And to all a Good Night…

While I enjoy our new tradition of hosting Christmas dinner, I do not particularly enjoy the morning and afternoon leading up to it.  Am I the only person who feels kind of stuck when there is nothing open on Christmas Day?  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely think everything should be closed so people can enjoy the day with family, but I definitely feel a bit like I’m suffocating when I’m stuck at home all day long. 

So I tried to stay as busy as possible.  Translation – I tried to keep Maya as busy as possible.

Maya and I spent the morning channeling our inner Martha:

We made tags for each stocking and they turned out pretty cute:

Afterwards we attacked this crazy stalk of brussels sprouts I picked up from Trader Joe’s:

Around noon cabin fever struck so we decided to get out of the house before we killed each other.  We headed to the only place that was open – the beach:

I think everyone else had the same idea because Santa Monica was packed. 

I apologize to those of you on the East Coast but it was a picture perfect day:

An hour later we had sufficiently tired Maya out and feeling recharged we headed back to brave the rest of the afternoon at home.

We set the table:

But then agreed that Martha would cringe at the craziness of it all.  So we redecorated:

Less is best, right?

We took a few pictures before dinner:

I bought this dress for $20 at The Gap about 13 years ago.  I can’t believe it’s held up this long.

Three generations:

Never one to shy away from the spotlight Maya decided to do a costume change and proceeded to entertain us all with a ballet solo:

My daughter loves being the center of attention. 

We had lots of food:

I made roast beef, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, brussels sprouts (not pictured) and salmon, and my mom brought mashed potatoes and potato kabobs with cheddar cheese.   We also had apple pie and ice cream for dessert.  Everything turned out pretty well if I do say so myself!

We had a great Christmas today….but doesn’t Christmas Day seem to stretch on forever? 

I hope everyone else enjoyed their day.  Good night all!