No! That wasn’t the sound of me trying to hold in a little bit of vom!

Similar to Christmasing, it was what I had the absolute delight of doing this year.

The first holiday activity on the docket was E’s Nutcracker performance in which sister absolutely killed it. Not to mention, the whole thing was just about the most adorable display of tiny tutus, beginner balanchine  hands and itty bitty buns ;).

After her dazzling debut, we headed to David’s Dad & Lisa’s house for a psueo Christmas Eve. We had Spanish coffees, ice cream sundaes and watched the old clay-mation Rudolph movie by the fire.

So did Meira.

The next day we opened gifts, ate tons of healthy food and then took a late-night plane to Kennewizzle.

I love when we’re all at my parent’s house. Its just chaotic and funny and someone’s crying and there’s always wine and pita chips. Tate came over to play with his best bud and I snapped a couple adorable pics while they watched Sesame Street.

E kept covering up Tate with his blankie. #futurebabysitter

That night Rach came over and we played Speak Out, which caused everyone to very slightly pee their pants.

It should also be said that this game should only be played with people you don’t care about drooling in front of :).

Christmas eve was très eventful as we had a recording sesh, went to the trampoline gym AND had a b-day party for yers truly. And we lit the candles for the first day of Hanukkah!

These guys are the only presents I need. and maybe some bath bombs from Lush.

Christmas morning was of course splendid as Mr. Tate M. Johnson came dressed as Santa!

Here he is with his FAVORITE thing of all…books!

Anyone like this ghetto contraption my Mom made with an old rider toy from GW and an old belt? #KLASS.

 

And the menorah my mom found for which we had no candles that fit so we actually WIDDLED some down. Yes, Nan and I widdled together.

The day after Christmas we came back to Portland and David was back to work on Tuesday. He did however, find time to whisk me away on a quick trip to the Columbia Gorge Hotel!

It was stunning, all decked out in Christmas cheer and when we got to the room, we had a surprise waiting for us!

Note: David’s pose was completely his idea.

This was just so special to me. Having worked in hospitality (namely, room service) and making rooms feel special for other people, it felt so good to finally get to experience this for myself. David and I sipped champagne and kicked back in comfy chairs before heading downstairs to the hotel bar for happy hour.

That night after dinner, I lost a bet and had to sing “Friend Like Me” at a local karaoke bar which I begrudgingly did amidst the sounds of LITERAL crickets. Not even one, lowly courtesy clap-along.

The next day we walked around the ground of the place and realized we were basically on top of a waterfall!

During the time between Christmas and the New Year, I did lots of important things. But mostly, I binge watched Shameless (OMG SO GOOD) and Girlfriends Guide to Divorce (NOT AS GOOD BUT STILL GOOD).

Then New Year’s Eve rolled around.

So I did some green eyeshadow:

Slapped on this little number (Christmas present from Meg):

And David and I went out, had some libations and stood on a crowded dance floor so balloons would drop on our head. #worthit

All in all, we had a wonderful break, oozing with love, family and Barbie cake.