Christmas Eve is upon us! Everyone celebrates this day differently. Growing up, we went to the family service at 5:30pm, home for dinner then put presents under the tree. There was great fun in opening all the boxes that came from out of town and seeing the wrapped gifts for the first time! Then we put our gift to each other out. There was always one gift chosen especially to be opened on Christmas Eve, so that was next! Then, depending of the time, we hung out and went to bed!

Hubby's Christmas Eve was much different. He spent Christmas Eve with his dad's side of the family and Christmas day with his mom's side - both experiences are very different from each other! Christmas Eve at his Grandma Gen's is an experience not to be missed! She is an amazing cook and does the all our, no meat Italian catholic Christmas Eve dinner! The house is small which makes it super cozy and it is filled with love and laughter! The evening is always fun, a little raucous and I night I never want to miss when we are in New York! I look forward to it every time and miss it when we're not there!
Either way, I often enjoy Christmas Eve as much or more than the day after. Each day has it's own charms and reasons to celebrate! Our Christmas Day traditions growing up were equally different, but somehow in our own little family, we have merged a little from each and created some traditions of our own! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!

Happy Anniversary Hubby!

Fourteen years ago hubby and I walked down the aisle! Our first dance was to Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight" but since it was just 9 days before Christmas, we had a "last dance" after we changed our clothes but before we left the reception and we danced to "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire..." or "Christmas Song" as it is apparently actually titled!!

A new kind of adventure...

Now you may not know this about me, but I have become a big fan of Goodwill over the last several years! Our local stores get good stuff and I can usually find stuff that my kids want that I am not willing to pay regular store prices for! They are happy to have the stuff regardless of how it made it to their closets and my oldest has even been known to brag about my bargain hunting prowess to her friends! Well, last week hubby and I had a little adventure together! We hear that there was a Goodwill outlet not too far from our house (how had that secret been kept from me? my dear friend who loves to get stuff at 'GW fashion' didn't know about it either!). So friday morning after the kids went off to school, hubby and I checked out GWO! I was excited and curious - I had planned on going on my own or with my friend, but hubby surprised me by saying that he wanted to check it out too! It was an experience like no other...

So, when you go to the outlets, it's NOTHING like the stores, let me make that clear... NOTHING LIKE THE STORE! Now there are no racks, everything is in bins, not like the one below, you could NEVER dig through that thing

the bins are fairly shallow, about 6-9 inches and they are lined up in rows - 2 bins wide and 5 bins long. So, you walk in and just start going through the bins - there are about 10 row throughout the store, so you just pick a starting point and work your way through. Simple enough, right? Not so fast....

All the bins are turned over every 2 hours on the odd hours, so you have to pace yourself! That's when the craziness begins! As soon as they start pulling bins out of a row, people start lining up along the lines waiting for the 'new' bins to brought into place! There is a specific etiquette that goes along with this process! NO ONE can touch anything in any new bin until all the new bins in a row are in place! It's hysterical because people stand with their hands behind their back so no one can accuse them of starting early! As soon as the last bin is in the row, there is a frenzy as everyone digs through the new bins. I must say that most people that are regulars are looking for specific things and they are after the non-clothing article primarily (the total opposite of what I was interested in). I learned to stand back and wait till the 'pros' were done, then step in! the only non clothing stuff I really had on my list were legos, most of which were loose in the bins, so I had to look carefully, but I left with a nice little baggy full to add to our slowly growing collection! Most of my "finds" were great name brand things in great shape that went straight into the washing machine before the girls even got a look at them! Hubby hung around for about 1 1/2 hours before he had to leave for a meeting, but truth be told, he was DONE! I made a few new "friends" who gave me some great advice - like next time wear gardening gloves and if you don't have 50lbs worth, ask someone to weigh in with you to get the lowest price (59 cents/lb for 50 lbs or over - the highest price is 1.59 for 10 lbs and under, so it's still a great deal!)

Happy Birthday LuLu!

Great Grandma LuLu has a birthday today! A Lady doesn't share her age, but we can confirm the she is old enough to legally collect social security ;) Hubby's grandmother is one of only two great grandparents that the girls have left - the other being his other grandmother - good genes on both sides!

Day Seven, Napa Valley California - part three

So, we finally make it through a fabulous dinner and people start to mingle and socialize - even my three crazy girls!

Baby sister and her son (my darling nephew!)

Hubby to be starts out the toasts for the night by thanking everyone there and toasting his bride to be!

Then Dad got up - he might be a man of few words, but he always gets teary-eyed at sentimental moments - we can count on it!!

Hubby joined in on the fun and welcomed hubby to be and his 3 sons into the fold and thanked him for upping the testosterone levels!!

Uncle B is always super cool and gave a lovely toast to the bride and groom...

followed immediately by Aunt P (his wife and Dad's sister) eloquent as always!

Then Mom had a few words for the happy couple...

then Uncle M (part of the Canadian clan) offered some advice for second marriages...

a representative from the rowdy quarterback club joined in on the fun... he is quite the sanppy dresser!!

fellow bridesmaid K was well prepared - script and all! it was very sweet

cousin C (another one of those crazy Canadians) even had props!!

L, a good friend from grad school had a few things to share with the group...

and college friend and roommate had a few more stories!!

The toasts and the wine continued to flow! It was really lovely to hear so many people speak with so much love in their hearts for Baby Sister and Hubby to be! We could all hardly wait for the next day!!!

Day Seven, Napa Valley California - part one

The countdown continued and after a day full of last minute details, it was time to concentrate on the details that really mattered - the wedding ceremony! We met at Auberge for the rehearsal and the happy couple were beaming!!

Baby Sister, Hubby to be, his three boys H, T and P and my nephew - soon to be one big happy family!! Check out the view behind them! It was an amazing place to stand and look out over the valley!

Of course I had to take a picture of my three crazy girls too!! Look like trouble don't they!

Little G and Little S practicing walking down the aisle together - they were the flower girls!

Big S walking down the aisle - she's got the red shirt and white skirt on - I know it's far away, but I wanted to show the whole decking area where the ceremony was going to be!

I loved this part of the ceremony! Dad walked Baby Sister half way down the aisle then her passed her off to my nephew for the second half. It was a really special moment!

Then my nephew passed her off to Hubby to be! Also very sweet! Hubby to be ready to make this happen for real!

Later that night, all the wedding guests who were in town gathered at a place called Hall Rutherford for the rehearsal dinner. It began with a cocktail hour and I actually got someone to take our picture before I ran off to take pictures of everyone else!

The Canadian faction of the family (well not all of them, but the representatives!) - my aunt S (mom's sister), my uncle M(mom's brother), Mom, my uncle's wife J, Dad, my cousin C

This is what boys ages 10 to 14 do at a cocktail party....

and what the girls do.....

We then had to walk down the hill to the "cave" where dinner was to be served - hubby and Little S were so cute!

That is the end of part one. Sorry, but the "cave" was so amazing that I decided to divide things up again - too many fun pictures so you'll have to wait until tomorrow!

Day six, Napa Valley California - part two

Yes, we tasted some more - tasted, not guzzled (it's not polite apparently). There's a gorgeous little winery called Swanson's tucked off a side road - the kind of place you need to know about, not one that you would stumble over otherwise. And of course, by appointment only - we're cool that way!

The inside of the tasting room was absolutely beautiful - decorated by the wife of the owner I believe, red-orange walls and these really neat paintings on all four walls all the way up to the cathedral ceiling and this sweet chandelier hanging above the tasting table. I'm surprised they let us in!

Each place was set just like this with an interesting variety of foods that will accompany the wines that we were going to be tasting - they were to enhance the flavors of the wine, but both were fabulous on their own too!

Post second wine tasting, we took a couple pictures in this little tee pee thing outside in the gardens. Hubby and I are a classy couple and enjoy posing for formal portraits whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Just to be fair - he has no more class than I do ;)

Can you guess where our last stop of the day was...... just a final "errand" to take care of, no big deal or anything!

Baby sister's Hubby to be signing his life away!!

The happy couple right before they make it official - still smiling!

Stay tuned friends, there is way more to come still!!

Day six, Napa Valley California - part one

Yes, I know there's no day four or five, we spent most of them in the car and although we had a lovely dinner with some friends that Hubby used to work with on day four, I failed to take a single picture - bummer. Anyway, some memories must find away to stay intact in that tired little brain of mine I guess! Day five Hubby left us again to play golf with the father of the groom and a couple of the groom's friends, so the girls and I meandered up to Napa and spent a little time by the pool and connecting with some of the other early arrivals!! Days six and on have way too many pictures, you'll be glad I skipped a day or two!!

So, our first full day in Napa started with a siblings wine tasting! That meant Baby Sister, her hubby-to-be and his twin brother along with me and my hubby! Hubby to be (soon to be referred to as BIL - brother in law) had a little "work" to take care of so the laptop went on the road with us, but we were able to get it out of his hands and replace it with a glass of wine pretty quickly!!!

Baby Sister and Hubby listening to the tour guide explain the differences in the soil all around the Napa and Sonoma area - she can't even fake looking interested in dirt! Just waiting for the tasting part of the tour!!

Wish my basement looked like this!

Yummy, yummy, yummy!! Nickel and Nickel wines were fabulous!!

The entire group we tasted with - one couple was from Chicago, the other from Seattle - it was a fun group and we were sooooo excited when they gave us our "boxes" to take home!!

The fake entrance to Nickel and Nickel - cool pix huh?

Their labels look just like this sign - very pretty!

Baby Sister and Hubby-to-be at lunch. Aren't they cute?

Hubby and Hubby-to-be's twin brother!

Lunch was super yummy, but we didn't allow enough time to actually enjoy it - we had missed our first tasting to sleep in (still jet lagged?) made it to Nickel and Nickel for the "2nd" tasting and did not want to miss the third, so we ate half our lunch in 5 minutes and took the rest to go! The Rutherford Cafe was tasty and accommodating!!

So, that was the first part of the day, tomorrow, part two! I know you can hardly wait!!