Our non-traditional Christmas!

We have had a really nice day today, just our little family (Bryan, Pilgrim, and me)! We never left the house! After some homemade orange cinnamon rolls reheated from yesterday and a latte,

we watched a couple episodes of Modern Family, ate a grapefruit, played our new board game (Ticket to Ride), and then made crawfish inside-out sushi rolls with avocado, green pepper, and a Crystal hot sauce mayo! Black sesame seeds added a little crunch, and it was pretty close to perfection! We were so pleased that it worked - we're going to make more tomorrow!

Then we watched that light-hearted family movie (sarcasm), In Bruges, while a perfectly happy kitty slept in my lap, and I did a little hand quilting! Not exactly an uplifting movie per se, but Bryan liked it. Bryan is prepping some fingerling potatoes for roasting since I'm providing a warm lap for our sweet girl, and we'll have leftover braised short ribs, sautéed mushrooms, potatoes, and maybe a delicious leftover whole wheat roll (my best batch ever) in a bit for dinner! We had a piece of leftover mocha cake for our mid-movie snack, so dessert is already eaten (so good)! Perhaps another movie or some reading tonight! Low key day - exactly what I needed!

We said we weren't really exchanging gifts, but Bryan got me an awesome apron with my family tartan and seal on it, Ticket to Ride, and 2 exciting cookbooks - The Commander's Palace Cookbook (a restaurant in New Orleans that we loved on our trip in May) and "The Best Make Ahead Recipe" from Cook's Illustrated. Lots of inspiration and great ideas...can't wait to get cooking!

Becky wrote a great post about the gift-giving to the family that I wrote about a few days ago. It made me so happy to do something nice for someone really in need. Everyone in my family (both immediate and extended) is doing pretty well, so it can be a little hard this time of year to think of a gift that they want but don't already have...part of why I'm so behind on gift shopping (not too mention making presents!). It feels so good to be a tiny part of helping to make someone else's life just a little better...someone who doesn't already have more than they need (myself included).

I'm so thankful to have a loving partner, a wonderful family, a sweet little snuggle bug who loves sitting on me, very good friends, a roof over my head and delicious food to eat every day, and money for luxuries like fabric, thread, and a sewing machine! I'm so fortunate, and I realize that!

I'm also thankful for my new community through the Interwebs! I love getting to know you and your families, seeing what you are working on, being inspired, and knowing that I'm not alone in my love of creating beautiful, functional art! It's been really fun so far, and I'm looking forward to lots more sharing in 2012!

Thanks, and I hope you are having a joyful holiday season!