…of adding myself to the family photo this year. Never mind the fact that I was watching some antler-clad drunk girl drop F-bombs to the flight crew at the moment this picture was actually taken. Please also ignore the fact that I look like an alcoholic who can’t even put her glass of wine down for a family photo.
Just like I was there
So I would assume that everyone who knows me knows by now my travel debacle on Christmas Eve.
It was heinous, to say the least.
The quick version is that snow in Dallas (yea, Texas. I know. {shaking my head in disgust}) messed up DFW something fierce and my flight from New Orleans to DFW was delayed almost 2 hours, we were in a holding pattern above the airport for another 3, at which point I missed my connection, but got the pleasure of waving to them as they backed away from the gate, then had to wait another 5 hours before I got to take off for Sacramento, where I landed at 2:30am, followed by a drive home to Napa where I hugged my mother and promptly closed my eyes in my old room at 4am. It was special.
But, on the flip side, I did actually get OUT of DFW on Christmas Eve Christmas Day and I didn’t have to fight people off for a portable cot which were being put out for customer use at the airport. I also wasn’t that girl wearing red tights, a red ballet tutu, a red Members-Only jacket, Uggs and felt antlers who was heavily intoxicated and only knew one adjective which began with an F and rhymed with ‘tuck’, only to still have plenty of time in the airport after the bars stopped serving to sober up and sob profusely to ticket agents to let her on the (my) flight. It coulda been worse.
Although I wish I would have seen her and reminded myself of that while I was hovering over Dallas waiting to land, brushing back tears at the thought of missing the holiday with my family, because, yea, that happened too. Another highlight to remember fondly.
In other news, I did get to open presents with my family on Christmas morning and have Christmas dinner at my uncle and aunt’s house and saw some of my family on my dad’s side. And I took pictures. And got a new, updated picture of my family and me. Although I think it was my mom who wore the shutter button down on my camera.
And I also got to have my girls’ lunch at Michael Chiarello’s new restaurant in Yountville called Bottega. It was tasty, to say the least and I very much enjoyed my company and our conversations. I’m pretty sure we could solve the world’s problems if you put us in a table in the corner and just keep bringing us food and coffee. Maybe a little champagne every once in a while too.
Either way, the trip wasn’t for naught. Here’s a smattering of the 10 seconds that I was in town (click to enlarge):
Ted checks out the album
Joe thought we should drink to the fact that I actually made it home
Dad and Kevin getting the main course ready
Joe and I sampling wines at Christmas dinner
The family
Post Christmas party
After a very tasty meal filled with good conversation: (Top row) Cindy, me, Sheri, Mom (Seated) Shawn and Dawn
If you’re looking to see how I spent the other 17 minutes of my trip home, I have posted them on my shutterfly page.
I would post more but a) I wasn’t there long enough to do anything else to post about and b) I’m exhausted from my red eye flight home in which I was in the middle seat both legs. Why do the airlines hate me?
This made my whole dang night:
Merry Christmas! Especially to my brothers who were innocent bystanders in the making of this video.
**UPDATE** In a shocking turn of events the weather has changed again. You can imagine my surprise when, after seeing bright sunshine out of my window, I was greeted with ridiculously cold air and 40-degree temps upon leaving the house this morning. No fake bundling for me.
No Charlie Brown tree here
While my western counterparts have been freezing their keisters off (sidenote: “keisters” is a word not used nearly enough as far as I’m concerned, and I’m bringing it back thanks to the movie Home Alone which I watched the other night and recalled how much I still enjoy the scene in which Kevin tells the pizza delivery kid to ‘keep the change ya filthy animal’.)
I, on the other hand, have been alternating between the air conditioner and the heater. And that’s considered normal according to the good-looking weather man on my local NBC station. Last weekend was frigid and we all got hyped up about potential flurries (they ended up hitting the north shore but not south of the lake, where I am) but this week has been all over.
After a torrential downpour and a classic southern storm that made it impossible for me to sleep until 3:30am on Monday night/Tuesday morning due to insane thunder, I woke up and chose to wear a scarf and boots in order to deal with lake-sized puddles that had formed in the night, only to find myself overheating halfway through the dang day.
At any rate, it hasn’t exactly felt like Christmas around here since it was about 70 Wednesday afternoon. I say this not to rub it in, since I know that it happened to be approximately 22 degrees when Joe drove to work in Napa the other morning, but mostly because I’m actually kinda bummed by it. Don’t get me wrong, I think we all know how I hate cold weather but I can deal with a cold December to get me in the spirit. Regardless of how mother nature was not complying with my request, I set aside last night as my baking night and I also took a few moments to take a few pictures of my (albeit sparse) Christmas decor, as I promised my mother:
Greenery might be in order
Now Mom, I know what you are going to say. You are going to tell me that what I should do is add some garland to my stocking hanger thing (a safe distance from the flames of the candles, of course) or perhaps frame my mantle with some instead? And while I’m at it, adorn them with some red and white checkered bows? Yes, I thought so, but this brings me back to another issue I have with no cold weather in December.
Part of the holiday experience is traipsing into a store after having battled the elements to get there. Friday night, I attempted to buy some sort of Christmas tree stand which would hold my little Colleen-sized tree and as I was walking into TJ Maxx (be proud, Mother) there was a lady coming out in shorts. Shorts. In December. And it wasn’t even odd. But this does not lend itself to holiday shopping in which I get to “shake off the cold” as I walk inside a store.
Sigh.
I forged ahead with my holiday baking and played Christmas tunes while giving thanks for my KitchenAid mixer Joe and Ted got me for Christmas a couple years ago. And while I had to turn the A/C on to cool down the house after using the oven, I did make delicious treats which I will be taking to the warehouse in order to bribe the guys into pulling my orders first on Christmas Eve because, according to Pillsbury, nothing says lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven. I was also inspired to dig up my spritz cookie gun and get to work on some mini green Christmas tree cookies. That might happen this weekend.
I opted for a new recipe last night and while it wasn’t exactly Christmas-y, it did come from my Better Homes and Gardens special edition magazine on Christmas baking so I say it counts. The recipe was for toffee crunch cookies and I was really hoping it would turn out like the cookies at a sandwich shop I go to sometimes called Heavenly Ham. They have the best heath bar cookies ever. Ever. So my task was large.
I’m not 100% satisfied with the results, but I also wouldn’t turn them down either, but I will be adjusting the recipe to use a little less flour in the next batch and then I will decide whether or not it’s a recipe worthy of posting. Here’s how they turned out anyway:
They may not look like much but I would not say no to them
The evening did, however, put me in the Christmas spirit for a little while anyway, and I’ll work on the rest this weekend. Maybe I will bundle up and go shopping Sunday in which the high temperature is supposed to be 71 and fake like it’s 53 degrees just to get into the spirit. It’s not like that would be weird or anything.
I’m getting excited to fly home for Christmas! I had a little prelude to the holidays with our department party at a local establishment.
Bean, me and DO'B are the ladies in red
Me, TCG and JP are guarding that closet behind us
I can’t wait for all the holiday festivies! Time with the fam, the Fancy-Pants Party, getting my Taqueria and Market Mac & Cheese fix….[sigh] the list goes on.
Wish me luck on my airport travel tomorrow!