Weekending and Then Some

I’m back to work today after a wonderful Christmas vacation. Really, it was a fabulous week and now that it’s over I have pictures to share with you to illustrate all that fun we had. When last we met I had caught you up through the Monday after Christmas. Here’s what we did over the rest of our time off.

On Tuesday Dale and I went to the movies (Manchester by the Sea and it was a wonderful albeit painful movie) and then out to dinner at The Scarlet Oak. We’ve had a gift card from Jess forever and this was a great time to use it. It was late afternoon and the bar was not busy and it’s a perfectly charming and cozy place. Not to mention that we lucked out and stumbled on $1 oysters at the bar. Woo hoo!

On Wednesday I had an awesome sushi lunch at Tatami with Anne and Jo-Ann. This was a real treat because we never get to do this due to our various work schedules. After lunch Anne and I visited an antique shop for a bit of retail therapy. And that night Dale and I stayed in and hung out by the fire with games and cocktails.

On Thursday Dale and I went shopping for new eyeglasses for him and then we went to The Farmer’s Daughter for a late breakfast which was more like an early lunch by the time we got a table. That bloody mary with bacon infused vodka was a very good start and it was followed by fabulous huevos rancheros. Dale had chicken and waffles and man, those were awesome, too.

On Friday we did a quick trip to the grocery store and then huddled up at home for the rest of the day. We watched a fair amount of TV, finally finishing The Crown, and we also watched Sully. We had delicious crostini made with leftover ham from Christmas Eve and we opened a bottle of champagne since it was New Year’s Eve eve.

This is what happens when I leave Dale alone with my phone. I find crazy selfies that I feel compelled to share with you.

And one last view of the Christmas tree from that same night. The lights we have can be set to colored or clear and we kept them on colored right through Christmas but then on that night I switched them to clear and we left them on that setting until the tree came down on New Year’s Day. I honestly go back and forth as to which I prefer.

New Year’s Eve was a quieter night than originally planned since a few of our guests were sick and forced to stay home. Doreen joined us, though.

And of course, Tom and Anne. We had fun with photo booth props and we played Watch Yo Mouth and laughed. A lot. We also drank champagne and cocktails and had great appetizers.

And finally, the clock struck midnight and Dale and I posed for a quick selfie to wish you all a Happy New Year.

We spent New Year’s Day watching football and hanging out with Doreen, playing Phase 10 and drinking more champagne.

And yesterday, for our final day of vacation, we watched The Rose Parade and then headed to the movies to see La La Land. We finished the day with pizza and beer, one of our perennial favorites.

It was a great stretch of days off. There was plenty of time to celebrate with friends and family, plenty of good food and drink, plenty of reading and knitting and movie watching and – just as I hoped – plenty of hygge.