Friday

I'm not sure that I can come with 5 distinct talking points, and so, in the spirit of Holiday giving, I'm giving myself a break from the rules!

• Our holiday festivities pick up into high gear tomorrow! We have Andrew and Corie (Joel's brother and sister-in-law) driving up from San Diego for "our" Christmas dinner. We decided to go the non-traditional route and when they get here we are all heading to the grocery store together. Then, it will be a Shields vs. Shields pizza cooking off. After the gingerbread building in my kitchen, I decided that it's actually a lot more fun, for everyone, to get their hands dirty - and our Shields boys love any kind of competition.

 

• Monday we are having friends over for a holiday dinner, and then Tuesday and Wednesday are dedicated to just our little family. It will just be Joel and I (and Roscoe) for Christmas Eve and Christmas, and we actually couldn't be more excited. We are going all out on Christmas Eve - fancy champagne, lobster - and then after cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, we are going to just lounge and watch Christmas movies all day. I think it's going to be perfect.

• Oh, and then on Thursday I leave for a week in Mexico! I packed everything up yesterday so that I didn't have to think about it over the holiday break, so I'm literally ready to go! It will suck to be without Joel there, but I can't wait to have 7 straight days with my family in our favorite place in the world.

 

• My diet has been off the wall horrible for the last 2 weeks, and there is no end in sight for these next 2 weeks. This might be the first year in a long time that I actually join the rest of the country in the "Santa Seven". It's been bad, so January will be a really un-fun, hardcore month in our house.

 

• I don't want this Christmas season to be over. It's going be too fast and I just can't think to part with our lights and tree anytime soon. And, I'm really going to miss the Christmas music radio station too. 

::: Enjoy the last weekend before Christmas! xo :::