Christmas in Chicago

For those of you who are on "regular time," Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! (For those of you who, like me, have to work today, Happy Monday!) For those of you still with me on "blog time," we last left off on Merry Christmas! :)

After returning from London, we hosted a post-Christmas celebration with my family in Chicago. Our tree was still up and looking just as Christmas-y as the day we decorated it, because it is a fake. (As an aside, I know a lot of people are totally anti-fake, and I love the look and smell of a real tree. BUT we were set to be out of town for two whole weeks over the holiday season, and the risks of serious mess and/or fire were risks we were not willing to take. PLUS the fake tree was got is beautiful with real-looking branches at the ends. AND it was pre-lit, which means my forearms and I are pretty much in love with it.)


See the real-looking curvature of the needles? I <3 our fake tree!


Everyone did a lovely job wrapping this year.


And most of all, we just enjoyed being together. Or at least I did.


It's possible Patrick enjoyed the cool new sunglasses that Chris got for him more than being together, though I'm sure he enjoyed the togetherness as well.


My mom definitely enjoyed the togetherness. And posing with her present (she's so good at it!). Though she's a little jealous of how totally awesome I am at wrapping gifts. Of course, she taught me everything I know...


Next time: we make some progress toward 2009 in Florida...