First off, super weird not to have a cold snowy Christmas. It was EIGHTY-FOUR DEGREES IN L.A. Whyyyyyyy??????!!!! Ugh! So awful. I know some of you think I'm crazy, but I LOVE Winter. It is my favorite. I love snow, I love cold, I love my nose getting chilled, I love sweaters and mittens and fireplaces and snuggling and sledding and hot tea and EVERYTHING. So this was really lame to me. Really, really lame. I was majorly dreaming of a white Christmas and had to turn on the air conditioner to get some relief from the heat. It was ridiculous.
Second, it was so weird not to be with my folks and siblings on the 25th. My cousin Russ came down from the air force base in Beale, CA and spent the day with us. Visiting with him and his wife was so lovely and we had such a nice time catching up and laughing about our family and missing them. So it was nice to have that family element in the flesh. We also FaceTimed with my crazy fam back in MI and it was hilarious. Most of them didn't get fully in frame so we saw half their faces. It was perfect. I miss those weirdos a lot! It's always good to talk to them but it was nice to see their (half) faces as well. :)
Third: Joe, er, I mean Santa brought me the Little Mermaid on DVD. It was awesome. We're broke right now (shocked aren't you?) so we weren't going to do any gifts but I got a little surprise in my stocking and it was amazing. I love that guy! Russ & Christina gave Joe olive oils, gave me sugar & salt scrubs, and gave Lil' Dude a Sully (from Monster's Inc.) hat & booties. Our dear pal Heather gave us a great Los Angeles bag, Joe's grandma gave us a very generous gift of money, and my folks really took care of us with a very, very, very generous gift of money for the 3 of us. We are very lucky to have so many folks who love and care about us. It made our holiday so special and was such a surprise.
Fourth: Our pals Lizz & Sherm came over and it was so nice to hang with them. And it was the first time Lizz had ever had pot roast & Joe was so happy to introduce her to it. Yay for college pals now living in L.A.-we love it!
Fifth: We ate SO much! Here's what we ate that day: light breakfast was vegan funfetti cupcakes, then at 1pm we had big breakfast of apple butter French Toast, hashbrowns with ketchup, breakfast sausages, and bagels with chive cream cheese. All vegan of course. Then we snacked. Then for dinner we had salad with Joe's homemade balsamic vinegar. I ate Polish dill mashed potatoes and everyone else had those and pot roast (it was meat heaven for them). Then I got hungry later and made pasta with vegan buttery spread, Tony Chachere's spice, pepper, and garlic powder. SO MUCH FOOD! It was awesome. I also played bartender and made quite a few Bloody Marys and Joe had some G&Ts.
Sixth: I worked Xmas Eve & the day after Xmas but it was so nice to have a full day off and rest and laugh and spend time with my puppies (they were so snuggly and silly) and with friends and family. We watched Christmas movies and hung out and wore pajamas and it was amazingly low key and wonderful. For our first Xmas away from the folks and last Xmas as a couple with pups I think we nailed it. Super chill, great movies, great company, loads of great food. I cannot complain.
Hope your holiday was amazing! Cannot wait for the New Year!!! 2014 is going to be a big one for us! Take care dear Chickens :)
