Holiday Recap

When I woke up this morning, I felt like blogging. So here I am, unashamed that I'm sharing a holiday recap a month later.

This Christmas season was wonderful! I love being home with my family, having a lot of time off from work, and just relaxing.

Before everyone went home for the holidays, we hosted "Friendsmas" at our apartment, complete with festive cocktails and tacky sweaters!

We had our annual M&M Dinner at Lazy Goat, but unfortunately Katie hadn't arrived from SF yet so it was just me and the adults!

Next up: Katie and I were "A Perfect Pair" of salt & pepper shakers at our friends' themed party (such a fun idea for a party, by the way)!

And then the Christmas festivities really got started!

The holidays are always a flurry of cooking and baking. Mom and I sit down with a pile of cookbooks and make a menu for the days surrounding Christmas. However, our family takes our traditions very seriously so we usually don't deviate from our standard menu for most occasions.

Snapshots from Christmas Eve & Christmas Day:

The week between Christmas and New Year's was filled with more relaxing, movie watching, and spending time with family. With one last hoorah for New Year's Eve, it was time to go back to work.

2013 was most definitely NOT my favorite year, so we definitely had no problem toasting it goodbye!

Weekend Update

With Thanksgiving being so late this year, Christmas has snuck up on me. I'm generally less excited for Christmas in recent years just because I know that immediately following Christmas is busy season, and I have to say goodbye to my life outside of work (which, who am I kidding, isn't very exciting) for the next 4 months.

But I made an effort the past week to get into the holiday spirit. I took an afternoon off to do all my Christmas shopping and wrapping, I finally got the tree decorated, I attended my work Christmas party and a holiday party for United Way, and now I'm feeling significantly more festive than before.

1. The United Way holiday party, where I bought shoes for a child in need
2. My lovely roomie and I before our office Christmas party
3. One of my clients sent me a GIANT container of pecans. Time to start baking!
4. Some of my favorite girls getting our hair blown out before the Christmas party
5. A delicious festive cocktail (recipe below)
6. Lauren, Holly, and me at the party
7. Our cute little baby Christmas tree
8. My dear friend Whitney turned 30 the night of the Christmas party, and we celebrated in style (and also met Floyd Mayweather at Waffle House at 3 am!)
9. Stovetop potpourri - if it smells like Christmas, we're halfway there!



Cider Pomegranate Smash
from Clara Persis

2.5 oz bourbon
1 tsp lemon juice
6 oz sparkling apple pomegranate cider (Martinelli’s make this)
1/2 tablespoon pomegranate seeds

Fill a tall thin (or short and wide) cocktail glass with ice. Pour in the bourbon and stir to chill. Pour in the lemon juice and sparkling apple pomegranate cider and stir well to combine. Top with fresh pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.

Stovetop Potpourri

Slice an orange or two, throw in a cup of fresh cranberries, as many cinnamon sticks as your heart desires, and a dash of cloves, cover with water, and simmer on the stove to fill your home with the smells of Christmas. Enjoy!

Merry Merry!

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

 

My holiday has been filled with family traditions!

 

 

Christmas Eve included a feast of Mom's chicken casserole, Katie's deviled eggs, and my sparkling apple sangria!

 

 

We had our candlelight church service at 8 pm, and then put on our Christmas pajamas, poured some hot chocolate, and drove around town to look at the lights.

Katie and I always sleep in the same bed on Christmas Eve, and then wake up early to open our presents. Mom and Dad spoiled us this year, as they always do, and I'm now blogging from my new iPad!!

 

We had a scrumptious brunch of sausage casserole and Katie made gingerbread with lemon glaze!

We finished opening gifts by digging into our stockings, then everyone took their places on the couch to watch our annual mainstay:

 

 

We're off to Virginia tomorrow to visit my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins!

Hope you all are having a blessed Christmas also!

Weekend Update ~ Tis the Season!

We had such a festive time last weekend!

It's finally starting to feel like Christmas. Lauren and I spent Friday afternoon (with the help of my mom) getting our little tree set up and wrapping presents, so our place would look cozy for the holidays. Last year we got a real tree, but with both of us traveling home for Christmas, we wouldn't even be home to enjoy it!

 

We got all tacky-ed up for a Tacky Christmas pub crawl on Friday night, and had so much fun (and drank a few too many beverages). I haven't been awake that late in a long time!

Saturday was our work Christmas party - one of my favorite events of the year! I know most people probably think work Christmas parties are lame, but ours happens to be one of the biggest parties with the motto, "What happens at the Christmas party, stays at the Christmas party" (yes, shots of Fireball included). There's an awesome DJ, and there's probably nothing better than singing every.single.word of "Baby Got Back" with your coworkers. See? Accountants do know how to party.

 

 

There were a few photo booth pictures taken at the party, but I can't figure out how to upload those to my computer without a scanner. Boo! (It's probably better they stay off the blog anyway, for blackmail purposes, haha!)

We had a low key Sunday, cheering both the Panthers and the Packers to a victory! Lauren, Sarah, and I toured an Inspiration Home in Greenville that was 11,000 square feet!

 

The kitchen? The outdoor porch? I die.

 

And now, happy Wednesday, since I'm a little late with this post...