Christ is Born!

We didn't do a Christmas Card this year. I have not yet fallen into my mother's lateness of card delivery because I haven't yet felt the need to send out cards. BUT, if I did, here it would be!

Merry Christmas Little Blog!

Cheers to Christmas with family and our first as a family of two. I hope your day was filled with gifts and blessings, more unwrapped than wrapped, and that Jesus is evermore present in your lives and hearts. 

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

Big Kid Club

Also Known as the Society of Grownups.

Seemingly forever ago, after Thanksgiving, Shannon and I decided to see what all of the fuss was all about in Brookline. 

Well we came, we saw, we conquered. Sort of. We chose to go to a class, the cheapest option, and it was on a Sunday morning. What better way to start a Sunday than a fabulous cup of coffee, or two? And with friends?!? Better still! 

We went to the class called "You Pour Thing" and learned all about the art and the science behind the pour over brew and how we can neither afford to pay for all the necessary materials nor afford to wake up that much earlier on weekday mornings. But it did affirm our love of small coffee shops and the brew they do. 

And so we graduated from our first masters class ;) take that Tim! And we enter into the slow, slow, slow reality that is accepting that we are adults now. 

The Society tells us not to panic but, well that's a laughable joke. Because I stand here before you saying that I might be married and I might have a job and I might cook for our small family and friends but I, in no way feel like an adult, and when I am with other adults I feel like I am begging them to ignore the fact that I am basically an infant.

But it's good to know that I am not adulting alone. This struggle is shared with the very best friend and there's joy in that struggle and apparently there's also coffee in that struggle so I'm along for the ride. Join me?

Herbert the Tree

Yes, we named our Christmas tree. Yes, he is part of our family. Yes, I am already dreading his imminent death and removal from our apartment. But for a moment, let's celebrate his life, shall we?

The school I work at has a Christmas Tree sale every year. One Friday morning, Christmas pulled up disguised as a truck of trees from Maine. ^^^ The view from my office window.

It looked like Christmas. It smelled like Christmas. It felt like Christmas.

And so, the next morning, Tim and I bundled up, braved the rain and went back to school to pick out our tree. It's not the same as chopping down your own tree but we were okay with it because we won't actually be here for Christmas, we don't live in a rural area, and I wanted to support the sale. We found the largest and fullest tree of the least costly price range and adopted him on the spot. Driving Herbert home was frightening and we were saying memorare's like it was our job because we don't have a rack above our car so he was tied with twine to the handles that you hold onto when getting in and out of the car.

Introducing Herbert to his new home. Tim would like to note that not only was I not helping him carry the tree, I also made him pause, more than once, so I could get a picture... And somehow he still loves me.

We moved him in and let him settle for a few hours and realized that he is a lot more plump than anticipated!

We will call this set, "Rylee attempts to take artsy pictures while Tim complains that she still isn't helping."

Here he is #herbiefullyloaded. Simple lights shining at oddly different tones and a set of all red ornaments from Target for cheap because we are newlyweds and all of our childhood ornaments are with our parents.

And Tim claims his role as patriarch to put the angel on top. It feels and smells like Christmas around here, it will be a little bit sad to leave the comfort of the apartment and this city which is starting to really feel like home, for the holidays.

Note: Some people (Steve) thought it was strange and laughable that we named our tree and refer to it as a he, but I've been known to name my plants in the past, a Christmas Tree is no exception and #HerberttheTree was already taken on Instagram. Many times. And that should prove my point except it's unclear what and to whom I am proving.

Ring-a-Ling, Hear them Ring

Soon it will be Christmas Day. 

Beware: this is a lengthy post of almost all picutres. Scroll at the risk of falling asleep before getting to the end.

Christmas in a big city might be the best reason to be a city-dweller. I'm still trying to decide if I actually mean that but it's definitely top 5. I love the city at Christmas... they just do it so well. 

I've loved DC at Christmas.

I've loved Indianapolis at Christmas.

 I've loved NYC at Christmas.

I've loved Chicago at Christmas.

I've loved Rome at Christmas.

 I've loved Sorrento at Christmas.

 I've loved Paris at Christmas.

Now, I love Boston at Christmas. I'm excited for the rest of the season and the exploring it will bring. But for now, here is Beacon Hill from last weekend:

 

Thanks for a beautiful day of wandering the city, at the most picturesque time, despite the biting cold. Love friends who love Christmas in the city even more than you do.

Giving Thanks with Lazy Hearts

Everyone was so concerned about our being alone for Thanksgiving. Now, it was rough being away from family for the Magee's number 2 favorite holiday ever. But at the same time, it was nice. In a strangely quiet kind of way, but I'm okay with that.

We spent the week cleaning, laundering, shopping, and netflixing (if that isn't a word, I claim credit here and now). When I went back to work after Thanksgiving people kept asking what we did for our first holiday as a married couple and is it bad that in my head I thought, "literally nothing" though aloud I said, "It was nice, bizarre to not be home but so good to spend quality time with Tim. " I guess both are true.

Also true; Mass was the only time we left the house all day. Nothing was really different this year, in that the day was spent on an alternating schedule of cooking, eating, and washing dishes. Repeat. The only thing that was different was that I was at it alone. And unlike every other T-gives in my life, I was not " the rinser." I didn't even have to compete fot the role. Because I had the lucky pleasure of being "the clearer," "the rinser," "the loader," and "the unloader." With the help of a husband of course, but still. I am so used to being a member of a four person team. ((I miss youuuuuuuu seesters!))

Can you see that our turkey is on a turkey platter?!?!?

A few secrets from our day:

1. We opened one of our best wines for the solo occasion.
2. Even though there were only two of us, we still made, and eventually finished, the full recipe for green bean casserole. Serving Size, 8.
3. We didn't eat Thanksgiving Dinner until actually dinner, even though we both grew up in families that ate around 3 or 4, because we could.
4. We Skyped all sorts of family because we missed them a lot and I would trade peaceful/restful for chaotic/Magee/Kenney any day.
5. We watched our first terrible Holiday Hallmark movie of the season after dinner and Tim admitted that he didn't hate it. A win on all counts.
6. I wore the apron long after I was finished cooking because it provided one more layer of warmth in our way too cold house.
7. We ate neither pumpkin nor apple pie and went for a peanut butter pie instead.
8. I ate more candy corn while cooking that meal than I would ever care to admit... it was also slightly stale... She wont be stopped.
9. I woke up the next morning bright (not really because of New England winter...) and early and immediately put away all things fall decor and pulled out our many Nativities and plotted my first of many Dollar Tree Christmas Decor purchasing extravaganza.
10. I cooked our turkey in a crock pot. I know, I know. And I'm owning up to it. It was a smallish turkey breast for just the two of us, we don't have a roasting pan, it said that the turkey would stay juicier that way, and it freed up oven space. You can judge me, that's fine, but I will definitely do this again next year, and the next year, and the year after that, until I find myself in need of cooking a full turkey.

Hope that your thanksgiving was filled with gratitude for the blessings in your life and an appreciation of who put them there! As well as yummy food, terrible Christmas movies, and warmer homes than ours. 

America's Hometown

As I snagged this stellar shot, Tim grumbled his annoyances. But come on friends! There's a husband and the ocean... it must be documented! Just like a husband and the laundromat, and a husband and the refrigerator, and a husband and the grocery store... You can see why he loves being married to me, yes?

Alright ladies and gents, here's for your history lesson. What happened in 1620? Why is the date on a rock? And where is it?

Ba-da-da-dum (trumpets): It was the pilgrims, with the rock, in a fenced in area! (???)

But really, we went down to Plymouth (again!) to see the Thanksgiving Parade where it originated. NYC has nothing on America's Hometown. We saw the rock (again... disappointing) and this time we also got to see the Mayflower II.

My better half mocked me for the previous picture so I took this as retribution. Side note: my closest and oldest friend (who got engaged this weekend!) used to have a shirt that said "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel"... classic sophomores in high school... and I feel like I've changed this motto (more of a chorus at this point) to "Careful, or you'll end up in my blog." I use it as a threat on Tim about once a day, threatening something like that if he doesn't take out the garbage I'll blog it. We haven't been married all that long so help me out: this is healthy marital communication, right?

Steve was figuring out how he was going to talk us into free admission to the Mayflower II and I made Tim snag this picture. As with all things blog-y, Steve eyed his disapproval at the amount of pictures and the location... but come on, this one near the gate and WARNING DO NOT ENTER sign just screamed SCENIC.

Our fearless leader, again with the disapproval. And fair enough because one of the pictures I put up of him before on the blog has been meme'd and is currently trolling an email chain. And still, I cannot be stopped. We learned about the boat from a very enthusiastic employee, marveled at how tiny it the living quarters were, and how lucky we are that they made it to America.

We left the ship in our gratitude to the Plimouth Pilgrims full of festive Thanksgiving patriotism and ready for America's Parade.

It was lovely. Complete with singing and dancing and bands and animals and bizarre floats and everything you've come to expect. Though I must say, surprising number of Militia reenactors. And despite Tim's best efforts to warn me, I was always caught off guard when they would fire a musket salute in front of the Grand Stand.

We were so lucky to have been invited down by Steve's family. On top of the parade, they also invited us back to their house for lunch which was so wonderful. Tim and I didn't go home for Thanksgiving so we felt as though we got a little bit of the big family chaos and great food and great company experience, America's Hometown with America's kindest family. For my mothers sake I should note, of course, that it was not the same and it could never come close to the chaos the Magee's can bring but it was comforting to has some small semblance.

And then move on and plot the arrival of our Christmas festivities!