Christmas Weekend- Christmas Day

Christmas Day was another fabulous day weather-wise, again around 40 degrees, sunny and brown everywhere.  We went to my sister's house in the afternoon, along with my parents, my grandpa and my BIL's mom, Carol.  We ate baked spaghetti (a delicious recipe from my aunt Pat on the other side of the family), salad and bread sticks. My grandpa and Carol opened a few present, finished with the peppermint ribbon cake I made and then they went home and the rest of us opened our presents. 

My nephews with their grandmas and grandpa and great grandpa

I swear it took us 4 hours to open presents but I'm sure it really wasn't that long but it was hours.  My favorite part of Christmas is getting together with my immediate family like this and opening our gifts.  We're slow and organized about it and go around in a circle one by one, opening a present.  Well, maybe for the exception of my nephew.  He's usually pretty good but this year, he ripped into all of his at once and was gone for the rest of the time playing with everything.

I received A LOT of nice things from everyone.  I normally don't tell everyone everything I received but for documentation purposes, I'd like to.  I received a microwave, a tea kettle, a big box set of tea, cutting board set, glass nested bowls, 4 scarves and 2 pashminas, a butterfly scarf holder/hanger, two books, a hat, gloves and scarf set that's purple and yellow, six framed professional photos of my nephews, a HUGE Vikings ornament, a bracelet that my nephew picked out for me all on his own and two necklaces...I think that's it.  This is on top of everything else I received in earlier days including a another scarf and necklace I received from M's sister Kim from the gift exchange on Christmas Eve.  I love scarves!  Also thank you to my mom who wrapped each and every gift so beautifully.  Your efforts and love did not go unnoticed.

Colton got a Dirt Devil vacuum.  He has a love/hate relationship with the real vacuum.

Colton enjoying a ride in the car I got him.

Keith loves anything from a Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Posing all serious for their card game

Their cat Smokey with two lemurs named Keith and Colton

After our long stint of presents, my sister broke out some more food and we had veggies and dip, crackers and cheese, chips and salsa, etc.  My parents left shortly after which a little before 10 pm, while my sister, BIL and me talked and M and my nephew played pick up sticks and card games.  Jamie, M and myself were talking about scary TV shows and movies as my sister received Tales from the Crypt, Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.  (She loves anything horror, scary, Halloween, etc)  We got to talking about what we thought was called Tales from the Darkside way back when and describing the movie/show from the early 80's.  Not even 10 minutes later, my sister is flipping through the guide on the TV and finds Creepshow and then we all remember that that is what we were talking about and not Darkside.  What are the chances of talking about a show from 30 years ago and then it being on for you to watch minutes later on Christmas Day?  We thought it was pretty neat and so we watched a good chunk of it before we saw my sister and nephew conked out on the couch and chair.  M and I left just after midnight.

I think I said this last year too but this Christmas was one of my favorites.  I hope they continue to get better and better.  I love my family!

Thank you for hosting Christmas this year, Jamie and Tom.  I always try to bring a host/hostess gift to everyone who hosts an event and I made this for both my aunt Terri and Jamie for hosting Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  It's an angel made of dish towels and a pot holder.

Christmas Weekend- Christmas Morning

M and I decided to open our presents to each other late Christmas morning.  I woke up with a headache so I wanted it to be gone before I started in on the fun stuff.  I forgot to take a picture of the tree with all the presents underneath it when it was dark so a day picture is all I have to share.

We plugged in the tree and was ready to open.  I took a picture of the cats and they were so cute, each sitting in a window.

Santa came to our house and here's what we received in our stocking:

Michael: Bourbon caramel bacon popcorn, bacon dental floss, meatball gumballs (bubblegum flavored) and a $10 gift card to White Castle

Dana: A Piano Tribute to Mumford & Sons CD, The Most Relaxing Piano Album in the World...Ever! CD, (it's really called that!)  Vikings socks/footies and a t-shirt that says, "I'm left-handed. What's your super power?"  

We went back and forth opening gifts from each other and here's what we received:

Michael: Smurf lounge pants, Jack Black beard lube, a Vikings desk and wall calendar, a battery powered toothbrush and a beer chiller.  The beer chiller is not as exciting as it might sound as it's just copper piping that you use to cool down the wort when you brew beer.  It's a huge time saver though!  Oh, and I even got him some bacon candy canes.  They taste nasty as I assumed they would.

Dana: A Bubbles (from Trailer Park Boys) t-shirt, a caged barrel and a caged wine bottle that holds wine corks, a bowling bag and a certificate for a bowling ball.  We actually went out and got a bowling ball for me on Monday.  They had it in stock in the weight I wanted and they were able to drill it right then so I had it that day.  I know I've completely graduated to full-nerd status but it's exciting to now go to the bowling alley and to have my own bag that carries my own shoes and own ball.  No more sticking my fingers in a dirty ball that everyone else uses.  Plus, I never even thought that I've been using a right-handed ball all this time.  I never knew there was a difference but the holes are drilled with a different pitch for both a left and right-handed ball.  I'm curious to see how my first game will be!  

One thing I forgot to mention is that Michael's parents sent me a gift and I received a necklace in a Daughter box that said, "If Daughters were flowers, I'd still pick you."  First, I started tearing up when I saw it and second, I absolutely love the necklace.  It's so simple and dainty. 

Next post: Christmas Day at my sister's house 

Christmas Weekend- Christmas Eve

I don't even know where to start when it comes to summing up Christmas weekend so I think I'll just narrow this post to Christmas Eve. 

First, the weather was great!  Sunny and about 40 degrees with NO SNOW.  I don't mind a brown Christmas at all. 

Second, I did some last minute baking which included chocolate chip butter cookies, brownie cookies, (which didn't turn out very well) S'mores bars, mint meringues and a peppermint ribbon cake.

I went to my aunt Terri's house in Wisconsin for Christmas Eve.  If you remember, my Gramma passed away in February.  Christmas Eve was her birthday so a lot of the focus of the day was on my Gramma and watching her open all her birthday/Christmas presents.  I wasn't sure how everyone would handle the day without her and I think most of us did just fine.  We didn't mention her collectively as a group but tears started to fly when some gifts were given.  My sister gave every person/family an ornament that was heart shaped wings with her picture in it.  My aunt Donna gave some of us a framed picture of my Gramma as a baby with her mom.  My Gramma's mom died when she was three.  Finally, my Aunt Terri gave some of us a santa boot with an LED candle in it to be lit in my Gramma's honor.  

Opening presents on this side of the family is a chaotic mess:

We ate lots of food as usual.  We go overboard with all different types of appetizers to graze on through the afternoon and then we had ham, turkey, Italian sausage and hot dish.  We have many foods that have become tradition but one that my Gramma used to make was Liver Pate.  It sounds horrible but is completely delicious.  We had it again this year so I'm happy to know that someone will continue to make it for future Christmas gatherings.

As for football, the Vikings thought they would give us fans a win, which came against the Redskins, which may end up screwing up their draft pick.  As of right now, we will have anywhere from 2nd to 6th pick in the draft.  Not only may the pick be affected, Adrian Peterson went down in the game and has torn is ACL and MCL in his knee.  Add in a concussion for Ponder later that game and we're down to bare bones with no depth in any position.  Joe Webb is extremely athletic and has been the rally man to get the job done for us.  Word on the street is that Ponder is starting on Sunday against the Bears in the last game of the season so let's just lose and write this season off.  We'll see.

On the agenda for tomorrow's post:  Christmas Day   

Dinner Date- Plan B

My Grandpa and I went out to dinner the Wednesday before Christmas.  The plan was to go to Wild Bill's in Woodbury but after getting there, we found out it was a 25 minute wait...on a Wednesday at 6 pm?  I figured everyone must have been out Christmas shopping or something.  We decided against waiting and went to eat down the street at The Machine Shed.  I had only been there once but my grandpa had been there a few times.  I had the Shepherd's Pie and my grandpa had liver and onions. (Ick!)  Both of our dinners were excellent and if you like good ol' comfort food, this is a great place to go.

Yummy Shepherd's Pie

Vikings vs. Saints

Last Sunday, M and I went to the Vikings/Saints game on December 18th.  This was our Christmas game as the Vikings were on the road for Christmas Eve. We didn't tailgate but instead just watched the Vikings get completely blown out by the Saints.  The final score was 42-20 but we left when it was 42-13.  We normally would never leave early but sometimes enough is enough.

The score when we left--Look how many people had left

Holiday Party

I had my company holiday party last Friday at Pinstripes in Edina.  If you haven't been there, Pinstripes is sort of an upscale bowling alley with bocce, a dance floor, food and drink.  We received drink tickets so anything you wanted, it was free.  Because of this, I helped myself to six vodka cranberries...with Grey Goose of course.  M had already agreed to be my driver for the night so it was fun to kick back and relax with my coworkers. I had tons of fun. I did use up too much fun that night because the powers that be took away all my fun for the next day as I had a hangover and stayed in bed in some capacity until 4 pm.  Oops. 

Here's some of my favorite peeps from work:

Cuatro Chicas

Last Thursday, I went out to dinner with Heather, Ang and Kristi to Brick's Pub in Blaine.  Ang turned 30 on Friday so it was a perfect reason to get us all together for some drinks and food.  We shared an appetizer of Ceviche, which I have never had before and it was just ok.  Both Ang and Kristi said they've definitely had better.  For my meal, I order the Tipsy Brisket which was very good.  We decided that we'd like to go out for dinner for all our birthdays so with Ang accomplished for December, I'm next in January, Kristi's in February and Heather's is in March.  Kinda funny that our birthdays are all in a row, huh?  If you're interested in a more detailed review and photos of our drinks and food, check out Kristi's review of Brick's on Twin Cities Restaurant Blog.

Heather, Me, Ang, Kristi

I Love Me Some Deals

Let's face it, I'm one of the best when it comes to getting a deal and saving money.  Here's my latest accomplishment...I went to Herberger's to try and find another gift for someone but I've come to realize, I just don't like the layout of a Herberger's store.  They pack the store so tightly with merchandise that it doesn't feel fun to shop there because I feel like I need to dig to find something, like a TJ Maxx store, which I hate.  I struck out with finding a gift for someone so I bought a few items for me.  Here's what I got:

A mug.  The price on the tag: $10. 

A flour sifter.  Price on the tag: $18

A set of 3 snowflake pins.  Price on the tag: $20

Now here's the only time where math is fun as an adult.  The mug was on sale for $3.75 and ended up being a door buster deal so it rang up at $2.50.  The flour sifter was 30% off  and the pins were 50% off.  I had a $10 free coupon if you spend $10 so I used that for the mug and the sifter.  Price paid for both: $5.47.   The pins were $10 after being on sale but with another free $10 coupon I had, I got them for free.  I literally exchanged the coupon for the pins.  No money changed hands for that transaction, which means I got all three items for a total of $5.47.   The mug is at work for tea, flour sifter will be used for baking and the pins are on a few of my winter jackets for display.  The picture does not do them justice of how shiny and sparkly they are. 

Have you found any good deals lately?

Warm Tootsies

As I told you back in November, we received our Happy Feet in the mail from M's mom late last week.  There hasn't been a day that I haven't worn them.  They are so warm without your feet becoming sweaty.  She made me an orange pair since that's my favorite color and M got purple and gold ones...of course! 

The Nook

The Nook Restaurant had a fire almost exactly a year ago.  They reopened again this past May but I hadn't visited since the reopening until last week.  M and I took my grandpa there for what I would argue is the best burger in Minnesota.  If you don't think it's the best, it's at least my favorite.  The restaurant looked pretty much the same except the kitchen is in a different location, it looks like they added a few extra seats and it a little bit more modern looking with the exposed duct work.  The place is so tiny to begin with that no matter what they did, they can never keep up with the demand during the busy times of the day.  We arrived in the 5 pm hour which was a great thing as there were probably 30 people waiting when we left.  If you haven't been there before, I highly recommend it. 

Vikings vs. Broncos

If you watched the Vikings today, you know that the Vikings had a chance to win the game with 9 seconds left but didn't due to a forced fumble that also should have included a penalty for a face mask but wasn't called by the refs.  Vikings lost 34-28 to Detroit, but that is ok.  The game proved to be a decent one, at least the second half anyway when Webb took over for Ponder.  If the game can be somewhat competitive but the Vikings come up just short, that's the way I would prefer it in order to have a high draft pick next year.  The situation was similar last week against the Broncos at the Metrodome.  There was a chance that the Vikings were going to win that game too but in Broncos fashion as they've been doing for the last 5 out of 6 games, they've had a 4th quarter comeback with Tim Tebow (and maybe God) at the helm.  Have I mentioned that I have a crush on Tim Tebow?  Anyway, Vikings lose 35-32.

We didn't tailgate that day as I wasn't feeling the greatest.  We instead went out to breakfast beforehand to one of our favorite breakfast places, Coffee Cup, and then parked at a meter, which saved me $25-$35.  We did not have a fiasco at the gate like the home game before with the new metal detector hand wands.  In fact, there wasn't a line at all.  We were only 10 minutes earlier than what we would normally line up at the gate and we got right in.  Either the security staff was extremely efficient, people showed up hours before the game or they did a terrible job at security.  (Example: I was "wanded" and no one even asked to look in my purse as they normally do.  I asked them if they wanted to look in it and they said the ticket person would do it.  No such person checked my purse.)

Both M and I had new head wear for the game.  The night before, after setting up the tree and having it all complete, M wanted to give me an "appetizer" of a Christmas present.  I received the softest Vikings winter hat.  Well, if he was going to give me an appetizer gift, I would also do the same.  I gave him a Vikings dreadlocks hat that he's been searching for for years.  Kinda funny that we both gave each other Vikings hats, huh?

Did I mention I have a crush on Tim Tebow?  M lovingly refers to me as a cougar because of this.  Sometimes I feel younger than I really am.  

Carbonated Technology

M and I went to Firehouse Subs back in early November.  Have you heard of them?  Their first restaurant of the chain came to Minnesota in August and M was thrilled to find out they are now just miles from us. Whenever we go to Florida, we have to stop there and so he can eat there.  I do have to say, their subs are delicious.  What I wanted to talk about today was actually the fountain pop machine at the store.  Maybe these are around in other places but it was the first time I had ever seen a fountain pop machine like this.  I didn't even know how to work it at first!   It ended up being really easy to figure out.  Just put your cup in the metal area for ice and push the button on the machine for whatever kind of pop you'd like.  Have you seen one like this before or am I out of touch?

Bowling in Blaine

Last Saturday we met Greg and Anna at their house in Coon Rapids to meet their cats.  They have two cats that look similar to Fuzzer.  Their names are Maynard and Scooter and they're really nice cats.  After meeting them, we headed to Blainbrook to go bowling.  We bowled two games and I did my best in quite some time.  I bowled a 126 and 124.  After bowling, we went to a coffee/smoothie place called Flyte.  I had a peach smoothie and everyone else had coffee.  The people working there were so nice and gave us candy canes and then a little bit later came out with a TheraPets Heating Pad Kitty for each one of us.  Shortly after we got home, the snow started.  We went to the backyard and walked to the pond and then came back and jumped on the trampoline for a little bit.  We're just big kids!

Scooter

Maynard

Maynard

Scooter

Fuzzer with TheraPet Cat

Christmas Preparation

Hello!  After 40 posts in November, I needed a blog break to recover from my carpel tunnel.  Ok, not really but a healthy handful of days away from blogging every once in awhile is always good for me.  So here we are, in December already....with the 5th almost in the books.  Where does the time go?

Shopping:

Have you finished started your Christmas shopping?  I don't have to buy for too many people so I guess it's not that difficult however I tend to go overboard and want to keep buying for my family which of course gets expensive but I need to cut myself off at some point.  I have quite a few items that I purchased online that still need to be delivered to me.  Man, do I love online shopping.  I've done quite a bit of it for Christmas the last few years. I can't online shop without purchasing a little bit for myself though.  This year my presents to myself are from Sephora, which I'm still waiting  to receive.  It's not that special though.  It's just foundation that I needed but considering it's expensive, I consider it a gift to myself.  I also purchased the following set on Thanksgiving at Kohl's online. I love the white because it's classic and timeless  It was $39.99 and there is a $20 rebate and then I received an additional 15% off and free shipping.  Plus I earned Kohl's cash with my purchase.  So after rebate, this set cost $14. I impress myself sometimes.

Tree:

Do you have your Christmas tree up?  I wanted to do it the day after Thanksgiving and every day after that but I just couldn't find the time.  I finally did get the tree up on Saturday evening.  I do not enjoy putting up the tree and decorating it.  I don't think I have patience to do it.  The nice thing is M helped a little and I pretty much made him hang out with me while I did it so I would stay interested.  I love it when the tree is complete and then I'm glad I put the effort in.  Do you like putting up your Christmas tree?  Here's a picture of our skinny tree this year:

Wrapping:

Ok, so maybe you've bought some presents and your tree is up but do you have wrapped presents underneath it yet?  I just started wrapping yesterday and got eight presents done.  I have a lot more to go and I'm not excited about it.  I've come to hate wrapping but as long as I tackle a few presents here and there, I'll be fine.  I just don't want to be that person on Christmas Ever wrapping for hours.  Been there, done that.

Lights:

Do you decorate your home/apartment with outdoor lights?  We do not and I actually didn't even consider it until writing this sentence.  There is a housing development down the street and they have so many houses decorated in the neighborhood that it looks magical as you drive through.  Here's one house that I liked but I really should drive by and take a video of all the houses.  Maybe I'll do that later this week.

Baking: 

Do you make Christmas cookies?  I like to bake and I will be making some cookies again this year.  I plan on making a decent variety as I will be giving my grandpa a tin full of cookies, all made with love of course.  I think I might be over my head this year with a plan that I have for some cookies as I've never experimented like this before so I'll let you know how they turn out.  If they do turn out, I'll be more than excited.  Not only do they have to be pretty, I suppose they have to taste good too.