Adventures at Christmas time

 

Hello again!  Seems like I might never come back to this space, but I had such a wonderful Holiday weekend and a fun Sunday afternoon adventure with my sister that i had to share.

My husband and I had everyone over to our place for Christmas which included his family for Christmas Eve dinner (minus Anna who is in Cambodia...we miss you!!!) and then my family joined everyone for Christmas morning breakfast.  

It was such a blast to have everyone celebrate the Holiday in our home.  Peter made Christmas Eve dinner which was Cioppino over roasted garlic mashed potatoes with a side of crab cakes.  My sister in-law brought a great Broccoli salad and I made my Aunt Lynda's famous Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls.  Breakfast Christmas morning included Norwegian Pancakes, fresh fruit, bacon/sausage and mimosas.  Yum!! We definitely know how to eat well around here.

My niece and nephew ran around the house so excited for Santa and church and dinner at Uncle Steve's.  We played Dominoes, Scattergories, an insane version of the TV show "Minute to Win it" and the Box of Things which is a pretty hilarious game to play with your in-laws. All in all it was a great Christmas with the family.

Sunday was all about hanging with my sister!!  We started off with a coffee and then decided to do a little tour of Tacoma which included visiting the home where Bing Crosby was born, then onto Stadium High School where my husbands grandparents went to school and the famous Heath Ledger movie Ten Things I Hate About You was filmed.  Then we took a stroll across the Bridge of Glass with original blown glass pieces by Dale Chihuly.  We ended our adventure with a stiff Martini at the Harbor Lights...made popular by Tacoma elders who love a good early bird special!

I hope you all had a great Holiday with family and friends.

* [All photos taken by Alanna Hart except for No. 6 - face behind the martini.]

Send me the pillow you dream on...

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Wow!  I can't believe it's already December...I have been a very absent blogger lately but I did have some time to put up some fun gift ideas I've seen while shopping for the lovelies in my life.  Granted these are the things that caught my eye, but I can't post you the awesome finds I found for my friends and family until after Christmas...because that would spoil all the fun!

1.  Dean Martin - I love listening to him croon.  If you lived in my neighborhood you'd see me dancing like no one's watching while I walk my dog while listening to my Dino Pandora station.

2. Kelly Green Buckhead Pillow by Reagansbrain -  The color of this pillow is so vibrant! I have been ridiculously into animal themed decor lately, if you peaked at my mantle you'd see 2 Ryan Berkley portraits of squirrels, some pheasant feathers in a vase and an owl pitcher on display.

3. Wool herringbone clutch by Sans Map - Love the yellow print on the inside!

4. Peacock Feather dish towels by Michelle Brusegaard - These are so sweet.

5. Joy Ride Locket by Wiyomu - I've been wanting a locket for a while, the last one I had was from middle school and had a photo of my summer camp crush, Colin.  

6. Penguin Classics  - Gorgeous hardback designs of some of the greatest classic stories.

7. Face Painter by Sophie Blackall - Strange but interesting.

8. Fences debut album - I've been really into Macklemore lately and on his album, Vs. The Redux there is an AMAZING remix of Outside which features another Seattle artist, Fences.  Thanks to Brittany being on the look out we're going to see Fences and Neon Tree's next week at the Showbox!
 
What type of gifts are you giving this year?

The Christmas we had

We had a great 4 day Holiday celebration.  My family celebrates on Christmas Eve; we started at my Aunt and Uncle’s house with appetizers before heading to church for a candlelight service. Dinner followed back at my Aunt’s and it was amazing. I wish I had the photos to show you! We had a delicious seafood Cioppino with crusted focaccia bread and a fruit and gorgonzola spinach salad. The soup was for me the best Christmas meal I’ve ever had, with huge chunks of halibut, scallops, crab leg, clams and shrimp in a savory tomato based broth. I made it clear to everyone that I hope we can make this the new traditional Christmas Eve dinner in our family. After letting the food settle we all played the dice-game gift exchange and Peter and I collectively ended up with a 2 layer pie/cake tray and a lotion set.

Christmas morning at my parents was great. My sister and I unbeknownst to one another showed up for breakfast in the same flannel nighty but in different colors, “great minds think comfort!”  We were treated to Swedish pancakes, sausage, ham, delicious bran muffins and mimosas. After breakfast we sat around the living room and went through our stockings. Santa leaves gifts for my sister and I in what were at one time my Grandpa’s thick green wool hunting socks. They have special meaning to us because my Dad and Aunt used them growing up as well. They were the best stocking a kid could wish for, the more you put in them the more they stretched out, leaving room for more and more treats.

My mom loved the photo album we made for her which was a timeline of our wedding day in August. She put so much work in helping us make the day unforgettable that we wanted to give her something to remember it by as well. My dad got a new pair of moccasins, (he can finally throw out the pair where his toe has been sticking out the side for the last 2 years.)  For my sister we gave an assortment of fun things, a red bath robe, photo postcards by Elle Moss, a red lunch bag, and a vintage rose ring from Etsy.

My sister and parents went in on a really cool gift for us; a home-brew starter kit with all the ingredients to make a Blonde Ale! We are pretty excited to give it a try this winter and start making our own beer. We’re thinking of calling it “Meat & Moo Brew”. (That’s what some of the little ones in our life call us when they can’t quite say Pete & Mo.)

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas with family and friends!