well hello there, 2018

we kicked off new year's eve day with some homemade bacon waffles.  the batter we used was so fluffy and lovely that by the time i finished making everyone's plates and got around to my own, i had just enough for this cute little mini waffle:

that's okay though, because that also meant that i got to use up the rest of the bacon.  heh.  and i poured myself a lovely mimosa to wash it down with:

the hub had had the bright idea to have the bean invite a handful of her friend over to celebrate the new year, sleepover optional.  we gave her a limit of 5 friends to ask, but being totally last-minute we were only able to get 2 of them to come over, with just one available to spend the night.  one friend was spending the night on colorado boulevard with her family to watch the rose parade the next morning, another had a family gathering and then one girl had to drop out at the last minute.

we'd actually had a bunch of grand ideas for NYE - we'd looked at hotels, considered vegas, debated a cabin up in the mountains...and ended up staying home like we always do (which isn't a bad thing, because it's always nice to be comfy and cozy without having to deal with the craziness out in the world on new year's).  we headed to party city to pick up some decorations and fun party supplies, stopped to grab some snacks to serve and then headed back home to get the house ready for a fun evening.

i mean...someone had to test out the photobooth, right?

and the bean laid out her party plan on paper.  gotta love it.

of course, when her friends arrived, all those well-thought-out plans went right out the window as they squealed with joy at being able to spend some time together doing nothing but having fun.  they hung out in the bean's room, stopped to eat some pizza and ended up playing a fun game on the floor for awhile.

they disappeared for awhile into the bean's room, where i later discovered the hard way that they'd pulled out her slime collection.  one of the girls came out with a big ass clump of pink slime stuck in her hair, and so we spent the next 15 minutes working on getting it out.  "we can just cut it out," she said.  um, no way was i going to send anyone home with a chunk of missing hair.  luckily, a combination of ice and then warm water got it all out with minimal damage, and they went back to playing until her dad arrived to pick her up.

meanwhile, the hub and i were hanging out on the couch, drinking the most delicious hot chocolate i'd made in the instant pot and watching ryan seacrest do his best to entertain the crowds freezing out in times square.

we got the bean to stop and pose for a second so we could snap our annual new year's eve photo:

and then she and her friend picked a movie on tv and got comfy on the couch.

the hub and i moved to our room to keep watching seacrest, where i naturally fell asleep because comfy warm bed.  it looked like this was going to be the year that i slept right through the countdown, but luckily the girls started up with the noisemakers a few minutes early and i got up with two minutes to spare.  they'd headed outside with the hub to shoot off the confetti cannons, and i was briefly concerned about waking up all the neighbors.  but at the stroke of midnight we heard all sorts of firecrackers and fireworks shooting off all around us, and so we let them run around hooting and hollering like crazy people for a few minutes.

when we went back inside i saw the fort that they'd built in the living room while i snoozed happily in my bed.

the next morning, we all got up and i decided it was the perfect morning for not just waffles, but cinnamon roll waffles.

it was fun watching the hub and the old lady go at it with the new game we'd just bought.  thanks mom - this is one of two family fun board games we picked up with those target gift cards!

and later, when the hub headed off to check on how the lounge was doing after a couple of days away, the bean finally got to have a playdate with one of her friends while the rest of us went to the mall to do some exchanges and spend some christmas cash.  how great are these $560 christian dior sunglasses??

okay, not really.  i actually thought they made me look like johnny depp in the willy wonka movie, which made me laugh.  but check out these mickey jelly shoes i spied in the shoe department:

i think maybe they were playing hide and seek.  heh.

when it was time to pick up the bean from her friend's house, we took her straight over to my cousin's house to exchange presents with the kids and drop her off for a surprise sleepover.  they were all elated to see each other, and it was nice to see them all.  after grabbing some delicious mexican food to go, the old lady's special friend headed home to get some rest before going back to work the next day while the two of us headed to the local movie theater to catch a showing of "pitch perfect 3."

we definitely enjoyed this one more than the sequel, which had been pretty bad.  and now i've almost seen all of the christmastime releases on my list - jumanji, the greatest showman, pitch perfect 3 and the last jedi.  the old lady and i will probably go see that last one next week, when the bean goes back to school and our lives go back to normal.

it's so hard to believe that the holidays are over and we're in a brand new year.  i know i say it every year, but MAN, 2017 flew by like it was nothing.  time just moves too fast for me these days.  i just need everything to slow down a little so we can take everything in and enjoy it all.

which, of course, means that all that's going to happen is that it'll all go by even faster.  gah.

so many good eats...and working 'em off

the dead zone between christmas and new year's went by in a big blur for us.  we didn't really do much but hang out at home and play with all the new toys we all got for christmas, but we also threw in a whole lot of eating.

one morning, the bean got up and asked us to stay in bed so she could make us some breakfast.  except that we had slept in so late that i ended up not being able to follow her instructions and had to leave for an appointment before she was done.  bummer, because she'd worked really hard and had mixed up some pancake batter from scratch and was happily flipping the most perfectly golden pancakes you ever did see.

and then the hub decided to share one of his newest discoveries with us...a little hole-in-the-wall in pomona, of all places, in the middle of an industrial area and open for business for 30-plus years:

it was like a time warp inside, with a simple menu and lots of vintage photos of the area adorning the walls.

the food was simple, but really tasty.  here's the beef french dip:

corned beef:

and pastrami.

the next day, we ventured out to p-town again - this time, for some chicken and waffles at day day's.

i was pretty stoked to order a glass of watermelon kool-aid.  it was delicious and the bean was happy to share it with me.

and when the grub came out, it was fresh and hot and so delicious.  i think it's actually replaced roscoe's in my heart.  i don't know what they do to that chicken, but it was SO GOOD.

with all that good stuff in my belly, i had to make it a point to get to barre classes to work it all off.  and at the end of my last class for 2017, we were treated to 50% off retail items in the studio, plus a nice little glass of bubbles to celebrate.

i managed to eke out over 100 classes over 2017, but still ran short of the next milestone (750 classes) by at least another 100.  that' okay, though.  it sounds like there's another 20-in-30 challenge coming up, and when that's over, as long as i meet my goal of a minimum of 3 classes per week i'm pretty sure i'll be able to hit that 750 at some point this year.

goals.  i haz 'em.

thank you, santa!

so...christmas 2017.  it was certainly a good one, i must say.  christmas eve day was pretty chill, with the old lady at work for part of the day and the rest of us hanging out at home just kind of bracing ourselves for the whirlwind that was to come.  i actually got to spend most of the day at the sewing machine, working on projects and something to wear to dinner that night with my folks.  oh, and taking silly pictures like this:

the bean decided to make some fresh cookies for santa (because she wanted to give him a variety to pick from, adding to the mint chocolate meringues and the hot cocoa cookies that were already waiting to be plated for him).

and then when the old lady and her special friend arrived, we all got cleaned up and hopped into the car to head to pasadena for dinner at green street tavern.

it was around 10 or so by the time we got home that night, and the bean made a beeline for the kitchen to set out her cookies for santa before she went to bed.  christmas eve is one of those few nights a year that it's not a struggle to get her to go to bed...because santa can't come if you're awake, right?  and because she'd run out of time to mail him a letter this year, she left it for him with the plate of cookies.  he left her a little message after enjoying some of the cookies:

and even though the majority of the christmas stuff had been done the day before, i still managed to somehow stay up till midnight finishing off the last of the details.  i was happy to collapse into bed next to the hub, who was already watching the pope's christmas mass on tv.  kinda odd since we aren't catholic, but it's something we seem to watch every year without fail.  heh.

the bean was up bright and early on christmas morning, as most kids usually are.  she went door to door, waking everyone up in the most gentle, non-obnoxious way possible, and i popped up to get our annual christmas casserole ready and in the oven to bake while we opened presents.  everyone waited anxiously for me to be done before diving into stockings and stuff, and we were having so much fun opening presents that i didn't really take a ton of pictures.  this is one of my favorite gifts to the old lady though, because look:

the hub did his usual job, handing out presents to everyone to open before sitting down to rip through the ones with his name on them.

the pile of wrapping paper and boxes grew and grew, but the old lady had the forethought to gather it all up in one spot to make cleanup a little easier.

of course, we had the yule log going the whole time.

when all the paper had been ripped off, all the bags opened and every present out from under the tree, we set up for our annual family photo.  i'd discovered the beauty of using the camera remote from my watch, and this was my test shot:

and the official family christmas pajamas photo.

the bean's new shih tzu stuffy looks pretty realistic, yes?

and her new scooter was a hit with everyone.

the timing was perfect, because just as we were finishing up the timer went off and breakfast was ready.  the casserole isn't very picturesque, but it was tasty...as were the cinnamon rolls we enjoyed afterwards.

i'd used the frosting container to scrape the bacon grease in for disposal, and realized that it looked like a pretty fantastic (if not incredibly disgusting) april fool's prank.

as for my big gift this year?  well...my wish from last year finally came true:

kate spade was prominently featured in my haul too.

i was most definitely one happy camper, despite the gigantic mess that needed to be cleaned up.

the bean was quickly engrossed in the new nintendo DS3 she'd received.

and then much later, with the old lady and her special friend out making the rounds with her dad and his family, we enjoyed our traditional homemade prime rib spread.

such a wonderful day, with lots of love and laughter and sweet moments.  hard to believe another christmas is over and done with.  and they just keep getting better and better.