Yeah, okay-- I'm that friend! Dogs are just the best though, right?!
3 / dog stickers
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label christmas. Show all posts
gift guide #1 // gold foil
We all have that one friend who is just a little extra. Let them shine as brightly and glittery as they want--their light is why you keep them around, after all!
christmas traditions
I'm the first to admit that I am a bit holiday-obsessed. Holiday-season is my favorite time of year. Since I met Ted, this season has stretched to start as early as October 8th (our anniversary) instead of October 31st. Anniversary, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, my birthday, Easter. Yep--half of the year, I'm pretty stoked on holidays, and I like it that way. My favorite thing about holidays are the traditions. Christmas has the most traditions, thus making it my #1 holiday.
Friends Christmas Brunch
Since 2009, my friends and I have had an annual brunch, hosted by me and Erin. The past two years we've had it at Erin's lovely home she shares with her sister. (Aren't we grown-up or what?) After last year's latke success (I made them for the first time after being inspired by Ted's), we have kept the new tradition alive this year. I was especially proud of my fancy spinach & feta latkes. It is such a lovely time catching up with old friends. I feel very lucky we can all get together during the holidays.
Christmas Eve
We go to mass at our church or my grandma's church, depending on the year. This year we went to our little pink church (yeah, it's pink). Afterwards we head over to my aunt's house to have a delicious meal, complete with homemade eggnog and a big rice-crispie wreath studded with M&M's. We do a white elephant game with $10 gift cards, which is always funny. This year I had to choose first, which is the worst number, but I ended up with Starbucks, so all is well. When we open the presents, the kids all open one at the same time, and the adults open their secret santa gifts. This year my relatives were super sweet and generous and gave me pounds for my upcoming London adventure. I'm so grateful for their support in everything I do, especially when I'm the oddball in the family who went out-of-state for college and am now going abroad for five months.
Christmas Day
When my dad has to work on Christmas day, we wake up super early to open presents so he can leave for work around 7 or so. Later in the day we go visit him at the fire station, where A Christmas Story is on loop. Luckily, this year we had him all day! Once he got home from work around 8, we opened presents and stockings. Everyone got what they wanted. Me--lots of stuff for London (including a new camera!), cute new additions to my room, and an REI giftcard (Portland has officially had an influence on me, because this was very exciting). Kendal--One Direction tickets. Enough said. Izzy--a new bed. My parents--they didn't get much for each other this year because they're coming to visit me in London, but they did love the personalized cutting board I gave them!
It was weird this year, because due to my stressful semester and not arriving home until two days before Christmas, I didn't make any of my gifts this year. It's probably the first year I've done this. However, I still had just as much fun finding the perfect gifts that showed my family how appreciative I am of their love and support. I also enjoyed being able to support independent artists during the holiday season.
For Christmas brunch, we usually have quiche or blueberry french toast. This year was the french toast with some chicken sausages. We always have almond champagne and sparkling cider. Throughout the day, I also have a good time breaking into the multiple homemade treats lying around from my mom's students. There's also the tamales my mom orders from a local lady each year...
And then we watch Christmas movies in our pjs. All day. Throw in a nap or two, and you have the perfect Christmas day.
The Hatos family never celebrates Christmas on the right day, and we are proud of it. We divide all the gifts and then take turns opening our gifts. Kendal and I alternate, because we are the kiddos. I got so many lovely gifts, including more things to bring along to London, some traveling money, and cute accessories (like the cookie cutter necklace and red "London Calling" bangle seen above). We end the epic gift-opening with find-the-pickle-ornament and an elf scavenger hunt! Another hunt that happens is for the nativity scene's baby Jesus. Every year, my dad hides it for my grandma to find. Add in a delicious brunch spread out on matching Christmas Waechtersbach dishes complete with egg casserole, grits, cinnamon rolls, and pralines, and you have one magical day. A funny thing happened this year was that my grandma bought this beautiful Christmas tree butter and when we went to go eat, it was slouching over, sadly melting in the Arizona sun streaming through the window. That's a desert Christmas for you!
Other traditions we have during the holidays: Christmas dress shopping (mine got good use at the theater Christmas party, Ted's and my Christmas date, The Nutcracker, Christmas brunch, and Christmas Eve) and The Nutcracker.
It was a beautiful Christmas. I feel so fortunate to have such loving family and friends who make the holidays so special. The holidays are just as magical as they were when I was a little one--maybe even more magical, because I get to start my own traditions with my friends and Ted. Hope you had just as lovely a time and I wish you and yours a Happy New Year!
holidate 2013
The night finals were over, Ted and I went on our annual Christmas date. Ted is Jewish, but he loves playing along with my Christmas festivities, and I love that I can add Hanukkah to my list of holidays to celebrate. I mean, latkes are kind of the best thing ever... We've spent three Christmases together now and have made it a tradition to go get lasagna at Piazza Italia. This started our first Christmas when I was craving lasagna like no other and we looked online to find a good place to go for our Christmas date. When we got to the restaurant, it was all decked out for Christmas and wonderful. Since then, we have gone back to split lasagna and another pasta and it's become one of my favorite, most delicious traditions. This year we had to wait about forty minutes for a table, so we walked around and took outfit pictures (to be posted soon) and then got some coffee and festive cake pops to hold us over and warm us up. 
After a delicious meal and excited conversation about our upcoming travels, we drove to Peacock Lane for the first time and got out to walk up and down the street. It was so sweet. The houses are from the 20's, fit for a fairytale, and all decorated for Christmas. Basically, I want to live there. It was a lovely way to end what was honestly the worst semester we've both experienced. So thankful it's over now and I'm home to celebrate Christmas with my family, with London only two weeks away.
home for the holidays part II
1. Second Christmas with my grandparents this morning. I love all of our family traditions so much. We opened up gifts, went on an elf-guided scavenger hunt, ate an awesome spread of food for brunch (!!!!), and I even found both the hidden pickle ornament AND baby Jesus (my dad always hides him from the nativity scene)! It was a great morning, and I got a ton of lovely gifts from my grandparents. They know me so well!
2. Christmas with my family. After opening presents, we ate some quiche (or egg casserole, as my dad would say), watched A Christmas Story, and stayed in our pjs all day. What more could you possibly ask for? It was heavenly.
3. Christmas Eve with my mom's side. We always go to Christmas Eve mass and then head over to my aunt's house for dinner. Some homemade egg nog and chicken parmesan were had, the famous rice crispy wreath devoured, funny holiday stories shared, and the gift card white elephant played. A great night, indeed!
4. Decorating the tree. My family very nicely waited for me to get home to decorate the tree, but then we were so busy we didn't get to it until Saturday morning. No matter though--it was wonderful to be a part of the tradition!
5. Christmas fun at San Tan. We spontaneously found cheap dresses at Forever 21 (4 dresses for $23-cheap--the red polka dress above was one of the two I got), watched a light show, walked around, went on a horse carriage ride, drank hot cocoa, and enjoyed some fake snow (livin' the desert life).
6. Sunday lunch at grandma's. It's good to be back--enough said.
Hope your holidays were just as lovely!
home for the holidays part I
1) Annual Christmas brunch with my friends. This year was really special because Erin hosted at her new house. Everything was delicious! Phoebe brought her famous scones, Domenico and I were at the stove serving up latkes and crepes, and Erin made a lovely coffee cake. My favorite part was sitting around the Christmas tree and catching up. I am so thankful for my friends at home.
2) Going out to dinner and seeing the Nutcracker with my parents, grandma, and sister. My grandma takes us every year as a tradition, and you know how much I love traditions! Of course my grandma always manages to find awesome themed gifts for me and my sister. She's a pro.
3) Late nights with Izzy as I Christmas craft. She curled up into a ball at the head of my bed once I started loudly sewing... She's too cute. She's sleeping next to me as I type this!
4) Max, our Elf on the Shelf, welcoming me home on Wednesday night. He's a hoot.
Looking forward to even more holiday fun! Hope you're enjoying some quality time with family and friends.
giving me courage for my finals
Cookies I decorated at the costume shop Christmas party yesterday.
Izzy in her Christmas bow.christmas in my dorm room
Made another festive banner and hung some lights...
Made snowflakes and put up old garland and new bell garland (made by my friend's mom!).
Put up the little pink tree.
Our mummified gourd is now keeping warm for the winter!
I can't get over how cute he is...
Santa and SanTed.
Stockings (my mom found at our house) on the door with my homemade holly.
♥ ♥ ♥
Happy Holidays, friends! Back to studying for finals...
merry & bright
Every year my grandparents buy me and my sister Christmas dresses because they are so sweet. I'm kind of in love with this year's because it's so classy and festive. The off white also allows me to accessorize with excessive red and green. Can't wait to wear it to family events and the annual friends Christmas brunch!
dress/francesca's, belt/thrifted, coat/anthropologie, scarf/banana republic, headband/francesca's, tights/kate spade, earrings/kate spade, shoes/nordstrom's rack
Pictures by Ted
holidate #3
Since finals are coming up, Ted and I had our fancy Christmas date last night. It was a great excuse to dress up in our most festive apparel! I wore my Christmas dress and Ted wore a green shirt and a red bowtie with red corduroys. I've trained him well. Of course we went to the appropriately decked-out Italian restaurant we went to last year (I'm all about traditions). We had delicious bruschetta, lasagna, and spaghetti with meatballs. It was really great. We finished the night off eating our mini cannolis and tarts from Whole Foods while watching the Christmas New Girl episode. It was a lovely night.
PS The present was a bowtie for Ted that I knitted with the Christmas yarn my sweet aunt sent me.
holidate #2
Putting up Christmas lights in Ted's room was really cute. He has never put them up before, so he was super intense and particular about it. We also had fun taking silly pictures...
the perfect pair: sushi & cupcakes
Tonight we went downtown to celebrate our friend's birthday with some sushi and afterwards I suggested we get cupcakes! I was feeling extra fancy and got the jumbo instead of the mini. I was so excited and of course half way through the frosting fell off onto the rainy asphalt. I didn't cry because I AM A BIG GIRL. It was pretty tragic though. But it's okay, because the Cherry Cordial cupcake was filled with fruit filling and was still delicious sans frosting.
PS I counted 53 Christmas trees while downtown.
Pictures by lovely Ted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)