Last Thursday I journeyed back to the East Coast for some
fun holiday family time! I unfortunately
took the trip alone, as John didn’t have enough vacation days saved up for the
trip, so early Thursday afternoon we said our goodbyes as he dropped me off at
the airport.
I arrived in NYC late Thursday night and was picked up by my
family who I couldn’t wait to see! We
enjoyed the ride back from the airport together, but I fell asleep shortly
after arriving back home, tired from my long day of travel.
I woke up on Friday ready to go, and my mom and I started
out the day by bringing Boots to the vet for a check-up and travel
approval. Boots would be heading back to
San Diego with me on Christmas Eve, so we needed to ensure that he was of good
health and up to date on his shots – and I needed a sedative so he wouldn’t
wail during the entire plane flight! The
vet appointment went well, and aside from gaining a pound while staying with
Grandma (thanks a lot mom!), he was good to go! :)
I headed to Blu Salon after the vet appointment, and was
reuinited with my Nouna (godmother) and Yiayia (grandmother). After many hugs and a few happy tears,
catching up with all the girls I used to work with, and eating some holiday
treats, Nouna gave me a fabulous new Hair ‘do.
After my haircut, Yiayia and I made our way to lunch and then met up
with Papou (grandpa) for a visit. We had
a great time enjoying each others company over our meal.
Friday night was Chris’ work Christmas party, where the
whole family gathered for an exciting night of festivities. The food was amazing, the drinks were
flowing, and the cameras were snapping memories of our fun night together. All of the kids were there except for Matt,
who couldn’t make it at the last minute.
Saturday was another busy day, which started off with Dan
and I enjoying some lunch at my dad’s house.
After enjoying some delicious filet mignon, we exchanged gifts and hung
out for a bit before it was time to move on to the next activity.
Saturday evening, my family, Yiayia and Papou, and Nouna,
all joined Chris and the gang at the Labarbiera household for a festive
“Christmas Eve” celebration. Since I
wasn’t going to be in NJ on actual Christmas Eve, they made a slight adjustment
and we celebrated all together a few nights early. In similar fashion to years past, Matt
prepared a scrumptious dinner for all of us to enjoy, and after sufficiently
stuffing ourselves, we cozied up for some present opening.
Sunday started off with church with the fam, and afterwards I
was excited for the arrival of my friends – Michelle and Therese. We’ve been friends since middle school, and
every time I go home, we try and get together at least once. This trip was no exception, and we spent
Sunday afternoon laughing, hugging, sharing stories, and enjoying my mom’s
yummy lasagna that she made us for dinner.
After Michelle and Therese left, the rest of Sunday night
was spent hanging out with my family, and at about 10:00PM, we took an
impromptu drive around the town to check out everyone’s Christmas lights and
decorations. It was so much fun to see
all the decorations, especially since John and I haven’t seen that many in San
Diego. Since we live downtown, the only
decorations we’ve really seen have been Christmas trees in people’s apartment
windows!
Monday was my last day in New Jersey, so I wanted to spend
every minute of it with my sister, Christina, who had been working a lot over
the weekend. We enjoyed breakfast
together and then made our way to the craziness of NJ malls – I don’t know how
my mom and sister convinced me it would be a good idea. Needless to say, we spent much more time
outside the mall in the parking lot looking for a spot, than we did inside once
we finally found one! ;)
After our crazed mall visit, I packed up my suitcase and
waited for Yiayia, Papou, and Nouna to arrive for my goodbye dinner. It was another delicious meal – mousaka
prepped by Yiayia – one of my favorite meals of all time! I had a wonderful time with my family and of
course, saying goodbye was just as hard as it always is. Many tears were shed and we spent about an
hour hugging, crying, and saying our sad goodbyes.
Christmas Eve I was up at the butt-crack of dawn for my 7:30
flight, and was able to catch Boots and get him in his crate. Five minutes into the drive to the airport,
though, he escaped his crate (that tricky little bastard!) and we had to
jerry-rig it so he wouldn’t escape again in the airport!
After two flights, a layover, and 12 hours of travel with a
cat, I finally arrived in San Diego and was greeted by a smiling John wearing
shorts and flip-flops, a much different outfit than those I had been wearing in
New Jersey! :) Once we arrived home, I helped Boots to settle in, unpacked my
luggage, and then made a delicious Christmas Eve dinner for John and I to
share. We made four pounds of enormous
clams (4 lbs. ended up being 21 massive clams!) and Yiayia’s dill rice
recipe. It was incredibly delicious and
we went to bed full and happy.
Santa gave us San Diegans a beautiful Christmas, with
sunshine and temperatures reaching 77 degrees!
John and I started off his birthday with some French toast that I
prepared with homemade maple whipped cream.
It was really freakin’ good. We
followed breakfast with a birthday and Christmas gift exchange, and debated
what to do with the rest of our day. We
settled on a walk on the beach – I mean, how could we not on such a gorgeous
day!? And I obviously wanted the
pictures as proof that it was warm enough for the beach on Christmas!
The beach was actually PACKED when we arrived; John and I
were surprised to see kids playing in the water, women tanning on the beach,
and individuals exercising on the sand.
We took a long walk down Mission Beach, enjoying the sunshine and each
others company. It was simply gorgeous.
For John’s birthday dinner he chose to have steak, so I
prepared grilled steak with a garlic butter sauce, broccoli casserole, and
garlic parmesan steak fries. We enjoyed
the delectable meal and followed eating with a viewing of a Christmas classic-
Elf. It was the first Christmas and
John’s Birthday that John and I have been able to spend the whole day
together. It was so fun to spend our
first Christmas together in sunny San Diego!
Tonight, John’s parents and brother are arriving for a
visit, and they’ll be here until New Years Day.
We are so excited to see them and are looking forward to the weekend so
we can show them all of our favorite spots in San Diego!
