Merry Christmas from the Gummermans! We are up in Pittsburgh with my family this morning and later today we are going to open the envelope from our sonogram and find out if that baby that’s been kicking me is a boy or girl—AGGGHHHHHIMSOEXCITED!!!!!
Wishing you and your family love and peace that extends far into 2017. Merry Christmas!!
Only a few more days until Christmas! I just wanted to share a few shots with you from our Christmas decorating night earlier this month and show you what our holiday home has looked like lately. Putting up the tree with Sinatra singing and hot chocolate in hand is always one of my favorite nights of the year and hanging pretty ornaments under soft Christmas light is so cathartic for some magical reason.
I love the 60’s Corvette Stingray light-up sign that I made for the mantel this year—it turned out just how I pictured it in my head! I still use a lot of the holiday DIYs that I’ve made in past years too like my gold leather stockings, kitty paw stockings, and diamond ornaments so it’s like bringing out old friends to mix in with some new goodies.
The peppermint schnapps is just for Todd, so don’t freak out ok!! I got extra whipped cream though…
Belly shot! 
Finally found a cool manger scene that matches my decor—it’s harder to find than you’d think! I went to Israel for almost a month to complete my Master of Theology back in 2011 and while it’s amusing to point out all the theological inaccuracies in classic American Christmas manger scenes (well, amusing to Theology nerds that is), the memories of seeing first century Jewish homes are always fresh in my mind as I picture the first Christmas night.
We have Todd’s ornaments from when he was a kid but I usually hang them on the fridge or display them somewhere else since they don’t match the tree scheme. Feels a little exclusive but my Mom is the sweetest lady on earth and she did (and still does) the same thing to us with our ornaments! All the ones made of popsicle sticks had a different holiday home for the season…
We usually get a fun holiday ornament at our A Beautiful Mess Christmas party each year and this time I got a pink drill and Todd received a monkey playing video games—both perfect choices! Christmas decor is such a bright spot for me in the middle of winter. Can I leave all this up until summer? PLEASE??
xo. Laura
As my pregnancy progresses I’m trying as much as I can to still be aware of all the other important things in life than can easily be forgotten in the swirl of registry-making, book-reading, nursery-planning, and general research on the best stroller, etc. One of the most important areas to still focus on is getting in some good quality time with Todd whenever possible. I mean, I don’t usually have to concentrate on that real hard since he’s usually a.) not here to hang out with, or, b.) finally here and that’s all I want to do anyways since I missed him. With having him home a lot this fall (the best thing about “writing season” between albums for sure!) it’s totally possible to get used to him being around and then not make as much effort for little dates or outings like I normally would when time together is so short. Obviously I’m aware that having a baby can/will challenge your relationship a lot so I want to make sure we’re in a healthy place now beforehand and also enjoy our time together while we can.
That being said, I’m trying to be extra conscious of making time for little coffee or brunch dates throughout the week to soak up the togetherness and talk about whatever’s been on our mind lately (although lately for me, most everything on my mind is baby related so I have to try hard to not have that be the only thing I talk about!).
Cat Dress/Romwe, Boots/Public Desire, Pink Jacket/Zara, Bag/Zara (last year), Hat/Target
We are also working on planning a babymoon trip maybe next month while I can still fly so that would be a fantastic thing to look forward to as well. I have literally no idea what Todd’s schedule will be like next year but I do know in this line of work that if you want to go on a trip and have an opening, you should GO! I’ll let you know where we decide once it’s finalized!
xo. Laura
Hi All! Just wanted to share a few snapshots from home lately as we settle back into a more “regular” life for a bit. It’s always an adjustment to go from living alone to being a household with 2 adults all of the sudden, but we’ll figure it out! 
We’ve been trying to read more lately and Todd’s been into this amazing coffee table book about Wes Anderson’s movies that I got him last year. It’s got so many beautiful behind the scenes photos, drawings, and inspirations for all his films—it’s a really fun read and kind of a must for any WA fan. On my end I’ve been wanting to read the Blue Zone book for years about the areas of the world where people live the longest and I’m about halfway through at the moment. It’s not quite as power-packed with information as I thought it would be based on all the hype, but it’s still an interesting read for sure and I’m glad I’m finally getting around to it.
Also, we recently had the house painted (!!) andI didn’t tell Todd I was actually having it done while he was on tour so he came home after tour to a very different looking house! You can see a bit of the before and after here…
After a bit of a backyard makeover we’ve been extra excited to hang out outside and catch a bit of whatever is left of the summer. Side by side lawn chairs and a good book isn’t a bad way to spend a Saturday, let me tell you…
Charlie is so happy her favorite guy is home!
Anyways, nothing too crazy going on here but after this touring year so far, that’s the way I like it!
xo. Laura
Summer is my favorite time of year. Yes, it’s hot, too hot most of the time, but my dad was a school teacher and our whole house became electric during the summer months. Dad was home! Swimming pools! Popsicles and ice cream! Fireworks and county fairs! I think for that reason I still have the mentality even as an adult that summer just plain rules. That’s why I was especially bummed when I found out that Todd would be home for a total of 5 days from the end of May to the middle of August. I mean, it’s always good for him to be working, but I just have a major case of thissucksformeitis. This is also our first real summer in Nashville and I really wanted to experience it all with my bestie. I say “real” summer because while we moved last July, we only saw the inside of the DMV and Home Depot for the first few months. Lame. I had so much fun going to see my first concerts since moving to the Music City a few weeks ago (Weezer and Flight of the Conchords) but I always listened to or watched those with Todd so the experiences felt kind of incomplete without him there. No one to take walks with at night when it finally cools down, no one to watch fireflies with in the back yard, no one to sit with like a lazy slug on the couch because it’s literally too humid to breathe outside…anyways, I know I can do all those things by myself or with a friend, but it sort of falls into that weird band wife category of “building a life with someone only to not have them around to actually live that life with” a lot of the time. It can be hard to go back and forth between modes so often and so fast.
Anyways, this post tile is actually a track off of Weezer’s new album which also, incidentally, has my “summer song” on it as well. It’s a Beach Boys inspired summer love song called “(Girl We Got a) Good Thing” and I love that it mixes two of my favorite band’s sounds together. I was so bummed that Todd couldn’t see Weezer with me, but we have tickets for us to go see what will be his first Nashville concert this fall—Bryan Wilson playing the Pet Sounds album! There are several Beach Boys songs that are really special to us and I feel like mentally it’s a really positive thing to look forward to. Maybe we won’t have as many popsicles and pool parties together this summer as I would have liked, but I still need to have a summer that rules while I keep planning a few special nights to look forward to when he returns next month. Fall can be pretty good too, right??
(love that pink lifeguard tower print—good vibes!)
xo. Laura