a happy new year...

wishing everyone a happy new year! i hope you all had an amazing year and an even better one ahead.

any big plans tonight? we're keeping it low-key and just hanging in. i work until 3 or 4, and then we'll probably just rent a few movies. i'm pretty sure last year, dylan didn't make it to midnight, and i barely did, so maybe i'll set an alarm for 11:56 ;)

stay safe tonight and have fun!

christmas morning...

we arrived at my parents bright and early christmas morning and held off on the breakfast so we could do gifts first. to say that they spoiled me would be a grand understatement. the last few years, my mom has always said she's 'not going overboard anymore', but that's a lie. she can't help herself. i had asked for cast iron skillets, a new point and shoot nikon (mine didn't work anymore, and sometimes we just won't want to lug the dslr), and ramekins for creme brulee, but they went above and beyond. dylan made out like a bandit, too.

 this girl thinks the family room is an obstacle course..

 christmas morning happiness.

loves his red wine.

 thermos, socks & undies, tools, gift cards, and more..pretty good haul from my parents.

 and of course, a stocking.

 little one was pretty tired from the excitement.

or maybe not.

 we got a few 'together gifts' like a blanket, coasters, some tassimo coffees, and these crystal glasses-set of 4 for white wine, and 4 for red wine. we need to have a dinner party!

 my dad surprised me with creme brulee ramekins (and butane for the torch), he didn't even tell my mom. i should say that he's not a shopper/spender (that would be my mom) so it's pretty awesome he got this for me. i cannot wait to make brulee!

 this is my mom not going overboard... #onlychildperk

 4 cast iron skillets!! homemade mac and cheese here we come!

the new nikon i had wanted :)

the look of utter shock on my face. my dad was waiting for me to open this one. it was marked "open last"

the new ipad; i've never even mentioned wanting one, but they wanted to get me something i wasn't expecting. well, it worked. 

my dad is probably thinking, "omg, your mother is crazy."

insane. i'm aware.

"give me the sausage" she's saying.

we spent the new few hours just relaxing and eating a big, delicious breakfast, until it was time to go to my aunts for dinner. we like spending time with my parents, so we stayed over for 2 nights. boxing day was another relaxing, hang around day with another big breakfast, movies, chinese food for dinner, and a snow storm that moved in at night. 

all in all, a good christmas; time off work, family time, good food, surprises, and yes, gifts.

santa was here!

i was pretty excited for christmas morning; the fact that i woke up at 5am would tell you that. i'm 5 years old, really. i forced myself to go back to sleep and then woke up at 7:30 for good. i turned the tree on, got a few things organized, then woke dylan up. we opened our gifts and since we were done pretty early, headed on over to my parents by 9:30.

the little miss and her stocking.

2 more glasses to equal a set of 4, a decanter, and 15 year scotch. a mans gift.

///

 new cord from swarovski because mine broke earlier in the month (from a necklace i have), 'the lucky one' book, cat weights! (jk, it's a joke box that was filled with bath stuff), and this beautiful bracelet.

my first magazine from a new subscription. not for christmas, it just happened to be in the mailbox from the day before and i'm really excited about it.

our cards. he got me the one on the right; love it.

dylan did a pretty good job on my stocking, too. way better than i did on his. mostly because he tripled the budget...that man...

i'm aware that i'm doing entirely too many christmas posts, but in the end, this blog is for us, and if i were to ever lose all my pics on my computer (like i've come close to in the past more than once. *note* everything is now on an external hard drive, as well), i would at least have this blog. i'll save my parents place for another post because there's just way too many pictures.

the night before christmas...

i hope everyone had a fantastic christmas! i know i sure did. but first, we'll start with christmas eve. we somehow managed to visit 4 houses; we started at my aunts for some coffee, wine and desserts, then moved his to aunts for more food, apps, dinner etc, then to my parents to pick up chloe (and which i also got new pj's! (my mom wasn't giving up that tradition after all)), and back to dylan's parents to exchange a few gifts. it was a super long day, but family filled and fun.

first stop, my aunts. dylan is huge compared to my dad, it's true.

everyone loves fi, the morkie.

next stop, his aunts..

they also spoiled us with money and gift cards.

chloe at dylan's parents.

must.rip.open.

a big skull vodka. and 2 mini ones, too.

gift card to indigo; a favorite store.

i still don't like posting pictures of family, since they don't know about the blog, and therefore don't know they're online. therefore, you get mostly pictures of just us. next up: an amazing christmas morning...

the stockings were hung...

or not so much hung as gently placed on the couch because they're so heavy. the photo below is actually from last year, and its from my parents place. 

from left to right: chloe (the dog, obvi), mocha (the cat), dylan, me, my 2nd one, my dad, and my mom.

my grandma made me and my dads stocking back when i was born, and my mom has had hers since she was a little girl. every year my dad complains because it's so small and he can hardly fit anything in it, but she refuses to get a new one. traditions :)

me and dylan bought cheap stockings, really just for looks, to hang on the window, and to have stockings. we weren't planning on filling them, until dylan told me the other day that he bought something for mine. and then, of course, we had to go out and buy stuff to fill each others. 

this will be the first year since i was born that i won't be waking up at my parents. that i won't be waiting for my mom to finish her make-up so that i can walk down the stairs and she can get the same picture she does every year. that i won't be at their place christmas eve to open pj's i get every year along with one other gift. it's now time that we start our own traditions in our own place, and for that, i'm excited. 

this afternoon, we're going to my aunts for an afternoon coffee and snacks and then heading to dylan's aunts for the evening. tomorrow morning, after we open our gifts here and get ourselves ready, we'll head over to my parents for gifts and a big breakfast there. and then! i'm off for the rest of the week, we're supposed to get a lot of snow on boxing day (the 26th), and my parents are also planning a lot of food for that day for us, too. think homemade mulled wine, eggnog french toast..all the yummy stuff.

merry christmas eve everyone! hope santa is good to you all! 

smile for the camera...

the other day at work, we found out that as employees, we would be able to go in for a photo session and get a  free cd of all the images taken. i texted dylan and asked if he would do it if i booked an appointment, and i got a quick "yeah! sure!" reply back. i figured it would be fun to have a few pictures of us, even if it was a little cheesy.

dylan saw this 'enchanted forest' background and insisted on taking 1 picture with it.

i always look so tired :(

a winter kiss.

i gotta say, it's pretty awkward being in front of the camera. i don't blame kids for being freaked out and crying!