twas a merry merry christmas

And I'm back.  I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!  I had a great Christmas and hope you did as well.  There's nothing quite like getting to hang out at home with your parents and their new dog Ginger (!!!) and getting to see friends that you no longer get to see everyday.  It's even better when you're me and being in North Carolina makes you a million times happier than being in Connecticut does.  A week in NC definitely made me feel more like me than I have in quite some time.  Plus, 2011 has some promising plans...

Anyways, time for some Christmas pictures!  More specifically, pictures of the gifts that I loved - both the ones I gave and the ones I received.  I would put a family picture first because that was the best gift of all (awwww), but it wasn't until we were standing outside the security line at the airport on Thursday that we realized we hadn't taken one single picture of the three (four with Ginger) of us.  Oops.

To my mom and dad: XM radio because these two really like their music.  A lot.  And because now my dad can listen to Braves games and UNC games when they aren't on TV.  Plus the screen is big enough that it's parent's-eyes friendly.  Perfect!

To my mom: hey look, a family picture!  I had this picture turned into a 16x20 photo canvas (via canvaspop with a coupon from Living Social).  The canvas quality is awesome.  Oh, and there was an adorable picture of me and mom when I was little, but since she attacked it with designer scissors it wasn't usable.  Good thing the picture above survived.  PS check out my Dad's mullet.  Hahaha.

To my dad: some warm cozy Rockport moccasin slippers (found at Marshalls!) because he had old school, high top, green and black plaid flannel slippers that are older than me.  I figure after 23+ years, it was more than acceptable to introduce a new pair of slippers to the rotation.

To me from mom and dad: a mouse sander! My tool box just gets cooler and cooler every year.  That yellow thing in the back?  A perfect beginning sewing machine.  Not pictured?  A hand-me-down drill from my dad.  So many awesome toys.

To me from Will: an awesome adjustable easel that folds up into a nice little carrying case!  And it even has a drawer that can hold paints and brushes while I'm painting.  I didn't even know easels could have drawers! Oh, and it came with one of those paint pallets that you can hold while painting, so I'm totally going to Bob Ross it up. (Will had never heard of Bob Ross, so when I told him that I had to follow it up and tell him about painting "happy trees" in a super soft and soothing voice).

To Will: I was unbelievably excited for Will to open this Fathead up because a) I was pretty positive he was going to flip out and b) I didn't take it out of the box when it arrived for fear that I would never be able to get it back in the box.  It's even better than I imagined and Will loves loves loves it.  Yes, it is 8 feet long and yes, it came with bonus Fatheads (on Will's end).  Oh PS, say hi to our roommate Tom!

Early birthday present from mom and dad: My birthday is in early February, but they gave this to me early because they started to get nervous that I was going to go out and buy this guy myself after I didn't get it for Christmas. I can't wait to go to my next Braves game!

Again, I hope you had a great holiday and had time to relax, hang out with friends and family, and play with your new goodies too!