Last Christmas

I feel like everyone's already moved onto New Year's Eve, and even Valentine's Day, but yet here I am recapping a belated Christmas. I actually didn't take that many pictures this year, and most of them have already been posted on the blog for various reasons. But I couldn't help but write one big post with everything in single place.

It actually felt like Christmas was pretty low-key this year. We spent Christmas Eve at home, where the boy and I had a lazy night on the couch watching Love Actually. Then the following morning over a cup of coffee (for me) and a glass of milk (for the boy) we opened the presents for each other.
The boy tends to always buy exactly what I'm looking for, but I try to make sure there's a bit of a surprise by giving him several options to choose from. That way I never know exactly which of those he'll choose. This year was no different and I was gifted both towels and a new pillow from Pottery Barn, as well as my newest obbession, with the Frozen soundtrack. Of course, he still had a surprise for me with a new necklace which I never would have guessed.
We then went over to my in-laws' house where everyone had stacks of presents waiting for them. My stack is actually on the far right, with the boy's next to it. Our niece and nephew's stacks are what you see in the background.
I definitely received far more gifts than needed and definitely felt a bit spoiled in the process. Some of my favorites, apart from the necklace and soundtrack from the boy, are my serving bowl in our china pattern and my new cookbooks.
Another Christmas tradition I've inherited is having scratch off tickets in everyone's stocking, with a bit of a competition to see who can win the most. This was the first year I wound up winning, with close to $50 scratched off.
Once everyone had finished opening, we sat down to a dinner with gumbo, tuduken, and several over sides and finished off the meal with a slice of my peppermint cake.
All in all it was a great day, one where I definitely came away feeling a bit spoiled. Overall a perfect way to end 2013.