On the first day of Christmas, my friends and family gave to me…
…all amazing things.
I’m sure you’re sick of Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa recaps by now. But if you’re up for one more, I can do my best to try and recap the past week. It’s been pretty good. Turns out, shutting off the computer and actually spending time with people you like in real life can be a nice little treat.
So with that I bring you, “My 12 Joys of Christmas.” And then we’ll move onto the next holiday.
Joy #1: Decorating our sweet-sized apartment with just the right amount of holiday-ish things. When you’ve got two people in a one-bedroom — plus presents waiting to be exchanged and closets filled with hoarder-esque things — there isn’t a ton of space left over for festive cheer. But we made do.
In true Ali & Brian Fashion, we waited far too long to actually do the whole decorating thing. We didn’t get our tree until December 23. Whatever.
Joy #2: Christmas cookies!!!!!!!!!! Have I eaten too many? Oh absolutely. I’m a case of diabetes waiting to happen and I’ve been running on sugar fumes for a week. But I’ve baked stuff, I’ve eaten fresh-from-the-oven melty stuff and I’ve gone back for second, third and ninth helpings. I’ve loved every bite.
Joy #3: Exchanging gifts with Brian and getting utterly spoiled. We had agreed to “only do small stuff” and “keep it low-key” this year. But Brian’s kind of a dick, and he broke the rules. So I gave him some magazines and Reese’s products (delicious) and a photo book, and he gave me this…
…and this…
Brian also gave me tickets to Jersey Boys, which I have never seen, a spa certificate for the spa at the Mandarin Oriental hotel (swanky, NBD) and a llama hat.
All very thoughtful, very awesome gifts.
Joy #4: Waking up on Saturday and walking out of the apartment to find an early surprise gift from Mom and Dad.
I love the New York Times, and it breaks my heart (and pisses me off) when this happens right around the third day of every month:
I spent hours and hours reading the Saturday and Sunday editions. My desire to stay informed is going to come at a very time-consuming price I think. But I also gave the crossword puzzle a pretty solid shot.
That went well.
Joy #5: Flying up to Boston and seeing my main little man. Turns out, he has no idea it’s Christmas.
Joy #6: Downloading the game Bejeweled Blitz and setting the Feller Family Record. We are all addicted to this game. Brian included. It’s sick. But I’m the reigning master.
I’ve clearly had a very productive week.
Joy #7: Playing at a new gym. Lame, I know. But I like exploring gyms, and my brother hooked me up with a guest pass to his local L.A. Fitness for the days I was in town.
Joy #8: Spending Christmas Eve at home with my parents and my grandmother (Honey) and uncle who came up from Florida and Pennsylvania, respectively. We drank our traditional “Woo Woo” drink and did not much else. We had a few visitors but it was a pretty lazy evening around the house.
Joy #9: Going for a Christmas morning run in the snow.
I haven’t been running at all lately, so it was nice to lace up and get a few (slow, I’m sure) snowy miles in before the holiday madness began.
The run was nothing super special, but I really liked breaking a little sweat and spending some time alone that morning. I knew the rest of the day would be nuts, so this hour was important for me.
Joy #10: Getting wonderful gifts. Sure, giving is more fun than getting, but I really did like being on the receiving end of things this year. Highlights included the newspaper subscription, a steak knife set from Ryan and Michaela (everyone is excited about my knife skills), a drawing by Tyler (he’s so talented — watch your backs, baby artists of the world) and a subtle hint to stay off the roads and wheels for a while.
Joy #11: Giving gifts. My family enforced a spending limit this year, but we were allowed to “spend whatever we want” on Tyler, so long as we didn’t give him anything “physically huge.” I obliged by giving him a few of the “Llama Llama” series books…
…and outfits that I thought were adorable.
Tyler didn’t indicate whether or not he liked them, but I think he did.
Joy #12: Spending a ton of time with Tyler. And the rest of my family. But mostly Tyler (sorry, guys).
He obviously wasn’t super aware of the whole holiday thing going on, but Michaela’s family and our side of the family all came together at Ryan and Michaela’s house for a day of eating, present opening and giggling at Tyler.
All in all: A very Merry Christmas. Restful and relaxing? Not so much. But worth it?
Totally.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, TOO? If you’re a part of the Christmas-celebration-nation, tell me about your presents. What was the best thing you gave, the best thing you received and the best thing you ate?
36 Responses
You’ll be skiing where I ski! The snow is a lot better than before. Enjoy your vacation!!
Love the Where’s Tyler!!!
Brian completely showered you with gifts, despite the rules. Take it while you can and enjoy your skiing vacation. Glad you got to spend so much quality time with Tyler. I adore my little nephew, who is now four. They really get to be a lot of fun at that age, not that Tyler isn’t great now. Just wait until he starts talking though. It’s a whole different beast, not that Tyler’s a beast either.
Best thing I ate: Horseradish Carrots [aka Creamy Amazing deliciousness]
Best thing I got: a trip to Barbados from my bf!
Best thing I gave: a GIGANTIC tv to my sis who’s been slumming it with a tv that has all these broken lines running through it
Sounds like a wonderful Christmas! I always loved the weekend edition of the NY Times too, but it kept getting stolen from my stoop in Brooklyn so I had to switch to online only.
Which, by the way, if you want a way around NYT firewall, you might want to check out this post on Mashable:
http://mashable.com/2011/03/28/how-to-bypass-new-york-times-paywall/
Great recap!
Now, how can I get one of those “I Love Sweat” onesies?!?! My baby NEEDS one!
Haha I had it custom-made for Tyler!
You look so happy, Ali! I am so glad that you had a wonderful Christmas. And I absolutely LOVE your Santa Giraffe shirt 🙂
Looks like you had a to-die-for and awesome Christmas! I had an early Christmas trip to Chiangmai (Thailand) with friends and we did the Chiangmai Marathon.
Jersey boys is awesome!! loved singing along. Wow Brian really spoiled you! love the giraffe christmas tshirt. Glad you had a great time.
First I have to say; Llama Llama Red Pajama is my favorite book to read to my littles – its SO VERY true…
Best gift given: Omaha steak gift set to my father; he LOVES them!
Best food eaten: Wings; I <3 wings!
Best given gotten: TRIP TO VEGAS IN JUNE!!! AND I also got registered to the Shamrock Marathon in March.
Merry Merry Ai!
Where in Colorado?!
“Two hours from Denver.” I forget exactly where, but I know we fly into Denver and then “it’s a two-hour drive from there.”
I really enjoyed seeing all your Christmas pictures. 🙂
I didn’t receive any Christmas gifts (which sounds way sadder than it is, I swear), but I really loved this straw-building kit I gave a coworker. She always sips her hot drinks through straws, and I found a kit that comes with 40some straws plus a bunch of connectors so you can build an outrageous structure from your straws, and still drink through them. If only I could find a picture, but the internet is failing me right now.
Yours was the only Christmas recap that I read from beginning to end. Looks like you had such an awesome Christmas with family 🙂 Happy Holidays!
Haha. Thanks — I’m flattered!
I loved this post. How sweet was Brian to get you all of those gifts. They’re great! I love giving gifts too, but I did receive some fun things this year that I’m excited about! My favorite gift that I gave was the iPad mini my sister and I got for my dad. My favorite gift that I received was either the medal and bib holder from my sister or the Sephora all stars collection from my mom and dad. And then my favorite thing that I ate was probably the sweet potato casserole that I made with my Grandma’s recipe. I told her that I made it and she was excited.
The best thing I gave was a certificate for sky diving to my husband. I’m going with him and I am super nervous!
The best thing I recieved was awesome combat boots from my brother’s girlfriend.
The best thing I ate was baked scallops and crabcakes during our Christmas Eve feast of the seven fishes!
Also, I took way too many pictures of my niece and loved being with her during her first christmas!
Don’t be nervous! Skydiving is amazing, and it’s over before you even have time to get scared! You’re both going to love it — and what an amazing gift!
I’m lucky that my family gave me a lot of great things this year. My current favorite is the New Kids on the Block biography from my brother (be still my six year old heart). My dad and I have a running joke about roasting marshmallows at the end of the world, so this year I gave him marshmallows. Only funny to the two of us, but his reaction was priceless.
Oh, sounds like a great Christmas!!! Tyler is growing so much – Also, this is random, but your skin looks amazing!
Best thing I gave: Harriet the spy to my little neice 🙂
Best thing I received: Lululemon running pants!!!
Best thing I ate: Siracha popcorn – My husband has been making it and it is mind blowing!!! Make popcorn, and in a seperate pan warm and reduce butter, olive oil, lime juice, zest, garlic, ginger and siracha….OMG amazing!! Not holidayishhhh at all, but still so good!!
So glad to see that you had such a nice holiday with your family. You’re such a lucky girl to have such an awesome boyfriend- tickets to Jersey Boys, a spa certificate, a trip and more- WOW! 🙂
OMG i made some awesome chocolate chip m-m cookies for santa that were off the chain delish. he didnt get many.
Loved this…made me giggle. I read my little boy a book called ‘Lost and Found’ about a boy and a penguin and it is SO beautiful that I honestly choke up every time I get to the happy bit.
The best things I gave were a flying lesson to the husband and a bike to the little boy. My best present was a camera for me. And the best thing I ate were these kind of cookie/candy things that my friend made. They were amazing.
Merry Christmas. Funny you mention the muscle man at LA Fitness. I worked out at a LA Fitness at home in Minneapolis and there were soooo many grunters and muscle men. Quite entertaining… mostly entertaining. Kinda weird.
That last photo of Tyler is TOO cute. I can’t stand it!! Glad you had a good and Tyler filled Christmas 🙂
Best gift given…. fancy pantsy Lululemon yoga shorts to the boyfriend. Of course he had no idea what Lululemon was and couldn’t really appreciate it, but I told him every one else would.
Best gift received… letter from the doctor with my blood test results. I have crazy low ferritin! Yay! Sounds like a weird thing to get excited about but I’m glad to know that I wasn’t imagining that I was exhausted 24/7. Of course my mind instantly went to crazy things like sub 3 hour marathons… what!? Obviously once I get my ferritin levels back up I’ll be unstoppable. Obviously.
Best thing I ate… the tea cookies my aunt always makes. Gets me every time!
awww looks like you had an amazing
Christmas!! (And I’ve had Bejeweled Blitz for a while now and it’s really addicting!! I think your score blows mine out of the water though!)
When I go to sleep at night, I see the Bejeweled game with my eyes closed. It’s become a terrifying addiction.
Best thing I gave: truffle salt. That stuff is ridiculous.
Best thing I received: Garmin Forerunner 410!
Best thing I ate: my mom’s Sicilian Christmas Fig cookies. HEAVENLY.
Durrr! Just found on your side bar. Will order today!
Merry Christmas! I still want to order one if your shirts. When will you have more in stock? And will order some onesies too! Feel free to PM me at Teresa@tnmultisports.com
Have a happy new year and wishing you continued health in the New Year. Those brownies look amazing BTW!
What a great Christmas! Best thing I gave was a Paulo Coelho journal, the best thing I got was from my S.O. (a non-runner) – homemade “Number 1 Fan” gift certificates which included long run support by bike (for water carrying and entertaining duties), and cheering at a destination race of my choice. The gift of time – seriously made me cry. The best thing I ate was OREO pancakes. Ridiculous.
The New York Times website pisses me off too! Actually, if you just clear your history (specifically the cookies) then it “forgets” you’ve already seen 10 articles. 🙂
So fun!!! Best thing I gave was probably the Olympic Weightlifting shoes I bought my husband. He’s already PR’ed some of his lifts! And best gift I got…really hard to choose. Right now I’ll go with the LUSH bath bombs from my sister-in-law. Went home yesterday after a long day at the office to a fizzy, pink and blue bath! Yes please. Best thing I ate was hands down my mom’s pecan sticky buns. YUM.
awesome!! looks like a wonderful holiday season for you. i baked some stellar banana bread on christmas eve that may have been the fav thing that i ate 🙂
Looks like such a fun Christmas and Tyler is just adorable!!! I had a wonderful Christmas we celebrated a few days early with my fiance since he had to work.. Other than that we had a never ending list of Parties over the weekend which was sooo much fun, then spent Christmas day pretty low key- just me my mom and doggies!