Christmas 2013

Oh, Christmas.  Once again, you've come and gone like it didn't mean one little thing to you at all.  Seriously though, I know I'm not the only one who felt like the holidays blew by.  Jason said it has something to do with there being one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, which could very well be the reason!

I had the pleasure of using a little vacation time to road trip down to my pretty home city of Houston to see friends and family.  Last last Thursday (the day before I was to leave for Houston) I contracted a horribly awful stomach virus from Jason and spent literally all day on the couch nibbling on saltines and carefully sipping ginger ale.  Luckily, the worst of it was over by the next morning, and all day Friday I just experienced some bad cramping in my stomach that caused me to walk around hunched over like a ninety-year-old grandma.  I got into Houston that night and went straight to my mom's where we picked up some chips, queso and salsa from Iguana Joe's because, oddly enough, that's the only thing that sounded appetizing to me after being sick.  So we spent the evening munching and watching bad reality television.

Saturday morning, we decided to go over to my Aunt Kelley's to bake and decorate some Christmas cookies with her and my cousin, Kirby.  It was a fun few hours of frosting little christmas trees, snowmen, gingerbread men and stars while enjoying each others' company.  That night I drove over to Kingwood to my best friend Sam's apartment for a little Christmas get-together with my best ladies.  We exchanged presents, drank lots of wine and sangria, danced like wild women, took silly pictures, giggled and carried on as we have for many years.  I hope we never change!  It was the most fun I've had in a long time.  I love that no matter how much time passes since our last visit, when we all get together, we can easily just pick up where we left off and have the best time.

Sunday, my mom, my sister, my brother and I all met up with my aunts and cousins at the Galleria.  I'm so excited I got a chance to see it during Christmastime!  It's always decorated so beautifully with the huge Christmas tree in the center of the mall surrounded by the ice skating rink.  I wasn't really shopping for anything, as I'd finished all of my Christmas shopping quite early this year, but it was still fun to window shop and watch my sister and little teenage cousins get their makeup done at Chanel and peruse the glittery glass cases at Tiffany's.  Of course we ate lunch while we were there.  That was practically the first thing we did once we all met up!  And, of course, we chose The Cheesecake Factory.  I had to get my sweet corn tamale cakes on ;).

Monday, I went over to Tomball/Spring to my grandparents' house to celebrate Christmas with my dad's side of the family.  Meme made a traditional Christmas dinner spread, as she always does, and it's always so delicious.  After dinner, we opened presents and chatted for a while before I headed back to my mom's.

On Christmas Eve, we went back to my Aunt Kelley's to celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family.  Uncle Steve made a yummy gumbo with chicken and sausage, and there were treats all over the place for us to snack on before and after lunch.  It's always so wonderful to have all of my maternal cousins all together in the same place.  It was great getting to see my Aunt Kim and Uncle Dale, along with Esther, Sarah and Abigail.  I'm so jealous of Sarah right now because she just left on a 7-day cruise with her boyfriend yesterday!  I know they'll have a blast so I'm really happy for her.

On Christmas Day, we went over to my mom's finace's sister's (woah, that's a jumble) house for brunch and MORE present opening.  Yes, I get a ridiculous amount of gifts, and my family is only growing so it's only getting more obscene, haha.  After hanging out there for a couple of hours, my mom, Randy (her fiance) and I went for a two-mile walk around the park by her apartment, and then Randy made us sour cream chicken enchiladas for dinner, and of course, I made my mom make us some margaritas with her pineapple-vanilla bean infused tequila.  I live for that stuff!  Pretty sure I drank about four of those bad boys and then started passing out while we were playing Sequence and Yahtzee.

The day after Christmas, I hit the road fairly early to get back to Austin for an afternoon of work. Speaking of work, it really hasn't been too bad lately.  We're smack in the middle of our slow season so now is the time to clean everything out, get re-organized and relax a little before March madness begins.  And I'm not talking about basketball.  I'm referring to the madness that ensues in Austin in March - SXSW, among a couple thousand other conferences and events that take over around that time.

Well, my apologies for the lengthy post.  I know Emily will not approve! :)  I just had to tell you all about my fabulous Christmas events, and I hope everyone had a cozy, warm, family-filled holiday like I did.

Happy New Year! 

Tagged: The 10 Days of Christmas

1. What do you love the most about Christmas time?
Mostly being with family.  It's the one time each year I get to see EVERYONE I love.  I always get super depressed when it's all over, haha.  I also love all of the food that comes with Christmastime (hot chocolate, cookies, casseroles, pies, etc.), the music, the energy, the mood, the cold-ish weather, decorating the house, all of the beautiful twinkle lights that take over neighborhoods and city streets and of course, all of my favorite Christmas stories and movies (Love Actually, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Family Stone, A Muppet Christmas Carol, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, A Charlie Brown Christmas, etc.)!

2. Do you celebrate the holiday in style or is Bah-Humbug for you?
I'd say I celebrate in style.  I'm all about the glittery, festive nail polish and makeup.  I attend every holiday party that I possibly can, and I definitely go all out with the decor.

3. Are you leaving anything out for Santa Claus this year so he remembers to leave your presents?
I used to leave cookies and milk as a child, but I haven't done that in quite some time.  Probably won't until I have kids of my own.

4. What is the one gift you are most looking forward to GIVING? {It can be to your kids, another family member, etc – remember to be discreet if they read your blog}
Welllll, I got some really cute (if I may say so myself) gifties for my best friends, and a couple of awesome things for Jason that I know he'll love.

5. What is your all-time favorite Christmas movie? Either Meet Me In St. Louis or The Family Stone

6. What is your all-time favorite Christmas song?
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Judy Garland & "Blue Christmas" by Elvis

7. If given the opportunity, would you participate in an “Ugly Sweater” party and what sweater would you wear? Peruse one on the Internet or even if your own closet and show us!
Been there, done that. 

8. Have you started any Christmas traditions this year that you plan on carrying forward? Not this year really, but last year, Jason and I decided that we would eat at 24 Diner and then celebrate Christmas together early because I typically journey to Houston for Christmas, and he has to stay here in Austin and work like a crazy person.  So we pick a day before I leave to open each others' gifts and eat at one of our favorite places.

9. It’s Christmas morning… what does it look like outside where you live?  Last year it was fairly warm, but I hope it will be ice cold this time around!

10. You just found yourself standing under the mistletoe… who comes up to give you a kiss first?
A handsome gent named Jason.  :)

I'm a little late in the game, so I tag anyone and everyone who wants to do this!

Happy Holidays!

xoxo

Christmas Traditions

With Christmas drawing near, I've been doing a lot of thinking and remembering.  I miss being a kid, so overwhelmed by the magic of this time of year.  I miss believing in Santa, baking and decorating sugar cookies with my mom, going to the Galleria and seeing the tallest Christmas tree I'd ever seen in my life and sitting by the fire while opening my stocking and presents.  

When my mom was a kid, she and her sisters would put together a huge jigsaw puzzle over the holidays, so she carried that tradition to our family.  It was fun for a while, but to be completely honest with you, I would always get either bored or frustrated with it the first day we opened it up, so my step-dad was usually the one to finish it.

When I would celebrate with my dad's side of the family, I loved decorating the tree with my Meme and playing the role of Santa by passing out everyone's gifts to be opened.

Remembering all of these special moments make me a little sad, but also make me excited for when I have kids of my own.  We can continue these traditions and make new ones for our little family.  

Currently

HBO.com

Watching: Six Feet Under, my hands-down all-time favorite show.  I've been slowly re-watching the entire series (five seasons) over the past year, and it is still just as moving and overwhelming as the first go around.  Seriously... THE best show ever.  If you haven't watched it, I strongly suggest you do so as soon as humanly possible.  As naive and teenager-y as Claire is for most of the show, I can't get over how many remarkable ideas she comes up with.  I could quote her for ages.  To sum it up, the show is a beautifully written depiction of family dysfunction, birth, death, love, the ups and downs of relationships, the search for beauty and truth, self-actualization and growth, survival and impending finality.

Anticipating: the release of Catching Fire this coming weekend.  I probably won't be able to see it until sometime next week because I have to work Friday and Saturday.  I remember really liking the book, but I think Mockingjay is still my favorite, and I am really excited to see how it translates to film.  Also anticipating Thanksgiving and Christmas, of course.  Casseroles, pies and rolls, oh my!  I would like to get all of my Christmas shopping out of the way early this year.  I did pretty good last year, but I always leave a few things for the last minute, like those impossible-to-buy-for family members.

Eating: lots of rice.  I've never been a huge rice-eater, but lately I've been making a couple of different rice recipes as a starch for meals.  This Mexican rice recipe and this orzo-white rice blend are both really delicious components in any weeknight feast.  Last night I baked some chicken, spinach & feta sausages and served them with carrots, broccoli and the orzo-rice mix.  It was pretty delicious and very filling.  Tonight, I'm probably going to make chicken and dumplings in my Crock Pot!  It's a little chilly outside today, so why not whip up something that is sure to warm our bellies?

Wondering: if it's lame to give homemade Christmas gifts when you're an adult?  I've had the crafting bug as of late, and I have a few ideas that would make good gifts, but I'm not sure if that's something that people still do in their twenties?  I don't want anyone to think I'm being cheap and thoughtless!

Listening to: the new Arcade Fire album, Beck, Michale Graves, Warpaint, Interpol (always), Daughter, the Arctic Monkeys new album, Cults and Chris Isaak.  I'll post a playlist sometime this week with my favorite songs from these artists so you can check them out for yourself.

As always, many thanks to Danielle for providing the inspiration for these Currently posts.

xoxo

Dreaming Of Winter

I had a great time this past weekend playing host to Miss Emily.  Once again, she beat me to the punch

and posted a sweet little recap over on her blog.  You can read all about our shenanigans here.  

Well, I had a nice three-day break from work, but in approximately two hours, that break is over, and one of the most stressful work weeks of the year will be smothering me.  Buuuut, that hasn't happened yet, so I can still be happy and dreamy and floating around outside of my head.  This morning, as this cold front is blowing in at 30 mph, all I can seem to think about is how much I wish Texas experienced full blown seasons.  The summers are much too long and the winters are nearly nonexistent.  I know people that live in the northeast and other places that have long, treacherous winters despise the snow and want to wish it away at all cost, but I am not one of those people, and I really want some snow down here!  However, I am not a brainless human, so I know my dream will most likely not come true, but I will continue to dream my little beating heart to pieces because that is what I seem to be best at these days.  

Here are some pictures I have been drooling over this morning thanks to Pinterest:

Christmas Cheer 2012

Well, the holidays came and went like a flash of pure, unadulterated lightning, but they bought some pretty nice things along with them - lots (but not nearly enough) of family time, Mom's pancakes and bacon, a movie date with my brother, hugs, laughter, christmas gifts, silly cats, sushi, a best friend brunch, tornado warnings, green skies, a whirlwind of leaves in Nana's front yard, feasting, tea-drinking, new friends, an introduction to Duck Dynasty, signature meals, margaritas, Scattergories and so much more.

Queen of the Highway

Oh, hi there.  Just thought I'd pop in and give a quick little hello.  Today I am off to the Houston area for the Christmas week.  I am so excited!  I can't even remember the last time I was off work or in my homeland for more than just a few days.  It's going to be a week to remember - that's for sure ;)

I've already got a few things lined up.  I might be seeing some old high school friends tonight, tomorrow I'll be attending brunch (!) with my all-time favorite ladies and tomorrow night I'm meeting up with my good friend Amanda.  Sunday kicks off a few days of much-needed family time.  It's tradition that I celebrate Christmas with my dad, stepmom and my dad's parents on Christmas Eve, and then I get see all of my mom's family on Christmas Day.  I'm definitely looking forward to experencing all of the festivities, food and, most importantly, all of the precious faces.

I'll return after the holidays with (hopefully) tons of pictures!  Whatever your holiday plans may be, I hope they are as magical as I know mine will surely be.  MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY UPCOMING 2013!!

Many hugs & more kisses.
xoxoxoxo

Playlist Post: Christmas 2012

Of all the Christmas music I've listened to each holiday season for the past 24 years, these songs take the fruitcake as far as I'm concerned.  Most are the lovable, untouchable classics from Elvis, Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald in addition to a few newer versions.  I'd have to say my all-time favorite Christmas song is and will always be "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" by the one and only Judy Garland.  It makes me cry like a baby every time.  So, go toast your footsies by the fire and enjoy a steaming cup of hot chocolate as you listen to these beautiful songs of love and holiday cheer!

Currently

Home Slice Pizza on South Congress - Austin, Texas

Looking forward to: The Nutcracker Ballet on Saturday!  I saw a local commercial for the ballet a couple of weeks ago and immediately felt warm and giddy inside thinking back to when I was younger and would go to ballets and plays with Meme and Papa, particularly around Christmastime.  Sometimes I get so starved for comfort and familiarity up here without being surrounded by family like I'm used to, and seeing the commercial and experiencing the feelings it evoked within me, I knew I needed to do this.  I decided to approach Jason with the idea, and he said he was up for it.  We decided to invite our friends Corey and Helen along, so it'll be a lovely little double-date affair.  I'm definitely anxious for Saturday evening.  We're going to dinner at El Alma beforehand and then to The Long Center for the performance.

Eating: better.  I'm trying to get serious about my eating habits once again.  I know, the holidays aren't the best time for diet modifications. This is always such a struggle for me.  I don't necessarily over-eat; I just love food so much.  I was raised in a family that enjoys food - every aspect of it - the buying, the preparing, the cooking, the eating, the leftovers, etc.  Don't get me wrong - it's a wonderful, potentially beneficial habit to appreciate and love food.  I've just been trying to make sure I incorporate lots of veggies and more fruit into my diet, and I'm attempting to be more aware of when certain produce are in season.  I bought some winter squash, red pears and pomegranates a few days ago, and I'm limiting my sugar intake.  Little by little I'll get there.

Listening to: a variety of different music.  With it being Christmastime, I'm of course indulging myself in A Very She & Him Christmas, Christmas With Coniff, Vince Guaraldi, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, The Carpenters and many more.  I'll probably upload of playlist post of all my Christmas music in the next few days.  We watched an episode of Parenthood a couple of nights ago and had a beautiful cover of Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" by James Blake.  I've been listening to that on repeat this evening.  That tends to happen to me; I'll hear a song that absolutely stops me in my tracks and irrevocably haunts me for weeks on end.  It's a fabulous curse if you ask me.

Watching: some amazing movies that have relentlessly resonated with me since I watched them.  In my opinion, a film is perfect when it forces you to use your mind and it grabs ahold of your heart and wrings it out like a soaking wet dishcloth.  I absolutely love to feel any and every emotion while I'm watching a movie.  I want to feel it swim through my bloodstream, dig through my bones and crawl across my skin.  I've seen two movies recently that managed to do this to me.

The first was Take This Waltz starring Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen, directed by Sarah Polley.  It's about a young married woman who is seemingly happy and content with her husband of about five-six years, but their relationship has plateaued and lacks the passion she desires.  Enter tall, dark, handsome artist who just so happens to move in across the street.  She falls for him, but struggles with her feelings for him because she doesn't want to hurt her husband.  I really enjoyed the story because it's painfully realistic, and the ending sort of catches you off guard and leaves you unsettled, yet satisfied all at once.

The second was We Need To Talk About Kevin starring Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller and John C. Reilly.  This one involves a super heavy story that switches back and forth in time, revolving around a mother analyzing her past display of abilities and decisions as a parent to her now teenage son, Kevin, who has been disturbed, if you will, since birth.  The dark, deeply thrilling film is visually appealing and artistically shot with red and white color motif from beginning to end.  Needless to say, I was captivated the entire two hours.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far, and, once again, many thanks to Danielle for inspiring these "Currently" posts.

Let Your Heart Be Light

Sorry it's been a while since my last post - it's been a busy, busy work-filled, family-filled past week, and I've loved mostly every minute of it.  I'll give you the short version of what all went down.  So, I think I mentioned my mom, sister and cousin were coming up for the two days before Thanksgiving.  I had so much fun with them!  It was really wonderful getting to spend some time with close family members around Thanksgiving.  I wasn't looking forward to being without them.  Sadly, as long as I'm in the hotel industry, I'll have to work most holidays.  I can't afford to take them all off; it goes against the best interest of the hotel and my coworkers.  Anyway, my mom and I put together a delicious menu full of traditional Thanksgiving foods (minus the turkey, haha) - Rotisserie chicken, five-cup fruit salad, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole (I should post the recipe sometime in the near future!), English peas, Sister Schubert's rolls (a Kitchen family staple) and of course raspberry tart and peach cobbler for dessert.  Everything turned out really beautiful and more than edible.  While they were here, we also watched some movies - The Help, 500 Days of Summer, Paranormal Activity 3 and The Hunger Games.  We played a ridiculously long game of Phase 10 (card game) that Jason ended up winning.  Tuesday evening, my mom and I went for a walk and checked out the hot tub at my apartment complex before we all went up to the UT campus for some Rita's "Ice Custard Happiness."  They left Wednesday afternoon after lunch, and everything went back to quiet and normal.

On actual Thanksgiving Day, I worked 7 a.m. - 3 p.m. and Jason got off work at 5 p.m., so when he got home we drove up to his parents' place for dinner.  They made a delicious meal as well - Turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, spinach salad with feta cheese, green bean casserole, rolls and pumpkin pie for dessert.  Two Thanksgiving meals ain't too shabby, I must say.  Although, I did gain about five pounds throughout the week that I'm trying to lose again.  I'm so up and down when to comes to fitness!  Don't get me started!  After dinner at Jason's parents' we met up with our friends Corey and Helen, along with a couple of their friends, at the Draught House pub in North Central Austin for some post-holiday beverages, but we couldn't stay long because we both had to work the next day, unlike everyone we were with.

On Black Friday, Jason had to work noon to midnight so after work I entertained myself by idiotically going to Target for a few things.  Despite it being one of the craziest days for shopping, it really wasn't so bad.  That night I ordered Chinese takeout and attempted to watch Smooth Talk and failed because the disc kept skipping, so I caught up on Gossip Girl and did a little online shopping.  Saturday night I got to see Rebecca's sister Cynthia and her husband, Shelby, as they were in town for a wedding.  I got them the hook-up at the hotel and we met one of their friends and his new friend at Trudy's for dinner and drinks.  It was really good to see them - the last time I saw Shelby was back in March when Cynthia was in Italy.  I don't even remember the last time I saw her!  We all decided it was unacceptable, and I told them they should come up and visit more often.

Last night Jason and I put up all of our Christmas decorations, tree and all!  Our apartment looks so cozy and Christmas-y now :)  The cats are probably more excited than we are, however.  The tree is a feline playground as far as they're concerned.  I am a very firm believer in celebrating one holiday at a time.   I refuse to listen to Christmas music, watch Christmas movies or buy anything Christmas-related until AFTER Thanksgiving.  With that said, post-Thanksgiving and up until New Years, I am a Christmas fiend.  I break out my Christmas albums, CDs and movies.  I make Christmas cookies, I wear Christmas colors, I keep my radio on 95.5 FM permanently for Christmas music 'round the clock. You bet your booty I am all about it!  So I'd like to wish each and every one of you a safe and happy holiday season - may the odds be ever in your favor!  Haha.

xoxo