Whew, what a busy holiday season it has been for us!
Ever since our very first Christmas together, Jon and I have had our own private gift exchange just for the two of us. Since we're always on the road for Christmas, we usually do our gift exchange a night or two before we leave. It's a nice way for us to be thankful for each other and to celebrate the little family we've made together. The privacy is also valuable since Jon likes to surprise me with frilly panties and other packages that I would prefer not to open in front of my parents and in-laws!
In addition to that completely unexpected package linked above (eek! hee hee!), Jon completely indulged all of my wishes this year. Most of my gifts from him were camera-related and included a much needed Crumpler bag, a fixed 50mm lens (swoon!), a gorgeous camera strap from Etsy and the most darling hostess apron, also from Etsy. I am in love with all of my new presents and was so glad to have my camera items before Christmas so that I could take pictures of our families. Jon adored all of his gifts as well and out of all of them, I think he loved his $17 bottle of Sam Adams Chocolate Bock the most. Go figure! The cool and vintage 1970's Royal Caribbean poster I found and framed for him was a close second though.
I left work early on Christmas Eve so that we could get a head start on the holiday traffic up to Pennsylvania and Jon was supposed to leave his D.C. office early as well, but as luck would have it, he got stuck in his office in a lock-down situation thanks to a suspicious package across the street! Thankfully, everything turned out okay and he was able to leave but it put us an hour behind our travel schedule.
We eventually made it up to Bethlehem, PA and spent the next few days celebrating Christmas with Jon's side of the family. His family does a Secret Santa exchange and one of my favorite presents was actually given to me by my Secret Santa who just so happened to be my father-in-law. After seeing the quirky and whimsical typewriter key bracelet Kimba received for her birthday, I tucked the idea away on my wish-list and finally received my very own which spells * K A T I E *. I adore it! I also received some fabulous items for the kitchen, including The Congressional Club Cookbook (so cool!) and a mini food processor which I was in desperate need of, among many other fabulous gifts.
The spoiling continued at my parent's house over the weekend where Jon and I received a joint tailgating gift, consisting of 2 Penn State folding chairs, a portable blender (amazing!) and tequila. Those things will come in handy for games and Buffet concerts! Do they know us or what? I was thrilled to find a 5½ quart Le Creuset French Oven under the tree for me in the beautiful Caribbean color. I also received another adorable hostess apron from Jessie Steele in the Pink Paris print...so La Petite Chic, oui? My mom and sister each bought me several other Le Creuset pieces in both Caribbean and White so I think I am all set to host a dinner party. Now, if only we had the space!
Speaking of having the space, Jon and I also spent a lot of time house hunting while we were in Maryland. We were pleasantly surprised to find that we can actually afford a new house in the Baltimore-DC metro area, but it's going to take a wee bit of a lifestyle change to do so. I'll fill you guys in on all of that good stuff in my next post. I sincerely hope you all had a lovely Christmas and Hanukkah! I'll try to upload my Christmas pictures on Flickr tonight.
