christmas in california

Every other year Lee & I spend Christmas with my family in California and this was that year! I love my time visiting the town where I grew up and it was made even more fun this year because I got to have some girl time with a few of my favorite gals...

No trip home would be complete without a visit to Vasquez Deli. They seriously have the best mexican food I've ever had!

Can't believe how much my nephew has grown just since July!

Another spot that I crave is Boon Fly Cafe, located at the Carneros Inn in Napa...

Lee and I stayed here for our 1st anniversary and the location and food quickly found their way into our hearts. I'm thrilled that my sister lives only 45 minutes away & they love the doughnuts as much as we do so a trip over is always on the "must" list when we visit. When I took this I was purring like a contented kitty cat...


In addition to Lee & I, Joining us for this yummy breakfast were my dad, step-mom, grandpa, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.



My sweet grandpa wore the hat Lee & I got him for Christmas last year - quite dapper, don't you think?

Christmas Eve day dawned to find me in my sister's newly renovated kitchen inaugurating her brand spanking new Wolf oven. I was pretty nervous but thrilled to get to use it. [Side note: her kitchen has been completely torn apart for almost 2 months. When I arrived it was still in complete disarray and not one appliance had been installed. Not exactly what you want to see when you're hosting Christmas dinner for 15!]

Given the craziness of the kitchen I opted to take a very easy route with Santa's cookies [hence the mix]...

I tried a new recipe for pumpkin pie [the one on the back of the organic pumpkin can] and it was phenomenal. Super full of pumpkin + spice flavor - yum!


I may be a little biased but I think they turned out rather pretty looking [although that may just be because they're on my sister's new granite countertops!]

Unfortunately none of my iphone pics of Christmas Eve turned out but it was such a special night. Every year we're in CA for Christmas we have a tradition of eating my step-dad's "famous" clam chowder for dinner. I seriously crave it! There was a little scare when my sister's kitchen was still under construction but it was finished in the nick of time! While my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew were enjoying time with the other side of their family, Lee & I enjoyed some awesome time with my mom, step-dad, grandma, and step-grandfather. We played cards, visited, and settled in to watch a serious Christmas classic...A Christmas Story. It was absolutely perfect!

Christmas morning started bright + early [just like I like it!] As you can tell, we like to fill everyone's stocking to the brim!

Normally I get a early morning pic with Lee but he wasn't sitting on the floor next to me like usual [his getting older tush can't take it!] so I snapped one of me and my favorite nephew. Oh how I love that kid [although he isn't a kid any longer -- he's taller than me!]

Due to the renovations going on in my sister's house [the replaced the floors in the downstairs & painted], they didn't get a large tree like normal. Instead, we got to decorate this cute little guy...

Christmas morning surrounded by my grandma {Jeanne}, step-grandfather {Gene}, and my step-dad {David}...

My mom {Sue} and sister {Carol} [posing with the super fun gag gift my mom got my sister -- trust me, LONG story]...


Brother-in-law {Keith}...


Lee + Jordan rocking the UNC look...


I'm happy to report I got one of Lee + I after all. Oh how I love this guy!

I had such a wonderful time surrounded by many of my absolute favorite people & feel super duper blessed because of it. I hope you all had a wonderful day with your favorites as well!