Merry December! This holiday season has felt extra-cozy as we’ve cranked up our fireplace and really settled into our house. It seemed fitting that Shane and I should host a Thanksgiving gathering this year, as our expanded dining area is one of the things we love most about our home, so we asked my parents to come over for a few days and asked the Rust clan join us for a big ol’ Thursday meal. And then, we cooked.
I found great joy in setting the table on Thursday morning, pulling out my mom and dad’s wedding silver and my grandma’s antique wine glasses. Juliette folded the napkins just-so and I snipped a few sprigs off our backyard fir.
We dined on cranberry sauce (a la Jules) and turkey (a la Mom) and mashed potatoes (a la Nance) and cornbread and green beans and salad. Jason made two pies and I made a rather unfortunate crostada and we ate and drank ourselves silly.
During cleanup, just when I was about to give props to our very outdated kitchen for rising to the occasion, our garbage disposal got stuck in the “on” position, so Jason, Shane and my dad spent some time under the kitchen sink fiddling with buttons and wires, trying to get the thing to grind to a halt. Turns out it was fixed with a $4 part from Home Depot, but “kitchen update” is quickly moving up on the 2019 priority list!
We spent the rest of the evening lounging by the fire, then heading downstairs for a very rousing game of Mario Party with the kids.
Thankful for both given family and chosen family…
We ventured out on Friday for a stroll at Lincoln Park and a couple of rounds at Beer Star.
My mom and I trekked through the rain for Americanos at the neighborhood coffee shop…
And then we spent the rest of the weekend largely holed up indoors, playing games and reading books and polishing off the leftover turkey.
My parents left on Sunday morning and then Shane, Jules and I set out on our annual tree hunt at Mountain Creek Farm. We met up with the Chens, who were on a similar mission.
I had a particularly hard time settling on just the right tree this year – maybe because I was busy trying to keep track of these kiddos, who spent the afternoon running very big circles around us?
Found it! I love a lush, fluffy Grand Fir.
We went home, cranked up the Charlie Brown, and got to work stringing lights and hanging ornaments. While sipping egg nog.
There’s about an inch of clearance between the ceiling and the top of our tree. Perfection!
And in further tradition-keeping, Nance, LaV and I spent last weekend on our annual “retreat” to Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac. We talked, we ate ice cream, we shopped…
We, like, really shopped. For ourselves and our guys and our kids. Mostly for ourselves, though. The post-mall fashion show we host in our hotel room is one of my favorite parts of the weekend.
We also watched four and a half Twilight movies over the course of two days. That’s nine steamy hours of vampires and werewolves. Phew!
If our eyes look a little glazed-over, it’s because we O.D.’d on Edward. Cheers, ladies!
And finally, in new traditions, Shane and I took Juliette to see the Nutcracker at McCaw Hall last Sunday. We scored a deal on some tickets and figured Juliette was old enough to sit through the two-hour program.
In a happy coincidence, Jack and La Verne had bought tickets for the very same show. We joined them in their otherwise-empty box at intermission so that Jules and N could soak in the magic of the second half together.
The whole thing was so stinking beautiful – the music and the sets and the costumes and the dancers. It was a smorgasbord of creativity, all wrapped up in the prettiest of paper.
As we were walking to the car, Juliette looked up and me and exclaimed, “That was so super-special, Mommy!” For me too, kiddo!
And up next: ALL. THE. LIGHTS. We’re holiday-ing hard up in here.