December Recap - Holiday Season!

Now that we are firmly into that awkward period between Christmas and New Year I thought it would be a good time to do a quick December update with a few things that happened over the last month.

This month brought us our first real snowfall since March 2018! We've had some nuisance snow over the years but this was the first actual accumulation. Living in the northeast I feel like it isn't a real winter until there is some snow on the ground. And this time I got to see our puppy's reaction to the snow. She was so cute cautiously exploring around the yard and she is so tiny she didn't even sink down in the snow!

We also got into the holiday season and decorated our house. We decorate the same way most years but I always take at least one photo of the tree on Christmas day. We also were gifted the cutest corgi Christmas decor from my parents. Bella's reaction to the new addition was so cute -- surprisingly she didn't bother it. A quick sniff out of curiosity and then off she went.

It looks just like her, no??

I always look forward to decorating our Christmas trees because I get to look at all the ornaments we have collected over the years. I would put a tree in literally every room if I could -- we have one in our family room and one in our dining room (usually it's in our living room but because Bella hangs out in there with me during the work day I didn't want to risk her bothering the tree). All the ornaments for the family room are Hallmark Keepsake ornaments and then for the other tree we use more classic balls and ornaments. I really need to upgrade our garland and tree topper -- the garland is literally from the dollar store and I think my tree topper was one I found in the "Dollar Spot" at Target during law school. 

Bella was impressed by the corgi ornament -- it looked just like her!

We also were able to do our Advent Calendars this month. My husband's advent calendar was a tea calendar and my advent calendar was chocolate truffles. We bought them from Fortnum and Mason and the truffles were DELICIOUS.

And yes, of course we got Bella her own advent calendar as well. We're definitely those puppy parents. My husband found a just-for-dogs calendar from Wufers where each day had it's own little bone treat. 

She was a huge fan!

As if that wasn't overkill, she was also spoiled for Christmas...what a lucky dog!

Because of covid we stayed home for all the holidays and had a very intimate celebration for two. That didn't stop us from having the Feast of the Seven Fish on Christmas Eve or a delicious prime rib Christmas dinner. It was the first time we tried to cook so much at one time and I was really impressed with the results.

We started with a trio appetizer of a clam chowder soup, air fried calamari, and bacon wrapped scallops. Then the main dishes were shrimp scampi, steamed lobster tails, steamed crab legs, salmon with a brown sugar spice rub, cod, and cheddar bay biscuits (like the ones from Red Lobster--did you know they sell those?!).

And for Christmas dinner we had green bean casserole, prime rib, and scalloped potatoes. I am still so full from all the good food. I don't ever worry about calories or anything during the holiday season. I am more conscious about treats throughout the year but I give myself a break during the holidays!

We also did our traditional gingerbread house. We buy one of those $10ish dollar gingerbread house kits from Target and have the best time decorating it. We try to do something different every year but I have to say I think this year's house was the best!

And then over the course of December we had a bunch of other meals, including garlic parmesan chicken wings and zucchini fries (you can get the recipe here and here), butter chicken with basmati rice and garlic naan, a copycat Olive Garden chicken and gnocci soup with biscuits, a tuna melt lunch, omelet breakfast, shrimp scampi with garlic bread, and lobster macaroni and cheese. 

While I ignore calories during the holidays I do still try to keep up my workouts, even if they end up being shortened. I have been loving the Jess King Experience rides every Thursday and I was so excited when Peloton announced they would do a Beatles artist series ride.

And now we look forward to New Year's Eve and a boatload of champagne (the company double-filled out order so we got two bonus bottles!). Of course, I will be wearing pajamas because....2020. I wore the most festive Christmas PJs this year that I bought for $5 from Old Navy last year.

Now some questions for you...

1. How was your holiday season?
2. Do you have any New Year's Eve plans?
3. Will you make any New Year's resolutions?