Day 359

Merry Christmas from the Thomas family! Lots of love to friends and family all over the world... hope Santa was good to everyone :)

Day 358

Happy Christmas Eve! Tonight I worked a bit on polishing my grandma's silver tea set that is terribly tarnished.


Before



After

Day 357

On my way out of the house to go shopping with Maddy and Mary I noticed this lone candy cane hanging where bananas usually live in our home. Clever mom.


After a long day of shopping (and crowds) Mary and I found a little comic relief in these earmuffs... fries anyone?

Day 356

Christmas gifts arrive from my second family in Australia! (Very exciting and the gifts were just beautiful... big thanks!)


And the Thomas family FINALLY reunites!
L-R Dean, Mary, Lauren, Eric, Annie, Lizzie, and Madeleine

Day 355

My own little christmas tree has finally made it out of storage and into my bedroom. I bet it takes me until at least february to put this away again.

Day 354

My bedroom is becoming very seriously disastrous again. A clean will be in order soon.

Day 353

Eric and Lauren do NY's Peek n Peak for a day... it just felt so good to get back on the board and I must admit the snow wasn't too horrible (at least it was fresh!). There were no lines at the lifts and still a little powder. Hey it's no Switzerland but it'll do and it was really nice to just have some sibling bonding time.

Day 352

Obviously there is not much excitement in my life at the moment if I get excited about one of the boys warming and pulling my car up at the end of a long work day... at least it is first class service!

Day 351

A few post-work drinks at the Bucket with the hockey parents (and co-workers). I don't do this much anymore so it's kind of nice to be social.

Day 350

And because of my quick visit of course I was then invited to the preschool christmas party the next day... saying no is obviously not an option. How can you possibly not attend at a 4 year old's request?

Day 349

I happened to be driving past Madison's preschool today on my way to do some Christmas shopping so I thought I would stop by for a quick visit to surprise her at the end of her school day. Being greeted by this little face (Avery) never gets old.

Day 348

Fail. I got tired of taking photos of the snow!

Day 347

Today was some of the worst snow I've seen around here in December in many years. It was a blizzard literally ALL day and since I was stuck at work, midday Christy, Mattie and I decided to go sheet tray sledding out back since no one was in to eat at the restaurant! I suppose that beats working all afternoon even though I didn't really make any money today.

Day 346

My (creative) christmas gifts for the girls I work with at the Bucket... a voucher for one free sidework. When you have no money you have to think outside the box!

Day 345

Our stockings are very special to the entire family (dad's side) because they were made by our grandma in the year that we were born or joined the family (when our parents were married). Now that we keep them in our own homes, they're a nice reminder of her during the holidays.

Day 344

It's Christmas card time! (well this year they're postcards...)


I thought these icicles looked really neat just outside my parents' bathroom window. They're getting huge!

Day 343

He didn't fare so well overnight... poor guy. At least we woke up to sunshine rather than snow clouds today.

Day 342

I felt the need to let my inner child out today and built a snowman on the back deck. He was complete with winter hat, coal eyes and buttons, and carrot nose. Gotta make the most of the snow :)

Day 341

While rummaging through old photos that were given to my dad, I found this little gem of him, my aunt molly and uncle hank circa 1973. I LOVE.

Day 340

Driving through downtown Solon is always a treat when the weather goes bad... for having extremely good snowplows I often wonder why the roads still look like this?

Day 339

We purchased the good ol' Christmas tree today and spent the evening listening to Christmas music while decorating the tree...

Day 338

Yep, leaving work 36 hours later and it's STILL snowing.

Day 337

The snow begins... (and I was excited!)

Day 336

The start of Christmas decorations around the house.

Day 335

No big deal... just the coldest day we've had thus far this winter and our furnace gave out in the house!! P.K. Wadsworth had to make a visit for a fix so we didn't have to walk around wearing 5000 blankets all night.

Day 334

Fail. :(

Day 333

The decorations are up and the lights are lit in Chagrin Falls now. Since I spend 90% of my free time in town it certainly feels like the holiday season now.

Day 332

Bridesmaid/Wedding dress shopping with the Bride-to-be (and the rest of the bridal party). All of the dresses (whether she likes them or not) look fantastic on her!

Day 331

The annual trip to Medina for Christmas in the Colonies (a Christmas craft fair the weekend after Thanksgiving). We go for the taste tests, kettle corn/caramel apples, and the off chance that we might find something we like (in that order!).

Day 330

Black Friday is an absolutely nightmare! I made the mistake of going to the mall today... but sometimes the sales can be worth it!

Day 329

Happy Turkey Day! We went to Auntie Kath and Uncle Don's for Thanksgiving dinner and got to play with the girls (Riley and Ellie) who are quite a humorous and adorable duo.

Day 328

Twas the night before Thanksgiving... and the moon was beautiful! It's fun to play with the moonlight and the leafless trees.

Day 327

Fail. Sad.

Day 326

Mom and I were out shopping for replacement Christmas decorations for the house today and I came across this little guy in a craft shop. Creepy?

Day 325

Harry Potter x2 with my favorite immigrant (haha) Jilmali.

Day 324

Cooler nights mean paler sunsets. I'm enjoying them.

Day 323

Absolutely perfect reference. Well done Stash Style (my favorite Chagrin Falls boutique/antique shop).

Day 322

I'm noticing I shop a lot (no big surprise there). Popped into Anthropologie for a browse and fell in love with just about EVERYTHING. Now all I need is the big paycheck to buy all of it.

Day 321

Midnite Harry Potter screening!! I was too excited to get a really good picture.

Day 320

And the decorations are up at the Bucket now. Bring on the holiday madness!

Day 319

An incredibly filling and delicious dinner of sushi with dad tonight.

Day 318

I wasn't able to take a picture today but got this in a text... my cute little KTB with Brutus while working at the James Cancer Hospital at the OSU Med Center.

Day 317

We went for a bike ride in stow today and halfway through it we were joined by a few herding cows heading home for lunch.

Day 316

Just pointing out that it comes out soon. I CANNOT WAIT!!!

Day 315

It's really hard to see, but there was a low plane flying as I was passing the airport today. I'm always really curious about from where/to where the plane is going to... I fear one day I'm just going to spontaneously end up on one of them!

Day 314

Having a bit of an experimentation with Kelly after work. It's fun to be creative with new cocktails, even when they don't quite work out (like this VERY sweet martini).

Day 313

No worries flock of geese, take all the time you need to cross the road.

Day 312

Simply hanging at the Bucket with Gracie.