Happy Holidays from Atlanta

IMG_5858We didn’t have a long holiday season this year – Thanksgiving was later in November, I was out of town the first weekend in December, and Sean traveled for work the week before Christmas.

Nonetheless, we made the most of our time together and tried to have as much holiday merriment as we could. We checked out the holiday lights at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, decorated our house, went to see Christmas at the Grove, watched several holiday movies and decorated a gingerbread house with friends. Not bad for only having one week and weekend together before traveling to see family for Christmas, huh?

I love to decorate the house the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I usually get back from Florida in the early afternoon and begin setting up all the holiday decor in the evening. This year, Sean and I did it together. There was a lot more space to fill with decorations – 1800 sq. feet instead of my 800 sq. foot apartment! I think it turned out great, though!

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It was a rainy Saturday when we went to the Atlanta Botanical Garden for “Garden Lights, Holiday Nights.” We became members this year, but were very disappointed at the minimal discount given to members for this event – $17 per ticket instead of $20 and no parking discounts. There was also no customer service at all as we tried to see if we could come on a different day to avoid the rain – the answer was “no.” 

While we did enjoy the event, we noticed that there were MANY trees, plants and shrubs that were roped with lights that were not on. We felt we didn’t get the full experience, especially compared to years past. I’m not sure if it was the wet weather that made some lights short out, but it’s pretty crappy to have to pay almost full price, aren’t allowed to move dates due to weather and are treated to a less than full-on show of holiday lights. I hate to complain about the gardens because we really do love it, but we were ultimately disappointed all around by this year’s situation. 🙁

We did, however, get a few good pics (and you can see in some of them where the lights are out).

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We also went and checked out “Christmas at the Grove” a home in the Oak Grove neighborhood that is decked out in holiday lights that move to music, and that raises money for Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Sean showed me this house for the first time last year, even though I’d lived nearby for years. This was also the place where I first told him I loved him, so it’s incredibly special to us.

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For the second year, we went to our friend’s house for gingerbread house decorating. Last year, I was pretty unsure of how to build one and got a little frustrated. This year, we were mostly just excited to see our friends our Meegan and Andy so we didn’t care as much about the decorating. Naturally, we ended up with a great one! Patience is key. 🙂

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And, finally, I’m happy to share some of the beautiful photographs our friend Beth McMillan took of us for our holiday card. We love these pics so much and hope you do, too!

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Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and lots of love from Sean and Victoria! 2014 is going to be FABULOUS!