mizChartreuse || redefiningSuccess

Winter break 2008 has been quite a trip thus far. It’s the same every year–I flip the script on constant studying and reporting, and make it a priority to never turn down an opportunity to go out and see people I wouldn’t have the time to during the semester.

On Christmas Eve eve, one of my roommates, Megan, was crazy busy at work making pies and delectable desserts for the holiday; many of which she was taking to her boyfriend’s family Christmas dinner. I was busy helping her lick the stirring utensils clean, as well as eating whipped cream from the container.

Her French silk and pecan pies are ridiculously delicious and they looked fantastic! She also scooped my Hazelnut Terrine with Raspberry Sauce recipe from my blog archive, although she may not have ended up making it. If she had, however, I’m sure it would have turned out looking a lot better than mine…that’s what I get for skipping steps (such as “strain the seeds from the raspberry sauce–I won’t post pictures of what the seedy rasp pulp looked like. Yikes).

French silk and pecan: heaven in a crust.

Only my immediate family lives here in the midwest, as the rest of my relatives are on the east coast and in Zambia; so we’ve always been big on coordinating the holidays with family friends. On Christmas day, my fam collaborated with my mom’s friend Suzanne for dinner.

My sister and I were busy taking photos of ourselves when we heard “My Name is Jonas” coming from the kids’ bedroom. GUITAR HERO. We wasted no time joining in the festivities, only to be told by my brother and his friends that we had to “wait our turn.” Whatever happened to respecting elders!?

Suzanne and her daughter, Ariel:

My brother, Zeke, and Suzanne’s boys Tyler and (I forget the little one’s name):

Their dog, Fluffy:

Ariel and their rabbit (bunny? Sara? What’s the difference?):

Chloe and I being dorks again:

And my beautiful mother:

Clearly I was having trouble holding the camera steady here.

Dinner was amazing, and after that I drove to Allie and Tommy’s house for late-night gift exchanges, and more vino, food, and video games.

My second family from left: AJ, myself, Allie, Tommy, Valerie, and Davy:

I seriously can’t believe how much Allie’s little brothers have grown up. I remember AJ to be this adorable little freshman punk kid, wearing the black skin-tight jeans with a mohawk and always getting into trouble. Now he’s this funny, but mature, 17-year-old and is such a sweetheart. Davy’s always been a really good kid, but he is also so big and tall now! He and AJ dominate us all in size.

My second beautiful mama and her daughters (and Tommy’s hand):

Later that evening, Allie showed me the video Tommy made for his proposal, then showed me the video he recorded to capture the entire moment, from when she sat at the desk to watch the video to when he showed her the ring. I laughed at all the great photos, and cried my eyes out as I witnessed that beautiful moment between the two of them. I don’t even remember the last time I cried, so the waterworks were running. They are just the perfect couple and I love the heck out of both of them so much. Allie and Tommy are so made for each other. Jeez.

Ridiculous:

THIS IS CLASSIC!

The ghost of TCon, running at full speed up and down the hall with Buddy:

Yum. A dog after my own heart.

Allie and her mother are insanely sweet–one of the gifts they got me was the super classy Sutton purse from my homegirl Gwen’s L.A.M.B. line. It is ridiculously hot and I was so surprised!

On Christmas Eve as I was heading from Chicago to Palatine, I was thinking about how I hadn’t yet listened to Hanson’s Snowed In record from 1998. I always make it a point to spin that disc at least once per year, and I just hadn’t yet! When Val handed me the CD I fell on the floor laughing because it was just so perfect. I mean, I own the record; I just have no idea where it was. I had jams to listen to on the drive home!

Gawd I will love those boys forever and always. You know Sara, Natalie and I will still be going to 3+ shows per tour when we’re 65; mark my words. It’s already been 11 years and counting..

After the gift exchange and eating a second dinner, AJ gave his mother a ride home and Allie, Tommy, Davy and I went to the basement to play some Super Mario Bros. 3; girls vs. boys.

Can I just say that I have never laughed so hard while playing that game? Tommy was making Luigi dance to the music SPOT on, and his sound effects were hilarious. Also, Allie is a bad ass gamer girl who completed the levels flawlessly, winning us keys and flutes and mushrooms and other wonderful things.

“What kind of pants does Mario wear?” Davy asked us, as Tommy was making Luigi dance. “Denim denim denim.” It’s a classic joke that everybody’s heard, but it was funny at the moment.

He told it again about ten minutes later.

So cute.

We played for a couple hours or so, then went upstairs so the boys could play Madden (EW) and Allie and I could have two-hour girl talk about everythang. I truly think that I am the richest woman in the world because I have such incredible friends, and Miz Brewster is one of them. People like her are so rare…total gems.

It was a beautiful Christmas…and now the weekend’s only begun!