So, as I mentioned in my post on Friday, I’ve always been pretty good at the art of the “selfie” what with having what I lovingly refer to as my “telescopic arms”. Seriously, it sucked when I was in school and the rule was that our shorts had to come to our finger tips (read: MY knees) but it’s definitely helpful now in situations where I’d like to embrace my inner narcissist and snap a picture or two twenty! 😉
I swear I have a point.
Out of all the Christmas gifts I opened up this year, I have to say the loudest squeal came when I unwrapped my new tripod and remote for my camera. While I haven’t had the time to get in the kitchen and put these babies to good use with some food photography, I obviously HAD to test them out the other day to be sure they worked properly. And since I have absolutely no problem embracing my dorkiness, I thought I’d share…
Look Ma, NO HANDS!
Even more fun than the gooberosityfrom this past spring! I may need to work on the whole “you’re a tiger thing” but seriously, I had TOO much fun with this…I felt like a kid…at Christmas! 😀
Confession: This is only HALF of the pictures I ended up taking!
What are you up to this weekend?
As I type this, it’s Saturday afternoon and the man-friend is currently in the process of makingthis sandwich…please pray that I don’t end up calling an ambulance! 😯
Ok, so I know I said I probably wasn’t going to post until next week, but I just can’t help it…I’m so excited to tell you guys all about my Christmas! Plus, I kinda forgot that even though I had off for the rest of the week, didn’t mean everyone else did (read: I’m sitting at the man-friend’s house now using him for his wi-fi waiting for him to get off work).
I’ve got a LOT to cover (and a TON of pics) so let’s get to it!
This was the sight that greeted the man-friend and I when we first walked into my parent’s house on Christmas morning afternoon (ok, so maybe it was after I put out the gifts from ME too, but that just didn’t have the same flow).
My dad had to go to work at 2pm so we got started with our Christmas brunch right away. It looked pretty much the same as my birthday brunch (And no Meg, we didn’t forget the mimosas!) but instead of biscuits, my mom made these Orange Rosemary Shortbreads that were almost like scones and absolutely PERFECT with a spoonful of my grandfather’s homemade pear preserves on top! 🙂
Then it was time to shake open the GIFTS!! 😉
Tori is always the dedicated gift hander-outer, but before she set to work, we all emptied out our Christmas stockings…
Are those socks not the absolute CUTEST?!
Believe it or not, she asked for that…hashtag college kid! 😉
The man-friend flipping through the dog shaming book I couldn’t resist getting him!
Squeeeeeeeeeeeal!!
Seriously, I can’t believe I’ve never owned a copy of The Christmas Story before now! And the other gift that stopped me DEAD in my tracks…
A tripod AND a remote!!!!!…!!!!!!!
All together now! 😀
And yeah, notice the bottle of wine?
I SWEAR we’re not a bunch of alcoholics…wait, that sounds oddly familiar! 😉
This is what happens EVERY time I give my camera to the man-friend and ask him to take ONE picture! Lol
I realized I hardly have ANY pictures of my dad and I on the blog, so I made SURE to get one…and of course, this was one of like FIVE from the man-friend! After that, I revoked his picture-taking card! Oh and just in case you’re wondering, my dad’s not a cop…he’s a stripper! 😉
Besides, I take a pretty mean selfie anyway! And to think, I used to hate my long and gangly arms when I was younger! 😉
Don’t you just LOVE the hat I picked out for Tori? True story: I envisioned that EXACT hat but had no idea where to find it. After searching several stores and coming out empty-handed, I almost literally walked into the rack where this ONE AND ONLY hat was hanging! Hmm, perhaps a little Christmas magic?
But the BEST pic of the entire day was the one I took of my mom in her new sock monkey hat that my uncle gave her…brace yourself for a cuteness overload!
Ermahgerrrrrrrrrd, I die!
After the gifts were exchanged, hugs went around and we sent dad off to work, Tori off to her boyfriend’s house, and the man-friend back to Nashville and then monkey mom and I were all alone…armed with orange rosemary scones and the Food Network!
I ended up spending the night and the next morning, while sipping our morning coffee, I talked mom into venturing out for some after Christmas sales for her first time…
And I was a HORRIBLE influence! 😉
I also let her in on a few of my secrets: hit up the gift box section/aisle for gifts for next year, stock up on super cheap holiday candies, and raid the wrapping paper for colors that can be used YEAR-ROUND! We got all that stuff for a combined total of $130!
Peanut butter (my fave), mint (my second fave), and CHERRY CORDIAL! Has anyone tried these yet?
Oh and check this out…an ALL DARK Whitman’s Sampler that the cashier didn’t “think” the price rang up right and actually gave it to me for forrrrrrrrrrrrrrr $2.47!!! 😯
Merry Christmas TO ME! 😀
And since I got lazy this year, I decided to pick up a little incentive for next year’s decorating…
My tree is gonna be SO GIRLY!!! I can’t WAIT!
What’s the BEST gift you received this year?
Anyone else score some awesome After-Christmas Day Sale goodies?
While most of you will be rising in a few hours to unwrap presents, I will be scurrying off to bed…for a whole THREE hours! I was fortunate enough not to have to work on Christmas Day, but Christmas Eve was just another day at the good ol’ hos-pee-tal…though I did make it a little extra festive with my jingle bell earrings!
The plan is to hit the hay as soon as possible and then be at my parent’s, with man-friend in tow, by noon for our Christmas Day brunch before my dad goes to work at 2pm. Looks like there won’t be any time for Pancake Queen flipoffs but my mom did say she was going to make some scones to go along with our brunch that will most likely look a lot like my birthday meal (no complaints here!). Just keep your fingers crossed for me that I don’t end up with egg on my face…literally, from face-planting into my plate! 😆
All jokes aside, I’m sure I’ll be running on quite a bit of adrenaline. I’m SO FREAKIN’ PUMPED for the gift exchange this year! I think I picked the perfect gifts for everyone! While I WAS finished with the majority of my shopping by the week after Thanksgiving, I still managed to add to my stack of gifts to give all the way up through last night! Yup, I was among the crazy masses at Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve (shoot me).
Last week, the girls in the x-ray department “invited” me to their little Christmas soiree. That green stuff in the bowl by Snoopy would be my contribution to the otherwise veggie-less spread…some homemade spinach and artichoke hummus (aka Grinch Hummus 😉 ) with chips and cukes for dipping!
Of course, the buckeyes stole the show…my absolute FAVORITE!!!
Then they totally surprised me with a gift exchange!
Since I felt bad not having gifts to give them in return, I made sure to make up for it with a batch of peanut butter and jelly granola that I made over the weekend! See? I TOLD yougranola makes a great gift! 😉
And while I was in the kitchen, I decided to whip up some other DIY gifts…
But the most fun I had all week was last night when I (finally) wrapped all the gifts I plan on giving to the fam and the man-friend tomorrow! Why yes, I did recycle some of those gift bags/boxes from the work party…how observant of you! 😉
And speaking of observant, I ended up being pretty ONLY observant myself the other day when my coworker brought in his wife’s INFAMOUS Christmas cookie platter! Since it was 6:30am when he came in, I just took a picture and figured I’d have a cookie or two when I came back in to work later that night, but can you BELIEVE the entire tray was practically LICKED clean before I got there?!
I know…how rude!
Luckily, there have been plenty of cookie-tunities throughout the week so I haven’t been as deprived as I make it sound…a couple of perfectly soft and chewy chocolate chips and one GIGANTIC cranberry and walnut cookie made for some tasty nibbling throughout the last couple of days! 😀
But of course, what’s talk about cookies without a little something to balance it all out?
My Christmas Eve dinner: Romaine salad topped with portobello mushroom, avocado, cucumber and pomegranate which was later tossed with a honey mustard balsamic dressing! Sooooo festive and sooooo freakin’ delicious!
I’ve got the rest of the week off which I plan on spending with my family, the man-friend, and Veronica Roth so I may not “see” you guys until next week, but I hope you all have a WONDERFUL holiday and hey, do a little rockin’ around the tree for me! 😉
My name is Heather! I'm a southern gal with a passion for food, fitness, and photography...and alliteration if you didn't notice! Here you'll find a mix of random musings, delicious recipes, and hopefully a chuckle or two! Check out my "About' tab to learn more!
