It's December 27. How was your Christmas? How is hanukkah going so far?

There have been years where I've dreaded the holidays and been grateful for them to be over. This year, thanks to my family coming to my home in Seattle and the Advent project, I was excited, mostly prepared, and truly enjoyed Christmas. We visited restaurants, prepared and enjoyed home cooked meals, reheated leftovers, snuck snacks, and so on...

​Today we took my parents to the airport and I was ready for a cool, refreshing, and healthy smoothie. I knew I had a great idea, then I took it to the next level by adding a double shot of espresso! 

Merry Christmas! It's such a day for celebration. Yesterday we had a great day in Seattle with my family.

We started with homemade breakfast: fried egg and cheese sandwiches with hummus, roasted garlic sweet potatoes, and sautéed zucchini, spinach, and tomatoes.

We're so close now, friends! Yesterday we went shopping at Pike Place Market and to a show.

I'd never been to Pike Place so close to Christmas before and it's even more charming than usual. The market was heavily crowded with people, locals and tourists alike, from what I can tell. The holiday bouquets were beautiful!

Last night we threw an ugly sweater party. Most of guests heeded the dress code, a few didn't, and one dressed as Santa!

Yesterday we reunited with family! My parents arrived and we got right to the shopping, cooking, eating, and drinking. My friend Holly joined us for dinner and we had my Mom's Italian wedding soup, which I requested.