Aaaaaaand Christmas is over...

My parents always have their holiday party after Christmas so it never really feels like the holiday is over right away. Plus for the past 3 years, I've had off from work the week following Christmas so it REALLY still felt like an extended holiday.

I'm cool with that.

We're not "take the tree down the day after Christmas" people anyways.

I don't get people who do that. We put alot of time and energy into decorating for Christmas and doing the tree. Maybe these people work faster than us. Or have fake trees that didn't take much time or effort to put up in the first place. I love our Christmas decorations and always feel a little sad when they come down. The extra glitter, sparkle and lights give everything such a warm and cozy glow- which you undoubtedly could use more of during drab January and February anyways. We're in no hurry to put that away for another whole year.

So even though the Hatch Christmas party is now over, I think our decorations will linger around just a bit longer.

Don't judge.

A few pics from Mom's party:

Janet, me, Marsha

me, Aunt Janet, Mom, Aunt Joan, Jess



hehe my little cookie monster caught in the act



Santa Snobs

My sister suggested we all go see Santa and take a picture to surprise my mom as one of her gifts.

The REAL Santa, of course.

Those of you who have grown up with this same tradition know exactly what I'm talking about.

And for those of you who don't know about the REAL Santa, well, try not to take offense- I'm sure your Santa was perfectly nice. : )

We're Santa Snobs.

No shopping mall Santa's for us, no sir.

We grew up going to see THE REAL Santa every year, at Miller & Rhoads of course, with our parents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

We laughed at Bruce the Spruce, chatted with the Snow Queen, stood in line for hours, and never ceased to be amazed that Santa knew each of our names when he called us over. This tradition began at birth for each of us and continued well into our late teen's,

and maybe even early 20's for Jess.

The real Santa is now at the Children's Museum of Richmond, which is where we stood in line for 2.5 hours on a Saturday morning- the only shady looking people there sans kids, mind you-

to snag a picture with Santa.

And he still knew each of our names.

If you're lucky, maybe next year I'll remember to scan a few of the winners from our younger days to share on here. Something to the effect of screaming kids with dresses over their heads trying to get away from Santa (yes, that kid would be me). 

**Ant said this might have been his first visit to the real Santa. See? It's never too late to start a great holiday tradition!**



Merry & Bright 2011

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

We had a fantastic time spending time with family and friends, great food, and lots of laughter.

my parents' tree on Christmas morning

Relaxing Christmas Eve morning/breakfast with just me and Ant,

awesome and fun Christmas Eve with my family,



Mom's cool Christmas bar



followed by fun Christmas morning, great lunch with my family on my mom's side in South Boston, then back to Richmond for Christmas celebrations with Marchetti's and Hanky's.



my 2011 wrapping color scheme

We got in lots of skype time with Ben in Thailand and some VERY exciting news was shared with the family when Jake announced that Kristen said YES! to his proposal!!!

So excited for my brother in law and my sister-to-be in the family!

This is in addition to several other engagements that happened over the course of the holidays. We are SO happy for Peyton and Ryan, Brittany and JF, Ashley Callis and Jess, and a few other friends who got engaged last week! It was a steady stream of wonderful news!

Not all that many good pictures from the holidays, as usual a bit too busy and chaotic for much of that.

As always, we were spoiled by our families, friends and Santas in our lives and got lots of great gifts, but I do have to share one in particular.

My father in law bought me a pink Daisy BB gun. 

How awesome is this?

I can't wait to shoot squirrels in my garden, but I proved that I need quite a bit of target practice so I'd better get on it if I'm gonna be good by spring : )

This is the first time in my life I've had to go back to work so soon after Christmas...how depressing.

Anyways, short work week followed by more festivities
so I suppose I'll survive!

Holiday House Decor 2011

This isn't how I'd planned to share my Christmas decor. I had every intention of taking nicer photos, giving them some lovely lighting, then some lovely editing to make them just right.

But that's not happening.
It's kind of turned into a "now or never" kind of thing.
At first, I was waiting to get the new couches in to
share Christmas decoration pics.
Then on a whim we ordered new tables, so I had to
wait for those to arrive.

Then I had to wait for Anthony to do a little assembly.

Then I had to take all new pictures.
Then find time to upload  and sort pictures.
Then there was that party.
Oh yea, and I was sick while trying to get ready for that.
And now my living room is covered in gifts we've been given, gifts we will be giving, and all sorts of wrapping odds and ends..

I know, it's always something.

Anyways, here it is!

Merry Christmas family and friends!

Bacon Bourbon Caramel Corn

Yes, it's every bit as AWESOME as it sounds.

I made a big batch, bagged it, tagged it and tied it up with ribbon to make favor bags for Ant's 30th birthday party.

Recipe here

Ant's 30th Beer Themed Birthday Bash

We celebrated Anthony's 30th birthday with a

Beer Tasting party.

awesome banner by my Mom, of course

The invites, designed by my very talented friend Sarah of SBdesigns,

(check her out on facebook for your next party invites/business cards/design needs! she's awesome!)

asked each couple to bring a 6 pack of beer in a designated category:

wheat, winter/seasonal, lager, stout/porter, or pale ale/ipa.

The beers the guests brought were arranged in stations so that people could pour a taste to sample something,
or just grab a bottle if they liked it!

We were beyond impressed with people's creativity.

 Ant and I have tried a lot of unique beers and we agreed that we hadn't tried or even heard of most of the beers people brought. So fun!

We also had two small kegs of New Belgium Snow Day and New Belgium Hoptoberfest for the "house draft" beer.

Assorted pint glasses from our favorite bars and restaurants (and some borrowed from friends!) were set out by the kegs so guests could drink their beer from a real glass (as in, not plastic) and the unique glasses helped people keep track of their drink.

Menu was simple and pub themed, consisting mainly of bar foods with a few fun treats in the mix.



Ant's birthday glass, also by my Mom

  Decorations also pretty simple, as I was trying to go for a "manly" feel with some beer cap baubles, beer cap candle holders and a few beer/drinking quote signs.

 

We ended the night with party favor bags of homemade 

Bacon Bourbon Caramel Corn 

Thanks so much to our wonderful family and friends

for all your help with the party!

(esp to Ant's grandparents for the great venue!)

We had a WONDERFUL time with all of you- thanks for coming!!

It was awesome to give Anthony the special

celebration that he so deserves!

Full party pics here