X-mas 2013

The 2013 holiday season has come and gone, so kindly join me in a zen inspiring exhale. After our return from a thanksgiving in Idaho I spent one week in the desert before hopping back on a plane to travel to DC for business purposes. The chilly weather kept me pretty much office and hotel bound except for one delightful evening spent catching up with a best friend from childhood.

While I was in the nation's capital Jonathan picked up an adorable little Christmas tree, that we happily decorated on the Saturday I returned. It's been about three years since the last time we had a real Christmas tree in our house, most likely due to my distaste for the sickeningly over commercialized holiday. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate good health, family adventures and what the season is supposed to celebrate, however, the gross consumerism that has commandeered the season is beyond despicable. Before I digress too much further I'll return to merriment by noting a few other lovely holiday adventures.

Each year we have lived in Arizona I have wanted to go see the nutcracker ballet, yet each and every year I have managed to let the opportunity slip by. Not this year! As it turned out, in addition to buying a mini tree, Jonathan secretly bought tickets to the nutcracker. Having attended the nutcracker nearly every Christmas season with my mom as a child, I was beyond delighted to rekindle the tradition. After a shared dinner of delicious hoppin john, spoon bread and some chili at Blue Hound we walked to the theater and settled in for a lovely performance. Truth be told, the evening on which we saw the nutcracker just so happened to be a trifecta of a perfect day. Earlier I'd left work early, to buy Jonathan's gift, which I planned to surprise him with that evening, then I'd gone to the dentist and completed the visit sans any cavities or additional work needed, and then I finished the day with a great ballet performance with my husband. Not too shabby.

Just a few days later, the weekend before Christmas, Jonathan's family flew into town, giving us the opportunity to share our city's amazing food and culture, and experience new adventures including a tour at Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's home and architecture school in Arizona. Like the ballet, we have long discussed attending the tour, but had yet to ever buy the tickets. We toured the grounds with a lovely guide and a small group of fellow locals and tourists. I sincerely enjoyed learning about FLW, who was certainly a unique character to say the very least. His attention to detail, eye for aesthetics and fascinating architectural style made for a fantastic tour that I highly recommend to any valley visitors

Found this little guy at the end of the tour

                                                                                                        

On Christmas Eve we had the whole fam damly over at our house and enjoyed a simple dinner of lasagna, roasted butternut squash, salad and a smorgasbord of deserts. Tis the season. Then on Christmas Day we made our way to Scottsdale to hang out with family and enjoy yet another fantastically prepared meal. Oh, and I think I should throw in that both Christmas and Christmas Eve temperatures were in the mid 70's. Seeing that Jonathan and I had to return to work the day after Christmas, the holiday flew by in a whirlwind of family adventures and delicious over indulgence, but by no means is this very fortunate lady complaining. Just a few days later I was off to Atlanta for a work project that would keep me in town for the entire week, including New Year's Eve. Thankfully, Jonathan was able to fly out and join me for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!