Christmas

A 2017 Christmas

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Another Christmas has come and gone and now it’s time to prepare for a new year. As my husband and I put away the Christmas decorations I found myself feeling a little sad. No more tree, no more twinkling lights wrapped around the bannister, and no more presents waiting to be unwrapped. This also means it’s almost time for me to head back into the office… (Early mornings, blah).

We had a pretty low key, but enjoyable Christmas. My parents and sister stayed in Kansas so it was just myself, the hubs, and pups on Christmas morning. The dogs were very excited that Santa Paws brought them new Rae Dunn food/water bowls and of course lots of treats. After opening our presents we enjoyed some cinnamon roll french toast casserole by the fire. (The casserole was amazing and super easy to make. Check it out!)

Later in the afternoon we heading to the Hub’s parents house to exchange gifts with the rest of the family and stuff our faces with prime rib. We spent the rest of the evening playing games.

While I am sad to see another great Christmas come to an end I am excited to see what 2018 has in store. Wish us luck as we are heading out in the bitter cold tomorrow night for dinner out with friends. I will never get used to this cold weather!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-L

 

 

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A Little Bit of Turkey and A Whole Lot of Family

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Hello! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to spend some quality time with the Fam. My husband and I made the 8 hour drive to Kansas City to spend the holiday with my side of the family. And while I have so much to be thankful for this year I am glad that we got through the whole weekend without any major incident. I love my family to death, but sometimes they drive me a little nuts. You know the kind of nuts where you have to lock yourself in the bathroom for a bit with some wine in order to get a few minutes of peace. (Totally kidding… kind of).

Upon arriving to my parents on Wednesday night we heading out to my grandmother’s house for some good KC BBQ from Oklahoma Joe’s. It’s no Arthur Bryant’s, but it is still pretty damn tasty. My grandma then spent the rest of the evening trying unload some of her stuff off onto my sister and I because you know “she doesn’t know how much longer she will be around”. (Trust me the woman isn’t going anywhere anytime soon). We ended the evening making a shit ton of pumpkin snicker doodle cookies.

Thursday I was up early helping my sister deliver a whole thanksgiving dinner to one of her clients and then spent the rest of the afternoon cooking for our own feast. I tackled the stuffing as usual, using my dad’s mother’s recipe. All was going great until I found out my sister decided to have my grandmother bring apple pie instead of pumpkin pie for dessert!! Who doesn’t have a pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. It totally goes against tradition and my husband is still upset about it. (Good thing we will be having some this weekend at our friendsgiving.) Other than the unfortunate pie incident Thanksgiving was great. My old ass headed to bed full and happy at 9:30pm.

On our last day in town we hit the Plaza for some black Friday shopping and of course had to stop by Winsteads for a diet limeaide. We spent our last night eating amazing fried chicken at Stroud’s and then wrapping the remaining Christmas presents we brought for my family.

While it was only a short trip we had a great time and ate some really great food. We heading back on a Saturday so we would have a whole day to prepare for the upcoming work week. Personally I find that to be a lot easier after being away from home for a few days.

Now that Thanksgiving is over and we are almost a week into December its time to get ready for Christmas! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season so far!

 

 

 

 

We Survived Christmas (Kind Of)

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My husband and I were pretty much completely crazy when we decided to host Christmas this year.

That’s right, my parents, sister, granny, and her grumpy husband made their way to Crystal Lake to engage in all the Christmas merriment. I mean nothing was bound to go wrong, right? Put a bunch of people, who don’t normally get along, in a house together for a week. Then throw in some alcohol and boom, all unresolved issues from the past quickly make an appearance. (What isn’t fun about that)?

The fun filled week started with my grandmother arriving and not having a hotel reservation. Basically she ignored the number I sent her for the hotel right next to my house and looked up a Holiday Inn. However, since she is not familiar with the area we think she made the reservation at some hotel in the middle of Indiana. (Yep, you heard that correctly). What followed was a afternoon adventure to 4 different hotels where she tried to find her reservation and then ended at the hotel I originally gave her where she finally booked a room. After the whole hotel room shuffle we came back to my house to relax and while unloading the car my grandma’s husband decided to pee in my back yard. (Apparently our restroom isn’t adequate).

The next day my parents and sister arrived with a car full of stuff my mother unloaded on us and their two dogs. After being in the car for 8 hours you can imagine that everyone, including the dogs, were in a fantastic mood. The first thing my mother dog did was come up to our bedroom and pee on the floor. What a welcome indeed!

Despite all the bickering and various puppy puddles around the house. Christmas was very nice. On Christmas Eve my sister smoked 4 chickens and served them with homemade mac and cheese, salad, asparagus, carrots, and jalapeno corn bread muffins. (Hello food coma)! After opening presents we went to Tom’s parent’s house for Christmas dinner and a night full of board games.

All and all it was a great Christmas. Well, until I ended up in the ER with pneumonia, bronchitis, and high blood pressure the next day…. but I will save that for my next post.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and happy 2017! This is going to be a great year!

L

Christmas Past

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Christmas is over once again, which means that many of us begrudgingly made our way back to work this morning; peeling ourselves out of our nice warm beds still reeling from all the holiday merriment. Myself I was completely exhausted, having spent a week with my family and getting back to Chicago late on Sunday night. In retrospect I should have cut all that family bonding time a day short and come back on Saturday so I could have at least one day to recover. (Next year I think I’m just going to head some place tropical…)

But in all seriousness I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and is ready to welcome a new year! (I still can’t believe that it is going to be 2015). And the good news is that in another couple of days we get another day off from work to nurse that New Year’s Eve hangover that always so pleasant. I fully intend to spend the day holed up in my apartment, binge watching bad television, and eating super unhealthy food. (What else is New Years day for?) This is of course right before my New Years resolutions to eat healthier and get in better shape set in.

Speaking of what are everyone else’s New Years resolutions? I haven’t really sat down to think of mine yet, but I know I won’t be the usual “lose weight and get in shape” that most people choose.

Side note: This time of year is hell at the gym because everyone tries to start of the year sticking to their resolutions, taking over everything for a few weeks before they finally give up. So frustrating! I am all for people wanting to be healthier, but learn some gym etiquette or just work out at home. I don’t want to go into a yoga class and deal with rudeness. 

I’m going to take a little time to think about what my resolutions will be and then I will be back to share!

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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I can’t believe that it is already halfway through December!! Where did 2014 go? It seems like it was only yesterday when the boyfriend and I were on our week long vacay at Disney World in Florida. Now, I am back at work, watching the snow flurries outside the window and finalizing plans for Christmas. (Great trip btw, it was our fist vacation together and it was so much fun!) 

Anyway, with Christmas just around the corner I’ve been slowly getting into the holiday spirit. This time of year there is always so much to do: send out Christmas cards, buy presents for your loved ones, attend multiple holiday parties, and decorate the house; Christmas tree included.

As I begin to slowly check things off my holiday to-do list (I have a list for everything) I found myself thinking about all of the Christmas traditions that my family has held throughout the years.

Growing up my family and I acquired some traditions that continue to exist to this day. Some of them are quite funny or ridiculous, but hey that’s what makes them special, right?  Every year after cramming our faces with copious amount of turkey, stuffing, and derby pie (washing it down with plenty of wine) my parents, sister, and I make our way down to the Country Club Plaza to watch the Christmas lights turn on. The night usually ends with my sister and mom heading to bed while my dad and I drink a night time bourbon, while sitting in front of the fireplace.

After a few days the Christmas tree would go up and as usual we would fight about the theme of the tree and which decorations were going to be used that year. You see I like white lights and simple, color coordinated ornaments while other members of my family just like to throw a bunch of random ornaments on the tree and call it done. It’s a panic attack waiting to happen for those of us with anxiety. To make matters worse, one year my parents decided that a fake tree was better, which obviously prompted a whole new argument because personally I like real trees much better. (They just smell so nice! Who cares that they leave behind a little trail of pine needles).

Every Christmas eve our family would gather around the dinning room table for a big dinner of prime rib. (One year my mom tried to switch it up and made some pork tenderloin shit, NOT OK!) Grandma always brought along the figgy pudding, even though we never ate it and since we never opened the box containing this mystery pudding, she continued to bring the same one each year. This went on as far back as I can remember. (Grandma passed away last Christmas, but we made sure to still bring the pudding and I know it will be here this year as well).

On Christmas morning we would wake up anxious to open presents and as usual our parents would make us stay in our room while they placed last minute gifts under the tree they forgot to wrap. At this point I should probably also mention that another my tradition my father and I have is that one of us always gives the other a set of shower curtain rings as a present. This goes back a few years when I lived in Nashville and is the result of him staying with me for a period of time and constantly moving my stuff around, which included an unopened box of shower curtains. (We like to annoy each other, what can I say). After presents we would enjoy a brunch of eggs Benedict and usually pass out on the couch watching a movie. Pretty much the best way to end a perfect holiday if you ask me.

While I now live in Chicago, I still make the trek back to Kansas City for Christmas each year and I am already anxiously awaiting this trip. Although my mom better not try to change up the prime rib again!