Christmas in Pictures

I'd have to say that this Christmas was the least stressful Christmas I've had in a long time. Everyone got along well, nobody made me mad and both sets of parents went out of their way to make a veg-friendly meal for me! I was really shocked when my own mother made tons of veggie foods because she's still in denial that I'm a vegetarian.

Originally, The Mr wanted to make gifts for each other in light of the economic crisis and dramatic drop in our company stock (which we had planned to use to pay for a trip to Scotland). I poo-pooed the idea because I thought I'd end up with a sock puppet and some cake (both of which I do not need) but now kind of feel like a selfish a-hole. Next year, I think we should pursue spending less on gifts and more on donating to charities.

Sorry - I just watched a video from Advent Conspiracy that made me feel like Queen Douchebag. They make a valid point about consumerism and wasted money on useless gifts because one of the items we received on Christmas was a glass suncatcher/thermometer. Very random. And The Mr actually broke it while trying to hang it up. I also got 2 pairs of holiday socks. Really?

Anywho - here are some pics from Christmas.

The Mr loves these shoes. I got them for him last Christmas and he's pretty much worn right through them. So I got him a replacement pair. This might end up being a Christmas tradition.


Another dorky picture of The Mr! I'm conveniently not posting pictures of myself. He woke me up at 8am like a little kid who just can't wait to see what Santa brought. I was still half asleep when we went through presents. Oh and in case you're wondering what he is looking at, it's a wireless keyboard and mouse. I suspect his face is faked enthusiasm. He asked for that gift but really - who can get excited for that?


Work shirts! Wow, I'm the worst gift-giver, aren't I? Again, he asked for it and Jos A. Banks was having an amazing sale.


Strangely, the dogs weren't as excited for opening presents as everyone else. This is my SIL's dog. Super cute and she always sounds like she's snoring.


Our dogs were particularly stressed. Emily wouldn't leave my side! Petie was disappointed that nobody received a giant block of cheese to share with him. Even I look a little pissed (but I'm not!). I think I was looking to see if any more wine was left. Those rosy cheeks aren't from the weather!


This is my favorite (don't mind the blocked face... I'm protecting the innocent!). I thought that we needed a creative way to give a gift card. So The Mr and I took super dorky pictures with a large space between us and then I printed them out, cut around our faces with an Xacto knife and inserted the gift card then put it all together in a frame (click to enlarge the picture). Voila!

We bought Petie and Emily some new dog toys that they tore through in less than 10 minutes. Insane! Why is it the cheap-o $3 toys last longer than the fancy $10 stuffed monkeys?

Let's Talk about the Loot

Yeah yeah yeah, Christmas was great this year (it really was!) but I'm going to discuss what everyone inevitably asks. What did I get for Christmas?

Without sounding like a spoiled brat, I was pretty thrilled with just about everything. I received lots of thoughtful gifts, lots of useful things and even some random but funny items. I won't say who gave what, but here's the list in all its glory:

- An iTunes gift card. Hooray! Maybe I'll take another year to get through the whole thing. I'm incredibly cheap when it comes to purchasing music so I use gift cards sparingly. I mean - I really struggle with dropping 99 cents on a song. Is it truly worthy of my gift card?

- A bottle of Glenfiddich. I know it's weird but I have recently (since visiting Scotland) taken an interest in drinking single malt Scotch. It's very grown up of me, doncha think? Or perhaps it's very senior citizen of me. I haven't decided yet. But I do enjoy it.

- New running headphones (voted one of the best in Runner's World Mag), the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit and a shoe clip for the Nike sensor. This is hilarious because I actually purchased the Nike kit earlier this year but never used it and ended up returning it. When it ended up on my Christmas list this year, The Mr gave me a hard time. I've messed around with the Nike+ kit and think it's amazing. Why didn't I use it before? It's great!

- A GPS unit! I'm finally a hip youngster with a GPS unit. Perhaps NOW I can find the best route to places, drive to new places and NOT be stuck in traffic that forces me to take 9 hours to get to the Outer Banks when my hipster friends only drove for 5.

- Vegan with a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbooks. Sweet!

- A new bike! While this isn't necessarily a good triathlon bike, I do plan on using it whenever possible. Actually - The Mr got a bike as well (a bit manlier) and we biked 20 miles yesterday… and my ass isn't completely sore like it normally is!


- A PETA travel mug and a new lunch bag:


- These super cute (non-leather) boots!


- Lots of little random but nice things (gift cards, etc)

- And the best gift of all…


The Wii Fit!!

Quick story - when I had originally opened the Wii Fit from the wrapping paper, I squealed and asked where The Mr found it. I had explicitly stated previously that I really wanted the Wii Fit but that it was not worth it if he had to purchase it in some stupid bundle. He said that he found it on Ebay. I was hit with a slight bit of panic about him spending twice as much but he assured me he didn't spend much more. He suggested that we set it up so I opened the box and found it filled with paper and cardboard boxes… and NO Wii Fit! I yelled, "You were duped!" but he can't keep a straight face to save his life. He jumped up and exclaimed, "Just kidding!" and pulled out the real Wii Fit from behind the sofa.

Apparently he borrowed Theresa's Wii Fit box and thought it would be funny to panic me on Christmas day. NERD!

Btw - is Wii-rexia a disease yet? The Mr thinks I may have it. I'm addicted to this game.

What was your Christmas loot? I'll talk about the rest of Christmas in another post.

Operation Christmas Spirit

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Continuing the Countdown

To keep up the holiday spirit crap I'm trying really hard to keep up, last Thursday - The Mr and I (with Juli and Martin, in from Scotland) checked out the Miracle on 34th Street in Hampden.

I bring you the photo montage of our trip. I have to say… I was a little disappointed this year. I mean, a lot of the houses were the same kitschy Baltimore-hon style lights but it seemed like half the street gave up. Anywho…


New facebook profile pic? I think so.



Martin seemed a little more dazzled by the lights than Juli.




The famed "metal man" and some of his work.




The Mr got artsy with his photos.



Yay - kitschy Christmas décor!




No clever comment here.


Someone did a "Nightmare Before Christmas" theme! That's one of my favorite movies (I love claymation). However, this house was NOT a part of the Miracle on 34th Street. This was a street we stumbled upon when we were looking for a place to eat (btw - we ate at Golden West Café… I highly recommend it).

Also on the side street with the best decorated house pictured above was a strange blow up scene of Rudolph pulling Santa out of a chimney. However, it looked like Santa was giving Rudolph head… not exactly the Christmas message I would imagine people want to send to little kids. Isn't beastiality illegal? Fellatio is also illegal in Maryland, in case you were wondering.

Counting down to Christmas

To get into the holiday spirit, The Mr and I have: checked out the Miracle on 34th Street in Hampden, made glass ornaments at a glass-blowing workshop, watched a bajillion Christmas shows and movies and god knows what else. But we kicked off the holiday happenings (not counting putting up the Christmas tree since I did that myself) with…

A frickin' Gingerbread House! I have never made one in my life and it really wasn't that exciting. I mean, what do you do with it? I picked up an $8 kit from Target and…






surprisingly, the gingerbread tastes like doo doo.












I'm not sure if you can really notice but the roof was put on upside down. The shingles are pointing in the wrong direction. Whoops.


I was feeling the onset of carpal tunnel when I was putting the face on that gingerbread man.


Voila!


Even though the gingerbread tasted like poop, the icing was delicious.

Happy Holidays

Because I can't ever get my dogs to sit still long enough for a picture, let alone a picture of them with super cute christmas hats on (like we've tried for the last few years)... I had to doctor this photo:



Happy Holidays!