This years Christmas might have been with a few less family and friends (because of our recent move) ~ It was quiet, yet still festive. To create some comforts of home, we cooked, watched movies, exchanged a few gifts and went for a drive around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. Some of what we saw here was done a little differently then what we've seen before. Most enjoyable were the neighborhoods displaying luminaries. One area did simple white luminaries lining the streets, and another did mixed colors (we liked the white). Some others things set differently out here for Christmas was rather contradictory: Grocery stores had an enormous amount of alcohol stacked high or at focal points adjacent to what you could mix it with... And on Christmas eve, several nearby churches were all closed up and dark by 8pm - No 10pm or midnight candlelight services - which we would have liked to have gone to. We'll have to learn more about the holiday church services for next year, but here are some shared Christmas moments in our new area: Arizona...
Luminaries...
on Noel...
Some house really went ALL out!
More luminaries, in multi-colored bags...
Simple lit walkways...
Simple light framed houses with those Arizona Stars!!
For Christmas eve dinner, I was really homesick for a Cuban Christmas eve meal. Since a restaurant near Jeff's store recently opened (from Miami called Feli's Kitchen!!) Jeff picked up roasted pork, black beans, rice, yuca, tostones (fried green plantains) and flan on Friday - I heated and doctored it up some on Saturday night for our Christmas eve dinner. For Sunday's Christmas day dinner, we tried something different: a NY Holiday Roast (think prime rib) that Jeff roasted with potatoes & onions, plus steamed some asparagus.
Local grocery store liqueur display...
Adult chocolate milk and Southern Comfort plus rum next to the egg nog...
Jack stacked near the beer aisle... And there were others - This was all in ONE store.
On a personal note: I don't agree with merchandising alcohol in a grocery store. It enables the weak to just pick it up too easily. Great for their profits, but bad for the community - especially when Phoenix was listed as #10 in cities with the most drunk drivers...
just saying...
Sephora's new lounge for the loft - with storage for all her new toys!
Sephora Christmas Stocking - STUFFED!
Christmas morning with Sephora's Toys...
Sephora's new bed and some cat GRASS!
Christmas morning was spent watching Sephora play with ALL her new toys Santa brought (she loved them!!) and I prepared a breakfast of French Toast (from a sourdough loaf) scrambled eggs, bacon, juice and hot mint chocolate-coffee. This years gift exchange was one of tech: Santa JD brought me a laptop - plus perfume & boots from Sephora. Santa LQ brought Jeff a Kindle Fire (sorry Steve - this was more affordable!), the Steve Jobs book and a commemorative Steve Jobs TIME Magazine. Sephora filled his stocking with silly sweets like candy canes and kisses, and his favorite hard-to-find breakfast bars. We spent the day yesterday just lounging, watching movies, syncing and learning our new devices.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
mmmmm... Yuca!
Dee-lish side to Cuban roasted pork, black beans, rice & plantains!
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Roasted NY Holiday Roast, potatoes and asparagus...
Kitchen aisle with sweets...
Lilies I picked up at the grocery store with some fresh cut greens and eucalyptus from Micheal's... Cookies Jeff brought home in a cute tin :)
Christmas Morning Breakfast
Christmas Morning Breakfast
A few tablescape tips coming up in next post...
Jeff had to be at the store early this morning for the After-Christmas crazies. I'm cleaning up around here and contemplating tearing down Christmas to put away. It's weird, after the day is over, I quickly get the feeling of being overwhelmed with clutter and just want to see everything cleared. I love it all the 30 days its up, but come the day after - I'm ready for a clean slate. Although not today, I probably will have it pretty much packed up by the end of the week...
Christmas morning...
yeah! Ralph & Romance!
BIG surprise not under the tree...
But a laptop with a sweet message I see!
Linking & syncing at the coffee table in the living room...
Christmas morning aftermath :)
Sephora still lovin' under the tree :)
So how about you? How was your Christmas? Was it quiet or chaotic? Did you do more or less cooking and baking this year? Are you ready to clear the clutter? Are you ready for a new year? Do you keep up your decor until this first week of January?
Hope you enJOYed a wonderful Christmas
with your family and friends!
with your family and friends!
Thanks for stopping by!
It looks lovely! We too had a very small Christmas. Get's smaller each and every year...part of getting older, both us and the girls. We enjoyed our yearly dinner out on the eve of as well as seeing lights..and we too saw lovely white luminaries! Christmas was just us, our youngest and the cat with many movies and fondue...but we had each other and that is what counts.
ReplyDeleteThis year I also missed my traditional Cuban meal, as well, but got to spend it with my wonderful in-laws and husbands family...a luxury I hadn't had in five years. I also like to keep my trees (5 this year) up until after January as so much work goes into the decor and in a cold climate the trees provide warmth and comfort when they are lit. Blessings to you in the new year.
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