Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Ahhh, Christams - jam packed with festive fun!  Christmas Eve Eve has become a new pub crawl tradition with friends so we went to dinner at Joey's house and then headed out to Queen Anne.  The next day was followed by an early morning drive to Moses Lake for Christmas Eve with the Anderson family.  There was quite a bit of snow (well compared to a balmy 50 degrees in Seattle) and our Bernese mountain dog LOVED the white stuff!  We had a great time seeing my family but it was a short trip as we headed back over the pass on Christmas day for the annual dinner with Tony's family.  As always it was so fun to see the kids rip open their presents, gorge ourselves with more food and my favorite part -the heated Christmas ornament exchange! We headed home with tons of leftovers and too many presents...our families are too generous! 

The day after Christmas we had family over to our house for a quick brunch and we were left with the rest of the day to enjoy lounging around and recovering from our food hangover.  We are so very blessed to have such great family and friends in our lives.  Wishing you all a happy holiday season and best wishes in 2011!!

 Sofie and our real tree - they just smell so good!

 My mom's table for Christmas - so Martha!

Sofie in the snow in Moses Lake



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

WOW!  Has it really been 2 months since there has been a new post?  I'm sure you all understand the crazy times associated with the holiday season.  That and the fact that I'm now working at Starbucks headquarters (loving it!!) has made for even less down time to blog.

So without further ado, here is what we have been up to lately.  For starters, we had a fantastic Thanksgiving in Seattle with Tony's family and dessert with mine.  The day after Thanksgiving,  Tony and I headed to Vancouver, BC for an NHL game.  We watched the Canucks vs. Sharks and had a blast up in Canada on our little get away. 

The next weekend Tony was off to Pullman for Apple  Cup to cheer on his Cougs while I stayed in Seattle to cheer on the Zags in Battle in Seattle.  Although neither of our teams won, we still had a blast at each event with friends and family.

The weekend after our sporting events I headed back to Boston and Philadelphia to visit Jen and Jen.  Jen M. and I had a great time doing what we do best - shopping and dinking around Boston.  We went to our favorite Italian restaurant in the North End and it was so great to catch up!  Then I met up with Jen H. and our friend Courtney from Portland to see the sites in Philly.  What an amazing city and we truly had a great trip!  Spent a day seeing the historical sites, some time shopping and enjoying some great eats at a few BYOBs.  And yes, doing our own taste test of the best Philly cheesesteaks in town - Pat's vs. Geno's.  I voted Pat’s :)

A December/holiday season wouldn't be complete without the annual Marino Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.  It is always fun to see friends and celebrate the season.  The party was a success!

On our way to Canada - and my plug for my new gig at Starbucks :)

 Canucks vs. Sharks

 Liberty Bell - Philly

 Philly

 City of Brotherly Love w/Jen and Courtney

 Ugly Christmas Sweater Party - Nate and Tony

 Ugly Christmas Sweater Party - Anderson/Marino Santa Picture