A Holiday Recap

Well, it's a good thing I didn't make a 2014 New Year's resolution to blog regularly, because I hate failed resolutions! By way of catch-up, since it's been two months since I last posted, here are a few little snapshots of our holiday season.

Friendsgiving gathering at our house with sweet new friends (brined, browned bird courtesy of Trader Joe's + The Indomitable Pioneer Woman)...

An adventure into the Santa Cruz mountains to cut down a Sierra Redwood (a very striking, totally California variety of Christmas tree, but one that Sam and I both got an epic skin rash from. +10 points for originality, -25 points for an emergency CVS run for Benadryl. I guess next year we'll revert back to the ol' Fraser Fir.)...

An extended trip back East, time with friends and family, and Sam's first Christmas Day (he was a natural with the gift wrap. I do love presents, and it seems Sam inherited the gene.)...

The holidays were, as they often are, full of both joys and sorrows (it's easy to capture the joys in pictures; it's a little trickier with the rest). We grieved the passing of my grandfather on Thanksgiving Day and the loss of another family member and a dear friend the same week. I made a whirlwind trip to New York with my mom and brother for a burial service for both of my grandparents, and we visited the neighborhoods where my mom grew up and the graves of my great-grandparents. There were challenges to tackle and fears to face down. But there were also quiet evenings by the tree, lots of belly laughs with friends at Sam's expense, opportunities to forge new relationships in California, music made with both new and old colleagues, meaningful times with family around the fire and around the table. 

I considered making a 2015 resolution about writing blog posts more frequently, or coming up with some sort of fancy editorial calendar like legitimate bloggers do in order to keep myself on track, but then I thought better of it and decided to stick to my original New Year's resolution--the one about vowing to drink more coffee (because it's so good for you!). That resolution I can keep.