Christmas Day in Pictures - 2013

So I thought I would share a tradition that has been going on for years in my family. As soon as we were old enough to take Santa out of the eqaution my mom started to use "From: _____" and just put some fictional character or celebrity name. This year I used Harry Potter characters names. 

Here is the aftermath of opening presents 

And my least favorite thing, the "yule log" on TV. If you don't know what the yule log is then be very grateful. You basically have a looped burning log on Christmas morning playing worst versions of Christmas music possible.  

After opening all the presents we headed to Downtown LA for some good coffee. 

I ended up getting an eggnog latte which was really good and put me in the spirit of the day and gave the boost of caffeine I would need to complete the day at hand. 

This is the best gift ever...no traffic and beautiful warm sunshine. 

I decided to torture myself by making homemade pumpkin pies for dessert on a very time constrained 

I really love using veggies to prop up the turkey away from the pan, a great way to do two dishes at once. 

I did my usual herbed butter rub on the outside and underside of the skin to add flavor and to help evenly brown it then stuffed the cavity full of herbs and lemons

I also made some penne and cheese with some fresh tomatos added at the last minute to keep them fresh tasting. 

For an appetizer I made these bacon meatballs ahead of time 2 days earlier. 

To serve i put them in a crock pot with a couple cans of roasted tomatoes and added some herbs then finished with some parm and fresh basil from the herb garden.

You really can't have turkey without some stuffing 

and I made my mom's favorite candied yams

The turkey ended up really good looking and was super moist 

This is the only decent picture I could get out of these guys 

(Uncle, aunt and mom)

That's may aunt eating some of my home made fruitcake. 

Glamour shots by moi

We capped off the night by putting on our ugly Christmas sweaters. 

So hopefully you enjoyed the peek into my holiday celebration. Hopefully yours was full of good cheer and you spent it with those you love. 

My Christmas Eve in Pictures - 2013

So here is the glorious tree I decorated myself but I swear I didn't pick out the light. If it were up to me it would be warm white lights all the way. 

I was a wrapping monster this year and I think I went overboard on the gifts. 

For Christmas Eve the family came over to my sister's place for dinner and gifts and I appointed myself the paparazzi for the evening because I really wanted to use my new camera.  

if you happen to know me personally I love to take sneaky creepy pictures of friends and family and this happened to be one that didn't turn out like I creeped up on my sister. 

But this one does...

And so does this one. But then again my mom always tries to stop any pictures being taken of her. 

Then here is a picture of my brothers not paying attention to the crazy going on at my older sister's place. 

Meet my boyfriend who is allergic to cats

Meet Nipsy the cat...

Now here is my boyfriend petting the cat even though he is allergic to them. 

I am seriously very jealous that my older sister has a fireplace, I am a huge sucker for lighting a fire instead of turning on the heat. I love the smell of the burning logs and the romantic glow. 

Here is my older sister's really big Christmas tree. 

The guard cat kept careful watch over all the presents around the tree while we waited for dinner. 

I was pretty obsessed with that cat as you can see. at least the cat didn't put their hand in front of their face all the time. 

Here was the green bean casserole I was surprised I even liked. I think it was because the beans weren't from tin can

Here is my dad cutting HUGE slices of pot roast. They were DAYUM! big slices. 

we also had baked mac n cheese, mashed red potatoes, gravy and salad for sides as well. 

I finally got in a shot without everyone crowding around and photo bombing everything. 

At the end of the night the cat was pretty dang happy for us to leave. The more we bugged the cat the more and more it gave us the stink eye.