Part 1 - Christmas

Okay, yes, I know I only had one post for December. Yes, I'm sorry. Yes, I actually have a decent excuse...I was super busy. Seriously, my calendar was full. So, I think this post will have to be cut into two or three separate parts, because it covers such a long span of time.

So, first, we decorated at my grandmother's house on the 17th, which was fun. Then, Mom and I did 108 sun salutations (yoga thing) at Gold's gym on the 18th, which was really tiring and made me really sore, but I felt like I accomplished something.

On the 23rd, I got together with Anita, Emma, and Sylvia. We had lunch at Coppola's, exchanged Christmas gifts (I got a Spartina coin purse from Emma, Frosted Peppermint hand soap from Sylvia, and chocolates & an iTunes gift card from Anita), then went to the mall, tried on a bunch of Lilly Pulitzer dresses, went to American Eagle, Bath & Body Works, the calendar shop, etc, and then drove through the crazy mall traffic to Originals By You and painted pottery. Sylvia made an owl, Emma painted a little mug to look like a sweater, and I decorated a holly-themed square mug. We ended up staying way past closing, and then went to my house to chill for a while.

On the 24th, Mom, Quinn, and I had dinner at my aunt & uncle's house. We had a finger-food dinner...a little bit of everything...veggies & dip, ham & cheese roll-ups, crab dip, bacon-wrapped chestnuts, 7-layer dip, pecan cheese bake, etc. And then, we exchanged gifts (I received The Sound of Music on dvd, which I really wanted...love that movie), and then we had cheesecake for dessert. And then, we came home, read The Night Before Christmas, stuffed each other's stockings, and then went to bed.

Christmas morning came, and we opened gifts...I got money from my extended family, Mulan on dvd from Quinn, The Hunger Games trilogy, a Lego Grand Emporium set, the Harry Potter: Page to Screen book, a NYC snowglobe, and instead of just giving me money like I asked for, Mom and Dad decided to give me a box of crumpled bills, all different denominations, to unfold/un-crumple and count, which was a pain, but also very fun. Later that evening, we went over to my aunt & uncle's for dinner, and I ended up leaving early because I had to go home and pack for our trip to New York.

Scroll down for my NYC trip post!