december + christmas, according to the iphone.

decembers are always pretty magical, although every year it does feel like a blur of a month when it’s all said and done. one of the fastest-flying months of the year, i believe. ;) and the other thing about december is that the preparation for christmas is so much longer than the holiday itself! but i do fully enjoy the prep because it’s definitely part of the fun. i will also say that surprisingly, i was quite organized/on top of things this year [for once in my life!] when it came to getting ready for christmas, and i felt like i was just coasting the last couple of weeks before the holiday, which was a really nice feeling. and then i totally made up for it by breaking a personal record for flakiness once the week of christmas arrived and throughout the rest of the month, as you know from this post. i guess my brain took vacay too. but i made it out alive and well, and i can’t wait to see what the new year has in store!

{the last of fall}

{you know it’s a good day when… your work day begins with an espresso garnished with a candy cane and ends with a hot chocolate garnished with peppermint schnapps. and whipped cream. also, who doesn’t love a twizzler rainbow?!}

{my newlywed friends angelica and kevin hosted a christmas party this year! [remember our adventures at their wedding in buffalo this summer?] it was ugly sweater themed and i wish i had gotten more photos of everyone’s outfits! we had a blast.}

{the best holiday sangria ever}

{do you want to build a snowmaaan?}

{and we also had a white elephant gift exchange. i was supposed to go to a christmas party last year with white elephant gift exchange, but it was cancelled due to an ice storm, and i realized that this was my first one since college. it’s amazing how much better the gifts are now than they were then [even with a $20 limit]!}

{the lovely host and hostess!}

{christmas lights in downtown and uptown!}

{i love cute mail.}

{i won mavs tickets again this year and my friend katlyn was my date! we were sitting on the court in the second row and it didn’t suck.}

{a little bit of dirk…}

{…and i love me some chandler parsons! he’s not hard on the eyes, that’s for sure…}

{a few of my coworkers and i had an awesome lunch with a supplier one day at dough pizzeria napoletana. they have a burrata bar, and the picture on the left is the sampler – the rollatini, richard’s caprese, burrata & prosciutto, plus flatbread. and we also shared some meatballs. and then we all got our own pizzas… mine was that one in the picture on the right but i don’t think it’s on the menu right now so i don’t know what it’s called, but it had pistachios on it!! really delish.}

{so many pizzas!}

{the best part was that there were six of us, and we each ordered a different kind of pizza and then traded slices. i was kiiiiinda disappointed that our supplier was the only one who didn’t offer to trade me slices, so i didn’t get to try one of each kind, but i let it go since he took us out. ;) and guys, we even got DESSERT, which is in that photo on the left – it’s a nutello panino… it’s like a panini made with marshmallow and nutella and fresh whipped cream… they had to roll me out the door…}

{friend dates are the best! on the left, celebrating my friend alex’s return from 6 weeks in NYC with our favorite go-to, lyfe kitchen. and on the right, craft cocktails and dessert at barter with my friend rebecca. and maybe some flirting with the cute [and very talented] guitar player before we found out he had a girlfriend… darn.}

{selfies with my coworker alisa at our department’s christmas lunch and THE BEST RAMEN at ramen hakata on a cold, rainy day with my work buds.}

{the other day i found this in one of my files… it’s a comic called “that darn duck” that my brother had created as a kid! i was practically crying, it was so hilarious.}

{a moscow-mule-and-pizza date at fireside pies.}

{every now and then, i’ll have a messy bun turn out halfway decent and then i know the moment must be documented.}

{a print from tread studios that i love, and the most thoughtful/adorable gift from my coworker shelley… i can’t get over that tiny little eiffel tower in a bottle! it makes me happy.}

{love him.}

{i did lots of christmas baking… and by “lots” i mean that i baked one thing [palmiers – my favorite], but they literally took 10 hours to make. yep. i had made them in culinary school in 3 hours, but what i realized was: 1.) that was only one batch, not two, and 2.) i don’t have giant floor-to-ceiling convection ovens. so yeah, a little more time-consuming than i was expecting. but still fun! and they turned out great.}

{i also made some cinnamon butter because it’s easy and delicious. the palmiers + the cinnamon butter made a good combo christmas gift for people, even if i did have to ration the palmiers a bit since i apparently didn’t make enough during those ten straight hours of mixing, rolling, folding, cutting, and baking. next year, you’re all getting slice-and-bakes. ;) and in contrast to the palmier situation, there on the right are five boxes stuffed with all different kinds of cookies from a cookie swap we had at work. it was so much fun and i felt like i hit the cookie lottery.}

{trying on what i was planning to wear on NYE before i realized it was going to be like 25 degrees… and ohhh, monday mornings…}

{merry christmas eve!}

{i made a prime rib roast for our christmas with just the four of us! and this is the trifle that i talked about here.}

{new boots from mom & dad + boot socks from mike!}

{i may be a little prejudiced, but i think he’s hilarious and cute when he’s both awake and asleep.}

{on the left, anthropologie goodies from my parents, and on the right, christmas goodies from anthro and other places, given to me by various people or as a day-after-christmas present to myself.}

{with arend and ashlin, our cousins on our mom’s side}

{remember when i went to le BHV in paris and talked about how i regretted not getting one of those bracelets made with liberty of london fabric and a little eiffel tower charm? well, apparently i had voiced this before we left, and my uncle mark had come to meet aunt debbie in paris so they could take their own trip after our girls trip, and guess what those sweet people did?? they trekked over to le BHV and got me one of those bracelets and gave it to me for christmas. they are so thoughtful and you can’t even imagine how thrilled i was to open it! and confused at first on how they managed to get it, until i remembered their trip. what a nice thing for them to do. it’s meaningful to me and very pretty and i just love it.}

{i don’t know anything about that thing that mike is looking through, except that arend gave him the kit and he spent the whole time that we opened presents building it. it’s mostly made out of cardboard but it has these lenses and you put your phone in it and look through it and it looks/feels like you’re on a real roller coaster. don’t ask me how it works though. and we played tripoly with both sides of the family, but when we played it with my dad’s side, my uncle made us some fantastic caipirinhas, a traditional brazilian drink made with sugar cane liquor and lime, which he learned to make on his work trips to brazil. they were SO freaking good.}