Unexpected Gifts This Christmas

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12:00am
Dec 25th
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Not being able to fly back for the holidays is tough and this year, we were missing a part of the family. With my brother working hard in Las Vegas, he was unable to be home with the family. But genius that we are, with the help of my cousin, we were able to Skype him in on all the family fun. He participated in Secret Santa via Skype and even got to see the little ones open up their gifts. It certainly is going down in the books for one memorable and interesting Christmas.

courtesy of Skype

My friends and I celebrated Christmas the day after but was missing a good friend who currently resides in New York. But I got a text message on the morning of the 26th to check for mail delivery and this was sitting at my door step address from him to FRIENDS!

Garrison Confections

I was perfectly content to not get any gifts this Christmas, especially since I specifically ask to not receive any. Back in October, my boyfriend and I had the vacation of a lifetime-- a 1- week Italian Riviera getaway and 12- days Mediterranean cruise-- and that trip alone more than made up for Christmases, Birthdays and any other gift- giving days. To have the opportunity to travel and see the world-- the gift is in the experience and I was lucky enough to have someone who can afford such a trip and whom I can share these great experiences with. So imagine my shock when my boyfriend decided to ignore my simple request and upgraded my PowerBook to this! Completely unnecessary, but deeply appreciated. Thank you, G to my Q.

MacBook Pro

Have a Merry Nostalgic Christmas

I'm nostalgic for classic Christmas cartoons, the ones I grew up watching, but sadly have vague memories of the names. For years I've been describing this particular one near and dear to my heart as the cat and mouse Christmas cartoon where the cat dressed up as Santa to surprise the mice family. You can imagine my dilemma. So I finally decided to take it to the internet. Not having a name makes it a challenge-- one that I thought was probably pointless but just had to try. I started typing in key words like: cat, mouse, Christmas. And when that didn't work, I knew I had to be more specific. My combos include:

cat, mouse, Christmas, cartoon
cat, mouse, old cartoon, Christmas
classic cartoon, cat, mouse, Christmas
cat dressed up as Santa, Christmas, classic cartoon

And the list goes on. I can't remember how many different combination until this one:

cartoon cat dressed up as santa, "night before christmas", cat, mouse

It lead me to here-- A series of Christmas shorts and ultimately the second short story-- Alias St. Nick.

And.. with the power of YouTube, this! So on this special 25th day of December, a gift from my childhood to you. May you all have a wonderful, walk down memory lane, Christmas like mine!

F&F - Day 24

Today is a all about friends & family.

JLC's "fugly sweater" Christmas

Christmas with the MASSes

pictures of family Christmas gathering will be up shortly.

"Holiday" Sweaters - Day 23

fugly.


Have you got your holiday sweater yet?

Christmas Books - Day 22

reading.

Today is all about Christmas classics.. on paperback. It's a walk down memory lane for me so I hope you'll join me on this journey back. Visit your local public library or Borders.. hit up the kid's section and let your imagination go wild!

Movie Night on Repeat - Day 21

.themovie

We have had nothing but clear skies the past couple of days which is not unusual for San Jose even for this time of year, but I guess Mother Nature had other plans for today. With Christmas just a few days away, today's rain and chilly weather is the perfect day to catch up on classic Christmas movies and one of my favorite has to be Love Actually. Another all time must watch during this season-- Elf! It's the comedic relief we all desperately need after a long day of last minute shopping. So kick off your shoes and relax your feet-- preferably with hot cocoa and a snuggly blanket-- and enjoy the show!

.thequotes
(on sheets of poster board)
Mark: With any luck, by next year - I'll be going out with one of these girls.
(shows pictures of beautiful supermodels)
Mark: But for now, let me say - Without hope or agenda - Just because it's Christmas - And at Christmas you tell the truth - To me, you are perfect - And my wasted heart will love you - Until you look like this.
(picture of a mummy)
Mark: Merry Christmas.

othermovies.

I Won! Sort of..

A few weeks back, I posted my Blog of the Week - Free Boots Giveaway! from Shoe Envy and Style Bard Shoes has just announced the winner! And guess who won? Well.. sort of. I am one of the two finalists who almost won. But.. as a finalist, I did win a pair of innovative Jeans Straps. You all know how I love to tuck my denims in them boots so I'm super ecstatic to try them out. Merry Christmas to me!

S'mores Please.. - Days 19 & 20

baking.. sort of

I confess, I am not much for baking holiday cookies.. am better at eating them than baking them. But I admire those who revel in such tradition because it takes great passion and patience to whip out those batches of festive holiday treats. Me on the other hand am all about the quick fix sweet treat and am beyond excited for this great find. I am an avid follower of Kuidaore and her elaborate and mouth- watering entries and stumbled upon an oldie but a goodie which gave me a fun idea for this years holiday favors-- a DIY S'mores Kit!

So this weekend is all about holiday sweet treats-- whether you bake them yourselves, visit your favorite bakery, order them online, whatever floats your boat-- enjoy the many sweets of this wonderful season. I am spending the weekend putting together my mini s'mores kit.. with a few saved on the side for myself for those late night quick fix cravings I so often have.

Ma-I-Na-Ku-Ma-Na

alohaaaa!



and this.

Wrap It Up! - Day 18

wrappings and ribbons and boxes.. oh my

So I know it's not all about who gets what for Christmas but it has always been tradition for us to have presents under the tree. This year may be less than the last, the economy has no doubt affected us all, but that doesn't mean we can't make it work. If not for the big kids (me), than at least for the little one. And I'm not even talking about real presents here for the under age 4 category.. because we all know, that for them, it's not about what's underneath.. it's all in the unwrapping! I remember my mom use to wrap up her old empty shoe boxes just so we can have something to tear open on Christmas day. Now that was fun!

So today, I decided to wrap up a bunch of empty cardboard boxes.. one for each kid, big or little, with a heartfelt message for each, in hopes that the fun.. is all in the wrapping!

Plus the tree doesn't look so naked after all.