12.30.2011

Christmas Recap

TGIF bloggy friends!  Another Friday and holiday weekend is here!

I thought I'd take a hot minute to update y'all on my Christmas, which just so happened to be the best ever!

On Christmas Eve Eve Bryce and I gave his black lab Honcho his Christmas present:  a new Orvis dog bed!

doesn't he look happy?

Christmas Eve morning I made my annual hashbrown quiche (recipe here) and that afternoon my grandmothers came over dinner and presents.  Our tradition has always been to open one gift on Christmas Eve and save the rest for Christmas morning.  I love this tradition and will most definitely continue it down the road with my future kiddies, but for this year, we shook it up a bit.  We're all getting older now so the allure of Santa is long gone, and we decided to open all our presents Christmas Eve night and just save stockings for the next morning so we had plenty of time to sleep and get ready for breakfast at my aunt's Christmas morning.

Hashbrown Quiches:  Paula Deen is a GENIUS!

We snapped a few pictures before heading to my Aunt's house for brunch.

Santa brought both my mom and me faux fur vests for Christmas--who knew he had such great fashion sense!

Cousins:  CAE, CME, CJE (the Three C's), and ABE (me)
I am the OLDEST and the SHORTEST!

I love this picture of my Grandma and me!

THE, ABE, MWE

I had so much fun putting this festive Christmassy outfit together!

At my Aunt's came more pictures and lots of good food (cheesy potato casserole, sausage and egg casserole, butternut squash casserole, quiches, and lots of sweets and treats)...

Aunt M, me, Godmother, Mommy

My Godparents 
With Grandma Jac Jac!

Grandma Jac Jac with her two grand-daughters
My other cousin in this picture I refer to as my "sister-cousin"--growing up we were both only children and did lots together and I thus named us sister-cousins at a young age and it stuck.  She's an incredible artist...I'll have to post about her sometime!

After brunch we spent the afternoon relaxing and letting our full bellies digest and then headed over to my mom's best friend's (who is a second mother to me) for her annual open house.  It's always a casual celebration with lots of good food and people I love.  We always change into comfier clothes, but I had to include the faux fur vest into my night outfit!

What do ya think?  I love the fur paired with the stripes!

In addition to my vest, I got some other very special presents--I'll highlight a few!

Monogrammed Pink & Green Pashmina from Bryce's mom and stepdad
Michael Kors Tortoise Bangle from my Godparents (posted about here)
Willow Tree "Sign for Love" figurine from Aunt Fou-Fou (aka Second Mom mentioned above)
Brooks Brothers Madison Perfume Ring from Bryce's dad and stepmom (mentioned in yesterday's post)

Another particularly sentimental present was from my grandmother.  She makes us handmade Christmas ornaments this year and has tons that she and her mother made together.  Yesterday, my cousins and I spent the morning choosing ornaments from her own collection--I will have to post about these sometime, because they are so gorgeous!

The last few days since Christmas I've just been taking it easy.  I treated myself to a pedicure yesterday and have been doing a lot of reading.  Bryce has been hunting in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore and will be home today!  Tomorrow we will head to the country for New Year's Eve celebrations!  

I got this letter in the mail from Bryce on Wednesday that he sent from Accomack--I just love the dogwood flower he drew on the seal!

How was your Christmas?  Any fun New Year's plans?