Merry Christmas!

It's my favorite day of the year!!!!

I love Christmas Eve. It's the best day because you are full of the anticipation of Christmas. Everyone is in good spirits getting ready for the holiday.

It's a day of family. I love hanging out with my family on Christmas Eve and going to Mass with my mom. Christmas Eve Mass is the best. We usually go to the children's mass around 4PM, which is adorable because they have the little children reenact the Christmas story. Too cute to see little kids playing Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds, etc.

Then we go to dinner at my sister's house. That's a relatively new tradition. We started it when she moved back from Florida. It's nice though because it helps break up the work so that my mom does not have to prepare everything.

Then at 10:45 PM, I watch the last 15 minutes of It's a Wonderful Life. Usually, I've watched the whole movie earlier in the season. But the ending gets me every time. I will cry the minute Harry says "to my big brother George, the richest man in town." That line basically sums up the greatness of the movie for me. George is not rich in wealth but he is rich in character and that's more important than money.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tongue-in-Cheek Christmas

It's no secret that I love Christmas music, but what may surprise you is that I really like songs that kind of make fun of Christmas. As long as it is tongue-in-cheek and not in a mean way, I think those types of songs are hysterical.

One of my new favorites is the Christmas Can Can by the group Straight No Chaser. It's an all male a cappella group. Most of their songs are done in a funny and clever way.

I found this animated video for the Christmas Can Can online. It's hysterical. I have no idea who did the animation but it was someone who really got the cheekiness of the song!

Busy Busy Busy

I had another great weekend but in a completely different way.

Friday involved my favorite activity - shopping - as there was a giant sale at Ann Taylor Loft. My friend and I hit up the stores in Friendship Heights and had a blast.

Saturday involved MUCH cleaning and cooking as my parents were coming to visit in the evening and I had company coming on Sunday. Mike helped out with both which was fun. Why is it that mundane activities like cleaning become more fun when someone else is around?

That night we went to dinner with my parents and then to the Kennedy Center to see the National Symphony Orchestra Pops perform their Holiday concert. We had a great time. The NSO Holiday show is one of my favorites. And, there was this amazing singer that performed with them - Jonathan Ansell. He's kind of a British Josh Groban (yes - April and Lori I know that is probably your worst nightmare come to fruition). Needless to say, I went home and bought his CD off of ITunes right away. It's awesome.

Here's a clip of him singing "Oh Holy Night." Turn up the volume though - the recording is not the best.



On Sunday, I hosted book club. We had a decent discussion of the book - The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I think it's the first book that my club unanimously liked. Of course, the discussion lasted about 10 minutes and then we talked about lots of other stuff. It was a fun afternoon. I have a ton of food leftover but oh well.

Now on to the next book and the work week!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

This weekend was one of the best ever.

It started on Friday, when we went out to celebrate. We went into DC and had dinner at the The Palm (yummy) followed by a showing of Jersey Boys at the National Theater.

Then we wandered around downtown and looked at some of the pretty Christmas decorations. We wandered around the lobby of the Willard Intercontinental Hotel. It's right next to the White House and just looked beautiful.

Next, we walked over to the National Christmas Tree. I was only able to quickly snap the photo above. We planned to take more but the lights went out at 11PM (unbeknownst to us). Mike promised that we will go back so hopefully I'll have better pictures to post soon.

After that, we just wandered around some of the monuments. I did not take any more pictures - I'm terrible I know - but that's ok. I remember it all in detail. And it was perfect.

The city looked really really pretty. I love this time of year when everything is decorated for the holidays. There is just something magical about it.

Plus, we did not look so bad ourselves. Mike looked extremely handsome - as always. And, I was able to wear my new dress. Ok, ok I say "able" like I did not intentionally buy this dress to wear for this evening but whatever. You get the point. It looks like the one to the side. I really like it so if you see me at any fancy event - you'll be sure to see this dress too. :)

On Saturday, we put up the Christmas tree at Mike's house (we did mine last weekend). That was a lot of fun. After a quick trip to the store to buy more lights, ornaments, and garland (plus a star - I still cannot believe he owned a tree but no topper), the tree looked amazing.

To top it all off, it SNOWED on Saturday. I could not imagine better weather for trimming a tree than a snowy afternoon. It was just all so perfect.

On Sunday, I finished up my Christmas shopping. I think that I had an angel looking out for me this weekend because I really did not hit any crowds and I met the most wonderful salespeople. I ended up getting some great gifts so it was worth the trek to the mall.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. It's definitely one I'll remember - the perfect kickoff to the Christmas season.

A Festivus for the Rest of Us

Once Thanksgiving is over, I kick into Christmas mode. I love decorating for the holidays, shopping for gifts, singing Christmas songs, etc. It's the best time of year.

This weekend, we were putting up the tree and I mentioned the Seinfeld episode about Festivus. I am not the greatest Seinfeld fan, but I love the Festivus story (among others). It just cracks me up - "A Festivus for the rest of us." Whoever came up with that idea was just really really clever.

Anyway, I found a video on You Tube that includes Festivus clips. It's just too funny. How these guys say this stuff with a straight face. I will never know.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving. The day of family, food, and football (the last refers to others not so much to me). Thanksgiving is one of my all time favorite holidays. Why you may ask? I'll tell you.

1. It's time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. You always know where to find me between 9-12 on Thanksgiving morning. I LOVE the parade.
2. Usually my family does not fight on Thanksgiving and that's a huge plus.
3. Yummy dinner - my mother's cooking is always fantastic, but she outdoes herself on Thanksgiving.
4. So many things are cranberry flavored, and I heart cranberries.
5. It's time for Christmas music!
6. And Christmas decorations!
7. And Christmas shopping! (are you sensing a theme here. . .)
8. Fun Thanksgiving themed episodes of my favorite TV shows.
9. Pie
10. And last but not least - A FOUR DAY WEEKEND. WHOO HOOO.

In all seriousness, it's been a great year so far and I have much for which to be thankful. Thanks to all of you who have helped to make this year so amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving!