WARNING: VERY LONG POST AHEAD!
Christmas came and went so quickly. It’s sad that the holiday’s are over, but there are so many exciting things to look forward to now that it is 2010!!! I must, of course, do a quick re-cap of my holiday vacation because there were so many fun moments that I want to document!
I had a half day of work on the 23rd (which was lovely). M. and I made our way to his parent’s home in Tennessee where we were spending Christmas Eve and
Christmas. On Christmas Eve M. & I got up bright and early to go for a morning run (I didn’t want to be COMPLETELY off track from my routine when I got back from vacation) at his old high school’s track. I ran track and cross country in high school and never really enjoyed running on an outdoor track, but for some reason I absolutely LOVED it that morning!! I decided to document our dedication to our work-out plan and snapped this photo of us all bundled up (it was like…28 degrees that morning)!! Now you know what I look like when I roll out of bed! We spent the rest of the day shopping around town with M.’s brother and that evening we went out to din
ner with M’s entire family (his sister and her husband arrived late that afternoon) and their close family friends (and their kids) whom I just adore!
After dinner we all attended a Christmas Eve service which was beautiful. This was my very first Christmas Eve/Christmas away from my family and it was certainly hard, but M.’s family was very welcoming. M.’s family has a tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve, so when we arrived home we dove right in! Everyone was SO generous. Some of the gifts I received included a fabulous Brooks Brother’s robe from M.’s sister and her husband, an ADORABLE pink purse from M.’s br
other, a great Vera Bradley recipe box/apron set from M.’s mom and dad. M.’s parents really surprised us with a flat screen TV for our bedroom!! The actually bought one for us and one for their daughter and her husband – they wrapped them together though and told us that it was a present to share – we had NO idea what it could be, especially since M.’s sister lives in Atlanta and we are in DC!! M. set the TV up yesterday and it’s SO nice!
M. also surprised me this year with two very special gifts. I have wanted a My Flat in London bag for about 7 years now. I remember in high school I spotted them in our local Nordst
rom and just thought they were so amazing! Nordstrom stopped carrying the line a few years ago and I wasn’t having an easy time finding the style that I wanted from any of the other retailers anymore (I think they actually stopped production on this specific style). Well M., (being the clever boy th
at he is) found my PERFECT pick on Ebay & won it for me!! I literally haven’t bought a new purse in a couple of years (I’ve been using the designer bags that I got from one of my internships) so I am so excited to have a new black bag. It’s actually black, quilted with a lipstick pink lining and the most perfect gold metallic bee (complete with crown)!! I am absolutely loving it – plus, no one really seems to know about the line (maybe since they stopped carrying it at the big department stores a while ago), but I have already gotten so many compliments and “where can I get ones” when I have been out and about! It’s the perfect preppy addition to my wardrobe!
Not only did M. get me my long-lusted-after bag, but he also tucked in another little sur
prise. I’ve never worn a watch and have really wanted one. Well M. went over and above this year by picking out the most beautiful Burberry watch for me! I was SO SO SO surprised by this gift! It’s platinum and gold colored so it goes with my engagement ring, but I also get the look of gold which I love. The face of the watch also has the classic Burberry check print in a pretty pearly color!
On Christmas morning M. and I woke up early again, but this time no running was happening – this time it was cooking! I told M.’s mom that I would cover the stuffing for our Christmas meal. I made the stuffing that I have at my house every year (it helped me feel more at home and it was delicious too!) I will post the recipe some time; it’s so easy and way better than from-the-box stuffing! We enjoyed a big Christmas lunch of turkey, ham, stuffing, rolls
, corn, green beans, carrot soufflé (a new favorite!!) and mashed potatoes. Everything was delicious and I really enjoyed spending time with M.’s family. That afternoon we played some pretty funny games with M.’s “cousins” (not actually cousins, but close enough that they should be!!) and went to see a late afternoon showing of Sherlock Holmes. I was excited to see it for the scenes of London and it turned out to be a really cute movie. That evening we all enjoyed a se
cond helping of “Christmas lunch” and spent time relaxing and talking. Christmas at my future-parents-in-law’s home was really fun and I have many special memories from the holidays!
After spending time with M.’s family we made our way home to celebrate with my family. We opened our presents…some notables include a beautiful set of stationary complete w
ith a shiny new Lilly Pulitzer pen, a new pair of Tory Burch flats, a beautiful brown Kate Spade handbag, a great cowl wrap scarf & the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and “The Naked Chef” DVD cooking series (no he doesn’t actually cook naked) all the way from China, a great Tuscan cookbook, a few f
abulous J.Crew sweaters, adorable “bee” earrings and my little sister C. bought M. and I a crock-pot (which we’ve been talking about wanting!). I gave M. his present…a Cuisinart Upright Rotisserie (it sounds boring but it SO IS NOT!) which we first spotted at Williams Sonoma and have been eying ever since – I sense a lot of cooking in our future (the recipe book that came with it looks absolutely divine!)!!
That evening after opening presents we enjoyed the most amazing meal prepared by my mom and dad. Beef Tenderloin with a blue cheese and mushroom filling, Broccoli casserole (which may just be one of my new favorite recipes), twice baked potatoes and homemade ciabatta bread. Yum!! – The meal really was simply amazing.
The next aft
ernoon my mom, dad, sister and brother were all at my sister’s Debutante Ball rehearsal so M. and I drove to the airport to pick up my **ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS** Aunt J. and the equally entertaining Uncle Duane. We stopped by the spot where M. picked me up around the same time last year when I arrived home from London. That evening the whole family enjoyed another delicious meal together and reminisced about funny Christm
as traditions and the nativity scene that our family and some of my other cousins put together the year that Aunt J. had just had her oldest, Matthew.
The next day we were busy with preparations for the Debutante Ball. The little sister had her hair appointment in the early afternoon and the whole family had to be ready to leave at around 2pm to make our picture appointment at 4. We actually got dressed at the hotel near the site of the ball rather than risking wr
inkling our dresses in the car. My sister looked absolutely beautiful (she wore the same dress that I wore for my presentation and while my mom was thinking that s
he would try to sell it, now we’re thinking maybe we should keep it for our future daughters Deb Balls). The evening started with the receiving line and cocktail hour, then moved on to the presentation of the Debutantes, the traditional figure, and the waltz with the fathers or chief Marshalls, then w
e enjoyed a delicious dinner complete with a beautiful cheesecake dessert and ended the evening with the party! I wore a dress that was from…wait for it…Talbots. It was originally a black watch plaid silk strapless empire waist gown with velvet accents. I decided I wanted a little more shape so I brought it to a fabulous seamstress who turned it into a black velvet one shoulder gown. I absolutely loved the plaid and black velvet – so holiday!! We snapped so many photos along the way, but here you can see some of my absolute favorites.
The rest of my vacation was spent relaxing, shopping, watching movies and cooking with my mom. We didn’t do anything crazy for New Year’s Eve, but instead we enjoyed our traditional appetizer dinner but with a little twist. Usually on New
Year’s Eve we have only appetizers for dinner, but M. wanted to cook something for my parents so we had steak too! My mom, sister and I only made won tons and caramelized onion dip because we felt like even more appetizers in addition to the steak would be WAY overboard. Other than that M. and I rang in the New Year by watching the Time’s Square ball drop from the comfort of our warm living room.
Finally, I decided to give myself a break from running, s
o I didn’t run on Christmas, the 26th, 28th (The Debutante Ball day) and from Dec. 29th- yesterday (M.’s Birthday). By some kind of miracle though, I actually didn’t gain any weight while I was home (who knows?!). Today I started back up with the work-out plan and will be taking very few breaks from now until our wedding on June 19th, 2010!!!!
Back tomorrow!!
Christmas came and went so quickly. It’s sad that the holiday’s are over, but there are so many exciting things to look forward to now that it is 2010!!! I must, of course, do a quick re-cap of my holiday vacation because there were so many fun moments that I want to document!
I had a half day of work on the 23rd (which was lovely). M. and I made our way to his parent’s home in Tennessee where we were spending Christmas Eve and
Christmas. On Christmas Eve M. & I got up bright and early to go for a morning run (I didn’t want to be COMPLETELY off track from my routine when I got back from vacation) at his old high school’s track. I ran track and cross country in high school and never really enjoyed running on an outdoor track, but for some reason I absolutely LOVED it that morning!! I decided to document our dedication to our work-out plan and snapped this photo of us all bundled up (it was like…28 degrees that morning)!! Now you know what I look like when I roll out of bed! We spent the rest of the day shopping around town with M.’s brother and that evening we went out to din
ner with M’s entire family (his sister and her husband arrived late that afternoon) and their close family friends (and their kids) whom I just adore!After dinner we all attended a Christmas Eve service which was beautiful. This was my very first Christmas Eve/Christmas away from my family and it was certainly hard, but M.’s family was very welcoming. M.’s family has a tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve, so when we arrived home we dove right in! Everyone was SO generous. Some of the gifts I received included a fabulous Brooks Brother’s robe from M.’s sister and her husband, an ADORABLE pink purse from M.’s br
other, a great Vera Bradley recipe box/apron set from M.’s mom and dad. M.’s parents really surprised us with a flat screen TV for our bedroom!! The actually bought one for us and one for their daughter and her husband – they wrapped them together though and told us that it was a present to share – we had NO idea what it could be, especially since M.’s sister lives in Atlanta and we are in DC!! M. set the TV up yesterday and it’s SO nice!M. also surprised me this year with two very special gifts. I have wanted a My Flat in London bag for about 7 years now. I remember in high school I spotted them in our local Nordst
rom and just thought they were so amazing! Nordstrom stopped carrying the line a few years ago and I wasn’t having an easy time finding the style that I wanted from any of the other retailers anymore (I think they actually stopped production on this specific style). Well M., (being the clever boy th
at he is) found my PERFECT pick on Ebay & won it for me!! I literally haven’t bought a new purse in a couple of years (I’ve been using the designer bags that I got from one of my internships) so I am so excited to have a new black bag. It’s actually black, quilted with a lipstick pink lining and the most perfect gold metallic bee (complete with crown)!! I am absolutely loving it – plus, no one really seems to know about the line (maybe since they stopped carrying it at the big department stores a while ago), but I have already gotten so many compliments and “where can I get ones” when I have been out and about! It’s the perfect preppy addition to my wardrobe!Not only did M. get me my long-lusted-after bag, but he also tucked in another little sur
prise. I’ve never worn a watch and have really wanted one. Well M. went over and above this year by picking out the most beautiful Burberry watch for me! I was SO SO SO surprised by this gift! It’s platinum and gold colored so it goes with my engagement ring, but I also get the look of gold which I love. The face of the watch also has the classic Burberry check print in a pretty pearly color!
On Christmas morning M. and I woke up early again, but this time no running was happening – this time it was cooking! I told M.’s mom that I would cover the stuffing for our Christmas meal. I made the stuffing that I have at my house every year (it helped me feel more at home and it was delicious too!) I will post the recipe some time; it’s so easy and way better than from-the-box stuffing! We enjoyed a big Christmas lunch of turkey, ham, stuffing, rolls
, corn, green beans, carrot soufflé (a new favorite!!) and mashed potatoes. Everything was delicious and I really enjoyed spending time with M.’s family. That afternoon we played some pretty funny games with M.’s “cousins” (not actually cousins, but close enough that they should be!!) and went to see a late afternoon showing of Sherlock Holmes. I was excited to see it for the scenes of London and it turned out to be a really cute movie. That evening we all enjoyed a se
cond helping of “Christmas lunch” and spent time relaxing and talking. Christmas at my future-parents-in-law’s home was really fun and I have many special memories from the holidays!After spending time with M.’s family we made our way home to celebrate with my family. We opened our presents…some notables include a beautiful set of stationary complete w
ith a shiny new Lilly Pulitzer pen, a new pair of Tory Burch flats, a beautiful brown Kate Spade handbag, a great cowl wrap scarf & the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and “The Naked Chef” DVD cooking series (no he doesn’t actually cook naked) all the way from China, a great Tuscan cookbook, a few f
abulous J.Crew sweaters, adorable “bee” earrings and my little sister C. bought M. and I a crock-pot (which we’ve been talking about wanting!). I gave M. his present…a Cuisinart Upright Rotisserie (it sounds boring but it SO IS NOT!) which we first spotted at Williams Sonoma and have been eying ever since – I sense a lot of cooking in our future (the recipe book that came with it looks absolutely divine!)!!
That evening after opening presents we enjoyed the most amazing meal prepared by my mom and dad. Beef Tenderloin with a blue cheese and mushroom filling, Broccoli casserole (which may just be one of my new favorite recipes), twice baked potatoes and homemade ciabatta bread. Yum!! – The meal really was simply amazing.
The next aft
ernoon my mom, dad, sister and brother were all at my sister’s Debutante Ball rehearsal so M. and I drove to the airport to pick up my **ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS** Aunt J. and the equally entertaining Uncle Duane. We stopped by the spot where M. picked me up around the same time last year when I arrived home from London. That evening the whole family enjoyed another delicious meal together and reminisced about funny Christm
as traditions and the nativity scene that our family and some of my other cousins put together the year that Aunt J. had just had her oldest, Matthew.The next day we were busy with preparations for the Debutante Ball. The little sister had her hair appointment in the early afternoon and the whole family had to be ready to leave at around 2pm to make our picture appointment at 4. We actually got dressed at the hotel near the site of the ball rather than risking wr
inkling our dresses in the car. My sister looked absolutely beautiful (she wore the same dress that I wore for my presentation and while my mom was thinking that s
he would try to sell it, now we’re thinking maybe we should keep it for our future daughters Deb Balls). The evening started with the receiving line and cocktail hour, then moved on to the presentation of the Debutantes, the traditional figure, and the waltz with the fathers or chief Marshalls, then w
e enjoyed a delicious dinner complete with a beautiful cheesecake dessert and ended the evening with the party! I wore a dress that was from…wait for it…Talbots. It was originally a black watch plaid silk strapless empire waist gown with velvet accents. I decided I wanted a little more shape so I brought it to a fabulous seamstress who turned it into a black velvet one shoulder gown. I absolutely loved the plaid and black velvet – so holiday!! We snapped so many photos along the way, but here you can see some of my absolute favorites.
The rest of my vacation was spent relaxing, shopping, watching movies and cooking with my mom. We didn’t do anything crazy for New Year’s Eve, but instead we enjoyed our traditional appetizer dinner but with a little twist. Usually on New
Year’s Eve we have only appetizers for dinner, but M. wanted to cook something for my parents so we had steak too! My mom, sister and I only made won tons and caramelized onion dip because we felt like even more appetizers in addition to the steak would be WAY overboard. Other than that M. and I rang in the New Year by watching the Time’s Square ball drop from the comfort of our warm living room.Finally, I decided to give myself a break from running, s
o I didn’t run on Christmas, the 26th, 28th (The Debutante Ball day) and from Dec. 29th- yesterday (M.’s Birthday). By some kind of miracle though, I actually didn’t gain any weight while I was home (who knows?!). Today I started back up with the work-out plan and will be taking very few breaks from now until our wedding on June 19th, 2010!!!!Back tomorrow!!
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