looking branches we’ve laid eyes on when it comes to fake trees, but at this point most of its original light strands are burnt out (we had a good run!) and last year we gave up trying to fix them (Sherry spent 30 minutes hunting down the wrong bulb only to replace it and watch the entire strand blow out again ten minutes later). So at this point it’s mostly lit with these strands from Target.

It took a few tests to find lights that matched the warm-ish color temperature of the original bulbs (all the LED versions were too blue looking) so we’ve hoarded a few extra boxes for down the road. The ornaments are all a mish-mash of sentimental and homemade items we’ve collected over the years and I think this year was the most fun the kids have had helping us decorate it. Maybe because they’re finally both old enough that Sherry and I are shouting “BE CAREFUL!” and “DON’T TOUCH THAT ONE, IT CAN BREAK!” less and less throughout the process.

Christmas tree / similar rug / similar tree skirts / similar stocking / garland / similar mirror 

Our typically colorful fireplace (which you can see in last year’s holiday house tour) is more subdued this year, thanks to Sherry’s greenery kick and this faux magnolia garland she bought a few months ago. She noticed it looked a little dark up there at first, so she added some ceramic white houses we’ve had for a few years (these are similar – ours are actually ornaments with the hangers cut off) and some battery operated fairy lights to bring some lightness to the mantle.

faux magnolia garland / similar stockings / battery powered lights / similar ceramic houses / similar mirror

We did pepper in some nods to the season on the living room bookcases too, but they’re easy to miss at first glance. I actually didn’t notice the mouse until I uploaded this photo (which I took!). Let’s play a little game of Where’s Waldo (Waldo the mouse, not that guy in the striped shirt).

Those small figurines are hand-me-downs from Sherry’s mom and it takes everything in Sherry’s power to not keep them out all year (miniatures are her true weakness in life). The holiday “terrarium” is a DIY project from a few years ago and we picked up the pink wooden trees at the gift shop of our local botanical garden last year during an office Christmas party (not our office – that would just be weird – it was for the ad agency where I consult).

pink trees / gold frame / holiday shadow box / our book ;)

The kitchen is also showing some holiday restraint this year. We’re using the area under the floating shelves to house the wooden house advent calendar Sherry picked up from the Magnolia collection at Target. I’ll be honest that we were a little perplexed as to how to actually use it as an advent calendar. Do you pull the “block of the day” out front as you count down? Move a little bow from house to house as you go? We decided just to turn them all around to hide the numbers and flip them to reveal each one as we go.

advent calendar / paper flowers / green candle / gold frame / shelf brackets

Hilariously enough, the description on the Target website doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that it’s an advent calendar – and weirdly suggests gluing them into their storage box (???). Guess there are lots of ways to use this thing.

Sherry did pepper some ornaments and greenery elsewhere in the kitchen, though. And yes, we’ve officially jumped on the letterboard bandwagon thanks to our friend Mandi at Vintage Revivals who surprised us with this one. You can get them on Amazon or on her site (where there’s a buy-2-get-1-free deal with the code FREEGIFT). We’ve been planning to take it the beach house, but decided we’d have some fun with it here first. Home Alone anyone?

letterboard / similar cutting board / blinds / page-a-day calendar

The K.I.S.S. greenery theme continues in the foyer (that stands for “keep it simple stupid” and not the face painted heavy metal band who famously flaunt their tongues). It doesn’t take much to get that wintery feeling in here, since the white-on-white stuff with all those layered textures already feels pretty cozy, so Sherry just added an evergreen branch and a white feather tree. I’m happy to report that this vignette can last us well through winter, so don’t be surprised if you still see it hanging around in March.

similar baskets / similar acrylic table / similar white feather tree / large glass vase / similar mirror

We also referenced Sherry’s hoard of bottle brush trees in last week’s podcast and this year she decided to cluster them in the office since they’re so colorful. It works well because that room is pretty busy (both visually and literally) so they fit right in.

similar bottle brush trees // round mirror / parsons desk / bookcase 

Nothing really happens upstairs except for a few mini trees. My personal favorite is the one that sits in the bonus room, because it glows from down the hall and we can see it from outside in the driveway too. This is a photo from last year (forgive me) but it looks pretty much exactly the same this year. We boxed everything up together when we packed it away last year (the tree, its ornaments, and even the extension cord) so setting it up was easy and fast.

similar rug / vintage rocker / similar tree / sofa / globe

This is another photo from last year (gasp!) but again, it’s nearly identical this season. It’s our daughter’s artificial tree that we added several years ago when she was old enough to handle the “responsibility” of her own little tree (aka: don’t pull ornaments off and put them in your mouth or attempt to hang them on the dog). The tree came with its own little plastic pot at the base, but Sherry likes to slide it into one of her woven baskets (that she painted) which looks extra cheerful.

similar lidded basket / similar tree / quote art / door color: BM Cinco De Mayo

What’s new this year is our son’s tree, since he can finally be trusted with one of his own. He picked out this green tinsel tree himself ($8? sold!) because, well, he’s three and it was just about the coolest thing he’d ever seen. Scratch that – it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen once we added a string of colored LED lights to it. Each year we let the kids pick out some new soft ornaments for the shared tree in the bonus room, but we let him sneak his favorite one (this knitted wreath, which he lovingly calls his “Christmas Donut”) onto his tree, along with some shatterproof balls.

dragon & gorilla baskets / similar woven baskets / similar rug / tree / lights / bookcase

I’ll admit it makes me feel a little Scrooge-y to keep talking about pulling back on our holiday decor, but as Sherry said in the podcast: we’re really just trying to focus on the decorations that make us all the happiest, and cut out the parts that seem more labor than love. Everyone loved putting up ornaments this year, so we focused on the trees. Sherry’s favorite pun of her entire life is “boots with the fir” – so those fir-stuffed boots landed on the porch with glee. And she loves going wreath making with the girls, so she made this hilariously giant one this year (which you probably saw on Instagram).

similar wreath / red boots / welcome mat / fake trees in those black pots (yes they’re fake!) / door color: BM Blue Lake

And, well, I love my shed. So while Sherry was off wrestling half of planet earth’s magnolia leaves onto a single wreath, I picked up a few strands of colorful LEDs and some roof clips to bring some cheer to my little home away from home. I’m not brave enough to attempt this on our real roof, but I thought this would be a fun way to dress up the backyard without being 30′ from the ground.

Plus, the kids are super into rainbow lights this year, so it felt like the perfect place to deviate from the all-white lights that live in the front yard. Methinks it might need some more though. Maybe next year!

Actually, the main thing on our list for next year is an artificial tree for the beach house. We don’t think we’re going to be there enough this season to really make it worth it, but you can bet your britches I’m gonna be hunting down a discounted artificial tree on the 26th to have there next year! Maybe even an extra tall one since we have 9′ ceilings downstairs in there.

And for good measure, let’s wrap this post up with a little “Get The Look” mood board that Sherry put together. It’s not a comprehensive list since so many of our decorations are a few years old, but we did our best to find comparable items and to link to the exact things we have & love whenever we could (like the magnolia garland, a few of our ornaments, our new advent calendar, and yes, that’s our exact tree in the middle).

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18

Happy holidays everyone!

Psst- Want more holiday posts and ideas? Here are a bunch of holiday & entertaining posts from years past.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Holiday House Tour 2017 appeared first on Young House Love.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 http://ift.tt/2Aw8hqr via IFTTT

[jayyd0ll]

Holiday House Tour 2017

I don’t know why I’m always compelled to start these holiday house tour posts by type-shouting “SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” but there I’ve already gone and done it. ‘Tis the season. Moving on. Here’s how we decked our proverbial halls for Christmas this year. As you may have heard in last week’s podcast, we’re continuing last year’s mission to simplify our holiday decorations. We still want our home to feel festive, but in a way that doesn’t feel too crowded and overwhelming (or take too crazy long to set up and take down). So the living room is pretty much just all about the tree and the mantle.

sofa / side tables / chairs / round marble table / blinds / ottoman / similar lamps & TV table

The tree is an artificial one that we’ve had for over five years.  It has some of the most realistic looking branches we’ve laid eyes on when it comes to fake trees, but at this point most of its original light strands are burnt out (we had a good run!) and last year we gave up trying to fix them (Sherry spent 30 minutes hunting down the wrong bulb only to replace it and watch the entire strand blow out again ten minutes later). So at this point it’s mostly lit with these strands from Target.

It took a few tests to find lights that matched the warm-ish color temperature of the original bulbs (all the LED versions were too blue looking) so we’ve hoarded a few extra boxes for down the road. The ornaments are all a mish-mash of sentimental and homemade items we’ve collected over the years and I think this year was the most fun the kids have had helping us decorate it. Maybe because they’re finally both old enough that Sherry and I are shouting “BE CAREFUL!” and “DON’T TOUCH THAT ONE, IT CAN BREAK!” less and less throughout the process.

Christmas tree / similar rug / similar tree skirts / similar stocking / garland / similar mirror 

Our typically colorful fireplace (which you can see in last year’s holiday house tour) is more subdued this year, thanks to Sherry’s greenery kick and this faux magnolia garland she bought a few months ago. She noticed it looked a little dark up there at first, so she added some ceramic white houses we’ve had for a few years (these are similar – ours are actually ornaments with the hangers cut off) and some battery operated fairy lights to bring some lightness to the mantle.

faux magnolia garland / similar stockings / battery powered lights / similar ceramic houses / similar mirror

We did pepper in some nods to the season on the living room bookcases too, but they’re easy to miss at first glance. I actually didn’t notice the mouse until I uploaded this photo (which I took!). Let’s play a little game of Where’s Waldo (Waldo the mouse, not that guy in the striped shirt).

Those small figurines are hand-me-downs from Sherry’s mom and it takes everything in Sherry’s power to not keep them out all year (miniatures are her true weakness in life). The holiday “terrarium” is a DIY project from a few years ago and we picked up the pink wooden trees at the gift shop of our local botanical garden last year during an office Christmas party (not our office – that would just be weird – it was for the ad agency where I consult).

pink trees / gold frame / holiday shadow box / our book ;)

The kitchen is also showing some holiday restraint this year. We’re using the area under the floating shelves to house the wooden house advent calendar Sherry picked up from the Magnolia collection at Target. I’ll be honest that we were a little perplexed as to how to actually use it as an advent calendar. Do you pull the “block of the day” out front as you count down? Move a little bow from house to house as you go? We decided just to turn them all around to hide the numbers and flip them to reveal each one as we go.

advent calendar / paper flowers / green candle / gold frame / shelf brackets

Hilariously enough, the description on the Target website doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that it’s an advent calendar – and weirdly suggests gluing them into their storage box (???). Guess there are lots of ways to use this thing.

Sherry did pepper some ornaments and greenery elsewhere in the kitchen, though. And yes, we’ve officially jumped on the letterboard bandwagon thanks to our friend Mandi at Vintage Revivals who surprised us with this one. You can get them on Amazon or on her site (where there’s a buy-2-get-1-free deal with the code FREEGIFT). We’ve been planning to take it the beach house, but decided we’d have some fun with it here first. Home Alone anyone?

letterboard / similar cutting board / blinds / page-a-day calendar

The K.I.S.S. greenery theme continues in the foyer (that stands for “keep it simple stupid” and not the face painted heavy metal band who famously flaunt their tongues). It doesn’t take much to get that wintery feeling in here, since the white-on-white stuff with all those layered textures already feels pretty cozy, so Sherry just added an evergreen branch and a white feather tree. I’m happy to report that this vignette can last us well through winter, so don’t be surprised if you still see it hanging around in March.

similar baskets / similar acrylic table / similar white feather tree / large glass vase / similar mirror

We also referenced Sherry’s hoard of bottle brush trees in last week’s podcast and this year she decided to cluster them in the office since they’re so colorful. It works well because that room is pretty busy (both visually and literally) so they fit right in.

similar bottle brush trees // round mirror / parsons desk / bookcase 

Nothing really happens upstairs except for a few mini trees. My personal favorite is the one that sits in the bonus room, because it glows from down the hall and we can see it from outside in the driveway too. This is a photo from last year (forgive me) but it looks pretty much exactly the same this year. We boxed everything up together when we packed it away last year (the tree, its ornaments, and even the extension cord) so setting it up was easy and fast.

similar rug / vintage rocker / similar tree / sofa / globe

This is another photo from last year (gasp!) but again, it’s nearly identical this season. It’s our daughter’s artificial tree that we added several years ago when she was old enough to handle the “responsibility” of her own little tree (aka: don’t pull ornaments off and put them in your mouth or attempt to hang them on the dog). The tree came with its own little plastic pot at the base, but Sherry likes to slide it into one of her woven baskets (that she painted) which looks extra cheerful.

similar lidded basket / similar tree / quote art / door color: BM Cinco De Mayo

What’s new this year is our son’s tree, since he can finally be trusted with one of his own. He picked out this green tinsel tree himself ($8? sold!) because, well, he’s three and it was just about the coolest thing he’d ever seen. Scratch that – it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen once we added a string of colored LED lights to it. Each year we let the kids pick out some new soft ornaments for the shared tree in the bonus room, but we let him sneak his favorite one (this knitted wreath, which he lovingly calls his “Christmas Donut”) onto his tree, along with some shatterproof balls.

dragon & gorilla baskets / similar woven baskets / similar rug / tree / lights / bookcase

I’ll admit it makes me feel a little Scrooge-y to keep talking about pulling back on our holiday decor, but as Sherry said in the podcast: we’re really just trying to focus on the decorations that make us all the happiest, and cut out the parts that seem more labor than love. Everyone loved putting up ornaments this year, so we focused on the trees. Sherry’s favorite pun of her entire life is “boots with the fir” – so those fir-stuffed boots landed on the porch with glee. And she loves going wreath making with the girls, so she made this hilariously giant one this year (which you probably saw on Instagram).

similar wreath / red boots / welcome mat / fake trees in those black pots (yes they’re fake!) / door color: BM Blue Lake

And, well, I love my shed. So while Sherry was off wrestling half of planet earth’s magnolia leaves onto a single wreath, I picked up a few strands of colorful LEDs and some roof clips to bring some cheer to my little home away from home. I’m not brave enough to attempt this on our real roof, but I thought this would be a fun way to dress up the backyard without being 30′ from the ground.

Plus, the kids are super into rainbow lights this year, so it felt like the perfect place to deviate from the all-white lights that live in the front yard. Methinks it might need some more though. Maybe next year!

Actually, the main thing on our list for next year is an artificial tree for the beach house. We don’t think we’re going to be there enough this season to really make it worth it, but you can bet your britches I’m gonna be hunting down a discounted artificial tree on the 26th to have there next year! Maybe even an extra tall one since we have 9′ ceilings downstairs in there.

And for good measure, let’s wrap this post up with a little “Get The Look” mood board that Sherry put together. It’s not a comprehensive list since so many of our decorations are a few years old, but we did our best to find comparable items and to link to the exact things we have & love whenever we could (like the magnolia garland, a few of our ornaments, our new advent calendar, and yes, that’s our exact tree in the middle).

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18

Happy holidays everyone!

Psst- Want more holiday posts and ideas? Here are a bunch of holiday & entertaining posts from years past.

*This post contains affiliate links*

The post Holiday House Tour 2017 appeared first on Young House Love.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8265713 http://ift.tt/2Aw8hqr via IFTTT

[yesterdaysdreams]

Holiday House Tour 2017

I don’t know why I’m always compelled to start these holiday house tour posts by type-shouting “SMILING’S MY FAVORITE” but there I’ve already gone and done it. ‘Tis the season. Moving on. Here’s how we decked our proverbial halls for Christmas this year. As you may have heard in last week’s podcast, we’re continuing last year’s mission to simplify our holiday decorations. We still want our home to feel festive, but in a way that doesn’t feel too crowded and overwhelming (or take too crazy long to set up and take down). So the living room is pretty much just all about the tree and the mantle.

sofa / side tables / chairs / round marble table / blinds / ottoman / similar lamps & TV table

The tree is an artificial one that we’ve had for over five years.  It has some of the most realistic looking branches we’ve laid eyes on when it comes to fake trees, but at this point most of its original light strands are burnt out (we had a good run!) and last year we gave up trying to fix them (Sherry spent 30 minutes hunting down the wrong bulb only to replace it and watch the entire strand blow out again ten minutes later). So at this point it’s mostly lit with these strands from Target.

It took a few tests to find lights that matched the warm-ish color temperature of the original bulbs (all the LED versions were too blue looking) so we’ve hoarded a few extra boxes for down the road. The ornaments are all a mish-mash of sentimental and homemade items we’ve collected over the years and I think this year was the most fun the kids have had helping us decorate it. Maybe because they’re finally both old enough that Sherry and I are shouting “BE CAREFUL!” and “DON’T TOUCH THAT ONE, IT CAN BREAK!” less and less throughout the process.

Christmas tree / similar rug / similar tree skirts / similar stocking / garland / similar mirror 

Our typically colorful fireplace (which you can see in last year’s holiday house tour) is more subdued this year, thanks to Sherry’s greenery kick and this faux magnolia garland she bought a few months ago. She noticed it looked a little dark up there at first, so she added some ceramic white houses we’ve had for a few years (these are similar – ours are actually ornaments with the hangers cut off) and some battery operated fairy lights to bring some lightness to the mantle.

faux magnolia garland / similar stockings / battery powered lights / similar ceramic houses / similar mirror

We did pepper in some nods to the season on the living room bookcases too, but they’re easy to miss at first glance. I actually didn’t notice the mouse until I uploaded this photo (which I took!). Let’s play a little game of Where’s Waldo (Waldo the mouse, not that guy in the striped shirt).

Those small figurines are hand-me-downs from Sherry’s mom and it takes everything in Sherry’s power to not keep them out all year (miniatures are her true weakness in life). The holiday “terrarium” is a DIY project from a few years ago and we picked up the pink wooden trees at the gift shop of our local botanical garden last year during an office Christmas party (not our office – that would just be weird – it was for the ad agency where I consult).

pink trees / gold frame / holiday shadow box / our book ;)

The kitchen is also showing some holiday restraint this year. We’re using the area under the floating shelves to house the wooden house advent calendar Sherry picked up from the Magnolia collection at Target. I’ll be honest that we were a little perplexed as to how to actually use it as an advent calendar. Do you pull the “block of the day” out front as you count down? Move a little bow from house to house as you go? We decided just to turn them all around to hide the numbers and flip them to reveal each one as we go.

advent calendar / paper flowers / green candle / gold frame / shelf brackets

Hilariously enough, the description on the Target website doesn’t even seem to acknowledge that it’s an advent calendar – and weirdly suggests gluing them into their storage box (???). Guess there are lots of ways to use this thing.

Sherry did pepper some ornaments and greenery elsewhere in the kitchen, though. And yes, we’ve officially jumped on the letterboard bandwagon thanks to our friend Mandi at Vintage Revivals who surprised us with this one. You can get them on Amazon or on her site (where there’s a buy-2-get-1-free deal with the code FREEGIFT). We’ve been planning to take it the beach house, but decided we’d have some fun with it here first. Home Alone anyone?

letterboard / similar cutting board / blinds / page-a-day calendar

The K.I.S.S. greenery theme continues in the foyer (that stands for “keep it simple stupid” and not the face painted heavy metal band who famously flaunt their tongues). It doesn’t take much to get that wintery feeling in here, since the white-on-white stuff with all those layered textures already feels pretty cozy, so Sherry just added an evergreen branch and a white feather tree. I’m happy to report that this vignette can last us well through winter, so don’t be surprised if you still see it hanging around in March.

similar baskets / similar acrylic table / similar white feather tree / large glass vase / similar mirror

We also referenced Sherry’s hoard of bottle brush trees in last week’s podcast and this year she decided to cluster them in the office since they’re so colorful. It works well because that room is pretty busy (both visually and literally) so they fit right in.

similar bottle brush trees // round mirror / parsons desk / bookcase 

Nothing really happens upstairs except for a few mini trees. My personal favorite is the one that sits in the bonus room, because it glows from down the hall and we can see it from outside in the driveway too. This is a photo from last year (forgive me) but it looks pretty much exactly the same this year. We boxed everything up together when we packed it away last year (the tree, its ornaments, and even the extension cord) so setting it up was easy and fast.

similar rug / vintage rocker / similar tree / sofa / globe

This is another photo from last year (gasp!) but again, it’s nearly identical this season. It’s our daughter’s artificial tree that we added several years ago when she was old enough to handle the “responsibility” of her own little tree (aka: don’t pull ornaments off and put them in your mouth or attempt to hang them on the dog). The tree came with its own little plastic pot at the base, but Sherry likes to slide it into one of her woven baskets (that she painted) which looks extra cheerful.

similar lidded basket / similar tree / quote art / door color: BM Cinco De Mayo

What’s new this year is our son’s tree, since he can finally be trusted with one of his own. He picked out this green tinsel tree himself ($8? sold!) because, well, he’s three and it was just about the coolest thing he’d ever seen. Scratch that – it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen once we added a string of colored LED lights to it. Each year we let the kids pick out some new soft ornaments for the shared tree in the bonus room, but we let him sneak his favorite one (this knitted wreath, which he lovingly calls his “Christmas Donut”) onto his tree, along with some shatterproof balls.

dragon & gorilla baskets / similar woven baskets / similar rug / tree / lights / bookcase

I’ll admit it makes me feel a little Scrooge-y to keep talking about pulling back on our holiday decor, but as Sherry said in the podcast: we’re really just trying to focus on the decorations that make us all the happiest, and cut out the parts that seem more labor than love. Everyone loved putting up ornaments this year, so we focused on the trees. Sherry’s favorite pun of her entire life is “boots with the fir” – so those fir-stuffed boots landed on the porch with glee. And she loves going wreath making with the girls, so she made this hilariously giant one this year (which you probably saw on Instagram).

similar wreath / red boots / welcome mat / fake trees in those black pots (yes they’re fake!) / door color: BM Blue Lake

And, well, I love my shed. So while Sherry was off wrestling half of planet earth’s magnolia leaves onto a single wreath, I picked up a few strands of colorful LEDs and some roof clips to bring some cheer to my little home away from home. I’m not brave enough to attempt this on our real roof, but I thought this would be a fun way to dress up the backyard without being 30′ from the ground.

Plus, the kids are super into rainbow lights this year, so it felt like the perfect place to deviate from the all-white lights that live in the front yard. Methinks it might need some more though. Maybe next year!

Actually, the main thing on our list for next year is an artificial tree for the beach house. We don’t think we’re going to be there enough this season to really make it worth it, but you can bet your britches I’m gonna be hunting down a discounted artificial tree on the 26th to have there next year! Maybe even an extra tall one since we have 9′ ceilings downstairs in there.

And for good measure, let’s wrap this post up with a little “Get The Look” mood board that Sherry put together. It’s not a comprehensive list since so many of our decorations are a few years old, but we did our best to find comparable items and to link to the exact things we have & love whenever we could (like the magnolia garland, a few of our ornaments, our new advent calendar, and yes, that’s our exact tree in the middle).

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18

Happy holidays everyone!

Psst- Want more holiday posts and ideas? Here are a bunch of holiday & entertaining posts from years past.

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