{Our} Home for the Holidays: Darby's Date

Hi everyone!  I’m Darby and I blog over at Life with the Hawleys.  This series has been a blast!  I was so honored and ecstatic when Amy asked me to participate.   Thank you so much Amy for allowing me to participate in such a fun series! My husband & I have a tradition that I’m not even sure how it got started, but we know it’s something we want to continue with for years to come.   We all know how incredibly hectic the holidays can be. Yes, there are a lot of fun parties, but it’s easy to get wrapped up in a to do list and put the things that matter most on the side.  I wanted to share with you how the Mr & I date during the Christmas season.   Before we schedule anything else in December, we schedule "Our Date".  For the past couple years, "Our Date" has been over the Thanksgiving holiday, and been a great way to kick-off the Christmas season.  To start "Our Date" we always go to a special restaurant for dinner.  It’s nice to take our time and not rush through dinner to make sure we get to the next agenda item as is so frequent with the holidays.  After dinner we go to the downtown Macy’s just because it reminds us of home and feels the most Christmasy.  We walk….no we stroll,  through the store looking at potential gifts, listening to the Christmas music, talking, holding hands, smiling, and laughing.  Stress is not invited to "Our Date" The most *fun* part of the evening is picking out our special Christmas ornament.  We walk through the aisles & aisles of Christmas decorations and carefully narrow down the most perfect ornament for that year.  We try to get an ornament with a date on it, but if not I just write the date on it when we get home. 

"Our Date" really is SO simple; it’s not costly or extravagant.  And, we don’t need to it be.  This date has become our favorite Christmas tradition over the past few years because we love taking some time out for ourselves to laugh and just be with each other.  I hope you and your sweetie get the same opportunity this Christmas season. 

Much love and Christmas blessings, Darby

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I don't know about you all, but this artsy mama is LOVING this idea!  Watch out, hubby!

Thanks so much for being here, Darby, and for sharing your extra-special tradition with us!

To get {and give} more seasonal inspiration, be sure to stop by the ongoing {Our} Home for the Holidays party and of course, this week's Shine On Fridays party!