Pre-Christmas Festivities

Some of my favorite days of the year are those leading up to Christmas.  I think it's a mixture of the traditions and also the anticipation of the big day.  Last-minute rushing for gifts, time spent wrapping gifts, and -- of course -- time spent in the kitchen baking goodies and putting together meals ... I live for it!

Last week I took of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from work.  I thought I would spend a lot of time lounging on the couch and watching Christmas movies, not so much!  My day planner was busting at the seams with tasks to complete before leaving town.  I did manage to sneak in a mani/pedi date with a girlfriend who is newly pregnant, so we had a great time catching up.  I went for sparkly red on my nails and a jade green on my toenails.

When Ian got off of work, we packed the car with our suitcases, tons of gifts, and Drake, and we made our way down to Columbia, South Carolina to visit my family.

Friday night's plans consisted of sushi at Sakitumi (where we introduced my family to the joys of sake) and dancing afterwards at Woody's.

The next day was Christmas Eve and the guys spent the day playing 18 holes and spending a little time at Dad's favorite cigar bar.

We girls took the dogs on a walk around the neighborhood and started preparing for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day lunch and dinner.

Our Christmas Eve dinner is always seafood.  Mom calls the meal "The Feast of the Two Fishes" because we have shrimp and crab legs.

Later that evening I helped my sister wrap gifts and we all started watching The Hangover.  It was the edited-for-TV version so it didn't give my father a heart attack.

Christmas recap coming soon!