HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

photos by isabelle selby

holbrook christmas card coming at you!

the holbrooks and 50% of our luggage made it to portland in the early morning morning hours today. the rest of the bags and the last of the family are (hopefully) expected later this evening, so consider this us signing off for the holidays. we are so grateful for all of the friends we have made around the world through this silly blog this year, and we wanted to make sure to thank you, big time, and to let you know what a blessing you are in our lives every day. we are so grateful for the love, support, and kindness we receive from you, and we are grateful for your prayers, too. some days i swear i can feel them. it's humbling and so sweet. i'm hopeful and honored that in any small way i've been able to send that love back out to you. it's a privilege to share a small piece of my life with so many kindred spirits. we hope so much that your christmas is filled with love and family and the peace of knowing that god loves you just as you are, right this very minute. we're doing it, kids. keep up the good work.

xoxo

brandon, natalie, and the huckleberry hound.

(a few of our favorite outtakes. isabelle selby is a talent. you should book her asap.)

A FEW FAVORITE CHRISTMAS TREES FROM INSTAGRAM THIS YEAR

every year this is my favorite post. with very special thanks to: @adriannawhang / @catherinew / @courtneysnowden / @dee_squared / @deercircus / @jennyeveryday / @kelseybethune / @lyndsayalmeida / @nikarei / @studiodiy / @thedelightfulfind / @tracey_tilley / @jennifertaylor / @jmackayy / @jrlovescupcakes / @kristincasa / @ktlegs / @latonyayvette / @mrmills / @ninesevenkate / @noelstaples / @tamaramatussevich / @thejesselaine / @countrymousetales / @andreabookscout / @_coledreams / @annehilldesign / @beckyrutis / @bluebelle_ / @marsa_lee / @adornedlife / @alimislano / @aubryeliz / @meeganbolduc / @ruthannbeloved / @shaykaystone / @stokesgirl / @_erinbeth / @bntimmins / @courtenaycoleman / @kate_kubler / @cwdrawings / @emilysbrady / @haleykjar / @hannahshawnee / @lilsunpacker / @sarahannnoel / @stylebook / @simplehands / @abernsy / @aceiban / @alongabbeyroad / @amieglauser / @ashleybeilharz / @chelmo / @emilyvoigtlander / @everythingemilyblog / @fabulousmamma / @isaselby / @janaemb / @jessicaholly / @laurabloom / @lindseypinegar / @marymarthac / @mapluna / @mrshillarysal / @mrskatieashby / @rhondamhartman / @taratoday / @alexajustesen / @babyboybakery / @becool_mom / @erin921 / @hvee_g / @julie_cottrell / @rebekahstrobel / @tracey_tilley / and everyone else who tagged their christmas tree #heynataliejeanxmas so i could look through them at night and get misty eyed. happy holidays! 

A NIGHT OF BROWS WITH BENEFIT + GIVEAWAY

earlier this week i was lucky enough to host a little brow party at the benefit store in soho. holly, who we discovered that night was my taller, prettier twin (seriously, how many people came up to give you a hug thinking you were me when they first walked in, holly?) (after the wedding this weekend where i was constantly mistaken for amanda, alex, my mom, and sometimes even for myself... i mean it's cool, i'm used to it). so where was i? parenthetical asides, the risks you take i guess. so right, holly contacted me before the wedding and was like, wanna do it? and i was like, give me a break yes. since it was so last minute i was literally firing invites off left and right from my phone all weekend so i'm pretty confident i forgot to invite everybody that was important to me. 

so it went: land at 10:30 monday morning, get home by noon, i power napped while brandon sat bleary-eyed on the couch with a very alert and well-rested huck, and then i snuck huck out to help me replenish the fridge so brandon could nap, and then brandon sat bleary-eyed on the couch with huck again while i ran out to play with some friends and celebrate the hair that resides on our foreheads. it was sort of a funny day. none of us have any idea what time zone we're operating on anymore, which is jazzy because we're leaving for portland on sunday anyway. the holbrook time zone knows no boundaries. 

after a stressful weekend of traveling this was JUST what i needed. i felt so loved seeing so many of my friends make it out so last minute, and so flippin tired too. hah! that night we each received a complimentary brow service (brow wax, brow tint, brow thread, lash tint) and got our make up done. we talked a lot of brow strategy and ate a lot of oreos. here are a few shots from the night:

some of the group! you know how sometimes you're reminded how short you are? this is one of those times.

GET ME DRESSED // 005

i'm always on the lookout for ways to dress festively for the holidays without looking ridiculous. it's such a short season! take advantage of that red and green while you can! i'm going to a few parties this month, so i've been brainstorming some dressy-ish ways of hinting at the season without wearing a full blown christmas sweater and blinking rudolph necklace. voilá, festive tights! if you pair them with an otherwise monochromatic ensemble, you've nailed it. it's a jazzy yet subtle way to show up to a party. green tights. 

i really love the way a dress looks when it's offset by the beanie you found in the men's department at zara. it's my favorite trick for both winterizing and tom-boying up a dress. two birds, one beanie, because i have this impulsive need to tomboy up any dress i come across. i've started gravitating toward the boy's section at stores lately, finding pieces for my closet that would also look great in huck's (and vice versa). which explains why we tend to match all the time. sometimes when i find something i love for myself, i sort of wonder if maybe in a few years, huck could wear it? kind of like how i shopped the h&m/isabel marant collection entirely in the little boys department. it's sort of the mother/daughter closet sharing dream, only... right. 

(this dress is not one of those things i intend to share with my kid.)

this post was sponsored by No nonsense. follow No nonsense on twitter and facebook for the latest news and updates on their stylish and affordable legwear.

just in time for holiday shopping, No nonsense is offering Hey Natalie Jean readers 20% off site wide, valid through 1/19/14. use the code heynatalie20 at checkout!

on me: hat: zara (it's huck's, i stole it) // dress: madewell // tights: c/o No nonsense in Evergreen // boots: madewell last year (similar)

on huck: hat: a little boutique in moscow, idaho // cowl: c/o juniescarf // sweater: h&m kids // leggings: c/o thief and bandit // boots: c/o polarn o pyret

HOORAY FOR ALEX!

ohhh, alex!

my baby sister got married over the weekend, is she not the most beautiful bride ever!? oh that dress! her hair! i still get all emotional whenever i think about it. it was just the most beautiful weekend and the most beautiful wedding and everything went off without a hitch and i was so proud of her. it was just a really gorgeous day. we flew out to utah on thursday night and then flew back to new york on sunday night, so it was a crazy whirlwind of a trip. brandon was with huck at huck's grandma's house for a lot of it, since huck was recovering from a cold, and i did my sisterly best to document the weekend and make stupid jokes and luckily provide back-up sister bridesmaid dresses when the skirts we'd planned to wear turned out to be too big for both of us. thank you, zara! MVP of the weekend!

i have a ton of photos because obviously.

the night before the wedding the three of us had a slumber party/bachelorette party. we stayed up as long as our eyelids would let us and talked about all of the silly things you talk about the night before a wedding. it was the first time i'd seen amanda in over a year and it was so good to catch up with her! we had a million things to cover. at one point that night alex went out to solve a lipstick crisis and it was just the two of us and one of alex's bridesmaids in the hotel room for a bit (alex had the best bridesmaids, it was so fun to meet all of her friends and her new sisters-in-law), and there we were talking really fast like sisters do, covering everything we'd missed and laughing at probably inappropriate things and this poor girl was just sitting there with wide eyes watching us. we must have looked ridiculous with our hands waving in the air, talking at each other. the older i get the more and more i appreciate and love that amanda of mine. i am so lucky to have her in my life. it's been just the two of us old married biddies in the family for so long, and now there are three of us? it's so weird! i can't believe alex is all grown up, and now i'm going to cry again. 

in the morning my mom came over with diet cokes and we all got ready and made important necklace decisions and put on our bridesmaid skirts for the first time (not recommended) and ripped our panty hose (that was me) and charged cell phones and passed the dry shampoo back and forth and found last-minute blow dryers in the closet. and then we were off! it was a tornado of impressive. 

runner-up MVP of the weekend goes to amanda's baby silas, who is just the chunkiest most wonderful specimen of fat baby. (with my uncle steve on the left and my dad on the right.) (oh, and uncles! when i first spotted my Lovin aunts and uncles at the groom's dinner the night before i burst straight into tears. i have an insanely great family, and i am a ninny.)

yay!!!!!! and welcome to the family, james!! he's gonna make a good brother-in-law. he is such a smart, solid guy, alex done good. he and brandon have become fast friends and we're both excited to spend more time with them in portland over christmas.

pictures. it was cold. we rocked it.

and then the party! huck was feeling better enough by then to come to the reception and dance his pants off. kid has moves, man! 

girl knows how to make an exit! congratulations you guys! oh my gosh the warm fuzzies!!!!!

and now with my brother on a mission and all the girls married off, my parents are just like . . . . . . . . . . . . .

now what.

p.s. huck on the flight out to utah...

aaand huck on the red eye home. (we were delayed about 4 hours on the tarmac. that was cool.)

hooray for alex! pass the chapstick!