Frivolity and festivities.

Quickie recap before I go into a food coma:

Matt and I had our own private Christmas where I got to give him his t-shirt and sweater (not exciting) and his CDs (total triumph, as he loved them all and couldn't believe I found them for him). He got to give me my slippers and wallet and a couple of things I asked for.



We also opened the stuff from my family and I am pretty excited about some of it. I got a pair of Felco pruners that I have been wanting forever, and I can't wait for some decent weather to try them out! Got the calendar of kid pictures from my sister and a Work Mate from my dad (I was hoping for a sander but this looks pretty useful in the tool/garage category). I also got some books I am pleased about - Three Men in a Boat (not to mention the dog), The Judgement of Paris (about the rise of Impressionism), and a Dave Lieberman cookbook (I like that guy's style, I have another of his books and it is great). It was quite a haul, so it was good we did it separately from the presents with the in-laws or it would have been out of control. I tipped my parents off so they got him music DVDs and sheet music he has been wanting, so he did pretty darn well too.



Wednesday night was cioppino night at Matt's parents house and a late night church gig for the Christmas Eve service. Nice and festive with singing and lighting candles. I then went home and passed out.

Thursday, Xmas morning started around 10:30. I made a dutch baby and some bacon and put out fruit and pastries and whipped cream. We opened presents and spent most of the morning watching my little niece open each of her presents and want to play with it instead of opening more presents. The biggest hits were a little Golden book version of Finding Nemo (she calls him Meemo) and a ball with puppies on it. Possibly both from the Dollar store. So much for my fancy book, I thought it would be a hit because it's about a little dog. But Meemo is the man of the hour.

Everybody came back for Christmas dinner - traditional turkey with everything, and an apple pie for dessert. I passed out around 11. In-laws are nice and friends will always bring a dish, but I need to get these people trained to do dishes!

Friday was the epic couch quest. We went to five furniture stores in the morning, most of them were empty and every one was having a super sale. Matt and I disagreed extensively on how much we were willing to sacrifice comfort for looks, and vice versa. This was misery so we broke for lunch. We went to three more stores after lunch before finally reaching success at the La-Z-Boy store. We got a couch that is relatively clean-lined and attractive, but the sneaky part of it is, it has built-in recliners that you would never know are there. It is reasonably priced after the Christmas blow-out deal we got and we can sell the old one for a couple hundred bucks. When it shows up I will post a picture. It was slightly more than we wanted to spend but the quality was clearly much higher and we both love it, which is an accomplishment in itself. Friday night friends stopped by and we watched Casino Royale and had leftovers and did nothing on the couch, and that was plenty.

Today I snuck off to do a surgical strike on the sales at the fancy mall on the far side of town. I returned/exchanged a couple of things and then found a pair of pants and some pillow covers for the old throw pillows that are going to go on the new couch. All on super sale and really nice quality. Also checked out some of the ornaments and the star I was coveting on the Potterybarn website. They were kind of junky so I was glad I forbore from splurging on them before the holidays (I didn't even get them on sale). I can find a star next Christmas. There's no rush.

And tonight was hot pot at my sister-in-law's house. It's a little bit like fondue but you don't cook stuff in straight oil, it's an oily, very spicy broth. You do meat and noodles and mushrooms and potatoes and fish balls and then you dip them in a sesame paste sauce and it is AWESOME.

So now I have to go tip over into my food coma. And possibly never shop again. Or eat.