on the twelfth day of christmas...

today is the twelfth day of christmas, which means my true love should be giving me all kinds of stuff. instead, we are both sick, and i am pretty sure viruses don't count as gifts. besides--i gave this one to him, so that wouldn't count anyway. however, i am not here to whine about the illness that plagues our house, but rather to offer you some of the delights this christmas season has had to offer.

way back on the 16th of december, my company had an office holiday party, for which i made these eclairs. i learned to make these from my wonderful friend mary a couple of christmases ago, and i must tell you--they are both easy and FABULOUS. i work with a man whose wife is from paris, and she ate five of these at the party. at the end of the night--they were the only dessert that was all gone. i was so proud. however, i will never tell the french woman how cheater-y these things are--the instant pudding in the cream filling is just going to remain my dirty little secret! :)

in preparation for the holiday, i bought my traditional boquet of holiday flowers, which included these lovely lime green spider mums. believe it or not, they are still pretty! i also wrapped a ton of presents in a ton of lovely papers, and knitted wash cloths till my fingers about fell off. i also managed to finish a big fat cabled scarf for my friend amy. the pictures of it didn't come out very well, but it was actually quite pretty--and so soft! i love misti alpaca!!! so does amy, so that turned out well. i also gave my friend kerstin a lavender felted bag, but i forgot to take a picture of it! oh well--i will sneak one during a knitting lunch sometime. i received some wonderful yarn for christmas, and i also got my very own amazingly fabulous elf slippers from THK. i have been wearing them nearly every day for the whole season!
note: that picture is stolen from her photostream. must give credit where it's due. :)

the hippie and i spent christmas eve on our own this year, which was a first for us. while it was a bit odd not to make a giant dinner for friends and have a bunch of children around ripping open their gifts with glee, it was actually rather delightful to be low key. we made a simple splurge-y dinner of filet mignon, lobster tails with rosemary and clarified butter, and grilled vegetables. add a bottle of red wine, and lay it all out on the lovely christmas table, and you have yourself a fabulous meal. and you know, being able to share it at home in shorts and yoga pants was pretty cool, too. afterwards we opened our gifts, as we always do on christmas eve, and that, too, was delightful. the hippie and i kept it pretty simple between us this year (even though i love everything he gave me), but we received so much wonderful stuff from other people that it was still really fun opening everything up.

according to the jackie/hippie tradition, we got up at early o'clock and drove to my parents' house for christmas day. this year was a bit subdued due to the fact that my brother jay was not there--we generally sit up half the night talking to him. also, this was my niece kimberly's last christmas with the family for a while--she moved to costo rica with her husband this past weekend. we went a-visiting in the evening to see my oldest friend kimmie and her family, and then worked a jigsaw puzzle with my mother for the rest of the evening. little did we know that my typhoid mother was carrying the plague and was about to give it to us!!!

moving right along... we spent the second day of christmas with my physics/beach friends. this is ella, our friends jeff and carrie's daughter--she's fun and precocious and a little beauty and doesn't sit still for a SECOND. i took about 30 pictures of her, and this was the only one with any clarity at all! we all manage to get together still for the beach every summer and one night over the chrismas holidays, which i think is something of a miracle. the third day of christmas, after the physics folks had vacated the premises, i managed to sqeeze in tea with alyce, who was in town visiting her family. it's always so great to see everyone, and i am grateful for friends who make time for us even though all of us are crazy busy people!

all these festivities left poor scout EXHAUSTED! she had to take a little nap on the bunny the hippie knitted for me. and believe me, since the day after christmas, i have been right there with her--napping on the couch. and in the bed. and sitting in the back room. and pretty much anywhere i could. i wish i was napping now. but i digress...

we have one more christmas celebration to go, with harry and jenn and gabriella, before we can call this season totally quits--that will take place tomorrow night. sunday, i will take the tree down, pack away the decorations, and officially move on into the new year. until then--merry christmas, people! hope y'all had a good one!