I haven't been back in enough time to document all the joy and wonder of the holidays! I suppose I was a little busy being wrapped up in the season and all of that. No regrets actually, it's nice to upload my 300+ pics and revisit all the moments. That being said, don't panic. I'm not posting 300+ pics. However, since it is now officially a brand new year, why not take a look at the Best Of Holidays 2015? Here you have it folks, the Boswell Holiday Top Ten List! (But actually in no particular pecking order, it was just what I started blogging about first. Sorry folks!)
#10
MY BIRTHDAY
Ah, my birthday! We like to refer to it as Christmas Eve-Eve. This year, we gathered for dinner, I was adorned with some hilarious birthday flare (which I kept, and will be returning for birthdays coming forward. Be warned.) Then we went to Winterhaven to enjoy the festival of lights!
I even got my favorite coffee, skinny peppermint mocha w/ whole milk ^_^
#9
HOME MADE SOUP & BREAD
One of the things I was lucky enough to receive on my birthday this year was the plague. I woke up with it on Christmas eve and it had it's claws in me for all of Christmas. We saw friends of ours Christmas Night and they said they'd make me some soup. They did! That Saturday in fact, they came over with delicious home made chicken noodle AND some home made cranberry oat bread. Wendy even packed me a tea and cocoa care package. What on earth did we do to get so lucky?! Big thanks to Jay & Wendy for doing that for us. It really meant the world! I only snagged one shot of that delicious bread before it all got gobbled up:
For the record, it smelled like a dream as well!
#8
DOWNTON ABBEY SNEAK PEAK
This December, one of my favorite locations on the planet: The Loft Cinema, partnered up with our local PBS affiliate and gave us a sneak peak of the season premier of the final season. [Insert sad, quiet cry here] The premier WAS AWESOME! I'm stoaked to re-watch it again tonight in fact (hee hee) but the best part was that they gave us these adorable little to-go cups with freakin' tea. *eeeee*
#7
FRIENDMAS
The annual gathering of some of our best and closest friends. It's the epitome of the line "Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow." We have traditions at Friendmas, we always make Manda-changas (they're chimichangs, but the chef is Manda, ergo - Mandachangs.) We have a gift exchange, and now we even have kids to join in the party. It's a giant love fest and I look forward to it every year just as much as I look forward to Christmas. I'm not going to post all the pics of the crew and their children for previously stated blog post reasons, but here's some photos I can share!
The haul we brought over to give away:
Chi Chi in her Mrs. Claus dress:
Look at her!! She steals the show. Lil' cutie!
Then, the star of the evening!
CHANGAS!!!
mmm mmmm!!!
#6
HOLIDAY BAKING
Oh yeah! Tis the season to put on your sweat pants and let the calories fill your jeans! Here's some of 2015's best seasons eatings.
Peppermint white chocolate cookies:
Nutella Rice Crispy Treats:
Peppermint cheesecake: (Yes, at Christmas you need EVERYTHING to be peppermint okay?)
Okay now, the absolute BEST part of the peppermint cheesecake, is that while it started out all adorable with the candy canes on each slice - by the time we ate it, the moisture in the cake had leeched into said candy canes, and they dripped like little candy cane bleeders onto the cake. It was like a festive horror scene. Quite amusing! (Sorry, didn't get pics of the bloodshed, you'll have to take my word for it. Or you could not heed my warnings, and do this next year and then see for yourself)
I still need to make myself & Dylan our annual pumpkin pie (made with splenda and a nut crust, it's practically health food!) We have all of the needed parts + it's fitting with our low carb/low calorie resolutions but - I still need to bake the dang thing. Maybe by next post, eh?
#5
DRINKMAS
This is a newer tradition. And I'm pretty sure this year was the first time it'd been given a name. You see, for the past 2-4 Christmases, we've all reconvened at Jon's house after our respective family time. We enjoy a few beers or cocktails, and usually play Cards Against Humanity. This year, these adorable little rein-beers that actually looked like beaker from the Muppets made an appearance.
#4
PRESENTS
Now, I don't have photos of everything we received. But we did score some awesome items this year. Dylan got a new swatch watch, I got a pair of Chuck Taylors. For my birthday I received an adorable little replica of Billie Joe's guitar, Blue. We got Funko Pop figures of Bob's Burgers and Attack on Titan. The Awkward Yeti's first freakin' book (and a bonus magnet!) A beautiful shawl that came all the way from Italy! We got clothes, we got candy, handmade goodies, decorations and wrapped up cheer! Again, I have no idea what we've done to get so lucky. Here's a few pics I did manage to take:
The Kurig and the awesome mug. Oh yeah!
SHE'S A MAGNET!
Worlds cutest mug. Srsly. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror drinking from this mug and the way they have him so he's like, standing there and you see his front/back - it's just happy making.
#3
IMPROMPTU MINI 2ND CHRISTMAS!
So generally on Tuesdays we host a couple of our friends (I've dubbed them "The Dudes") for dinner and a couple of episodes of whatever anime we're currently addicted to. We either quasi-pot-luck style the evening, or we'll make an actual dinner. The Tuesday after Christmas, we had a 3rd honorary Dude in town for the Holidays. We used that Tuesday to not only catch up on a couple of episodes of Seven Deadly Sins, but to have a big ol' meal since the house was full.
We got this from Costco, it's a lamb roast (already cooked) in an apple fig ... sauce? Anyway it was CRAZY DELICIOUS so there's that.
Green Beans w/ shallots & bacon
We even had gravy!
#2
XMAS EVE DINNER!
An annual tradition here at the Boswell House! Dylan & I host my mom & dad for a delicious xmas eve meal. This year, we opted for Chicken Cordon Bleu, garlic & dill potatoes (we used a mix of red and yukon gold) with roasted green beans and a white wine sauce.
Of course, prior to dinner we had a few other xmas time tradition foods.
Blueberry goat cheese! (Also we had shrimp cocktail and some lil' smokies, but I didn't take pics!)
Ah, the prep!
Rolled them up into crispy goodness using panko breading
Then, they hit the cast iron for some browning before going into the oven
Dinner time!
I'm hungry again just lookin at these!
Our holiday table:
Delicious plate-o-goodness!
Yup. Hungry again!
For dessert, we had adorable little personal apple crisps with fancy vanilla gelato!
(This was pre-baked, no post shots, too busy eating!)
#1
NEW YEARS EVE!
Portrayed using another lovely song lyric, what're you doing new years? Neeeew Yeeeears Eeeeeve!
To say goodbye to 2015 and ring in 2016 we teamed up with our good pal Jon to host what we've dubbed: Gray Tie New Years. We wanted to say "black tie" to encourage a dressy party. However, actual "black tie" is seriously gussy. So, we dubbed it Gray Tie. That didn't stop Double Oh Jon though.
Dylan & I were pretty gussy (although, my costume "Happy New Year" jewelry takes away some of the "class" doesn't it?)
Dylan made some black eyed peas & corn bread to usher in some good luck
I was responsible for desserts
(More Nutella Rice Crispys also came to this party! I was told they were "sinful" and our buddy who loved them the most pocketed one that he ate on the cab ride home. I feel pretty good about that.)
Our dapper host prepared some delectable finger foods ala Costco
We had adorable little straws with bow ties:
Fun time noise makers!
We thought we were so smart labeling those ... yeah no one actually did that except for us three. Then Dylan kept using mine anyway. :-p
Clappers!
A banner with little top hats!
And of course!
When it was time to ring in 2016 we counted down, poured champagne, popped a few grapes and then began singing the most hilarious rendition of Auld Lang Syne I've ever heard in my life. I'm going to brag here, and tell you I started it by simply holler/singing the start of it "Should old acquaintance be forgot" then everyone joined in. Except, none of us know the words to that song. So, we just moaned and mouthed a bunch of sounds to the tune of Auld Lang Syne. It was beautiful and hilarious. I know 2016 just got started, but I tell you what, that is my favorite memory of this year!
We hit the balcony to watch fireworks across the city, continued blowing horns and clapping clappers, then it was back inside for more shenanigans.
We played Cards Against Humanity (but of course!) But this year, friends of ours brought a new hilarious game to enjoy! Exploding Kittens!!
That game is fun. Anxiety, humor, attacking your friends, helping your friends, it has it all. It's also pretty fast paced, as card games go, so you just keep starting new rounds. Loved it!
Then, we danced!
Happiest of 2016's to all of you! I'll see you next time, thanks for reading!
