No Longer DREAMING

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white


As one of three girls in a very musical home we spent every Christmas season singing and watching "White Christmas". We loved the movie and knew all the songs by heart! This Christmas the movie came to life for Chris & I.

A few weeks back Chris found a special at The Mountain Top Inn of Chittenden Vermont. So we booked it and have been looking forward to seeing the sites and experiencing a New England Christmas - just the two of us! We headed out on Tuesday the 23rd. It was a short 4 hour drive with lots of beautiful scenery along the way. We arrived at the Inn and got everything unloaded and into our Ike's View Luxury Suite! That's right we stayed in the room where President Eisenhower spent many of his own vacations. The view was amazing! We then made the short drive to Woodstock Vermont and did some shopping and walking and eating. Woodstock is such a cute little town and the perfect place to be at Christmas. Just a week before we arrived the area had gotten about 2 feet of the powdery white stuff! It was beautiful! That evening we had dinner at The Prince & the Pauper. Great food & a great atmosphere. Afterwards we walked over to the Woodstock Inn to look around. Then we headed back to our Suite for the night.

The next morning we drove back to the Woodstock area to Quechee Vermont. Quechee is home to one of only a few Simon Pearce galleries. Simon Pearce is a famous glass blower. The work these craftsmen produce is unbelievable! I could have bought every piece in the whole shop (although it would have cost me millions!). They also dabble in pottery and we spent a few minutes talking to one of a few potters. I probably could have watched he and the glass blowers for days. It was so interesting to watch. The tools and molds they use are fascinating! There is also a restaurant on the premises so we did lunch there as well. The food was great and the view was awesome! All of the Simon Pearce workshops are hydro powered and very environment friendly. This location sits on a waterfall and right next to a typical Vermont wooden bridge. We took in a few more shops in the Quechee area and a few in Killington before we drove back to the Inn for the evening.

Christmas Day was WHITE! It snowed all morning! We slept late and then laid in bed just enjoying the snowstorm. I was kidding around with Chris and asked him where all my presents were (we traditionally only exchange an ornament - this year we bought them together in Woodstock). He reached over to his side of the bed (I had no clue what he was doing!) and pulled out a box from Simon Pearce! What in the world! He totally got me and it was a wonderful surprise! Our entire afternoon at Simon's I had been eyeing these little Christmas trees of glass. We even had them on our table in the restaurant so I took a picture to remember them. He snuck out at lunch to "go to the restroom" and he bought me one then he hid it in the car! Seriously he is the best husband ever! The little Christmas tree made my day :) We did lunch at the Tavern downstairs at the Inn and then Chris did some serious sledding! That afternoon we snuggled up in our room and just relaxed. About 5pm we went over to the Activities center for our horse drawn sleigh ride. It was cold! But we really loved it! Such a special way to spend Christmas! We had dinner reservations at 7pm in the Dining Room.

Christmas 2008 was the kind dreams are made of.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to 2009.