Richmond Christmas

Here are a few pictures & tidbits from the portion of our vacation spent in Virginia.

Kellyn always makes my favorite pumpkin pie for my birthday & this year was no different; it was delicious!

Since this was my first Christmas home since 2006, Kellyn & dad waited for us to arrive to get the tree. We went to our favorite tree-pick’n spot (the local Putt-Putt Mini Golf Course, of course), and trimmed our tree to perfection. Phil & I kept staring at the tree thinking that it was way better than our Houston tree.

Carrying the tree in the house

Phil putting the star on the tree- he is so handy: can carry the tree AND put the star on the tree without needing a step-stool- I think we'll keep him around ;-)Prom pose in front of the tree hehe

Kellyn & I "showing" the tree

Dad with his girls

Kellyn, mom, & I went to the nutcracker.

Christmas Eve was spent at my Granny’s house with family, (I got to check out all of the original Ruby trees).

Kellyn & I at Granny's house in the Blue Room.

Kellyn caught us smooch'n in front of the tree.

Later on Christmas Eve we went to the 11pm church service. Since we live, or I used to live rather, right across the street from church, we walked to & from the Christmas Eve service, as is tradition. As requested, I got my Christmas wish two years in a row: SNOW!

Phil in the snow on Christmas making a silly face of course

Christmas morning we started at my mom’s house & then we came back to my dad’s for gifts & dinner.

Mom opening her new Scentsy.

Looks like Kellyn was excited about this gift, LOL

Mom opening a gift....Phil reading Consumer Reports hahahahahaMy new scarf

Kellyn opening her new cake decorating kit (Yes, that is "A Christmas Story" in the background)I think Dad really liked this book; I know that I enjoyed it hehe

I got The Office board game!!!!

On the 26th, mom hosted a birthday party/welcome home party for Phil & me. Unfortunately, due to the snow not many could make it, but we enjoyed it none-the-less. Thanks Mom!

On the 27th, we tried to rest for the journey back to Houston. In the morning, I tried on my wedding dress to make sure I hadn’t gained too much weight over the holidays (I think this is a good gauge for me hehehe). Later I went to lunch with my mom & then went out to dinner with the Fleming side of the family- it’s a good thing I tried on my dress before, right? After dinner, Phil & I took a short 2 hour nap, then drove through the night back to Baltimore, returned our rental car, & got to the airport. After flying to Houston via Atlanta, Phil went straight to work while I unpacked & did massive amounts of laundry. We crashed that night since we hadn’t slept in a day. After such a long trip we were exhausted, but had an awesome time. It was a fantastic Christmas! Thank you to all who help us get all over the east coast & have such a pleasant vacation; we miss you dearly already!

Pittsburgh Christmas

We were so busy during the holidays; I can’t even begin to post everything. Here are some pictures from our Christmas in the Pittsburgh area, which I will try my best to narrate.

At our neices and nephews Christmas play at school

Stopping for a picture by the skating rink while we were out getting some last minute gifts.

Phil and Ashlyn

"Christmas morning"

At a rest stop on the way to Baltimore to visit some friends for lunch. (There [Baltimore] we had the most delicious crab cakes ever)

I asked Phil if we could take a detour through D.C. to see the Christmas decorations. He said "yes" :-)

Phil said that I was the "perfect tourist" for this picture...can you believe I snapped this picture out the window of the car....as it was moving?! See the Washington Monument in the background?

These are the gates to the White House...I'm going to figure out a way to incorporate this idea into my decorations for next year :-) My sister & I watched the HGTV special on the White House Christmas decorations, so next year I will schedule a tour of the inside of the White House.

Back on the road to Richmond, VA. I thought the sky was the perfect scenary for the drive.

Hawley Houston Christmas

As in previous years, Phil & I celebrated Christmas at home in Houston before we traveled. To be honest, we do this out of convenience. Yes, it’s nice to have our own special Christmas together, but really, when we fly it’s a lot easier (and lighter) to leave our gifts to each other at home.

After Phil’s last final, we left some cookies for Santa (sorry Reindeer, we’ll do better next year), while we ate dinner (Christmas Pot Pie), & then we drank hot cocoa while opening our gifts to each other for my birthday, Christmas, our anniversary, AND Phil’s birthday! Phew, that was expensive!

Cookies for Santa and cocoa for us :-)

Christmas Pot Pie

Look what Santa brought us!

Gifts

A Christmas Carol

Before vacation I tried to get as many posts uploaded as I could because I knew as soon as we got back I would have a ba-zillion pictures & stories to tell you. I was right, so I’m playing “catch-up” again. The last week we were in Houston, we hosted our last event of 2010: our neighborhood Christmas block party. There were lots of goodies (e.g. caramel popcorn, cupcakes, brownies, etc) in the clubhouse and hot cocoa and apple cider. We rented a drive-in projector to watch “A Christmas Carol” (the Jim Carrey version; thank goodness we didn't have any super young children because this version was a lot darker than I remembered). It was so fun with all of our neighbors. Of course all of the pictures I got are of the sweets.....clearly this is where my mind is during the holidays.....but can you blame me?!

One of the food tables: cheese and fruit, chocolate petit fours, cookies, mini cheese cakes, honey roasted peanutes....you get the idea

I thought the cupcakes with Christmas tree lights were the cutest

Caramel popcorn and white chocolate covered pretzels during the movie

Ha! I did take one picture that wasn't just a sweet treat! This was the apple cider.

I can have my cake and eat it too!

As we ALL know, I, admittedly, am somewhat of a Steelers fanatic :-) The night before my birthday, my amazing hubby & wonderful father-in-law went to the Steelers- Jets game. I stayed home with Phil’s mom & told her that I truly thought I got the better end of the deal: I sat in the warm heat, with a “front row” seat, with superb company, while Phil & his father sat in the freezing snow. hehe When the guys left for the game, Shirley & I made my birthday cake. We made a milk chocolate cake look like Heinz Field. On the edges we put the numbers of our favorite players. It was so much fun! Making the cake & then watching the game with Shirley was the BEST birthday present!

Before Phil left for the game

The game

My cake

Everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to me :-)

The Nutcracker- Take Two

In early December, Phil surprised me with tickets to Houston Ballet’s The Nutcracker. When I went home to Richmond, VA for Christmas, I saw Richmond Ballet’s The Nutcracker with my sister & mom. *Sidebar- The Steelers played the Panthers the night of the Richmond Ballet. I was SO proud of myself for only sneaking to check the score once during the performance!*

Before I went to Richmond’s performance, I read an article by a writer from the New York Times who traveled across the US viewing the numerous Nutcracker ballets this Christmas. He reported that Houston’s rendition was more “European” than others. I figured that all versions were somewhat “European” considering that Tchaikovsky was Russian; however, once I saw the Richmond ballet, I thoroughly understood what the New York Times writer meant. There was a clear distinction in the costumes, how the dancers interacted with the audience, the family-friendly nature, and of course, the style of dancing. Houston was way more formal, while Richmond was clearly more family-oriented and even humorous. I loved both renditions for their unique interpretations of the famous Christmas classic.

Here are some pictures from Richmond’s performance that you can compare to my post on the Houston Nutcracker.

The Snow Forest Queen & Snowflakes

The beginning of the Act 2 when Clara & the Prince arrive in The Kingdom of Sweets.

In both Houston & Richmond the Arabian Coffee were my favorite.

The Flowers of the Kingdom of Sweets. The butterfly was absolutely beautiful!