Last of the Holiday Pictures and Happenings

In between Christmas and New Year's we still kept the holiday spirit going.

December 29th we were invited to a friend's annual 'Holiday Halftime Party'.

It fell on a Sunday evening and Brad had to work the next day.

I had a sitter booked and everything but he just wasn't into going and making a night of it.

So, I went alone.

It's a lot of media people and city leaders so I really enjoy it.

It reconnects me with all the people from my days in news.

Lynn is a long time friend of mine from my days at Fox Charlotte.

She use to be the Mayor Pro Tem here in Charlotte and we use to have her on the air all the time.

This year she had electrical issues the day before the party and her tree lights wouldn't work.

No electrician was available to help out intime.

Still pretty if you ask me.

Everything was gorgeous as usual.

She had a local restaurant cater it and I was in heaven with all the yummy food.

Even soft pretzels!

The craziest story out of the party?

Lynn said at the end a woman, who is pretty high up politically here in town, actually helped herself to the leftovers and had the staff box them up for her so she could take them home for her party the next day.

Who does that???????

I was floored.

Tacky.Rude.All of the Above.

When I worked at Fox Charlotte, American Idol was still in its baby stage.

We had a contest on my show(I was the producer NOT the host), the EDGE where we sent a viewer to Hollywood to be on the red carpet.

Well, low and behold, this was the winner some 9-years ago.

It had been a long time since I had seen her.

Charlotte Observer peeps Mark Washburn and Tonya Jameson with Lynn.

Me and Mark.

He's the media columnist.

And, the current Mayor of Charlotte.

He flew in from the Panthers game in Atlanta, where we beat the Falcons, and came straight to the party.

I chatted with him about how exciting sports are in Charlotte right now.

The Bobcats will soon be the Hornets again, the Panthers are in the playoffs and the Knights will soon be playing Uptown!!!
He is stoked to say the least.

The next day I was still off work and decided to bring Shelby Uptown to see the Bearstein Bears Orchestra before they packed up for the season.
(plus Brad was working so it gave us a chance to lunch with him and her to meet all my co-workers)

These bears are always a huge hit here in Charlotte.

We tried getting up here earlier in the holiday season but it never worked out.

Can you believe we saw the last show before they went on hiatus until next December?

Great timing.

She wasn't as interested as I would have thought.

She was more interested in walking and running around the display than anything.

Check out the video.

I plan on tearing down Christmas tomorrow.

Wish me luck! 

Brad might blow a gasket with everything we have to store in the attic this year!! 

Christmas Day 2013

Christmas Day 2013.

Last year Shelby spent the morning in her swing snoozing for the most part.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS YEAR....

Christmas morning was spent at our downstairs, 'pink' tree aka Shelby's tree.

We decided to do this for 3 reasons.

#1. More room and it doesn't bleed over into our upstairs living room space.

#2. Keeps us from having to carry gift upstairs.

#3. Keeps us from having to carry trash and gifts downstairs.

It was perfection to say the least.

We will be doing this again.

Upstairs all of our stockings still hung with care.

Traditional breakfast casserole.

I've been making this since Brad and I started spending Christmas together.

Stockings!

Mr. Buddy is all about Christmas and has always been as into it as everyone else!

Daddy walked Shelby down to the tree to show her what Santa brought.

It included that big growth ruler that Brad made her for Christmas!

Along with a chair from my Mom and Dad!

And, of course, much more.

We all received way too much.

My big gift was a KitchenAid Mixer!

Look how excited Shelby is ;)

There's nothing like the joy of Christmas morning.

I can't wait for the next few years to come.

Exciting indeed.

After Shelby's nap we headed out to Brad's brother's house for gifts and an early dinner.

 Shelby got more toys including this baby and stroller.

She loves them.

 Nephew and niece made out nicely as well.

 Attempt at a cousin picture never pans out.

I should quit trying.

HA!

 One of our gifts from my in-laws.

 Soon after opening gifts, Shelby was tackled by puppy Ellie.

From there she was pretty much out for the count for an hour or so.

Not a happy camper.

 My parents joined us all for dinner.

Nice as always for them to include them.

And, that's Christmas!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Here's to a prosperous New Year!

Christmas Eve Dinner at Home 2013

As I mentioned in my previous post, we enjoyed Christmas Eve at home after church.

My parents always spend the holiday with us.

My brother and his family live in South Louisiana and his kids are in their 20's so they've been coming her for the last few years.

 Brad's family attends another church service that is on the other end of town and starts at 7pm.

That's Shelby's bedtime.

We prefer to keep on schedule and go to our home church.

So, dinner was just the 5 of us(4 since Shelby was in bed).

 Before putting her to bed Brad tracked to see where Santa was with Shelby.

He was in Africa at the time.

As Shelby gets older, I can't wait to really play up Christmas with all kinds of traditions.

It will be so fun!

 Then meal time.

Brad made his family recipe of roasted red pepper pasta with grilled chicken.

 This is a very special meal for him to make and always a joy for me to enjoy!

This would be my parents first time to have it.

 Mr. Buddy, would NOT be enjoying any pasta.

He's getting thrown so much food from Shelby these days that he ends up getting sick in our bedroom on a weekly basis.

He just doesn't have the stomach for it.

 Slide show running with Christmas tunes.

 More cooking and cocktails.

Heavy cream sauce.

 Pasta..

 The finished product.

 DELICIOUS!!!!!!