I remember my middle school days and my teen years, dreaming about one day finding the man I’m going to marry (and marry him, of course). When that time came, I remember thinking during my engagement period that my wedding day will never come. It felt like eternity waiting for that day and it was always ‘not today.’ So many emotions, so much joy and fear at the same time, and then boom — I was married. It’s been nearly four years since and I still find myself in awe of how things come and go, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. The anticipation of getting married was slow going, but married life is fast going. I almost just want to hit the pause button to take it all in. Thank you, God, for all these things you’ve brought into my life, both the slow ones and the fast ones.

Recently, the husband and I had a little love shoot to commemorate our four years together (yes, we’re just a tad bit early on that one). We had Yuriy and Julia of The Manchiks capture photos for us in freezing fog and I can’t believe how awesome these photos look. I can’t stop going over them. You can see more over on their blog as well.

I was hoping to get back to blogging earlier this week, but I caught a little cold over the New Year weekend, so I took it easy this week in hopes I would get better sooner if I did. So things will be back to normal starting Monday instead.

So how were your Christmas + New Year celebrations? My husband’s birthday is just three days before Christmas, so things were pretty packed. We had a little party at our place with our friends to celebrate his birthday, two Christmas Eve family gatherings, and a fun trip to Sunriver, Oregon for the New Year weekend with my family and some friends. Enjoyed every bit of it.

1   My husband made me a latte to keep me going as I wrapping up the last of the Christmas presents. And surprise, it wasn’t just any latte, this one had a snowman in it!

2   With my husband’s birthday so close to Christmas, I couldn’t resist wrapping up his presents in Christmas cheer.

3   The views were gorgeous on Mt. Bachelor.

4   I bought a loaf of walnut apple raisin bread at a local bakery to enjoy on vacation.

5   We spent the whole weekend working away at this one puzzle. We eventually finished it, but long past our predicted finish date.

6   On our way back home, we stopped by the famous Sisters Coffee Co. in Sisters, Oregon for a cup of coffee and an almond croissant.

Follow me on Instagram: @anastasiamika

This past Saturday I threw a glitter + sparkle themed birthday party, with just my lady friends. I hadn’t done a party with girls only since my teenage years, so I decided to give it another whirl. I asked them all to come decked out in something glittering and sparkling, and I was thrilled to see that each of them did.

I made an inspiration palette last night to kind of illustrate what look I was trying to produce (let’s just say making an inspiration palette after the event occurs is a lot harder than I thought it’d be). I posted it right before this post, so make sure you go take a look-see.

Since my dining room table can only comfortably fit about 4-6 people, like every party we host, it was a buffet style party. So all the mingling had to happen in our living room either around the coffee table if you were lucky enough to get there first, or on the floor. To deck out that area, I bought a piece of sparkling fabric for the coffee table, glittered up some glass jars and vases to use as candles, and recycled the cut-off branches from my Christmas tree as the “floral” centerpiece. Even the bottles with the branches had glitter floating around in the water.

For the dining area, I laid out a shimmery gold tablecloth, glittered up some more jars, and had a few more bottles filled with glitter and the tree greens. I also made a glittery ribbon garland for the ceiling. I’ll put up a little DIY post tomorrow on how I made it.

Yesterday was my birthday. I have officially lived a quarter of a century. Every year I try to come up with a fun theme for my birthday party. Past years have been Noah’s Ark, Kate Spade, bright colors, etc.; this year was all about things that sparkle. I’ll be putting up pictures of the decor later on today, as well as the party inspiration palette I put together (after all the partying was all over actually). But in the meantime, here are are some snaps from my Instagram:

1   Putting together some glittery details for the party.

2   Picking out a glittering/sparkling outfit for the party was fun.

3   My sis and I at my party all decked out.

4   Left: a handmade card I received; right: my party invitation (which I’ll put up on the blog Thursday).

5   Birthday crepes with my hubby on my actual birthday.

6   A little stroll through Portland followed afterwards.

Decorating for Christmas is something I devote a whole day to, yet every year I keep it simple and sweet. My husband told me just a few days ago that our home looks the same every Christmas. That’s because I use the same ornaments and other little details every year. I never feel like spending a load of money every year to do something different. But I do shop around and buy extra little details on sale as Christmas draws to a close — for the next Christmas, of course. Does your Christmas decor change from year to year, or does it stay the same with a few extra new details? And yes, those frames below majorly need some photos in them since they’ve been sitting up on my mantle for nearly a year like that.