Category: christmas

christmas, expat life, holidays, snow, Switzerland, travel, winter

{Champery, Switzerland}

lizdenfeld
Champery is a small village that was located a 10-minute tram ride from the town we were staying in. It’s the quintessential Swiss ski resort town I had always imagined in my head. All the stores and restaurants with views of the Alps, everything made of wood with Swiss flags swaying every way you turned. On Christmas Eve we were feeling antsy to get out of the house so we decided to make the short trip over to walk around, ride the gondola up the mountain, have some hot chocolate, and ultimately have dinner at a cozy restaurant back in the town center. It was incredible to climb up the mountain in the gondola and come face-to-face with the peaks we had been staring up at for days from the window of our chalet. It was windy when we were up there, but it was so breathtaking we didn’t even care! We missed our families so much that day, but experiencing this awe-inspiring sunset together on top of the world definitely made us feel a little better!
 {Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}
bathtub, christmas, dreamy, expat life, henry, holidays, Switzerland, travel, wine, winter

{Our Swiss Chalet}

lizdenfeld
Staying in a Swiss chalet was very much like my dream of staying in a Tuscan villa. So cliché, yet so necessary. When Corey and I realized we wouldn’t be making it home for Christmas we knew we had to go somewhere super awesome to help temper the sting. And we couldn’t have picked a better place to spend a week relaxing. We were in the most beautiful, tiny Swiss Alp town of Val d’illiez. There’s not much to do there except stare at the gorgeous mountains and cuddle up by the fire. Exactly what we had in mind! I started every day with a bubble bath (pure heaven!) and ended each one with a glass of wine, a cozy fire and a Christmas movie. The only thing missing was our little Henry. There will be many more posts about our trip to Switzerland to come… For now, here are a few photos from our dream Swiss chalet. 
 {Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

christmas, snow, style, travel, winter

{Cozy Up in Fair Isle}

lizdenfeld

Working in the e-commerce industry means the holiday season is our busiest! Lately the long workdays and nights have got me counting down to our Swiss Christmas! I can’t wait to cozy up by the fire with my honey, a good book and a cup of {spiked} hot chocolate. And if I had it my way, I’d live in nothing but fair isle (so chalet chic!) for a week straight. A few of my favorite fair-isle picks below! What do you think? Do you love or hate this trend?
1. Gap Hat
2. Madewell Socks
3. Mittens
4. Striped Slippers
5. Leggings
6. Scarf
7. Hat
8. Sweater 

christmas, dreamy, expat life, holidays, relax, snow, travel, winter

{Holiday Plans}

lizdenfeld
Hi There! Sorry for the absence this week. My work schedule has been a little weird
and last night I met up with some friends in honor of halloween.
Also, apparently the hard drive on my computer is full, so I haven’t been able to
upload photos from my trip home or this past weekend. So, that leaves me with less posting material.
But then I thought, it’s actually been an exciting week!
Apparently I’m ready for Christmas because this week I’ve ordered our Christmas cards, ordered a custom stamp to make addressing those puppies easier (and cuter!), andddd the most exciting of all…
We booked a gorgeous Swiss chalet for the week of Christmas!
Since I was just home in August and October, it seemed silly to go back again for the holidays. 
(We were going to go on this trip, but it turned out to be a logistical nightmare)
We are going to miss our family like crazy, so to make ourselves feel better we decided we would stay here to celebrate our very first Christmas all on our own:
 Now all I can think about is being in this gorgeous chalet with Corey. 
Sitting by the fire reading books, listening to Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate, cooking comfort food, and staring out at the gorgeous view we have of the Swiss Alps. Pinch me!

And of course, I’ll need some cute and cozy new things to fit in with our pretty chalet, right? I’m ready to press purchase on these pieces from ASOS (if only I hadn’t spent all my money on the rental…)!
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Extra Long Funnel Knit Snood 
Fur Cossack Hat
Ugg Gloves
christmas, travel, weekend, winter

{Travel Help Needed!}

lizdenfeld
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Happy Saturday! I’ve been enjoying a super lazy day. Drinking coffee, editing a family session, booking a trip to Venice, giving Henry a bath, g-chatting with Megan.. It’s been fun. I needed a day to just sit home and get some stuff done and relax. Next up is unpacking my giant suitcase from the States (yes, I’ve been back for 6 days and still haven’t unpacked – don’t judge).
I thought maybe you’d be out there enjoying a lazy weekend catching up on blogs and might be able to spend some time helping me with something. We’re planning a pretty epic train trip over our Christmas break (work gives us a whole week off – awesome!). I am so excited for the cities we have lined up, but there is so much planning to be done I hardly know where to begin. I was hoping I could share the lineup with you and if you have been to any of the places, let me know if you recommend a hotel or things to do, etc. You guys always give the best advice! Right now I’m most interested in places to stay, but I’m all ears for great sights and great restaurants as well. Thanks in advance!
Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
 {photo credit: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
christmas, family, holidays

{Christmas Snaps Part II}

lizdenfeld

As I mentioned Monday, we spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family. We decided not to do any gifts this Christmas as a lot of us flew in from different parts of the country (or the world!), and we figured time together would be the best gift we could get each other, anyway. We haven’t had a complete holiday, with everyone in one place, in a few years, so it made me ridiculously happy to fly back to Portland and get to experience that this year. The night was pretty low key. We ate a delicious meal, enjoyed wine and cocktails, and loved on Oscar, my sister Cristina’s new pup who she rescued few months ago. Then, we ended the night with a friendly game of poker (I actually didn’t participate, I was recovering from my food coma on the couch!)!


{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}
christmas, family, holidays, husband, love

Christmas Snaps Part I: Emma’s First Christmas

lizdenfeld

Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family and Christmas Day with Corey’s side of the family, and this year was no exception. Christmas morning we woke up bright and early and headed (5 minutes) up the rode to Corey’s parent’s house. It was a very exciting Christmas because our niece Emma was in town from Chicago – and it was her first! She’s 10 months old, and as you’ll see from the photos, she really stole the show. I mean how could she not? She is beyond adorable. I would just sit and stare at her, smiling so much from every move and sound she made, my cheeks started to hurt! It was so special to be able to experience her first Christmas with her. Later that same day we went back to my Mom’s house to open our gifts to each other. Corey did really, really well (he stalked my Pinterst board like a good husband!) and got me some amazing gifts, including these gorgeous earrings, this beautiful J.Crew sequin sweater and noise-canceling headphones! It was a very merry Christmas for us! Hope it was for you as well!


{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}
amsterdam, christmas, cooking, holidays, interior design

Homemade Mulled Wine

lizdenfeld

Corey has been busy studying for finals for the last week, and I knew he was feeling super stressed, so after he finished his first final on Monday night I wanted to surprise him with a little something. I thought it would be nice to make some mulled wine for him to enjoy after hours of essay writing. When he walked in the door the house smelled amazing, candles were lit and it was the perfect way for him to unwind after his long day of work and final-taking. I used this simple and delicious recipe from fellow Amsterdam expat blogger, Jenn, and I highly recommend it!

Ingredients:
Organic Merlot (or any other red wine you like)

One organic orange

Cinnamon sticks

1/2 cup Organic local honey

1 Vanilla Bean

Instructions (straight from Jenn):

Pour the wine into a large pot (yes, the whoooole thing). 
Peel the orange, and juice it into the pot. Then, cut up the orange peel into slices, and add almost all of the slices to the pot, saving a couple to garnish the drink with at the end. 
Add a few cinnamon sticks, the vanilla bean, and then the honey. 
Turn the stove on to low heat, and cook for 25 minutes.
Then, pour the mulled wine into big mugs. Garnish with an orange peel and a cinnamon stick, and enjoy!
{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}

christmas, holidays, travel

{Dordrecht Christmas Market}

lizdenfeld
This weekend we hopped a train and traveled an hour and a half south to the town of Dordrecht to peruse  their annual Christmas Market. There was mulled wine (we actually loved this batch!), caroling, ice skating, traditional hot-off-the-coals pastries and best of all… Blue skies! It was such a fun day, couldn’t have wished for better weather or company. 

{Photos © Liz Denfeld Photography}