Christmas Day Part 2

After opening gifts at Erik's house, we went to my parents for gifts and dinner. We had 11 people at dinner this year so it was very fun. First, we opened gifts with our family. I got an awesome new flat iron for my hair, jeans, new slippers, an Iphone case, shoes, and more!

Ready to open my gifts...Notice my hair is a mess but after I use my new flat iron, how straight it is :-)

Tons of food, of course! We had cheese, spinach/artichoke dip, veggies, and chips & dip.



Kimmy made us all place cards which were super cute!

CUTE gift I got from Kimmy. Tennis wine charms!

There was wine & lots of it....

Testing the wine out

Erik, Scott, & Chris

Sisters, Sisters

Dad carved the turkey while the dog, Shiloh, looked on from below hoping for something to drop


Time to eat! We had turkey, ham, and crab stuffed shrimp plus sides. We were all so stuffed!

Grandma, Me, Kaitlin

Me & Kaitlin

Kimmy & Grandpa

Adorable Christmas Tree cupcakes that Kaitlin made!

Funny gift. Kimmy gave Erik a sweatshirt from our high school, that she got IN high school. They found it in the basement one year and he has been asking to have it for years. Now, it's finally his.

We opened more gifts after dinner. Everyone was very, very blessed this year in all that we gave & received.


This picture cracks me up! I don't know what we are laughing at but it was funny.


Scott & Kimmy

Chris & Kaitlin

Me & Erik



We set up one of the new cameras that was a gift and took a group photo. I think it came out well! What a fun day & night. We all ate a lot & laughed a lot.

While it takes a lot for everyone to get together, make the food, travel here & there, it really is all worth it. We feel very blessed that we are able to spend the holiday with our family & have an abundance of everything.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day Part 1

Christmas Morning, we had breakfast & opened gifts with Erik's family.


Erik got some awesome gifts including a new wet suit!! I got a beautiful sweater & a gift card which will definitely be put to use.

You know we are getting older when Jaime gets housewares such as a new coffee maker!

Ahahaha - Christmas pajamas.

The family cat - Sammy. He's so cute.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was also....my Mom's Birthday! First up, Kimmy & I took her out to lunch. After that, we putzed around Christmas Tree Shops before heading our separate ways for Christmas Eve Dinners.

I went over to Erik's family's house for dinner. We had sooooo much food & wine. 'Tis the season to eat like a King!

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Erik's cousin, Lu, fried a turkey & it was delish!

Erik's cousins Matthew & Aiden looking adorable in their Christmas PJ's!

Us with the boys....so cute!! They were ready for Santa!

We stayed at Erik's house on Christmas Eve. It was such a great day!!

Back in the CT

On Thursday morning, we got up at an ungodly hour of 3:45am to catch our 630am flight. Luckily, we had a direct flight out of SF into NYC. The flight was great - we each had our own TV! We just slept & watched movies. My Dad met us at the airport and drove us up to CT. We sat in 2.5hrs of traffic though!! That is NY traffic for you!

Anyway, we got home & stuffed ourselves with dinner at Erik's family's house. Then, had pizza at my parents house. I was so tired so after eating & getting delirious, we went to bed!

It's good to be home!

Eastbound

Today, I am doing the laundry & packing up. Evie is going to camp soon :-( We leave tomorrow AM. We're excited to see our families & friends! We'll be spending Christmas Eve with Erik's Family and Christmas with mine.

We're going to a hockey game with my Dad, for his birthday.


Kimmy & I are going to go to NYC for the day. We are going to try to get discount Broadway tickets and see a show.

If you recall that in 2009, we saw HAIR and met the cast!!

Just hope to relax and see everyone and have fun! Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!

Holiday Party

Well, I'm sad to report we did not win anything at the Bingo game last night. They gave away a lot of great prizes. We came close a few times but there were a lot of people there so a lot of competition!

Funny pic of us before we went to the party

The party was held under a huge tent. It was really nice! They had open bars & many buffet tables.

The party ended around 10pm, after Bingo. It was fun to hang out with Erik & some of his co-workers. Too bad we didn't walk away with a free trip somewhere!

Today is our last day in SF! We head out early tomorrow....

Christmas in SF

On Monday night, we had our little family Christmas since we are heading back to CT for the holidays.

Evie opened her presents - a treat!

Opening one of Daddy's presents for him. haha

Ooohhh a new pair of socks!

Evie got a new collar! So cute - it has golf clubs & golf carts on it. I got it on Etsy and it is from Hollywoof Styles.


Funny gift of the night - a bottle of hot sauce in my stocking!


Erik got a bunch of stuff including his North Face Sleeping Bag!

Trying to get a picture with Evie.


Evie playing in the wrapping paper. She loves Christmas!

Bingo Time...for us!

Well, we're going to play Bingo tonight and not with the older Russian ladies. It's time for Erik's annual work Christmas party where we will play Bingo for huge prizes like trips to Hawaii, Europe, Ipads, and Cash!! I'm hoping that by having the party on Tuesday night, a lot of people won't go. Then, our odds will be better at winning something!! I'm so excited.

I also got an awesome deal on a super cute dress. I picked up a dress at Macy's that was $100 & on sale for $60. At the register, it was only $38 and with the coupon, it was $28! How amazing.

Erik is also going to wear his suit and a new tie. He looks so handsome in a suit so I can't wait to see him dressed up. :-)

Today is my LAST day of work in the office. We are working from home tomorrow. I will be dropping Evie off, doing laundry, and packing for CT. We leaving very early on Thursday morning. Woohoo!!

Trading Places

Last night, we watched a funny movie called Trading Places. It IS from 1983 so I'm sure you have seen it. Old Eddie Murphy stuff is funny. Dan Akroyd was so young(& thin) in this movie.

It's the story about two old guys who own a Finance company(I think) and Dan Akroyd is one of their workers. Eddie Murphy is a bum on the street. They make a bet that if they brought a homeless man into the firm, he would adapt & learn how to live a rich life. On the other hand, they think the rich guy would adapt to becoming homeless, learn the ropes of the street, and figure out survival techniques.

It is pretty funny. I think the funniest line in the movie was when Eddie Murphy is in the tub in the mansion and the Butler asks him if he wants the jacuzzi on. He turns it on and Eddie says 'Whenever we wanted a jacuzzi growing up, we had to fart in the tub' hahaha

Funny movie!!

Cross Country Cookie Swap

This year, a couple of us are doing a Cross Country Cookie Swap! I'm so excited because it makes me feel like we can all participate in a cookie swap no matter how far apart we are. I decided to make White Chocolate/Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies! It worked out perfectly for me to make them today because Amy & I had plans to get together and cookie making was on the agenda.

First up, we got manicures together. Then, went home to make our cookies!

I'm sure we all know Step 1 by now....pour a glass of wine. haha

Scratched the recipe down quick after emailing it to myself. These are sooooo easy to make! You can get the recipe here & I eliminatated the cranberries. I just used one package of Craisins per batch.


Mixing all of the ingredients together. These cookies take about 10 minutes to make and 10 minutes to bake!









Despite being 3000 miles away from everyone, four of us are participating in the swap. Tomorrow, I am shipping my cookies to DC, CT, and Boston. I can't wait to get packages of cookies!!

Can you believe Christmas is THIS WEEK!???

Locavores

On Saturday, it rained and rained. I headed downtown in the hopes of finishing up my Christmas shopping. It wasn't too crowded downtown & I was in and out. Although, I didn't finish finding one more gift!

After coming home, I did the laundry while Erik went surfing. Of course, I watched another Fa La La Lifetime movie. hah. At night, Betsy, Greg, Erik & I, stopped by this little local food fair that Erik had found online.



I think I was expecting more of a food festival but this was more of a couple of local vendors selling their foods. There was a bunch of different foods from jams, chocolates, pierogies, soups to pizzas. We tried a couple of yummy things!

Casey’s Pizza – Casey Crynes = Old New York Style Handcrafted Pizza
Let’s Get Pho’d Up – Liz Tran = Chicken Pho, Cafe Sua Da, Lemon Mint Soda
12/19 Natural Cookery; Cookery- Maggie Weber-Striplin & Kerry Allen = Vegan and Vegetarian Pierogies

We tried the pizza, Erik had the Chicken Pho, and I had sweet potato pierogies. All very good!

The food festival lasted until 9 and then we headed to Homestead for a drink. Apparently, it was their 'Holiday Party' night and they gave away free Tamale's from The Tamale Lady. They were super spicy!

Can't believe this is the last weekend before Christmas!!