christmas vacation!

i was a little nervous about the holiday season this year, as 2011 has left a pretty sour taste in my mouth and i assumed this trend would continue with glee until 11:59 pm on december 31st.  in addition, luke had a raging cold/flu monster for thanksgiving, which was supremely sad, so i had reason to believe things were right on track to be disastrous the whole way through.  however, the christmas/hanukkah season literally could not have been better.  my mom hosted a fab hanukkah party, complete with a white elephant game in which my grandparents pointedly cheated to allow me to keep a $30 trader joe's gift card, and we ate chinese food like the good jews* we are at a second family party a few days later.  the photos** from these events are currently locked in the fort knox that is my mom's digital camera, where pictures enter and yet never leave, so i'll have to wait to post them.  suffice to say, though, that they were amazing good times.

enter: christmas.  luke and i offered to host a christmas day brunch this year, in an effort to a) be grown ups and b) establish some traditions of our own, and while it seemed like an excellent idea in theory, as the day approached, i started to panic a little about having lots of people in our two-bedroom bungalow house, as the only thing that differentiates it from a tiny apartment is that it is free standing and has a backyard.  i was a little frantic about having to corral all my family into our living room for hours on end.  luckily, christmas day was about 80 degrees in the valley, so we were able to utilize our fabulous patio deck and no one had to sit on anyone else's lap.  yay!  seating crisis averted, it really was one of the best christmases on record, if i may say so myself.  luke made an amazing brunch (...i can take zero credit, as he is the chef of the family), presents were fantastic, and grandparents and aunts stayed for hours and hours.  it was super fun and i hope we get to host again next year.  loved it.


i present to you our 6.5 foot tall, 21 inch (at the base) fake christmas tree.  we waited until the last minute to get a tree this year, and so i couldn't justify getting a real one, not even for the delicious smell.  on friday the 23rd, i went to three different targets and found this gem at the last one.  it was so close to christmas, the holiday decor was already on sale, so i scored this bad boy for $25.  it's a little silly, a lot adorable and suits our small couch corner just fine.  yet another thing about the holidays that actually worked out.  imagine that!  (this is a horrible photo, and i acknowledge it.  my android phone only takes decent pictures if i'm outside and the sun is shining.  sad face.)

luke's mom stayed with us for the long christmas weekend and i slipped out on christmas eve for a few hours to visit my dad's side of the family for their first christmas without my grandpa.  tradition calls for us to go to knott's berry farm, where i went on exactly one ride.  and i didn't sway my log.

when i got home on christmas eve, luke gave his mom and i pairs of bear paw slippers.  i am such a craze that i wore them for our entire brunch and called myself "santa paws" as i headed out gifts.  obviously, luke knows me well.

here i am absolutely destroying luke in a maze solving contest.  i am, as everyone in my grad program can attest, perhaps one of the least competitive people in the world.  luke, however, is perhaps one of the most competitive people and makes most (all) things into competitions.  therefore, despite the fact that none of you care that i demolished him in this race (he'd been working on it for two minutes before i even opened the box and removed my maze), i'm proud enough of it to post it.  can't you just feel his desperation?

the fam.

the food (note the lox and bagels).

the patio working it's delicious summertime magic.

gingerdead men part 1.

gingerdead men part 2.***

all in all, the holidays were such a success.  i am eternally grateful for my incredible extended family.  always.

*hilariously, luke, his mom and my dad were the only people at the christmas brunch who never celebrated hanukkah as kids.

**in addition to ramping up the positivity in this here blog, i am trying to amp up the photos.  hopefully it will inspire me to take more.

***these cookies were really adorable, but so, so difficult to execute (haha!).  they're the product of a stamp/cookie cutter luke found online, and the idea is to imprint the dough with the bone shapes, bake the them and then flood the bones with royal icing.  and it worked...with these four.  i'll need to practice.