Heading North for the Holiday

Christmas snuck up on me this year - For some reason, I've found myself being forced into the Christmas spirit. With Christmas two days away and all of my shopping done, I've had some time to sit back and think how different Christmas is going to be this year. Frank & I are heading to Long Island in about an hour to spend Christmas with his family. In all honesty, I will get to see a lot of my family, too - My grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - Even Dad & Laura are making the trip up on Friday for our 'Christmas at Grammy's'. Still, with everyone around, I can't help but think how different it's going to be not waking up at my mom's house on Christmas morning. Frank's family has been asking me what I want for dinner, dessert, etc to make me feel more at home - Since we'll be heading out to Winchester next weekend, my mom is planning Christmas dinner on Sunday, so I'll definitely get my fair share of her cooking! I know it sounds corny, but I'm not dreading Christmas away from home as much as I thought I would. My inlaws are great and I'm looking forward to seeing how the DeMarco's celebrate Christmas Eve and Day. The one thing I'm really going to miss is attending Midnight Mass with my mom and Laura. I can't remember when my church started this tradition, but for the past several years, at the end of mass, they turn all of the lights off except the white lights on the Christmas trees and sing Silent Night - It is really one of the most beautiful, serene moments. It always brings a tear to my eyes. It's a good reminder of what the season is about - It's my cue that all of the hustle and rush of the season is over and all that is left is to sit back and enjoy time with family & friends. Yes, this Christmas will be different for me, but it will also be the start of new traditions. Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Office

No, not The Office as in Michael Scott and crew...Our home office! It's so nice to finally have a desk for our computer versus the file cabinet it used to sit on and a bookshelf versus our books resting in piles on the floor. I'm embarrassed by how long we functioned like that! Here are a few pics of the almost finished room. (I say almost finished because I still need to add some things to the walls to truly complete the room.)

Christmas Party-rama

Frank & I don't have too many Christmas parties this year - But most of the parties we do have fell last week. On Wednesday night, I had a small dinner party for one of the contracts I support at work. Thursday night was Frank's company's big party at the Clarendon Ballroom where we both had a little too much fun. ;) Both leading up to the grand finale party of the week...The DeMarco Christmas Party!! Luckily my sister & her boyfriend came early on Saturday to help prep. Frank & John (Laura's BF) spent the day getting the office ready. Frank & I finally ordered furniture - The bookshelf came in about a month ago and the desk arrived just in time for the party. Both pieces had to be assembled (due to the doorway size of the office), so the boys had their work cut out for them. While they were constructing, Laura and I cooked our tails off! I may have gone a tad overboard with my party menu, but I think it was worth it. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves - I know Frank & I certainly did!

Weekend with Mom

Frank's mom came to visit this weekend so we tried to spread the DC Christmas cheer to her. Friday night we went to Pentagon City for dinner and "Miracle on 23rd Street" which didn't turn out to be the grand tree lighting ceremony we had in mind. After driving around to look at Christmas lights and discovering that most of our fellow Arlingtonians are Scrooges, we headed home for an early night. On Saturday we took Mom into DC to check out the National Christmas Tree and White House. No matter how many times I see the tree lit up, I can't get over the beauty. We also did a quick drive-by the Capital Christmas tree which wasn't nearly as impressive. After a stop at home for some dinner (I broke out the crock pot and did a pork tenderloin which didn't turn out too bad), we headed out to Centerville for the Bull Run Festival of Lights. It definitely took us longer to drive out there than it did to navigate through the park and admire the cheesy lights. They had nursery rhyme displays - Please tell me how Jack & The Beanstalk relates to Christmas!? Oh well, I think his mom enjoyed it. To top off the festive weekend, we caught a matinee showing of Four Christmases on Sunday - A pretty good movie, Although next year if we lie and tell Frank's mom that we're volunteering to help save the dying elephants in South Africa at Christmas time, I think she'll be on to us. ;)