I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! For me, the celebration is still going on. I have a two-week break from work, so I’ll have time to get my house back in order and pursue some leisurely hobbies. Like reading. I never read anymore and I got several books for Christmas so I’m stoked.
Anyway, I kind of wanted to share the main points of my holiday, thus far.
Christmas Eve I worked 8:00 to 12:30, and then Ty and I went to Steak ‘n’ Shake® to get frisco melts, which, in case you didn’t know, are really blooming delicious.
After that, we skyped with Ty’s brother and sister-in-law, who live in Ireland. That was really fun! We miss them so much, it was good to talk to them “face-to-face”.
We opened up our presents from each other and Ty’s parents then. Ty got me the following:


Full Balloon Rising Travel Mug.


Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (both available at Modcloth.com).
He also got me a bunch of chocolate and a 9” round cake pan. He knows me so well.
My lovely in-laws got me the following:


Wilton 8-Inch Featherweight Decorating Bag


Wilton 2104-7778 Master Tip Set





Simply lovely and exactly what I wanted!
We then set out to make Oreo truffles together, before we went to my parents house to begin all the Christmas festivities. I’d like to say we made them while batting our eyelashes and giving each other doe eyes, but I’ll be honest in saying we almost killed each other because we were grumpy and ready to get on with Christmas. On a high-note, they tasted great and we reconciled.


(Courtesy of google images, but ours looked like these.)

Once we got to my mom and dad’s, my mom was already preparing our traditional Christmas feast:


Prime-freaking-rib (“roast beast”).

She makes this phenomenal horseradish sauce to go with it every year, and let me tell you, it’s to die for. This picture is from last Christmas, I unfortunately forgot my camera this year.

Another Christmas tradition is lovingly known as “Christmas Jammies”, as in, “It’s time for Christmas Jammies!” This is when we all gather in the living room, usually before dinner, and my mom hands everybody, one at a time, starting with my youngest sister, either a softly wrapped package or a Christmas bag, in which is a new pair of pajamas. She has a real knack for getting pajamas that just look like their recipients, but she also delights in finding some with prints that fit a particular interest the recipient has. This year, for example, I got flannel cupcake pajamas!


This picture actually really creeps me out, and raises so many questions. Why is she outside during what appears to be summertime in flannel? Why does she look like a wax figure? Is she alive? I know it would make more sense to have a picture of myself in the pajamas here, or just a picture of the pajamas themselves, but this is all I got. Sorry.
Also, in addition to the pajamas, I got these awesome Dr. Scholl’s slippers. Furry. Memory foam. Exactly what I need.



I have to say, this next portion of my Christmas Eve might just take the cake, even over the feast and the pajamas.
I took the most glorious bath of my life.
Seriously.

First of all, my parents just moved into a house built in the early 1900s, so all the tubs are those wonderfully deep claw-footed ones. Second of all, the master bath, where I took mine, is just the most warmly lit room in the world. I adore that bathroom. I wish I had proper pictures, but the only ones I have (because, again, I forgot my camera, and even if I didn’t, I probably wouldn’t have taken pictures) are from my wedding, because I got ready for the ceremony in there. If you’ve seen pictures from my wedding of me getting ready (like this one), just know it’s that bathroom.

Now, you may be thinking, it’s a bath, you take them all the time, what’s the big deal? First of all, I do not take baths all the time, I take showers. Like most people, I prefer taking showers when I want to get clean, but when I want to relax, a bath is the way to go. This was made near impossible for me when I moved into the loft, for two (almost three) reasons.
1. Our hot water heater kind of sucks and only produces enough hot water to run a bath 4 to 5 inches high, if that. (And it doesn’t allow you to take a shower longer than 5 minutes, forcing you to make terrible decisions, like, do I want to wash my hair or shave my legs? It’s awful, really, but at least I have running water that’s warm for at least a little while.)
2. The back of the tub is at a pretty sharp angle, forcing you to sit more erect than you’d like in the bath.
(almost) 3. There is no drain stop. Easily remedied by buying one or using a washcloth to clog the drain. For us, the latter was the solution.

So, with this being my current situation, a chance to take a decent bath was almost too good to be true. My mom ran me a bath and gave me an egyptian cotton towel.
I really cannot describe it with any other word other than glorious.

Later, we watched It’s a Wonderful Life in its colorized version. When I first found out they restored it with color, I was offended, but then I saw a few scenes, and it looked beautiful and classic. We watch this movie every year, and this was nice for a little change to a tradition.



(The portion of the movie that almost makes me cry every year?
“A toast to my big brother George: the richest man in town.”)



Christmas morning came and was wonderful as expected, only I wasn’t feeling totally great on account of this head cold I’ve had for a week. However, this is a book I got from my parents that I’m so excited to read:

I love murder mysteries. A lot. It’s kind of out of control. I’m consistently sad that I don’t have cable so I can’t watch Trutv’s Forensic Files or A&E’s Cold Case Files, but this will help scratch that itch!

Christmas night, my parents sent Ty and I on our way with leftovers and chicken noodle soup and nyquil for me. I ate that soup and took those pills as soon as I got home, and slept like a baby through the night. I feel much better today. Still stuffy and tired, but able to enjoy more things.
Thus ends my Christmas. I had a wonderful one, I hope all my readers (especially the ones who took the time to read this long post) did as well. Cheers!

Tree!


Old-fashioned Christmas candy and homemade mexican wedding cakes.

All I want is snow, hot cocoa, and to bake holiday cookies.

I love Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday. However, I realized that I fail to start celebrating and anticipating it early enough. The week before Christmas is when I hurriedly get all my shopping done and start listening to Christmas music nonstop.
This year, day after Thanksgiving, Tyler and I are decorating our loft and getting our tree and turning up the holiday cheer. I made a list of seasonal treats I have to make. It’s such a special time, why not start the celebration as soon as acceptable? (I realize I’m posting this on Halloween…so what? I’m preparing.)