Looking Back (Tomorrow Is Another Day...)

So, I'm finally going to close the book on 2008 around here and get the rest of December all wrapped up in a neat little bow. It was kind of a crazy month for me and the highlights were definitely the panic inducing snowfall we had just prior to winter break, my birthday, and those other two big December holidays.

The Snow

Unfortunately, I have hardly any photographic evidence of any of these big events as Colby has developed the annoying habit of downloading all of our pictures onto his computer, then deleting them off of the camera before I can get them. He assures me that it's easy peasy to transfer them onto my computer, but so far that's all talk and no action. We ended up getting about 8 or 9 inches of snow in our area, and I have never in all of my life seen a city shut down like ours did. Colby still braved Mother Nature and went to work every day, but the schools shut down on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday--before "the big storm" even hit. Jack and Ellie totally loved romping in and chowing down on the freshly fallen snow, and I'm willing to admit that it was kind of pretty. However, I am still not a fan of the slipping and sliding across roads and I never realized how many damn hills there are around here until they all turned into mini-ski slopes.

The Birthday
My birthday was, in a word, AWESOME! Colby had a pretty steep learning curve when it came to my expectations for birthday celebrations, but he picked up on things after last year and when I woke up, my birthday was already in full swing. I crawled out of bed to find him making muffins and french toast, a chocolate cake already baked and frosted, hundreds of balloons scattered around the house, and I even got a fancy Birthday Girl badge to wear. The morning was pretty relaxing, the snow fell softly throughout the day, and that evening we made the trek into Seattle for dinner in the Market and the Pacific Northwest performance of The Nutcracker. Dinner was absolutely delicious and we had a prime table overlooking a gorgeous view of the Pike Market. The snow continued to fall as we ate and then headed over to the theater, and The Nutcracker was incredible.

Funny story: I recognized the design of the Nutcracker painted on the curtain before the ballet began, and upon reading the bio of the set and costume designer, realized that he was the man who illustrated Where the Wild Things Are, and upon receiving praise for his take on the Nutcracker in the 80's, he published an illustrated version of The Nutcracker story. Turns out, I just so happened to own that book when I was a little girl and read it yearly, dreaming of being Clara with visions of Nutcrackers dancing in my head!

When we left the performance, we were surprised to see that the snow had begun coming down much harder and the accumulation had already increased by a few inches from the time the performance began and the drive home was more than a little scary at times. But we survived it, and all in all, it was a phenomenal beginning to my 26th year!

Favorite gifts included tickets from Colby to go see Brit Brit perform on April 9th at the Tacoma Dome, a Nordstrom gift certificate that I put toward the brown leather jacket on my wish list, and a fantastic page-a-day calendar with a picture of a different fabulous shoe each day!

My birthday tea was supposed to take place the next day, but ended up being postponed to the following Sunday because of the snow. I was thrilled that some of my gal pals were able to take time away from holiday plans and brave the still rather nasty weather to make it to the Meeker Mansion, and we enjoyed our ladylike tea and a tour of the mansion. I don't have any pictures of the tea, but I do have to show you the fabulous Mad Men dress that I wore for the event.

It makes me feel just like Betty Draper. Except without all of the crazy and the alcohol/cigarette dependency...

The Holidays
We spent Christmas Eve at Lori's house, eating good food, spending time with great people, and playing a down and dirty game of Scene It? Squabble, boys versus girls. I always love spending time with Lori and her family because they always do such a great job of making sure that we feel included and like we really are a part of the family. Christmas morning we woke up and did our standard stockings, breakfast, then presents routine. It was a totally relaxing day spent with the DVD player going and amazing food just appearing before me from time to time when Chef Colby was inspired. We got some great deals at the seafood counter on Christmas Eve, so throughout the day our entrees consisted of shrimp, crab cakes, and salmon. Yummo!

I gave Colby Cranium WOW! and a new lens for his camera that he's been playing with ever since, so I think those gifts went over well. Highlights of my Christmas goodies included all three seasons of Arrested Development (How had I never seen this show? HILARIOUS!!) and my spiffy new Marc Jacobs watch (also on my wish list), both from Colby, some beautiful Banana Republic tops from my parents, and a gorgeous Manolo Blahnik coffee table book from one of my favorite girls, Shani. We were totally spoiled on Christmas morning, and even though we missed being away from our families, it was still a wonderful day.

New Year's Eve was much quieter than last year's craziness. We went to dinner at a yummy pizzeria and then saw Marley & Me where I proceeded to sob my freaking eyes out. I wasn't the least bit surprised since I had a pretty identical reaction to the book, but I thought I might be able to retain some semblance of composure. Yeah. No. New Year's Day we spent rooted to the couch while I subjected Colby to hour after hour of The Twilight Zone marathon on SciFi.

And that pretty much wraps up December and my musings on 2008. I'm ready to look forward to the future and have a lot to say about 2009, but right now the dogs are crying and Gossip Girl awaits, so the new year is just going to have to wait around for another day or so until I'm ready to tackle all of those thoughts. Ciao for now!

Comments

Happy belated birthday! And I totally agree on Arrested Development--most underrated show of ALL TIME. Why did it have to end so tragically early?

Posted by: Cat | January 06, 2009 at 04:47 PM

That guy on the TV appears to be checking you out.

Posted by: Jay | January 06, 2009 at 07:21 PM

okay one, love that dress. and two, i love love love the nutcracker and love that you had dreams of being clara too :)

Posted by: katelin | January 07, 2009 at 02:01 AM

You are so cute -- I love your Mad Men outfit. I'm glad you had a great birthday and holiday season. I was an addict of Arrested Development when it was on TV, and now they're making a movie (sans Michael Cera, but I can live with that).

Posted by: Becky | January 07, 2009 at 02:39 AM

I'm LOVING your Mad Men dress! And I think it's totally adorable that Colby was on the ball before you even woke up on your birthday -- that's always a good thing!

It sounds like y'all have been having a great time. Minus all that crazy snowfall. I hope the new year is going fabulously, as well!

Posted by: E.P. | January 07, 2009 at 04:13 AM

Happy belated birthday. you look crazy cute in that outfit!

Posted by: Jessica | January 07, 2009 at 04:23 AM

What a coincidence! I had crabcakes on Christmas Eve too! My sister in law started a tradition last year that each Christmas Eve would be the night of CECC (christmas eve crab cakes, that is). I missed out on the fun last year (hubby and I spend every other Christmas with his family) but this year - I was able to partake.

Yum. They were delicous.

And since this is already rambling, let me just say that Gossip Girl is stressing me out! Why, oh why can't at least ONE of them be happy? And WHERE is Nate?! :)

Posted by: Becky | January 07, 2009 at 04:56 AM