(And busy!) time of the year! Well, in terms of social events, holiday parties and seasonal family outings (not to mention countless birthday parties, including Sammy's!)...we're booked solid until January 2nd!
Yet in many ways, it really is a wonderful time of the year. We've been having so much fun!!
Our holiday season kicked off on the very first day of December this year! And we were ready. Our house was clean, our tree was up and decorated, and we had good eats to spare...for our neighborhood holiday progressive! This is the third year for the Storybook Progressive, but the first year that we've hosted a round (we were the second of three)!
Here I am ready to host over forty (!!) of our neighbors--easily the most people we've ever had in our home. We really spruced up our living room, dining room, and kitchen area, but I still spot a rogue toy behind me in this shot. They're sneaky!
We served many yummy things, including mini Phillips crab cakes (Tony's mom's great idea), latkes (of course! thank you, Trader Joe's for helping me serve delicious latkes without frying a thing in my house!) and my mom's curried canapes appetizer (because you have to include your favorite appetizer from childhood when your buddies come over)! We also had homemade cookies and a cheese and salami platter.
Brie was very eager to help in advance of the party, so she made a sign for our front door and illustrated table cards for all of our foods. Beautiful! (She also helped us with the pre-guest scramble: making sauces, putting out food, etc. She was a HUGE help!)
Party silliness!
The volume was so loud that we couldn't have played holiday music** if we tried!!
Dads in plaid and plaid dad beer!
When our round was up, Kristy rang a bell, so folks would move to the next house. Ha!
But not before Lisa had us all join her in her hilarious sweater!
Two awesome hosts!
The next house was very relaxed by comparison. We ate some more and drank Grinch-tinis! They were green and tasted like melted mint-chocolate chip ice cream!!
More holiday silliness??
Yay, for the holidays!!
We bought bourbon and whiskey in advance of the party--a first for us. It was a good move...people enjoyed both...in my grandmother's old-school glasses!
Also a must during the holidays?? Visiting the zoo lights! This was the first time we've been during Hanukkah...and we discovered they have a menorah! (Sebastian refused to smile for the camera because the zoo was sold out of his beloved caramel popcorn.)
But he perked up with roasted almonds and cookies!
Hooray for the first night of Hanukkah...with Sebastian's homemade menorah from school!
Night one!
Everyone got a Fingerling...they are super cute!!
The holidays are not always drama-free, as you likely know. Our Hanukkah celebrations were wrought with power struggles surrounding candle duty. Sebastian wanted to do the honors every single night!
On night #3, Brie got a New Kids t-shirt! She'd been asking for one. Isn't it cute??
And Sam got a Transformer that he requested. So funny how those never get old...
Sebastian is still into geography, in particular the United States. The kids and I spotted an unopened "Great States" board game for him at Goodwill recently. It was very popular!!
So were these lights!!
And our annual visit to Holiday Village down the street!
The cutest three reindeer in Cincy!
Also cool: we hung this ornament from five years ago...
And then Sebastian brought his home!
Last weekend, we went to our favorite Hanukkah party. I found a twin right away!
Spinning like a dreidel!
Party time!
A heated dreidel competition!
Brie and little Eleanor played this cute game where you stuff a big shirt with as many balloons as possible in 60 seconds. Hysterical.
On Tuesday evening, my dinner club met for our annual holiday dinner and white elephant gift exchange. For the second year in a row, we went to Mac's. Whatever pizzas we ordered last year left me wondering if I wanted to go back there (strange flavors!), but this year, the two we ordered were dynamite!
The first was Cincinnati Chili pizza, which I know sounds bizarre, but it totally worked. Chili, cheddar cheese, hotdog and mustard (like a Coney). The mustard made it!
But my favorite was the Gyros pizza! Between the olives and tzatziki sauce, I can't wait to order this again!
We also tied for third in trivia! The questions were SO random!!
I got a great white elephant bag, including a pierogi maker!! Heidi got my bag...hence the Mega Challah Bake apron! Ha!
Lots of other fun things happening lately...including holiday movie night with the gals (we watched The Family Stone--I really enjoyed it!) and a visit to Entertrainment! Both are a great way to get you into the holiday spirit!
**Speaking of holiday music (above), I'm really diggin' the modern holiday music channel Holly on XM radio these days. It's pretty good every year, but this year there are more songs from mainstream, modern artists. Here are a few of my new favorites:
Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton's "You Make it Feel like Christmas" It reminds me of the old-school Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers holiday songs!
Ariana Grande's "Winter Things" One word: ukelele!
Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe" This one isn't new, but the theme is really sweet.
Backstreet Boys "It's Christmas Time Again" Who doesn't love a good boy band holiday song??
Can you tell we're gearing up for Christmas. Is everyone ready?? Happy holidays to all!!
P.S. Also fun this year?? Holiday beer!
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