47 posts tagged “christmas”

i got this photo from our niece nicole.  i love this photo of my hubby and his family and the whole retro look is suhweet!  i am guessing this is circa 1965ish?!  hubby is the third one from the left.

i cannot believe how quickly this month came and went.  i got out of work early yesterday and we took advantage of it.  we went to the grove to have dinner at maggianos and walk off dinner afterwards.  it was so cold!  later that evening i made us some peppermint godiva chocolate coffee and baked some cookies.  it was nice to spend one last time at a festive location before it's all gone.

i got some bad news on the way home.  one of my ex-bosses and friend passed away recently.  i don't have all the details yet so more on that later...

this morning i began to take down some of the christmas decorations.  i said to myself that i would not try to do it all in one day and instead do a little bit every day.  i think we are going to take down to tree tomorrow morning since it's not looking so good any longer.  we're thinking of getting an artificial tree for next year.  i don't know if there are any left but we're going to check out some stores this weekend.

i am looking forward to this weekend very much.  we have plans tonight to see george lopez with our friends and we're all going to dinner beforehand, special dinner.  i cannot wait!  also, my family arrives from mexico tonight around 11pm.  i am very excited to see them and have missed them very much.

i am also looking forward to new year's eve.  we are going to spend it with the same peeps we're going out with tonight.  one of the couples is having a party at their house.  party!!!

now back to packing up stuff...ugh!

How are you spending Christmas Day?

Well I posted this video on Christmas morning.  Hubby always makes a killer breakfast then we open gifts around noon. 

This year we decided since my family was going to Mexico for my cousins wedding during Christmas we were not going to exchange gifts with them.  So hubby and I decided to get each other a couple things, nothing big.  Instead we splurged on some good restaurants, hung out with friends more, get tickets to the 12-29-07 George Lopez show with our friends and tickets to  Wicked, The Musical on 1-26-08.  I am so excited about that!!! 

We had a pretty good month so I can't complain and it's still not over!  Yes, I was feeling a bit sad for various reasons but what can you do?  We all have to move forward. Now on to gifts...

I got T a personalized calendar which he loved, two nice "going out" shirts, a book, and treats in his stocking.

T kept dropping hints about this book and I kept telling him I could not find it.

T got me some cookbooks which I had listed on my Amazon wish list.  I got another one from my sis in law and a Jill Scott and Michael Buble cd.  My sis sent me a perfume set and she got T a wallet.  We scored!
We splurged on mimosas all morning then watched "It's a wonderful life".  Roxy scored too, he got lots of rawhide and he's been gassing us ever since!
T got a honey baked Ham from work so I made home made gravy, sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes.  I wanted to make veggies but I forgot to pick up?!

We went for a walk later as we always do every Christmas day after everyone leaves but this time I took my camera.  This is some of what we saw in our neighborhood...

does anyone remember that line?  no?  how about this one? 

"There's nothing wrong with letting the girls know that you're money and that you want to party"  

give up?  SWINGERS!!! if you haven't watched it, watch it!  i dvr'd it the other night and watched it saturday morning.  i've always wanted to check out the filming locations and even thought about googleing them later. 

we had plans to meet for dinner with our friends millie and e that same night.  when they picked us up we didn't know where we were going to eat.  we almost always leave it up to e because he knows lots of cool places.  well, low and behold he took us to the dresden.  he didn't mean to take us there but since it was right next door to where he meant to take us, we went.  what a coincidence!

the restaurants is so "money" (LOL) and sooo old school, which is right up my alley.  we had a great meal and had their signature cocktail called the "blood and sand". 
we exchanged gifts before dinner and we looked like we just hit the lottery...too funny
 
after dinner we made our way to the bar next door to check out the lounge act.  i think they've been there as long as i've been alive, 34 years.  LOL!  they were very entertaining and we had a blast.
i'm sure we will be returning soon!  but before that we are going to check out the other place the filmed at, "the derby" which is in the same area.  can't wait to check out the swing dancing...

and here's one last line...

"Look, we're gonna spend half the night driving around the hills looking for this one party and you're going to say it sucks and we're all gonna leave and then we're gonna go look for this other party. But all the parties and all the bars, they all suck. I spend half the night talking to some girl who's looking around the room to see if there's somebody else who's more important she should be talking to."

hubby didn't get home until almost noon yesterday.  i hoped he didn't have to work so he'd get some rest, plus i had the day off but there was a meeting he had to attend.  we had honey baked ham and left overs for lunch and then got ready for disney.

the drive was a slow one because no matter what day it is there's always traffic in LA.  and just as i thought, disney was packed!  

we broke our tradition and instead of going to new orleans square we went to toon town.  we wanted to check out the decorations we missed on our trip earlier this month.  on our way there we stopped to check out a show that had just started.  and guess who what there?  mary poppins!

the other night one of my girlfriends from high school came over with her family.  ever since we reconnected about 2 years ago we get together every once in a while and during the holidays.  this time her hubby wasn't working so we got to catch up with him too.  here are a few pics..

last night we got together with my other high school girlfriend mari and my god-daughter clarissa that i haven't seen since summer.  she is growing so quickly!  i think she can pass as my daughter. =)
here she is opening her gifts. is she a ham or what? LOL
when mari and i were in high school everyone used to think we were sisters.  we always played along and said we had different dads.

after they left i went to the mall to pick up one last gift for hubby.  the parking lots were packed but i lucked out right away.  i found myself a jacket and some stuff for hubby.  i left at 9pm and once i got home i pigged out on a slice of pumpkin pie.  ah, what the heck, it's the holidays.  LOL!

today i am home waiting on hubby and wondering what we should do tonight...we had plans to go to disney but i think we might meet up with friends instead....

so here i am at our tamale party last friday.  i was having so much fun plus paulie made sure i was a little tipsy before everyone showed up so i could relax...i think that was his excuse...lol.  anyway, that helped me to get some courage to sing. i would never ever ever try anything like this...well, never say never.

go ahead and laugh, i won't get offended. : )

i'll be home for christmas but my family will not.  they are in mexico for my cousin's wedding and will not be back until the end of the month.  i was wondering how i was going to deal with them not being here this xmas but i'm sure i will manage.  plus it's only this year right?  i know lots of people don't have their families at all so i shouldn't be so selfish.  but i am grateful for them.

hubby and i dropped them off last saturday morning and of course i had to capture the moment.  by the time i was
saying my goodbyes i was balling...just like i thought. 

i made them a little care package with snacks, sour candies, nuts, tissue, altoids, hand wipes, and cookies.  i asked asked them not to open it until they were inside and they did just that.  i finally talked to them before they boarded and  they were jazzed.  i know we weren't supposed to exchange gift this year but something little like that i thought was more of a going away treat.  but i couldn't mom leave without a little something right?  i gave her a card with money but she didn't open till later.

i talked to my little bro this morning and he is having a blast, they're all having a great time.  he says they walk everywhere and that the girls look like the actresses on the mexican soap operas.  i told him to sneak one over in his suitcase...LMBO.

i'm happy that they're having a blast and even happier that mom is having fun.

i miss you guys!

this holiday season hubby and i decided to slow down, not rush around the malls, fight for parking, fight the crowds, stand in line, rush, rush, rush.  and since we don't have a big gift list this year we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to try out some of the nice restaurants we've been wanting to go to, check out holiday displays and just really slow down and really enjoy the holiday season. 

well so far we've been doing just that.  last weekend we had our tamale party and we had a blast.  we had tickets to a mariachi holiday concert on saturday so we decided to go to dal rae for dinner.  we had such a nice meal and the decorations in this old school restaurant are beautiful.  we've been twice this month and i cannot get enough of it. 

i had the macademia crusted white fish and t had the sea bass.  for dessert we had the flourless chocolate cake with coffee ice cream, (don't talk to me right now please!)  LOL!  oh the lobster bisque was so delicious!

we had an awesome time at the concert too.  it's so festive and way worth it.  i don't know why every time i hear a certain holiday song i begin to cry, not a big cry.  i can't help it.  i  hate that this happens to me, it's so embarrassing and uncomfortable.  i'm always prepared so i carry tissue specifically for this reason.  bleh!  anyway...
we weren't allowed cameras but you know i carry mine just about everywhere i go...lol.

fun times!