Recalling the Holi.....DAZE...

Because that's what happens EVERY YEAR.  It's a daze.

Time gets faster as we get older then you realize -  Holy Shit this is true.  I can't friggin believe 2015 is gone.  Like gone.  It's Saturday January 2nd 2016.  Where the hell did 2015 go!?  We'll get to our year in review blog later.

So Thanksgiving came and went.  It was just lovely.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and I actually contributed this year!  I found an awesome non dairy Green Bean Casserole.  It was delish!  Mom hosted, it was super chill and the food was awesome.

Moms set it up so cute with party favors and all!

My contribution this year

A couple days later I met my friend Jeff for dinner and on our way back to my house I saw my 1st Christmas lights!

The holidays rolled in like wild fire.

Something that seems to be becoming an annual thing, was I volunteered at the Economic Forecast that Chapman hosts every year.  This lands me in Costa Mesa and I usually like to stick around and see the Xmas decor at South Coast Plaza.  David joined up with me again this year and we had a lovely evening of wandering around admiring the decor and ending the evening with some delicious sushi!

Such an awesome surprise.  Live Christmas Music!

I ended up hosting a Cookie Exchange at work.  My friend Tianna and I did it together last year, but she wasn't able to help this year.  I was planning on just skipping it but apparently her and I did such a good job last year people were really looking forward to it this year.  I was flattered and felt I needed to make it happen.  So - I did!  It went swimmingly!

Beth won Most Festive!

My famous Peanut Butter Balls

The prizes made by mom!  (I donated the wine bottles)

Beth brought a cute tree decorated with baking supplies!

Those little bags of hot chocolate and peppermint flavored popcorn were won by Traci Mueller for Most Creative!

Libby and Hailey and I always have a little pre-Christmas dinner which I adore.

Chapman shuts down for a couple weeks during the holidays and we always have a huge staff/faculty breakfast.  I didn't win anything this year, but I figure I won the grand prize last year so I'm good!

She's my spirit animal

Promptly after this Taylor and I met up for apps and drinks and caught the lovely holiday flick - Krampus!  It was freakin awesome!!!!!

OMG Krampus!

When Christmas Eve showed up, I baked some goodies and made the casserole again to bring to Dads for Christmas Eve Dinner.  Lori and Dad made some awesome steak.  Lori had the table set up beautifully and we ate like kings and queens then watched a Xmas movie whilst enjoying our holiday buzz.  It was wonderfully relaxing.

Christmas morning started out quiet and cold with some coffee and kitty cuddles.

Then I headed over to moms.

We had the perfect Christmas.  Mom is a huge Christmas Spirit lady and this year was nothing short of that.  Her house was decorated to the nine.  A black Christmas Tree with lots of presents everywhere.  I brought the remnants of the casserole and some munchies and plenty of cookies to share.  Mom made her famous coffee cake which I look forward to every year.  We then lounged around laughing and drinking while opening too many presents.  She laid out some munchies for ham sandwiches and snacks and we just grazed, drank and laughed throughout the day.  She did her usual popper which had a twist this year that got Shane, D and I racing penguins.  Yes you read that right.

Best wrapping paper eva!

D and her tiny ankles!

Penguin Races!

Svetie

When I got home that night I basked in the lovely glow of my Xmas decor and kitty cuddles.

We celebrated a wonderful brunch for my best friends 40th birthday on the 27th.

Unfortunately right after this wonderful event I came down with the cold/flu that's flying around.  This cancelled my Mon/Tue plans landing me in bed but I rallied to head out to Disneyland on Wed with mom that we had planned for months.  You'll see that in a separate blog!

New Years Eve.  Jill came over and did a fun tarot card reading for me.  Apparently I have some new projects coming up that will be awesome but pull me out of my comfort zone.  I may also meet a dude.  Hmmmmmmm.  We then walked over to Haven Gastropub and met up with Terri for a perfectly lovely NYE dinner. They had a special menu for the evening that I opted for.  I had appetizers of oysters baked in this awesome creamy sauce that was AH-MAZING.  I then got the Sea Bass as an entree which was friggin delicious.  My dessert was an apple crisp thing that was to die for.  Terri and Jill ordered off the regular menu and loved all their yummies too.  Between the the wine and the food it wasn't a cheap meal but worth every penny.  We laughed and chatted and shared a fantastic dinner together.  Afterwards Jill and I took our time walking home looking at the last of the Christmas lights.  I downed some cough medicine and was passed out before midnight.

Today is January 2nd.  I hit the Trading Post Show with mom and Keri this morning then had a lovely late snack and drinks with Jeff.  I plan on having breakfast with dad tomorrow and visiting some friends in Fullerton after that then back to the grind on Monday.  My voice is gone and the cold/cough is lingering, but this has been a wonderful 2 weeks ending the 2015 year.  I do wish I could have got more Xmasy type trips in this year but since I opted to do a show that cut into my time.  It's all good though because I don't do shows every year and next year I'll hit all the fun stuff!

Keep and eye out for my year end blog coming hopefully soon!

Love to you all in 2016!!!