'twas the day after Christmas...

and I am EXHAUSTED.


between all the excitement of yesterday, and my furry friends deciding that 4am was an acceptable time to wake me up this morning...just exhausted.


so today wasn't as exciting a day as yesterday...but it SNOWED again!  it doesn't stay long- both today and Monday it ended up switching over to rain by the end of the night...but it sure was pretty to look at :)

we ate Christmas leftovers...

and the cats got comfy while I tried to clean out my room.

and now it's off to bed again...this vacation is going WAY too fast.  can we pause it please?

oh, hello there December 25th

and just like that.  it's over again.  another 365 days to wait for Christmasy goodness.

okay, I know that sounds like I am disappointed...but I am not.  it's just always a little bitter sweet to be the night of Christmas, knowing it's all over for another year...


but we had a great day, 15 people, 2 dogs and 2 cats...it certainly was a full house!

I definitely ate WAY too much, but we also laughed a lot- laughing is cardio, right?

I always pride myself on my present giving...and I think everyone was really excited by the gifts I made or bought them...

like a signed Adventure Time comic for Brother

and candy cane pretzel necklaces for the cousins

and...I got a few pretty awesome things :)

but of course, the best of the day is the family time :)  and our funny face pictures...this has been a tradition for a few years now

and of course, no Christmas night would be complete without a viewing of the Muppet Family Christmas.  watch out for the icy patch!

Merry Christmas to all!  and to all...go to bed ;)

it's Christmas Eve!!

I might be 30, but I still feel like an excited little kid when it comes to Christmas.

and Christmas eve is almost better then Christmas day...I know...that might sound weird...but it's all the excitement that leads up to the day...the traditions we have, and it doesn't seem to fly by quite as fast.


so here are a few photos from the day...


we tried a new recipe...Dr Pepper cookies...

I got all dressed up for my annual visit to church




and we came out to see SNOW!!



made my Christmas Eve lasagna

watched It's a Wonderful Life

and the cats got adventurous

hope you all had a magical Christmas Eve!!!

get some sleep...tomorrow's a big day!

let the celebrating commence!

I am always glad to be able to make it home for the holidays :)  and to get to see as many people as possible...today we went to see my cousin's new house, and it's spectacular view.


wait.


spectacular doesn't even begin to describe it.  but I don't know a word awesome enough to fit it so, spectacular it is.


don't believe me?

check it out.

 unfortunately, I  spent way too much time visiting and chatting and carrying on, to take any pictures of the people who were there.

but here is their basement...looks like a little pub.  crazy awesome.

one celebration down.  one to go :)


Merry Christmas Eve, Eve!

oh Christmas tree...woah, Christmas tree!!

so I've been home for about 24 hours, and we are in full on Christmas merriment.

we've had a nice family dinner, baked cookies, I made homemade gum drops- instructions will be coming for that!- decorated the tree, watched a few holiday movies...

oh, and got attacked by a rogue tree...yup, it decided it wanted to make a break for it, and topple right over onto me while we were re-packing the ornaments that we weren't using.


so much excitement in the air :)


gotta love the holidays!

Monday inspiration

I can't believe in one week it will be Christmas Eve!  this time of year that I love so very much, flies by in such a blur, that I feel like we don't even get to enjoy it anymore!


I was definitely that kid that counted down, not only days, but hours till my favorite day of the year...



so for the next week, I'm going to try and do as much festive, holiday related things as possible...to really soak all the joy out of this holiday that I can :)


so in that spirit...I found this cute little quote...that is perfect for this occassion!

Happy Monday all!

Christmas craft shenaningans

most of my holiday shopping this year was done online, through small businesses on Etsy, or at craft shows...but I had a few more things to check off my list, so I ventured out today with my partner in crime, Maureen


we learned a few things today...first of all...don't ever attempt to go to the mall this close to Christmas and expect to find a parking spot...we wasted 40 minutes looking for parking before throwing in the towel...



we learned standing in line in Old Navy for about the same length of time is just as dangerous...I think almost all the items she picked up were while we were waiting in the mile long line to the register...



and finally we tried, and perfected a fun holiday craft...making trays out of peppermints!  the first few came out a little *over cooked*...and we realized that using a cookie sheet that was level was also pretty important...and that making a bowl from the mints did not work as well.

 

 

oh, also, throwing all the mints on ground (still wrapped thankfully) is not the best way to go :p

but we did get a few that came out good...

we followed the instructions found on this blog- 350 degrees for 7ish minutes...on parchment paper :)  

coming up on 31...

one month from today is my birthday.  31.  not quite as exciting as 30...and 10 years since that big 21st birthday.


sigh.


I used to get really excited about my birthday...to the point of annoyance to everyone around me...this year I'm not *not* excited...but I am not going to count down the days like usual...


so what did I do on this 12.11.12?  it was one of my days off from teaching, and for the first time since August, I didn't have homework for grad school, or a jewelry show to prep for...


so I cleaned.


and did laundry.


and cooked an actual meal.


and got myself set up to mail out our chrismas cards.


I thought it would be fun to show the card we went with...and then the photo that was the runner up :)

and just for fun, this was the other photo I had in mind...

also, there have been about 20 days this year that B and I have been in the same state...so choosing a picture wasn't as easy as usual.

we should not be allowed in the kitchen.

I love holiday desserts...cookies, lots of cookies...cakes and pies...I love to eat them.

make them.  not so much.  I usually end up making a mess- turning the mixer on high with a bunch of flour in it, forgetting to add the baking soda, spilling my wine...three times...


oh wait.  that all happened yesterday.


in our first annual cookie baking day, Nicole, Maureen and I destroyed Nicole's kitchen...spilled a few too many things, used a wine bottle as a rolling pin, and ate half the things we made...


some things were made correctly...sometimes we turned the oven off without knowing it...


but a good time was had by all.  and that's really the important thing, right?

all the while, we had three dogs circling our feet, hoping we'd keep up our drop happy routine.


that being said...very excited to see what my Mom has baked up for Christmas...I know it will be better than what we came up with ;)

Saturday's Photo

back in January when I made a trip home to NJ...I stopped and visited with my Uncle and cousins :)

and to my surprise and delight...Uncle Denis pulled out this penguin poster that I had made him for Christmas...oh probably about 20+ years ago!  back when we made all our gifts...my neighbor/honorary sister Dana and I would start in August, and work tirelessly until we had handmade a gift for everyone in our family...not always the most practical or the best quality...but obviously full of sentiment, if they're still around all these years later :)

I'm dreaming of a white (day after) christmas...

so we missed the white christmas by a day...but the mayhem it would have caused would not have been worth the beauty and magic of waking up on Christmas morning to a crisp white canvas...but we would have spent it alone...because 24 hours and almost two feet later...we were buried in snow on December 26th! 

meaning, we were shoveling snow on December 27th...at least there was four of us...so it only took about 3 hours...

merry christmas to all, and to all a good night :)

I love love love the holidays at home with my family...and this year was no exception...and to make things even better, Brett joined us for the first time in all our years of dating!  flights to Florida were a bit too expensive, so he opted not to go home, and come with me instead...

I got to see all my friends, watch our traditional movies, paint cookies, cook my Christmas Eve lasagna, and finally get some rest!

can't believe another holiday has come and gone!

home for the holidays

ready for a week of relaxing in New Jersey!!  home, here we come!!

Miracle on 34th Street

34th Street in Hampden is something I've always wanted to see all the years living in Baltimore...so this year, we finally made our way over there, and took some super cute photos to use for our Christmas card...and we got to go with some great friends :)