book club Christmas gatherings have become super special thanks to our

friend/hostess with the mostess, jill.

our monthly evening together doesn't usually include dinner,

but jill has set an amazing table, cooked for us and delighted us with

an evening in their warm, cozy home at Christmas for several years now.

2016 started the 17th year our group has been meeting to read books

and talk about life.

lately we talk more than we read, but whatev's...i don't care and i don't think the others do either.

 it's our reason to see each other once a month

: )

sometimes we bring a little prize for the other ladies, and this is what i came up

with this year. i found clear glass vases at bachmans that said "Merry Christmas" on them 

a while ago. i wasn't quite sure what i was going to put in them,

but i knew i could come up with something.

a candle seems a little boring, so i picked up big pink roses and

added some greens to each vase and threw in a tealight for later use,

bagged them up in cello and tied them with a ribbon.

easy~peasy.

jill picks a theme and goes all out with it when decorating each year and this

year did not disappoint. as you know by now, i too love lodge/cabin style decorating

and that was the look!

*jill's usual style is more glamourous, so it was really unexpected and fun to see

how creative she was with this woodsy look too.

i'm mad about plaid and bottle brush trees ~ so eeeeekkkk~ i loved this! 

aren't all the fairy lights wrapped through old glass and st. nicks pretty?

kinda died over this photo of jill, on santa's lap as a child~ 

another amazing detail were the real wood chargers. i loved how

they played off her new recycled glass dinnerware.

a shot of the living room with a twinkly wreath in the window and more

buffalo plaid.

jill's kitchen and family room are magazine worthy too~

*hello sassy fox painting*

jill and kev always update things around their house, no 1980's light fixtures for

these two. aren't their new fixtures fab-u-louso?

lucky us!!! jill had one of these black lanterns with a birch candle holder inside

for each of us! (plus other goodies~~ i know, right? like i said, lucky us).

jill's cutout sugar cookies are a work of art.

(and delicious too!)

******************

"LOVE IS IN THE DETAILS"

 i love and appreciate all the effort you put into these wonderful evenings jilly,
thank you again! 

xo beth