Tis the season for... shopping events!

November 07, 2012 by Emily Ho in "christmas", "holly day market", "house by jsd", "junior league of lexington"

There are two awesome holiday shopping events going on in Lexington this week. Get ready to shop!

One of the brightest gems in Lexington is house by jsd. This design trio and associated store is full of Kentucky charm and whimsy all year long, but as the weather gets colder, it turns into a Christmas wonderland. Each November, house has their Christmas Open House, where everything is 20% off. Not only can you find the most amazing trimmings for your tree, you can also find beautiful, unique gifts. Check out this video - I dare you not to get into a Christmas spirit afterwards:

Christmas Open House, November 5-10
250 Walton Ave
Lexington, KY 40502
Monday-Friday 10am-5pm
Saturday 10-4pm

Next up is the Junior League of Lexington Holly Day Market. Not only is this a beautiful shopping event with lots of variety, it is also the second biggest fundraiser for the Junior League of Lexington, which funds grants for non-profits in Central Kentucky. In 2012, they awarded $40,000 in grants.

Here is a full list of Holly Day Market merchants. There are also several events per day that are great for adults (wine tastings) and children (Santa) alike!

This years Holly Day Market will be November 9-11 at the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. Tickets are $8.

Hours: 7-10pm Thursday; 9am -7pm Friday; 9am-5pm Saturday; 11am-5pm Sunday

Do you plan on visiting either event?

Southern Christmas

December 21, 2011 by Emily Ho in "christmas", "emily", "holidays", "traditions"

Prior to being a Kentuckian, I was a Georgia peach. Granted, I was only 12 when I moved here, but my mom was from Savannah and had a slow, southern drawl to her speech. She was mega-Georgian.

Anyway, growing up, I quickly realized the grandeur of the Southern Christmas. Not sure where the revelry comes from in the tradition with my family as we were never particularly religious. I do know that Christmas time was my favorite as a child, and to this day have really strong inclinations to keep some of the Southern traditions intact despite not having family around.

Hubs grew up in Lexington, and has a different version of a Southern Christmas than my family did. They focused much less on material items, decorations, and food than we did. Perhaps some of that comes with having a large family and enough chatter to fill the house with color.

Ingredients to my Southern Christmas:

The tree. Real or fake, but white lights only. Ribbons must be present and theme trees are acceptable (in color or category). Multiple trees are encouraged as well if there are children - they get their own tree.
Needlepoint stockings hanging on the fireplace mantle. Bonus if the names are on the stocking. At Christmas, stockings must be overflowing with lots of goodies. Some of my favorite things were in the stockings, just because they were unexpected and thoughtful.
A wreath on the front door.
A tree skirt with tradition. I have the one my family used growing up. It doesn't match the tree or my house decor, so I cover it up. Still, I know it's there and that's all that matters.
Food. Lots of food. Staples include: pecan pie, pumpkin pie, ambrosia, ham, turkey, giblet stuffing and gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes (fresh, not from a box, and with real butter), baked macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole with those fried onions on top, yeast rolls.
Holiday-scented potpourri or cinnamon pinecones around the house.

These days the food is much lighter, the potpourri has been replaced with Scentsy and hubs and I don't do stockings, but I still have my little semblance of my Southern Christmas.