I can't wait to come and celebrate an encore Christmas with you! We are going to watch Love Actually, eat potato pancakes, have some kind of Christmas cocktail & I got you another present!!!
You better have that Christmas music playing when we arrive tomorrow missy.
Love, Mom
So I really didn't have a choice, but to have a good time. :)
I started my Christmas Eve by breaking in one of my Christmas presents, my new Asics from my brother.
My friend Kerrie is training for the Miami half marathon, and I offered to run 4 of her 9 miles with her at a local trail.
It was pretty cold out, but it felt great to get out there. I let her set the pace since it was her training run, so she kept track on her Garmin.
Four plus miles done, I headed out to get prepped for my parents' arrival.
They rolled in mid afternoon and we headed to the town center nearby to get some coffee and walk around. If I was in doubt about my Christmas spirit, the unexpected fire truck parade, with Santa a top, helped.
Santa! I KNOW him!
Filled with spirit, we headed back home and had a little snack and some cocktails...
Then we headed out for Christmas Eve dinner at Vivace. We thought it would be fun to go out one night and stay in the other since my parents were in town for two nights. My mom and I went to Vivace for restaurant week over the summer and it was phenomenal.
My mom and I went halvsies on the seasonal salad: roasted beets, gorgonzola, candied walnuts, red onion agrodolce, lemon vinaigrette. Excuse my crappy IPhone pic. It was pretty dimly lit in the restaurant.
Anyway, this salad rocked. I seriously can't get enough beet salad, in case you can't tell.
We also split the CHILI-CAPELLINI & Crab roasted garlic, lemon, melted tomatoes, spinach, frutti di mare brodo.
Spicy seafood deliciousness.
And lastly we split the Veal Saltimbocca: fresh mozzarella ravioli, porcinis, brown butter. I'm definitely morally wary of veal and think it's kind of wrong to eat it, but my mom really wanted it. I eat it very infrequently and never order it myself, but I've tried it when other people get it. It was good, but I'd be just as happy with chicken, or a meatless entree. I actually loved the ravioli that came with it, and could have eaten a whole plate of those with the incredible mushroom sauce.
Bellies full, we headed home and watched one of many movies watched this weekend, Hall Pass.
I have the worst track record ever for watching movies with unexpected nudity with my parents, and this was no exception. If you have seen this and remember the scene where Owen Wilson passes out in the hot tub and the naked guys in the sauna save him, you know what I'm talking about...
Christmas morning was a low key affair. My parents exchanged stockings, and I opened a few gifts sent from friends and family. We decided against a big breakfast and just had fruit, yogurt, and danish.
We went on a brisk walk in the neighborhood after breakfast. The temperature in Charlotte finally dropped some, and even though it wasn't a white Christmas, it at least felt like winter.
Lunch was panini sandwiches with turkey, cheese, tomato, and spinach with a handful of chips. My mom and I also split a Shiner Bock Holiday beer, which are awesome.
We headed out to see a matinee of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, which both my parents have read and seen the Swedish movie versions of.
I have wanted to read the book the book for a while, but haven't, and decided I could see the movie and then maybe read the other two books in the series if it pulled me in. The movie is VERY intense. If you're not familiar, be warned that there is a graphic rape scene in it that was pretty disturbing (again with watching awkward stuff with my parents...). One couple actually got up and walked out. The movie was good though, and I immediately went home and downloaded The Girl Who Played With Fire on my Kindle (Christmas present from my parents), so that I could continue reading what happens.
My mom and I cooked Christmas dinner at my house, which was a roasted beef tenderloin, potato pancakes, apple sauce, and green beans.
Yum!
My mom and I watched Love Actually after dinner, while my dad caught a football game in the other room.
Monday we just ate breakfast, went on a short shopping trip (I got some silver nail polish for New Years Eve), and then they headed home, while I read my newly downloaded Kindle book and enjoyed my day off :). Greg made it home around 7pm last night and we got to have Christmas dinner, round two, together.
That pretty much sums up my Christmas this year. How'd yours go??
4 comments:
Merry Christmas! Sounds like you had a wonderful time with your family! And my gosh, all of the food looks amazing!
Don't worry, I had to go to MAINE to get my white Christmas... although we did get a few flake snow flurry here in NH ;-)
Glad to hear that your parents were able to bring you some holiday cheer. I was happy to have the cooler weather in Charlotte too. A warm Christmas just would have been too awkward. Anyways, after we opened up gifts at home, we headed down to SC to visit and have Christmas dinner with my family.
Now we're gearing up to check out First Night for New Year's Eve.
Lol gotta love moms! Im glad you turned that frown upside down and mustered up some Christmas spirit!
That sounds like a glorious Christmas. Gifts, drinking, eating, movies, family! Great times all around.
I want to see that movie, but I also want to read the book first. I heard the book is a little hard to get into but you have to stick with it because it gets really good. I also watched that Ben Stiller movie, The Heartbreak Kid, with my parents. Awkward!
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