December is certainly the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas is my absolute favorite season and I could not wait to go all out this year decorating our new home. We purchased this house last year and with all of the added expenses of furnishing it -we came from a small one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica- as soon as we got it, we decided to wait until 2018 to buy Holiday decorations. Being crafty is no easy task for me, so I enlisted the help of my mama, a Christmas decoration extraordinaire, to help me create the classic look I was going for. 

Decoration style varies from home to home and while I enjoy seeing the pink trees and striped black and white ribbons, I am more of a traditionalist myself. I love a red and gold Christmas that is very elevated and elegant. My mom was able to capture my vision perfectly and over the course of five days we decorated all of my downstairs, including the guest bedroom! (And by “we” I mean I was her elf, because I had no idea what I was doing).

Christmas Tree

The focal point of the house and gatherings. I was very excited to partner up with Treetopia for my greenery. I selected this 9’ Alexander Fir Artificial Christmas tree since we have high ceilings. I have never owned a Christmas tree this big and am totally obsessed with how grand and full it is. It is pre-lit {which my husband was super excited about} and the set up took all of five minutes. It is quite heavy and substantial so if you decide to purchase it make sure to place it right where you will want it for the rest of the season. Moving it is so hard!

Mom decorated it with ornaments in different scales and materials, as well as printed ribbon. We then added the ornaments that are most special to me. Like our wedding keepsakes and travel souvenirs {I buy an ornament in each place we visit together}.

Bar Wreath

Because our home has an open floor concept we incorporated the Balsam Spruce Christmas Wreath over the bar to bring some of the décor into this corner. The wreath is battery operated so I did not have to worry about ugly cables hanging from the wall. And my favorite part of all Treetopia items is that even though the lights are LED, the color is actually very warm. Like a traditional Christmas string light. We added these Timeless Figures mini ornaments to the wreath for a fun touch. We also have a donkey head we purchased in Ibiza, her name is Camila.  Mom decorated it with a bow around her neck.

Stair Garland & Mirror Décor

Again, a first for me. Never really had a banister to decorate before. We added the Balsam Spruce Garland, which is pre-lit so no need to worry about cables here either. My mom incorporated the ornaments and colors ending it with a beautiful waterfall detail. This matches the piece she created for the mirror. This is perhaps one of my favorite pieces of décor in the house. This is on my foyer so it is the first holiday item guests see when they walk in, setting the tone for the rest of the house. 

Kitchen

And of course we brought the decor into the kitchen by adding more of the Balsam Spruce Garland on top of the cabinets. Because we had decorations going on at the bar, stairs and foyer, we decided to keep it simple by adding a few red ornaments here and there. We let the density of the pre-lit garland shine on its own. I love cooking in here even more!

Guest Bedroom

I always wanted to be one of those over the top people that decorate every room in the house, and my dreams are slowly coming true HA! I added another Balsam Spruce Christmas Wreath in the guest bedroom, swapping it for the usual picture that hangs over the bed. My mom continued with the red theme and added some sparkle with touches of gold. We also added a yummy red throw to give it extra color. My in-laws will be staying in this room over Christmas, so I wanted to make sure we brought the holiday spirit into the room.

That is all for my indoor holiday decor tour. Thanks to Treetopia for this wonderful partnership and to my mama for bringing her fabulous talents to Austin. 

xx, Nicole

Design: Norma Orozco
(How cute is she!?)

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Karen Walker Denim Skirt

Top // Skirt // Boots // Bag // Earrings

Denim skirts made a come back early this year during Spring. I was a bit hesitant to adopt this trend because it was giving me college flashbacks {Abercrombie & Fitch tees + denim skirts all day every day}. But Karen Walker day viewed her collection with Madewell last month and she made me change my mind. I love the bow detail and the length of the skirt, it is short without being uncomfortable; and the stretchy denim hugs me in all the right places. Runs true to size. I can see myself wearing it with soft sweaters and booties during weekends and even sneakers and a crisp white button down for a casual Friday at the office. 

My earrings are by local Austin designer Rebecca, the Dalmatian agate stone is the perfect shade of green to wear with this top. I think it will look great with ivory sweaters and black tops. I wear a lot of olive green to the office and these earrings have been on constant rotation since I got them two weeks ago. You can find more of her designs here. 

Happy Friday! We are gearing up for a nice sunny weekend here in Austin. I am so excited to spend time outdoors and maybe do some patio drinking :)

xx, 

Nicole 

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Holiday Prep: Christmas Cards

It's that time of the year again! Christmas is just around the corner and my holiday prep is in full swing. Just placed an order this morning for our new Christmas tree {finally a big one!} garlands and wreaths. Cannot wait to start decorating!

Christmas cards are one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I love both getting them and sending them. To me, they represent the wrap up of another fabulous year. I always spend a lot of time deciding on the perfect design. For our first year I sent a wedding themed card since we were newlyweds, on year two the theme was our new home which we purchased last March, and this year I can pick just about anything! With so many options, I was thrilled to see Basic Invites actually sends you personalized samples, the best way to experiment with different textures, colors and designs. They have over 500 options to create Christmas cards!

Aside from the wonderful selection in Holiday picture cards, here are some of my favorite features of Basic Invite:

Color Customization - Their service allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options, so you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it down to the littlest detail. 

Colored Envelopes - You choose from over 40 different colors when it comes to envelopes so that they can make your card stand out even before it is opened. Envelopes are peel and seal {such a time saver!}.

Free Address Printing - They offer this amazing address capturing service that allows customers to simply share a link on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media to request their friends and family’s addresses which will be stored in the customer’s account and can then be selected during the design process, best of all, address printing is free!

If you are a business,  they also offer a selection of Business Christmas cards as well. And right now you can get 30% off any Christmas card order with the code holi30

My plan is to get my Christmas cards ordered, get all my gift wrap needs done and knock 8 gifts on my list before the month ends. There is no better feeling than crossing things off my Christmas to do list. 

xx, 

N. 

*Thank you Basic Invite for partnering up with me for this post. 

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Indigo Silk Jumpsuit

Jumpsuit // Bag // Sunglasses // Necklace 

HATCH is one of those brands I came across accidentally while perusing on Instagram. I immediately fell in love with the flowy looks and simple fabrics “but it is a maternity line and I am not pregnant.” I told myself. Until I went to their actual website and discovered their moto is to create long lasting pieces for before, during and after pregnancy…score! I partnered up with them and selected this gorgeous indigo silk jumpsuit that can we worn year round. I wore this outfit last night to grab dinner with my husband and will be styling it a bit different on Saturday night to go out. It is the most comfortable piece I own and the silk is quite substantial and thick so the shape of the jumpsuit remains intact while is being worn. When I was selecting my size I considered sizing down since I am not expecting but I went with their size guide and turned out perfect. Now I find myself scouting their website weekly to see what’s new. So many adorable choices!

Happy Friday! I hope you have a lovely weekend!

xx, N.

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