A Christmas wrap up . . . before heading into the New Year

Hello and happy Wednesday (night)! Another week-- and another year!-- is almost over. As it seems my days have been lately, this week was also a doozy, from drama with the roommate's quasi-girlfriend who was staying with us after her parents kicked her out (l-o-n-g story) to a little extra stress at work because my editor is on vay-cay (he is proposing to his long-time girlfriend on NYE!) to the boy getting punched in the face at work today by one of his employees (wtf? again, long story). Safe to say, I'm glad tomorrow is Thursday and that Friday is a day off!

Since my last post, I still haven't gotten caught up on reading your blogs. Apologies! I am going through one of those times where I am super busy and can't seem to muster the energy to post or comment. And when I do actually have time to check back into the blog world, I have no motivation. Do you ever feel like that? Please say you do to make me feel better :)

Anyway, I hope everyone who celebrated the holiday had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was quite nice, though there was a lot of driving involved and poor Hazel was thoroughly exhausted by the time we got home. And the boy and I were exhausted too!

Here's some photos I snapped between opening gifts and eating a prime rib and baked potato dinner (yum!) at my parents' house:

Setting up my grandmama's hand-painted nativity set each year is one of my favorite traditions and a beautiful reminder of her.

Hazel got tons of toys and treats this Christmas, all wrapped in tissue paper for her shredding pleasure. Ripping open the packages was more fun for her than getting to the gift inside... though she's been having fun trying out (and squeaking!) all her new toys this past week.

My mom and dad got to open their gifts from us first.

Hazel "helps" my dad unwrap as the boy looks on. Side note: Isn't the mantel pretty?

My brother gives his new shades a thumbs up.

Hazel refused to look at the camera for mommy...

... both times. She was investigating upstairs.

Twinkle, twinkle.

My mom's snowy village.

We ended the night on a sweet note with a traditional Danish dessert that we have every Christmas: homemade rice pudding with raspberry sauce. We Danes play this game where you stir a blanched almond into the pudding and whoever finds it in their bowl wins a chocolate prize. (My mom won this year, but we all got smaller chocolate consolation prizes, too.)

Now that I'm older, the best part of Christmas is seeing the reaction of my family and friends when they open their gifts. I think everyone liked what I got them-- though it is hard to tell with the boy's niece, who as an only child received so many presents I think she lost track (she has a whole herd of Zhu Zhu Pets now). Still, the rest of his family were impressed by my unique (and handmade!) gifts: the pottery pieces and the beer soap were a big hit.

I took home some fabulous gifts, too. The boy's mom got me a great chrome-colored Kathy Van Zeeland studded bag (that I had picked out on QVC at her request) and my mom (and dad) fulfilled many of my wish list items (Anthro top and apron, Ruche jewelry, Urban Outfitters ruffle skirt, Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume, yellow wool jacket from Victoria's Secret... just to name a few. She always goes overboard!).

The sheen and studs give this bag some rocker edge. It is totally different than any other bag I have, which is why I love it. And it looks even better in person!

I love my pocket watch necklace and huge speckled yellow cocktail ring from Ruche.

The boy surprised me too. Turns out a girl can dream. He gave me a Coach bag. Being the Coach fanatic that I am, I could tell what it was when he pulled the wrapped box out of hiding. But still, I was shocked. (Not to mention the fact that the last time I unwrapped Coach boxes, I found a scarf in one and perfume in another-- not a purse!) He had said we should keep to a $100 budget this year. I went a bit over that but he blew the budget out of the water!

Now, I hate to share this next part but I will. Unfortunately, the boy didn't get me the bag I wanted. Somehow, he managed to pick the one style that I am not such a fan of. It is black, which is not really my style. Again, I hate to even say that I didn't really like the purse because I love Coach and it was such an amazing gift, but it's the truth. And I guess the boy knows me pretty well because despite my ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the tote, he could tell I didn't really like it. So it's going back. And the bag from my last post will find a new home.

Which do you like better?

So I know it's almost a week later, but how was your Christmas? What was your favorite gift? Did anyone get a down-right awful gift? (You know, a snowman sweater with pom poms, or something of the like?)

And what are you doing for New Year's Eve? As of now I have no plans. I think I'm going to ring in the new year at home. Open the bottle of wine I got from the boss as a Christmas present, maybe make some onion dip... a real low-key evening. That doesn't sound all that bad, does it? But who knows, I might change my mind! I'll let you know.

Till then, cheers!

xo,

Images via QVC- Kathy Van Zeeland, Ruche and Coach