christmas

(Super easy using the Pate Brisee recipe from Martha Stewart)

This Christmas was one of the best ever! We made shortbread and nanaimo bars and I even (finally) attempted apple hand pies to great success! Rob and I brought home a tree for the first time and made a display for our Christmas cards. Plus, we actually put in some thought to our presents ... Rob received a belt buckle made from broken skateboards by Billy Would Designs. Do you know how hard it is to get a belt that takes buckles?! I looked everywhere in Vancouver and San Francisco. The only place that I could find it was at the Levi's Outlet in the US and through Naomi at Flight Path Designs... and I received a WII! Yes, it has been out for two years. So what? We are late adopters! This thing is dangerous I tell you! A huge time suck, but oh, so fun! Virtual hula hooping? Yes, please! The only sticking point is that we don't own a TV. So on Boxing Day, we went out and found ourselves a 22" flat screen for a good price especially when we still had our gift card from the previous Christmas.

Rob figures that this holiday was extra special due to us doing some planning instead of relying on others. You see, when it comes to Christmas, my family gets a C+. We have Christmas lunch where we show up at Noon, eat, open presents and leave. This year, it lasted for a total of 1.5 hours. Which, surprisingly, seemed longer than the previous year. It wasn't always like this. Growing up as the only child in the family for the first 11 years, it was pure bliss. We brought out the tree, made decorations, went to see the lights, made lists for Santa and so on and so on. Now, we eat off of paper plates and drink out of plastic cups which look like they are from the hospital that my Aunt works at. Of course, each holiday lunch is not complete until my Aunt tells us how much she wished that she could be called into work on Christmas Day so that she could make double time and a half and the rest of the family ooooo's and ahhhh's.

Don't even get me started on the presents which have included ... used hair gel (bottle opened), medical masks (since we travel so much), random sheets of cut scrapbook paper (I have never scrapbooked), used gift cards (with odd amounts such as $7.23 left), thrift store clothes covered in sequins or lace (both that I would never wear) and I'm pretty sure I received a hair crimper once from the 80's which was passed down to me when I was in high school and left downstairs when I lived with my family. It's the thought that counts right?