Weekend Wrap Up - Christmas Edition
The hubs and I packed up our car to head to California for the holiday. I have a hybrid and where the lithium battery sits, it doesn't allow for my back seats to fold down or adjust in anyway. Which...I guess is okay, since the dogs were the owners of the back seat, but we have very limited room. Thankfully, my husband was able to borrow this nifty contraption:
It's called a roof bag...aptly named too! It was a life saver. You never know much you have until you don't have the space to put it!! We were able to put the kennel and our bags on the roof and put all of the presents in the trunk without smooshing them or breaking any of their contents...bonus!
The drive from Vegas to Cali was WINDY!! So windy, we lost a hubcap on the way. However, I stayed awake for the whole drive! I tend to fall asleep quickly in car rides...even if the drive is only 10 miles. Small victories!
The hubs and I decided to do our Christmas at home before leaving. A couple of the things he got me:
I love, love, LOVE Funko Pop! I mean, they are just the cutest! I have all of the Beatles, all of the Wizard of Oz crew, a ton of Minions and I got my hubs Clay & Gemma from Sons of Anarchy. One of our favorite movies is The Fifth Element. He got me Korben and Leeloo!! I mean serious, how freakin' cute are they!!
When you think you hubs doesn't listen, he totally surprises you and gets something that you need!
The few black purses I have are either HUGE or aren't functional for an everyday use. So imagine my surprise when he said he remembered that conversation and got me this sweet Sourpuss purse!? Of course I emptied the purse I was using and started to use this beauty immediately!
We got each other a few other things, did a hug, gave a kiss and exchanged thank yous before we were off to Cali!
As I'm sure many of you would agree - when you are younger you wake up super early to see what Santa has left you under your tree. As I get older, especially with family members recently passing away, it's more about family. It's hard to get everyone together at any given time during the year. Even Christmas, we all weren't there...but the majority of us were. We do Christmas Eve on my Dad's side. This year we decided to do the festivities earlier in the day. It was a wonderful family gathering. I love seeing the littles become biggins. Happy to see the shy ones come out of their shell as they get older. Laugh when the great grandchildren say something they don't know is offensive....but darn it, it's cute. I love to see the "friendly" stealing that takes place during the White Elephant gift exchange - mainly because the booze always gets stolen first and my Pops inevitably ends up with something he doesn't want. My paternal Grandparents having their kids, their grand kids and their great grand kids all under one roof....it's magical.
Then the next morning, we get up and do it all over again with my Mom's side of the family. Having a blended family is always difficult. It's taken years to try to figure out the best way for everyone to be happy celebrating with their families. Of course, doing it one way for so long, it's hard to change it up. But me thinks we got the formula right this year! We had my stepdad's family and my mom's family all under one roof. There was tons of food, great company, no rain and most importantly no one had to rush off to be somewhere else. The next big challenge was when would we do our little family Christmas? I'm an only child, but my stepdad has two daughters and a granddaughter. We usually find a separate day to do our little Christmas...but this year we decided to plow through! With about five hours of downtime for us kids, my mom downed energy drinks to keep it going. We started back up at about 6:30 for Christmas dinner and then presents.
There's just something about my Mom's house. Ever since I was little, she always made Christmas magical. Her tree was and is always flawless. She never let me decorate the tree....I could pass her ornaments, but I couldn't decorate. I know it sounds mean...but seriously....look at her tree.
Her whole house is just...uh-may-zing! Last year they won an award from the city they live - Best Decorated House.....they didn't even enter a competition, they just won.
Of course - I fail yet again and didn't get many pictures...my battery died!! Seriously, I need to get better at charging that sucker. But I did get a few goodies I'm excited about!
My stepsister got my my first NicCoCo Creations hair piece. So excited to wear it!! It's always been something I wanted to buy for myself, but couldn't decide via internet....so I've never bought one. Now that I see it in person - I most certainly won't hesitate to purchase in the future!!
It's called a roof bag...aptly named too! It was a life saver. You never know much you have until you don't have the space to put it!! We were able to put the kennel and our bags on the roof and put all of the presents in the trunk without smooshing them or breaking any of their contents...bonus!
The drive from Vegas to Cali was WINDY!! So windy, we lost a hubcap on the way. However, I stayed awake for the whole drive! I tend to fall asleep quickly in car rides...even if the drive is only 10 miles. Small victories!
The hubs and I decided to do our Christmas at home before leaving. A couple of the things he got me:
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When you think you hubs doesn't listen, he totally surprises you and gets something that you need!
The few black purses I have are either HUGE or aren't functional for an everyday use. So imagine my surprise when he said he remembered that conversation and got me this sweet Sourpuss purse!? Of course I emptied the purse I was using and started to use this beauty immediately!
We got each other a few other things, did a hug, gave a kiss and exchanged thank yous before we were off to Cali!
As I'm sure many of you would agree - when you are younger you wake up super early to see what Santa has left you under your tree. As I get older, especially with family members recently passing away, it's more about family. It's hard to get everyone together at any given time during the year. Even Christmas, we all weren't there...but the majority of us were. We do Christmas Eve on my Dad's side. This year we decided to do the festivities earlier in the day. It was a wonderful family gathering. I love seeing the littles become biggins. Happy to see the shy ones come out of their shell as they get older. Laugh when the great grandchildren say something they don't know is offensive....but darn it, it's cute. I love to see the "friendly" stealing that takes place during the White Elephant gift exchange - mainly because the booze always gets stolen first and my Pops inevitably ends up with something he doesn't want. My paternal Grandparents having their kids, their grand kids and their great grand kids all under one roof....it's magical.
Then the next morning, we get up and do it all over again with my Mom's side of the family. Having a blended family is always difficult. It's taken years to try to figure out the best way for everyone to be happy celebrating with their families. Of course, doing it one way for so long, it's hard to change it up. But me thinks we got the formula right this year! We had my stepdad's family and my mom's family all under one roof. There was tons of food, great company, no rain and most importantly no one had to rush off to be somewhere else. The next big challenge was when would we do our little family Christmas? I'm an only child, but my stepdad has two daughters and a granddaughter. We usually find a separate day to do our little Christmas...but this year we decided to plow through! With about five hours of downtime for us kids, my mom downed energy drinks to keep it going. We started back up at about 6:30 for Christmas dinner and then presents.
There's just something about my Mom's house. Ever since I was little, she always made Christmas magical. Her tree was and is always flawless. She never let me decorate the tree....I could pass her ornaments, but I couldn't decorate. I know it sounds mean...but seriously....look at her tree.
Her whole house is just...uh-may-zing! Last year they won an award from the city they live - Best Decorated House.....they didn't even enter a competition, they just won.
Of course - I fail yet again and didn't get many pictures...my battery died!! Seriously, I need to get better at charging that sucker. But I did get a few goodies I'm excited about!
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My mom and stepdad got me my own mannequin! I've been wanting one of these so badly! I'm so glad I didn't buy one for myself. However, I swore I would get one after the holidays past...and now I don't have to! Even has an opening at the back and a base to hold goodies. I chose to store some of my flower pieces.
So many more gifts were exchanged - but like I said, the greatest gift of all was being with my family. Even better than that (if you can imagine there is anything better) is that my husband was there with me. Being in the restaurant industry, he doesn't always get the time off. I love that he was able to share in the festivities and I love that he gets to experience the crazy along side me.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and in case you missed the beautiful Christmas full moon:
It was such a clear and beautiful evening to capture the moon in all its glory!
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| This blog was written while sipping on a bottle of: Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir 2013 (given as a gift) My hubby contributed the picture to the right - his wine with vape smoke....kinda cool looking. No wine glasses were harmed in the making of this blog. |
Cheers!
Essentially,
Evie xoxo
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