One of my besties for around the last forty five years or so (wow that makes us sound ridiculously old!) is Judy Trammell, choreographer of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. We go all the way back to our teenage years in high school. We went on double dates, were in each other’s weddings and raised our kids for many years as if they were cousins more so than friends – until life and location and activities and careers began to make it impossible. We don’t get to see each other as often as we’d like, but we still keep in touch and manage to squeeze in some time here and there.
Some of you may not be familiar with her, but a great many of you follow the show – CMT’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team – and know exactly who she is.
She and I got together yesterday at her house and I wanted to share with you her beautiful Christmas décor and her cozy home.
She lives in Dallas in an older ranch style home that they completely remodeled before they moved in. It was a year long process and it wasn’t without it’s challenges, but the end result is fabulous.
When you step through the front door and walk into the entry way you immediately see to the left this beautiful, very large dining room, and just beyond that is her (“sexy”, sumptuous) living room.
Here she has a slim line Christmas tree festively decorated in blues, teals, golds and greens. She only has a few gifts under the tree right now, because her tradition is to wait and put them all out on Christmas morning. Her kids and grandkids typically spend the night Christmas Eve so they can all wake up Christmas morning and experience the delight in the grandkids seeing, opening and playing with Santa’s gifts. So she buys them, wraps them and hides them all over the house till Christmas morning. Fun, huh?
It’s getting a little trickier now that two of her kids are married and engaged with other families to share with and one has moved to New York. That’s something all us grandmothers can relate to……the constant jiggle-jaggle trying to adjust and accommodate all the families involved now. It get’s exhausting trying to make it all work and keep everyone happy!
Am I right, fellow grandmothers!
But, so far she’s been able to pull it off…which is really important to her since that’s how they always did it with her own parents as she and her sister Jan were raising their families. Every Christmas Eve they all met up at her parents house, spent the night together and opened all the presents together on Christmas morning. A tradition they all looked forward to and cherished.
And one Judy would very much like to continue with her own family.
She’ll have Christmas Eve dinner for any and all of the family members that can make it and her dining room is perfect for a large gathering.
This centerpiece on her dining table is just beautiful….perfect for this space.
The colors, the fruit and this beautiful angel compliment the tree perfectly.
Just beyond the dining room is this glamorous living room. Doesn’t this look like the type of living room the glamorous Judy Trammell would have? I love this rug and the white leather sectional….
And, I love these cool tables…
Aren’t they fabulous?
And I love the way she displayed these silver Christmas trees and reindeer on top.
It’s a very large open space which is great for a growing family like Judy’s.
Sprinkled all over the house are fun touches of Christmas like these Santa Clauses…..
And, this silver décor.
This Santa on the second shelf from the top is one of the few things that survived a house fire at a previous house of hers years ago. I remember going over to help sift through everything and sort of take stock on the damage and what needed to be done. Not a whole lot made it out unscathed, but this little guy did. It’s a little charred, but very special and deserves center stage here along with all the other newer Santa’s.
If you look closely you can tell.
But, he fit’s right in with all these others.
She continued with her Santa theme throughout the space with these fun pieces filling her shelves…..
Fun stuff everywhere…
Of course stockings for each of her growing clan….
More fun Santa’s….
And more….
And still more. So festive and “happy”.
As you walk back around through the entry she has another grouping of Santa’s in cream, golds and greens – a little more formal here – as if they’ve just stepped out of a winter wonderland.
Creamy, soft and rather elegant looking.
As you walk into the family room from the entry you are greeted with more fun Santa’s.
And they all have their own character and personality.
Her tree is full of old and new ornaments and looks absolutely beautiful. She does what I do….puts all the old ornaments and kids ornaments all over the tree and inside the branches to give it depth, then piles on the decorative embellishments to give it continuity and a more decorative flair.
Also, like me, she used to put up a lot more trees throughout the house, but the older we get the harder that is so it’s dwindled down to two (me, too!) which is much more manageable!
For those of you who follow the DCC and/or their show you might recognize Cassie Trammell here with her brothers when she was just a young whippersnapper.
She added Chistmas pillows to her leather sofa. (She got rid of her rug and her coffee table for the grandkids. Lol…..what we grandmothers do!)
The kitchen was originally closed off, but they opened it up to create a “great room”. Perfect for entertaining.
This large island is stunning. And very accommodating.
Beautiful granite and fun, unique backsplash. The white cabinets are a great contrast to the darker countertops, backsplash and the bright red wall.
And how fabulous are these glass cabinets? These red and white dishes are a perfect compliment to the red walls and lend a “Country French vibe” to the space. Very charming.
The other glass cabinet displays her colorful dishes. If you can keep them neat and tidy like Judy’s – glass cabinets are a great addition and design element in the kitchen.
Isn’t this fresh and fun?
Of course little Christmas touches everywhere….
And she had these yummy Christmas goodies on hand which I was obliged to eat of course.
The one on the far left is called Pecan Praline Graham Cracker Toffee. Click this link for the recipe from CelebratingSweets.com. Yummo! I have a yummy fudge recipe I posted a couple of days ago you can scroll back to for the fudge.
This is her granddog, Barbara, that she’s dogsitting while her son, Blair is away in New York. She came in to say hello. (That’s Judy behind her trying to get her to look up at me for the photo. I think Barbara did very well and is quite photogenic…don’t you?)
This is a dark grainy picture of us together. Bummer! But, I completely forgot to get a picture of us at Judy’s house so I had the bartender take this of us when we went out to eat. It’s not the best but it’ll do.
Fun afternoon with my longtime friend!
Hope you enjoy her charming, festive house as much as I did!
And don’t forget to watch her show!
Beautiful. Merry Christmas, dear Friends!
xoxoxo
Lovely and cozy!