Christmas in a Northern Town (part one)

The holiday season is in full force here in Boston, despite the 65 degree weather we’ve been having in DECEMBER. Even Texas is seeing colder temps than us (oh, the irony). 

This year, my roommates and I decided to get a tree… which let me say right now, was possibly the best decision we’ve ever made. Not only does it jazz up our living room, but it smells amazing. Literally, I can’t get enough of it. I wish it was appropriate to have one in our house year round. Too ambitious? Maybe. 

We’ve also submerged ourselves in all things “Christmas”. Kicking the holiday cheer off with the Boston tree lighting last week… Which I was told was excellent, although my 5’2” frame posed quite the problem for seeing anything over the crowd of people on the Commons. This was followed a few days later by the “12 Bars of Christmas” pub crawl through Faneuil Hall. Naturally, we threw on the ugliest holiday sweaters that we could find and paired them with name tags that read “Santa Claus” in all the languages we could think of (not many)… as well as the names of the entire cast of Home Alone. Fun fact that we learned in this process: Tim Allen actually says “Topo Gigio” in the movie The Santa Claus, not “Popo”… we’ve been quoting that scene wrong for years. Who knew? Anyways, last year this pub crawl was deemed “the best day of Courtney’s life” (her words), and after this year’s extravaganza… I think we topped it. Starting at 1 pm at the Harp, and ending at Coogans 10 hours later, meant it was a day that we only wish we could remember. Jokes. I remember most of it. Although, there were a few hours in there that got a little foggy – and I think they involved nachos. Classic.

I never said we looked good...

  

This weekend was our holiday cocktail party – hosted by all our favorite boys down the street. They decorated their entire apartment (gag gifts under the Christmas tree and all) and threw on some great Christmas jams (mostly 90's hits), and we had a merry little time. What a great season so far... 

A picture in front of the tree

Merry Christmas

The best part is that’s just the beginning. Christmas is big in my family. Well, all holidays really, but Christmas especially because it’s the one time of year that everyone is home. My mom, the phenomenal chef that she is, will prepare more food than anyone could ever eat… and my dad will break out some pretty incredible (old) vino for us all to drink. Oh, that’s the other thing about this family… we like our wine. All holidays seem to be great excuses to crack open a few bottles that have been around longer than I have (Who am I kidding… we don’t need an excuse). I absolutely cannot wait to go home and enjoy this tradition – and Grace will be home from Spain! What could be better than that?

Cheers for now...