The Holidays

The holidays were in a word. AWESOME. Did I do much? No. Did I go anywhere? No. And that's part of what made it so great. I love a good staycation.

I kind of feel like the fun of the holiday season starts with Halloween. We went to the 17 Door Haunted House up in orange county for the second time, and there is a good chance I will never go back. It was super intense. I was so traumatized! Click the link and you will see what I mean. I just looked at it again to link it here and got flashbacks.

2020 Done and Dusted

Happy New Year!!! I actually had to read through my last blog post to remember what I last wrote about. Go me! Work kicked my butt from November right into Christmas break as usual. Working at home has made my busy time of year a little bit less bad, but still. I was READY for my break. Christmas was so nice. It was just MJ and I but it was a wonderful day. I exercised, had wine, and we watched Wonder Woman. In past years, I felt pressure to "do" something if it was just going to be us on Christmas, but due to covid that pressure was not a thing. It was nice to make our thing we do a nice dinner at home without feeling like we should have done something. We had steak for dinner on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. It was better than eating at a restaurant. I'm still eating mostly meatless, but sometimes you just want a good steak. Or burger. 

'Tis the Season to be Tired Fa La La La La....

Happy Holidays! Better late then never right?

I'm currently in the middle of a Christmas break that is going way to quickly. I can feel the time slipping away, with each blissfully work free day, but I'm trying really hard not to focus on that. I don't want this break to be about what I could or should be accomplishing during this time, because dammit, all I really want to do right now is BE. Is that too much to ask?

So what have I been up to? Since I haven't updated too much on life happenings since October-ish, I'm just going to do a basic recap post. The kind that nobody likes to read.

Moving Day!!

We went to Lake Tahoe over labor day weekend, and then when we came back we moved to our little apartment in Mission Valley. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Moving is the worst. We expected to live there from September 7th until mid December, but plans changed when the builder moved up the closing date on our new home to end October. I was ready to get out of that apartment, but having to break our 3 month lease was stressful, and I was not ready to have to move again so soon. We only lived there for six weeks.

12 Days of Awesome

De Nile river is not just a river in Africa because it's running all through me right now.  Deep.  Even as late as driving to work today, I thought that somehow I was wrong and I wasn't supposed to go back yet.  I had convinced myself that I would arrive to an empty parking lot and realize I did my calendar dates wrong and I had one more day.  I'd already done the work of getting up, but no matter, I'd happily drive home and hop back into bed with my slumbering husband.  Whelp.  That didn't happen.

I also meant to write a post about Christmas, and then I'd do a second post about New Year's, but that didn't happen either.

The worst thing about the holiday break is that I stumbled out of bed in the middle of the night at the Hard Rock Hotel and accidentally drank an $11 bottle of hotel water instead of the $1.99 bottle I brought from home.  In other words, my break was pretty awesome. 

By the end of the year I'm exhausted.  It doesn't matter how many vacations I've had either.  I'm exhausted, and it's cold, and all I want to do is curl up into a ball for the rest of my life.  It's a good thing I don't ever have a lot of holiday shopping to do, because I simply don't have the energy for it.  Malls, crowds, post offices.  NO.  I went straight to Amazon for one husband plus an adorable niece and nephew.  We usually do a family gift exchange, but we didn't even do that this year.  Everyone had an expensive year, and for a bunch of adults Christmas gifting is just not that important.  We'll re-evaluate next year.  I look forward to holiday break with a vengeance every single year.  It's the one reason I won't quit this job.  Well, it's not the only reason, but totally free days of paid time off for Christmas is pretty high up there.  The first official thing I did over Christmas break besides shut down my stupid  6:20am weekday alarm was eat pizza at happy hour, and it only got better.  There were plenty of lazy mornings drinking coffee and watching TV, that turned into an entire day spent in pajamas, but I didn't spend the entire time at home...although that doesn't sound half bad.

We didn't do cards.  This is it.

We opened presents on Christmas morning, just the two of us.  Guys.  He got me Chanel No. 5.  I have definitely heard of it, but never smelled it because why would I?  But it smells so good.  I don't know how much it costs but I'm pretty sure it's worth every penny.  He also got me the perfect cashmere sweater.  It fits exactly the way I like it.  He got me a few other perfect gifts, but he always does good when it comes to gifts.  This year I think I did pretty good too, and I have to add that I did not get one clue from him as to what he wanted.  Not one!  The only thing he could think of that he wanted and didn't already have is a gun and I'm absolutely not the best person to shop for it so that was out.  He went out and bought his own gun (as adults do) and I came up with some other things that he loved including that polka dot shirt from Land's End.  I wore my new sweater and he wore his new shirt that night to dinner.  We are those people who go out to dinner on holidays so Christmas dinner was at George's at the Cove- California Modern in La Jolla.  It was pricey, but at least I can say I didn't mind the bill that much because the food was so exceptional it felt worth it.

The day after Christmas we went to the movies to see Fences (Denzel Washington).  The day after that we hiked Mt. Woodson at Lake Poway which is 7.5 miles and very challenging.  Afterwards we went to the very same place we went to after the last time we did that hike and I ate the very same thing.  Nicky Rotten's!!  Nothing like a hot juicy burger and an ice cold beer after a 1,000 calorie hike.

Hard Rock Hotel for New Year's Eve was his idea.  Well, it was his friends idea, and that friend didn't even end up going, but we didn't let that stop us.  My first thought when MJ told me he booked the tickets was darn, I'm going to have to wear heels.  I gave up on heels.  I hate heels.  I no longer wear heels.  The last time I wore them was during the summer when I went out in Las Vegas and my feet hate heels so much one of the shoes broke.  Heels aside, I was still excited because we haven't done the going out thing for New Year's Eve since 2013.  MJ is here for a limited time only so we might as well live it up.  The folks who came to party at Hard Rock are serious.  They showed up in droves dressed to kill, and by that I mean in the shortest, tightest, lowest cut, shiniest dresses possible.  I was no exception (minus the sequins)! The place was packed, the dance floor was packed, and any semblance that I made any effort at all to do my hair was gone by the end of the night.  I toughed it out in those heels for as long as humanly possible which turned out to be three hours.  My hair was wilted and my feet were DONE, but those three hours were really fun! I drank just enough to wake up with a headache, which was no big deal really.  Nothing that a giant pancake couldn't cure.

We stayed at Hard Rock an extra night so the next day we went to breakfast...well it was more like brunch by the time I made it out of bed.  No, I did not order an entire cake for myself.  That giant thing is a baked cinnamon pancake from Richard Walker's Pancake House.  I was only able to eat half of it, but it was really good.  After that we walked over to the International Auto Show at the convention center, and then picked up food from a really loud bar called Bootlegger, where we saw an almost fight on our way out, and ate dinner in bed while watching a movie.  I really like eating in bed because it's something we don't do at home, and I'm telling you, the Cobb salad that came out of that box was one of the best I have ever eaten in my life.  It was great.  Everything was great.  Not even the accidental drinking of bottled water that cost more than a bottle of decent wine could bring me down.

The Gaslamp

I love a good staycation.  I felt like I had all the time in the world with myself and with my husband for sleeping in, watching TV, morning walks, and just existing in life without any real responsibilities.  I really, really needed that and I'm pretty sure I'm going to really really need it again in approximately 353 days. 

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Vegas for the Holidays

I look forward to walking, make that running for dear life out of the office on the last day before Christmas Break more than anything else all year.  It's 10 times better than my my Birthday.  It's peace out I'm a free woman for almost two weeks, and it's pretty much the best thing ever.  This year I wasn't at home the whole time doing my normal staycation thing, but when we got back from Las Vegas I still had a week left and it was AWESOME.

take 1

take 9

I didn't even realize people were still getting pictures done at J.C. Penny's until my mom made us an appointment there to get family photos done.  I rolled my eyes a little at that, but if mom wanted us to do family pictures on Christmas Eve at Penny's in holiday color coordinated outfits then that's what we were going to do. Unfortunately, MJ didn't have red or green and the madness that is holiday travel had other plans for us so we never made it to Penny's at all.  Little sis and I were fine.  Our flights were from San Fran and San Diego just a short flight away, but big sis came all the way from North Carolina and if one thing goes wrong with your flight this time of year there is a good chance you will have a much longer layover than you planned.  She missed her connection, couldn't get a flight out until the next day and didn't arrive until late on Christmas Eve more than 24 hours later than she was scheduled to arrive.  We missed our appointment so we improvised.  On Christmas day we drove to a park with a tripod and made it work.  We did a few test shots then popped off our jackets.  MJ ran back and forth between us and the tripod until we got it right.  It was really hard to seven people to look good at the same time with the wind and cold working against us, but I think we pulled it off.  We were freezing do death through those smiles but I think hid it pretty well.

MJ got really creative with one of my gifts

My nephew is just the cutest, with his little voice and sweet face.  He's grown so much since the last time I saw him.  He is a really good listener.  If you ask him to do something he does it, and he is quite the hugger.  He hugs people at the grocery store.  He hugged the flight attendant.  Probably because he was so thrilled that they finally let him get on after sitting for hours at the airport.   Present opening that morning was crazy.  I think I went into a trance or something because I hardly even remember it.  There was trash everywhere.  The lens cap for our camera disappeared.  I think it got thrown away.  One of MJ's present was a riddle so I was engrossed in that and then I was trying to see what everyone else was getting and figure out my new fitbit.  DJ was all over the place.  My sister was setting up his new tablet. I don't know what happened, but it was fun.

Just in case you were wo

MJ helped out a lot at Christmas dinner and it's a good thing because I don't know what went wrong with me and my sisters, but we are not kitchen people.  My mom asked us all to contribute a dish.  Big sis volunteered for chips and guacamole.  Little sis did a spread for bread.  I contributed a husband who volunteered to make brussel sprouts with bacon, and two sweet potato pies.  This is him making some last minute gravy.  Just in case you were wondering pancake mix is a perfect substitute for flour in gravy.  When he went to make cookies later he discovered what he thought was the flour container was full of pancake mix.  I guess it tasted fine, because nobody noticed.

The Rents

Sisters in pea coats at Caesar's Palace

Normally I go to Vegas to party.  Well, party one night and hang out at the pool for the rest because I don't have the energy for much more than that!!  Preferably during the hot summer months when you can walk around at night in a short dress and sit outside at Fat burger shoving fries in your face at 2 am without being cold.  This time was different.  It was my first time visiting my parents since they moved.  Could I go to Vegas and not set foot on the strip at all?  The answer is no.   I have a thing for the lights and the energy of the Las Vegas strip.  It was freezing, and there would definitely be no clubbing but we were there and my older sister doesn't get out much.  We had to.     If it had been summertime I'm pretty sure I would have wanted to party a little bit because I can't help it, but with freezing temps and a pregnant person in tow all we could muster was grabbing dinner on the strip and a stroll through Caesar's Palace.  We did a little bit of shopping and after three hours we were ready to go home. Dad dropped us off and then we took an Uber back.

Our flight left at 6:00am (yikes!!), but we had five nights there and I really enjoyed it.  You realize even more how special it is to be with family for the holiday's when everyone moves away.   We didn't do much.  I think we spent the majority of the time in pajamas watching those cheesy Hallmark holiday movies that were on all day long back to back commercial free.  We also watched the first (and sadly the last) season of the Ballet drama Flesh and Bone on Starz in a single day.  We delivered cookies as a family to the neighbors (much like a Hallmark movie).  On Sunday morning while the guys went to a casino to watch football we went for a walk (minus little sis who couldn't get up).  On our last night we went to my Dad's favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner.  Just good clean family fun.  I didn't want the visit to end, but I knew it had to because otherwise we would be in our 30's living with my parents and no jobs.  We had to go home.  But I didn't want to.

A photo posted by Cece (@mahoganydrive) on Dec 31, 2015 at 8:22pm PST

We went to see Star Wars at Cinepolis the day we got back.  I took naps.  I was prepared, but alas a 10:30 pm start time is still too late for me.  It was good, but I fell asleep at the end.  New Year's Eve was really low key.  We picked up the expensive steaks we love for dinner.  We watched a movie and watched the ball drop on TV.  My retired parents were out dancing until 2am and then went to Denny's afterward while all their three kids spent NYE on the couch. 

One of the best things about my time off is that it didn't go by fast at all.  Now that I'm at work, it seems like it did because it's over, but while it was happening every day seemed to go on forever and that's just the way I like it. 

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Staycation Mode

I'm in serious staycation mode and apparently that means no blogging.  My last day of work was December 22nd and I don't go back until January 5th.

So what have I been doing?

Tis the season for cute ankle boots // Aldo

Spending a crap ton of money which WILL happen even if you buy nothing else if you buy your husband an iPad.  There was a spa visit and dinners out.  I have this habit of deciding I need things after Thanksgiving which is the same time I also need to by things for other people.  It was all fun and games until I saw my credit card balance.  I paid my credit card off and will start fresh with being more conservative in January.

A photo posted by Cece (@pinksunshine94) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:24am PST

Reading as many books as I can.  The library and very specifically, that library transports me to my broke single years when I lived alone in my condo and spent hours and hours reading alone in my cozy little studio.  The library was free and I had a lot of free time on my hands so I was there every single month combing the stacks for something new.  I hadn't been in so long that I had a $4.00 fine from 2010.  Good thing they don't charge interest or send you to collections.  Incidentally, 2010 is when life got very busy for me.  MJ came home from an 11 month deployment, we bought a house and got married.  Then I discovered DVR and it was all over after that.  Life gets so busy that I may or may not make library trips a regular thing but this staycation was the perfect time to go back.  Hopefully I'll do more reading in 2015.  I missed it!

Watching Married at First Sight.  With the help of experts three arranged marriages are set up and the couples meet on their wedding day when they walk down the aisle.  Crazy right?  But so fascinating.  I stumbled upon this on my Direct TV app, recorded all the episodes and finished most of it in two days.  It's a really interesting reality show that actually seems real and not full of wanna be actresses that signed up for the free vacations.  Each episode has really interesting insight about making a marriage work and it's a pretty interesting social experiment to watch unfold.  Jason and Courtney are my favorite couple.  They are so cute!!

Finding my motivation for working out.  Any motivation I was still hanging onto left me in the dust about last month.  I fought it, but once the holidays hit and it started to get chilly it was gone and I decided that was okay.   If I work out I work out and if I don't...well, clearly life goes on.  I am fitting in as many morning yoga classes as I can at the gym and we will see what happens in the new year.

Enjoying quality time with MJ.  He worked only one more day than me so last week was a staycation for both of us.  On Christmas Eve Eve we wasted $26 bucks on this Winter Wonderland holiday event downtown that was pretty much worthless unless you had a gaggle of kids.  At least we got to see a Reindeer.  I don't even care because it was one of those warm balmy nights (yes, in December) that I can't get enough of.  We strolled around downtown on a Tuesday-which felt strange, until we found a place to eat with outdoor seating and drink specials.  Wasted money or not it was a fun night.  Playstation was down for two wonderful days which was great for me and our quality time but not so great for a man who is addicted to Destiny.

Wearing lots of pajamas with my fuzzy flowered 10 year old grandma robe.  I eat breakfast, run errands and/or work out and then jump into my jammies for the rest of the night.  We made it until after Christmas without the heat.  Which is also the day I thought it was Friday and showed up 24 hours late for yoga on Saturday morning.  I walked right out when I realized I was the only idiot there with a yoga mat and did a yoga DVD at home.  We always have a contest to see who can last the longest without heat and for the second time in a row he broke first.  It's not that I don't get as cold as him it's just that I am more willing to suffer if it will save money.

Cleansing my closet.  It was time and I was finally ready.  I told MJ that I will probably be wearing these same clothes for the next twenty years.  I think I did pretty good, but I still have a lot of clothes and I'm not into shopping for sport anymore so I don't expect my wardrobe to change that much in the near future.  I'll still buy things when needed but I can't add much ESPECIALLY if I'm not willing to part with anything else.  I'm going to make a concerted effort to wear every single thing I own over the next year and if I STILL have things I haven't worn I will re evaluate next year.

Organizing my iPhotos.  After five years my MacBook finally died but not before it was reset to factory settings and wiped in a last ditch effort to save it.  Nothing was not backed up in the time capsule as it was supposed to be.  I got a new one six months ago but, I lost all documents.  MJ was able to recover what I think is most of my pics but they are all just randomly thrown in there with no rhyme or reason.  It's a big project I've been putting off for months

Christmas was different this year being that it was just the two of us but it was still good.  I got everything I wanted plus a few extra's that MJ surprised me with.  That afternoon we went to the movies to see Exodus, which was really good.  See it.  So good!!  Then we went straight to dinner and spent a quiet evening at home.  We intend to do the same for New Year's Eve minus the movie.

I have one more glorious week that remains before it's time to go back to work and I'm going to enjoy it.  Now, to catch up on some blog reading.

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An 80 Degree Christmas

It's been about 80 degrees all week.  I keep expecting it to be cold outside.  Or at least cooler, but it's not and the only thing I don't like is that it's too warm for Uggs.  I have two pairs and I don't get to wear them nearly enough but I'm not complaining.

My Fossil Cross Body

We had a great Christmas.  Presents first thing in the morning.  MJ knocked it out of the park as usual.  He picked out this great Fossil Cross body bag for me all by himself.  It seemed just a little bit too small so we ended up exchanging it on base for the "big sister" version.  It's large enough to hold the DSLR and a sweater and anything else I'll need to carry with me.  It will be perfect for travel.  It has tons of pockets and I LOVE it.  I also love it that he picked it for me.  I'm not sure how he ended up being the purse guy but he's bought every new purse I've owned since we met.  He also got me a Victoria's Secret Pink sweat suit and brassiere  a remote and a flash for the DSLR.  He knows me so well and he's so sweet and I'm so lucky to have him.  I always feel like such a turd after he spoils me.  My mom got me a few really nice and thoughtful things too.  I got MJ the basketball shoes he wanted and surprised him with a new pair of dress shoes to replace his old beat up ones.  I also got him a lunch box; nothing big, just something he needed. 

We ate a quick breakfast before we rushed to meet my parents for the movies.  I'm so glad everyone was in agreement on seeing Catching Fire.  In preparation I watched Hunger Games again the night before in bed alone on my iPad.  I cried when Rue died just like I did the first time around and then I cried again when I saw her family on Catching Fire.  So, so sad and the movie was so good.  I really  can't wait for Mocking Jay.

Me and my beautiful mama

Dinner was at mom's house but in a different house then it's always been before.  They sold my childhood home a few months ago and this was my first time at the new place.  It's weird not going to the house that they've lived in since I was 5.  My house.  The one that held so many memories.  My Dad is already retired and my mom plans to retire next year so this was a good move for them.  They are only a few miles from the old house and they still have a ton of space in the townhouse they are renting.   They are happy there and I'm happy for them as they move into this new life stage.  My mom made a delicious meal and I finally got the Mac and Cheese that I was missing on Thanksgiving.  I took some home too.

I'm feeling really bad for my older sister.  She spent Christmas dealing with an eye disorder flare up that's been plaguing her for the last 4 months.  Her family spent Christmas Day at a hotel near Duke University hospital.  She's been in and out of the ER all week long.  She had to travel 3 hours from home a few days before Christmas, have eye surgery the day after Christmas and came home on Friday.  They did presents on Saturday.  DJ doesn't know the difference. He's 3. Christmas is whenever his parents tell him it is. Poor thing. I hope the doctor's can finally figure out what's causing it and make it stop.

There have been times when I've had so many shows piling up in the DVR that I couldn't keep up but now that I have plenty of time there is nothing there to watch.  This time a year is a dead zone for TV.  House Hunters isn't even coming on right now so I've been watching a lot of Netflix.  The day after Christmas I ran to the mall early to exchange something and then spent a few hours at my favorite coffee shop writing.   On Friday MJ was off too so we ran errands together.  Saturday I stayed home all day long.  I got some writing done in the morning and then pretty much relaxed the day away.  More of the same today.  I did yoga first thing in the morning.  I'm making dinner for the 2nd time in 2 weeks which is kind of a big deal for me...and my husband. 

Friday felt like a Saturday.  I never want this staycation to end!  We finally made it through all of the baked goods but there is plenty of wine.  This is what $170 worth of wine looks like.  Yesterday I turned Pandora to the Christmas channel and the lights on the tree come on every day.  I'm holding onto the holidays and my staycation for as long as I can.

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'Twas the Night Before Christmas

We've been together for five years and have never ordered Holiday cards together.  He never wanted them.  Ordering cards seemed too much like work so I didn't care either way.  He doesn't remember this but I suggested it jokingly a few months before Christmas.  He didn't even answer he just gave me a look.  Which meant no.  So imagine my surprise when he says out of the blue around Thanksgiving he says, "We should order Christmas cards this year."  What?  I about fell out of my chair.  I was shocked but I went with it.

We decided to use a picture from Maui and ordered them from Tiny Prints.  I love the way they turned out.   They have a slight gloss to it.  The envelopes are really thick.  I didn't want a traditional holiday card.  If you want green, red and Christmas trees they have it, but they also have a huge selection of non traditional cards.  It was so hard to decide that I about lost my mind.  As usual.  I made about six samples by the time I finally picked one.  I didn't order them until Tuesday of last week and we got them yesterday.  They are kind of New Years cards too so it's fine that they won't go out until after Christmas right? 

Happy Holidays from Maui

We do all of our Christmas stuff late.  We didn't get our tree until the 14th and we'll probably take it down late too.  I didn't start any of my holiday shopping until the Monday of the week before Christmas and he waited a few days longer then I did.  I picked up one last present today.  We keep it pretty simple in my family so I know I can get away with it.  This year we did a couples gift exchange between us, my younger sister and her boyfriend and my older sister and her husband.  My little sis set it up on Secret Santa.com so that we can post our wish list and then receive an anonymous e mail saying who to shop for.   I don't want to spend the holidays running around stressing out about what to buy everyone and spending a ton of money.  We've been doing this for about the last five years or so.  At first I felt weird not buying something for my mom for Christmas especially since she can't help but get something for us even with the exchange but there is still Mother's day and her Birthday.  We gave my parents a Hickory Farms gift set to enjoy. We are adults.  We don't need a million presents anymore and the older we get the harder it is to find unique gifts for people that they don't already have.  I have a 3 year old Nephew so I send him presents and I also shop for MJ but the family gift exchange cuts down on a lot of the crazy.  I was able to do almost all of my shopping online to bypass the malls and the post office. 

I'm the worst gift giver EVER! MJ is so much better at it then I am.  I can hardly ever think of what to get anyone and then when I finally do decide I agonize endlessly over exactly which kind and usually resort to gift cards. Which are nice and all but sometimes it's nice to give something more personal.  He usually tells me a few things to choose from and if it's a good year I can usually come up with one or two things extra that might be a surprise.

I love our tree! It's nice and wide on the bottom.  I think it's the best one we've had yet.  We have a routine.  We walk across the street to the Boy Scout tree farm set up in the Elk's lodge parking lot.  MJ suggests a few trees and I protest a little that they are either too big or too expensive.  He gets the one he wants anyways and then carries it across the street to our house.  We put on Christmas carols.  He puts up the lights and the pretty star.  I pour myself some wine and then add all the rest of the ornaments and despite my fussing love the tree anyways.

I am really going to enjoy these two 12 days off from work; even though it already seems to be going by way too fast.  MJ's been baking again.  The house smells like freshly baked Apple Sauce cake and Chocolate chip cookies.  I'm trying to be a good wife so there is a hot pot of Chili simmering on the stove for dinner.    The holiday music is playing.  I need to address our holiday cards and I have one more present to wrap.  The only thing missing is a glass of wine but that's okay because I added some Bailey's Irish creme to my coffee earlier. It was a gift from my parents.

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

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A Merry New Year Party

When I found out that Mj's company holiday party was January 5th instead of the usual December this year my first thought was, cool now I can get a dress on an after Christmas clearance sale.  It was a good idea in theory but in reality I still didn't feel like buying another dress I'd only wear once so I went with what I had.  I often worry about looking too hootchie so I err on the side of conservative and end up seeing women in far more risque dresses then the one I left at home. This time I said screw it and went with potentially hootchie and I'm glad I did because as expected there were STILL women there that went shorter, tighter and lower cut then me.  If you can believe that from looking at my dress.  Mj waited until that day to finally try on his suit and after a 20 lb weight loss last year he was swimming in it so he had to throw an outfit together.  There were clothes strewn all over the bed.  You know the kind of scene we have to go through on a regular basis.

Feels like a Prom pic!

The party was at the Westin Hotel downtown on Saturday so we booked a room for the night.   At the party we were greeted with champagne.  We were off to a nice start but once inside the ballroom we couldn't find a table.  Mj gave up because he was starving and grabbed some food to start eating while we milled around like lost sheep looking for a place to sit.  I don't know if they underestimated the amount of people that were going to show up or if people didn't RSVP or what but there were no more tables inside the main room.  We were relegated to what we called the reject room and had to wait a while before we could even find a table there.  We were away from all the action and ambiance of the main room but we made the best of it and had a good time anyways.  There was a live violinist and a DJ.  Like last year's it was heavy appetizers served buffet style around the room.  There was flat bread pizzas, pastas and salads.  Mj complained about there not being good enough variety but they had me at Pizza and it was all good to me.  They had a photo booth set up and handed us the print so I had to scan it old school style to get it on the blog.

I bought this shirt in Nice, France at Cache Cache // Yes, it feels really cool to say that!

Afterwards we went to a club with some of his co workers.  As much as I wanted to strut around in my hot (read cold) little black dress and pumps like the other girls I couldn't bear to freeze my butt off so I had to change.  My husband is so cute.  I stared and smiled at him from across the room like some kind of creepy stalker and happily thought to myself; yep that's my man.  We've been together for going on five years and I love it that I still feel like we're dating.  We don't do the whole downtown thing too often which is fine but when we do it's so much fun.  I had a blast dancing with my husband all night long.  I made it until 1:30am which is pretty impressive for an old lady who likes to be in pajamas by 10pm if not sooner.   My knees were telling my gyrating hips that they'd had enough and the balls of my feet were yelling at me too so it was time to call it quits and walk back to the hotel.  This is about that time when we start walking like broken rag dolls with sticks up our butts because we can no longer hide the abuse we have put our feet through all night.

The next morning we met another couple for breakfast at The Broken Yolk Cafe.  We hear good things about this place but I don't think any of us was overly impressed with the food.  We ran a few errands on the way home.  As soon as I walked in the door I really wanted to take a nap but instead I changed right away and went to the gym.  Call me crazy but I stayed for two hours trying to burn off all that Pizza.  Later that night we took down the tree.  The last party of the season is officially done and even though having to go back to work really sucks I'd say we're off to a very Merry New Year.

Tiffany Blue

My Tiffany's collection//This year's Christmas present on the left and the necklace he gave me four years ago

I was not expecting jewelry this year based on what I saw under the tree. All the boxes were way too big but he tricked me!  I saved the largest box for last and it ended up holding the smallest present.  I unwrapped one large box only to find another smaller wrapped box. I unwrapped that box to find an oddly shaped package and inside that was a Tiffany Bag.  Inside the bag was the distinctive box in Tiffany Blue that every girl fantasizes about.  There is just something about that color and that box.  That pretty little box tied with a satin ribbon is sure to hold a beautiful treasure.  Inside was a silver necklace with a pink ballet slipper charm.  

Please return to Tiffany & Co New York

He told me right away we could take it back if I didn't like it but it's always hard to tell someone that you want to exchange their gift. The way I see it you might as well be honest about those things.  Tiffany's is not cheap and I would hate to keep something he spent his hard earned money on that hadn't totally captured my heart.  While we were getting dressed Christmas morning I told him that I liked the charm and I can see why he picked it for me.  I love how thoughtful he was in picking it out but that it just wasn't me. He was fine with it and said I could get something else which I didn't expect.  He'd gotten me other gifts so I thought we'd just return it.  When I tried this bracelet on I knew right away that it was perfect.  I'm no glamour girl.  I can't be bothered with full on make up or accessorizing every single day.  I love jewelry that is pretty but also functional and durable so I can wear it to work, to the gym, in the shower and sleep in it without even having to spend time taking it off.  Jewelry I can live in and wear every day with everything; like my wedding rings.  Both my Tiffany's pieces allow me to do that.  I was giddy with excitement before the guy even wrapped it up and I gave Mj a big kiss on the cheek and told him how much I loved it.  It worked out for him because I actually saved him some money on the deal!  He said I could pick out another thing but the bracelet was perfect and it was enough so I didn't.  It worked out for me because I have a bracelet I love from a man I love.  I can wear it every day and be reminded of what a sweet husband I have.  

So what is it about Tiffany & Co?  Well, it's only been around for 175 years.  They've even trademarked the color Tiffany Blue.  It can't be used to advertise or package anything else that is associated with or might be in direct competition.  They specialize in Silver which has always been my favorite.  Tiffany's is luxury and their jewelry is not only beautiful but very well made.  It represents the finer things in life wrapped up with a pretty bow and even us regular folks enjoy having a piece of it.  Having something from Tiffany's makes me feel special yes, but it's having something from Tiffany's that my husband bought me that means the most.

 

So This is Christmas

We started off the morning with German pancakes. In Mj's family they ate them every Christmas morning before presents. His mom was with us this year so that's what we did. He whipped them up, we ate and then it was time for presents.  Mj done good.  He's really good at surprising me by coming up with things that I like without me having asked for it.   I fully intend on getting better at that but I've always sucked at finding gifts for people.  I got him house slippers and an Apple Gift card.  He got me two NCAA Championships Gymnastics tickets.  It's a 3 day event.  He'll go as a last resort but he's really not THAT into gymnastics.  Well, he's not into it at all.  He also got me a coach clutch in my favorite color pink and that chambray shirt from Banana Republic I had my eye on.  And Tiffany's!!! There is just something about that blue box...more on that later.

I'm wearing a Christmas gift

After presents it was time to get dressed because the plan was to hit the road for my sister's house by 10am because we had a 3 hour drive to the Palm Springs.  We took the windy road scenic route, stopped for pics and made it in 2 1/2 hours so we were there by 12:30pm.

Mom in Law and Mj

When my parents and little sister finally made it a couple hours later we had a pretty early dinner because we were all starving.  The main dish was a roast with mashed potatoes and veggies on the side.  Everything was really good.  For dessert there was Chocolate Cake and Apple Pie.

My nephew playing in one of his new toys

Keurig Coffee Maker from her husband

Then we figured it was time for DJ to get started on that mountain of presents under their tree because he was falling asleep.  He woke up real quick and was in non stop play mode until he left.  I got just what I wanted from my Secret Santa (my older sister) and we all got a little something from mom because she can't help it. 

Mi Familia! My sisters and I are wearing infinity scarves from my mom

It was a really nice day with the family.  I enjoyed every second of it and as always it went by way too fast.  My mother in law is here until Sunday.  We went to the movies yesterday and saw Flight.  I got a long overdue manicure and pedicure today which was nice.  Christmas day might be over but Christmas break is still on until the New Year and I'm really enjoying my time off.

 

Christmas Eve Eve Eve

Dani, Me and Tia-Sister's!  I really am the middle child.

On the Saturday before Christmas I went up to my mom's house to spend some time with my sisters.  The younger one is in town from San Francisco and we don't get to see her as often so it was so much fun getting to hang out with her and all of us together.  My mother in law was supposed to come with me but she missed her Thursday night flight. She waited for 9 hours, the next flight was overbooked and she couldn't get another one until Monday!  Traveling on the holidays is no joke.  We spent the day at my mom's house then we went out to dinner at Claim Jumper.  My younger sister Tia got one of the biggest burgers I've ever seen.  She couldn't even eat it all. Dani and I just got salad's. We had to save room for dessert.

Trifle and many, many more desserts to choose from

Right after that we headed to my mom's friends house where we had a dessert party. I'm not sure if that was the best idea considering we've all been bombarded with sweets every which way for weeks but because its such a busy time we wanted something simple. She has two girls of her own and it's very rare for all of us to be in one place at the same time. There were soooo many desserts I couldn't even try them all. We had a really fun time chatting and hanging out before we went back to my parents house.  It got really late really fast and the next thing I knew we were all tired and it was time for me to hit the road for home.  

I had a great day with my family and was happy that we'd get to be together again on Christmas Day.