Christmas 2009 Recap!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas (or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Festivus!) When you see what Mr Pug got me, you'll realize why I have been MIA in the blogosphere :)

I took off Monday and Tuesday from work and STILL barely put a dent in my reader. We had a wonderful holiday! We went to Mr P's mom's for Christmas Eve. Her partner's uncle died that day, which was both sad and a blessing, as he had been suffering for far too long. Everyone was able to bring holiday cheer though, and turn the day around. Remember how crap-tastical the last holiday at her house was? It was nothing like that. We had a huge falling out with his brother A at Thanksgiving, and I previously had some issues with FSIL. I am happy to report that all issues are behind us and everyone got along! It was so great to eat delicious food (chicken parm, courtesy of FBIL S, with tons of sides,) drink a few beers, and play Beatles Rock Band! His moms got me a watch and got Mr P satellite radio for his car! The kids all pitched in to get FMIL's partner satellite radio as well, and Mr P and I got his mom an address book and new perfume.

The next day we went to Mr P's aunt's house. We were overjoyed to see that his grandma was healthy enough to attend! Mr P, his siblings and I all gave his dad and step-mom a gift certificate for a couple's massage. Mr P and I also made his aunt chocolate covered potato chips. She said a while ago that if they existed, she'd probably like them. Well guess what- she did! They got us wonderful wines and beer to enjoy.

Oh and how could I forget... before going to Mr P's aunt's house, I was lucky enough to wish my sisters, mom, and mom's boyfriend a Merry Christmas! We all have Macs (although mine still has the screen damage from it's tumble) and video chatted so I could see them open their presents. Here I "am" with sister M and sister R. Sister M might kill me for this...

I sent them stuff from NY&Co- purses and scarves for my sisters, and a scarves and a shawl for my mom. I also sent my sisters the gifts I FORGOT to send them last year. Whoops. Their gifts are still in the mail to me... possible payback for last year? I wouldn't blame 'em!

Mr P and I knew what we got each other long before Christmas, because we cannot keep our mouths shut. (This is a lifelong struggle for me - I once told my mom I got her a present, couldn't tell her what it was ... but they go on your ears.) We were good and waited until Christmas to open them. We just get so excited when we find gifts for one another that we ruin the surprise. Next year we have instituted no talking in December for that reason. (Well... maybe.) Mr P's big gift was a Blu-Ray player. I will vouch that it was worth it's weight in gold as far as DVD quality goes. If you buy one, make sure you buy a new HDMI cord or it won't work. We couldn't get one on Christmas but used the one we use for the Xbox and were wowed by the quality of The Hangover, even though it wasn't a Blu-Ray disc. Definitely a Blu-Ray fan now!

He also received a grill pan / panini maker from me. I take issue with that name because panini is PLURAL. Like, I had so many paninis for lunch. One "panini" would be a panino or panina depending. But I digress.

It was wonderful how our big gifts went together. Mr Pug got me something that stirs the Jersey inside of me.... a box set of ALL the Sopranos seasons on DVD!!!!!!!!!!

That, dear friends, is where I have been for the four days post Christmas. We are already through season 2. Each season has 4 discs. That's SICK. I wasn't allowed to watch the Sopranos growing up (we didn't have HBO and I wasn't even allowed to watch VH1 or MTV) but I did frequently see them filming in my town. Our house even had an agent growing up but we never got work (once we were ALMOST the site of an Eggo commercial, but it wasn't meant to be.) Seeing the DVDs now, it's cool to sometimes know exactly where they're filming, or hear them mention a place I know. "We can go to the Friendly's down on Bloomfield Ave!" BOOM. I frequented there in Middle School after dances. It's pretty awesome, seasons 1 & 2 have been like a time capsule back to Jersey when I was in middle or high school. I'm shamelessly addicted. And I might start a blog about how much I love the Sopranos because let's face it I'm obsessed. Whoever has seen seasons 1 & 2 and wants to chat about them let me know. I'M AVAILABLE.

I really need to cut to the chase with these stupid long paragraphs, don't I!?

Ok well Mr Pug was a crafty sneaky man and got me another big gift for his other gift. Of course he told me about it the day he bought it, but he was sneaky to be so spendy. This beautiful pearl pendant necklace is now mine:

Yea you can't really see it. It's a real pearl (MY FIRST!) in a hand-made IN NEPAL silver setting. I am in love. So classic, but different and a tiny bit funky. He did a really good job. I am modeling it in bad lighting thus the pukey-lime-ness of my actually more subdued-green sweater. Also note the great scarf my Secret Santa (FBIL S) got me!

Well that's enough Christmas news to last a year! I have some exciting non-holiday things to post about that are developing, so stay tuned. They include:

1. I may or may not be on a radio commercial? And paid to do it? Yea I'm not kidding. I will share more details when I get them!

2. I had a... well... an "experience" with my invites. Anyone who follows me on twitter knows about it. I might have had an embarrassing twitter meltdown. They've been redesigned (by me this time- again, long story) and reordered. I will share this whole story when I have a bottle of wine and a few hours.

Also... who knows anyone who got engaged over the holiday? I know of two but they're not people I'm even close enough with to congratulate on facebook. So really, none :( BUT if you have a close friend who got engaged, check out my picks on Weddzilla for the Top 3 Best Gifts to give them this year! (Basically, things I want or have, duh.)