Friday, December 24, 2010

Friday Love

In my 7.5 years in the newspaper business, I have never had both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. It was either one or the other - or none.

Until this year.

I was off today as well as tomorrow. And I'm forever grateful (and glad to finally be in management) to have the day and be able to spend it with Mark. We slept in, opted to skip our run for a lazy breakfast and long walk with Denali. We hit up the Indian buffet and saw "True Grit." (Go see that by the way!) It was a day free of stress and full of quality time - what the holidays are all about - and I loved every second. So let's bring on some Friday love!

Food
. Baking cookies and making candy was a big thing growing up. My mom would spend nearly every weekend of December - heck, November too - preparing the holiday goodies. There were traditional cut-out sugar cookies, spritz cookies, chocolate-covered cherries, buckeyes and (my favorite) chocolates filled with homemade caramel. As soon as I could turn the cookie press, I was helping out and those memories are some of my fondest. I tried to keep up the tradition when I moved out on my own but it was too much. Too much time and too much money. Don't get me wrong - I still make cookies. I just make fewer cookies, and I am more selective with the cookies I make. This year, I made Candy Cane Biscotti, Maple Snickerdoodles and Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies.

Candy Cane Biscotti Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies maplesnickerdoodles21

The favorite? Hands down, the Chai Tea Eggnog Cookies. They were the easiest to make and the best tasting. I may be biased, though; I think chai tea is the best beverage on the planet.

Fitness. Hello, yoga! I have to say that I am super excited about my upcoming 10-day yoga spree. I think I’m going to start it Monday so that I can take advantage of Mark’s winter break and, therefore, my reduced responsibilities when it comes to “make sure Denali doesn’t pee on the floor.” The classes that I more than likely will be taking: Slow Flow, Restorative Yoga, Kriya Yoga, All Levels Yoga and Deep Stretch Yoga. There was one class I really wanted to take that I can’t because of New Year’s Day schedule changes but se la vie. I’ve already discussed with Mark about getting a punch card specifically for that class if I enjoy this experience.

Life. Family, food, presents … need I say more. Oh, and no traveling over the holiday. HALLELUJIAH! Mark and I off to a Christmas Eve service so that we can enjoy a relaxing Christmas morning before to his parents.

Merry Christmas to everyone! What are you doing for the holidays?

1 comment:

  1. Love me some Friday - and this particular Friday has been wonderful. I got to see my cousins and their 2 kids for 2 hours at lunchtime - it had been 2 years since I've seen them. Then we spent the day at my parents house. And tonight, we exchanged our gifts. My husband is an amazing gift buyer. It's been a GREAT Christmas . . . and it's only the Eve. Merry Christmas. Can't wait to hear about your yoga classes - sounds fun!

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