I love the holidays and I think most people do because it's nostalgic with traditions, memories and being with family. This Christmas was very active and it started December 1st with a new tradition a couple of friends started. Dressing up and going out to dinner and a white elephant gift exchange after.(AKA Dirty Santa). This was a lot of fun!
Dinner at the Veranda at Rancho Bernardo Inn
This is a real ginger bread house!
The next week was my company's holiday party at La Costa Resort & Spa. We have it here every year but it is always nice to go to. We're actually really lucky to always have it in such a nice place. Drinking, dancing, prizes, and of course food :) It was a great turn out.
Two weeks later we got invited to an ugly sweater Christmas party. I've been wanting to either throw one or go to one so we got our chance to. An old friend and classmate had one that also included a white elephant game! Unfortunately for us, we couldn't find any ugly sweaters because these kind of parties became so popular. So what Oliver and I did was buy old sweaters from a thrift store and decorate it. The party turned out to be a lot of fun!
In the middle of these events, we were getting ready to move to our new apartment. I swear I have moved four times in the last three years and I'm just NOW making the decision to get rid of a lot of stuff. I wanted to put up our Christmas tree this year but didn't really see the point since we were moving a few days before Christmas and before we knew it, we'd have to pack up the tree again..that didn't appeal to us much since we were already packing a lot already.
Our new apartment
We had to down grade from a two bedroom to a one bedroom since rent was going up and we only used the extra room for storage but we really like our new place! It's close to everything, its spacious, and cozy. Even my friend Marie said it had good Feng Shui!
As a housewarming/Christmas gift, our friend bought a bbq set for us off his classmate who was trying to get rid of it. He got it for a great price to! This was so nice of him. :)
On Christmas Eve, we spent time at Oliver's Aunt's for a small family party. A lot of food, drinks, and yet again another white elephant game! (I wish I took more pictures on this day!)
On Christmas Day we got a big shipment from my step mom and dad that we weren't suppose to open until this day and it was a great gift. We love it! A poster of the movie Casablanca. I love classic anything and this is definitely a classic. Thanks you guys! Now I know why you asked what was a classic movie I liked ;)
Later that day we went to my parents and had an early dinner followed with drinks and karaoke ;) Have to say it was a nice Christmas :)
My sister and brother in law flew in from Ohio for the holidays but we didn't see them until the day after Christmas. We finally got to meet our nephew Nathan for the first time! He's so adorable!
This year has probably been the most times I've played the White Elephant (Dirty Santa) game. I played four times this year and all my gifts have turned out good!
The celebration didn't end. Usually we get together with my step dad's family on Christmas Eve every year but since everyone was busy we did it on December 30th. It's always nice to get together with them. We all start out with drinks and appetizers and then sit down to dinner. Then open gifts and have coffee and dessert. My step dad's father was Norwegian so they always have a traditional Norwegian dinner.
We definitely had a great Christmas and it's times like these where I wish Christmas lasted longer but there is always next year.;)
