Last Saturday, we went to a holiday potluck party with friends. Everyone brought such delicious food, and we also had a Secret Santa gift exchange. It was great seeing a lot of my high school girlfriends again, even some I hadn’t seen in years! Special thanks to Lucy for hosting the fun gathering at her lovely home.
My best friend Debbie and I in front of the Christmas tree. 🙂
Enjoying delicious food and chatting with friends
Mio was anxious and overwhelmed by all the people at first, and wanted to be held for the first half of the party.
Beginning the Secret Santa gift exchange! It was fun to find out who each person’s gifter was!
The girls opening presents. I was Yonmi’s Secret Santa!
My Secret Santa was Ploi, and she got me the Naked palette from Urban Decay! I was so surprised! I’ve heard so much about the Naked palette, and was so delighted to receive it. Thank you Ploi ♥
Revealing each other’s Secret Santas
Mio was really curious about my gift.
Already a fan of makeup, she grabbed the box and wouldn’t let it go.
…and then she tried to eat it.
Mio warmed up to everyone a lot more after a while, and started checking out the Christmas ornaments and running up to everyone.
I was so surprised when in the middle of the party, my friends turned off some of the lights and started singing “Happy Birthday,” bringing over a birthday pie lit with candles! I was so touched. :’)
A sweet surprise!
Thank you everyone! Special thanks to Debbie for buying the pie from Pie Sisters – it was so delicious!
There was so much good food at the holiday party!
I hadn’t seen Yonmi since college! We’re both moms now. 🙂
A family picture!
We had a wonderful time at the holiday party, and it didn’t go too late so we were able to get back in time for Mio’s bedtime!
My nightly routine of reading a few books to Mio before bedtime.
Reading together ♥ One of my favorite moments together.
My sister and I built a gingerbread house last night! We had made one last year for the first time in years, and it was so much fun that we had to do it again. This year, we decided to make a time-lapse video to document the process, because we had so much fun making the tree-trimming time-lapse the other week.
We bought the gingerbread house kit from Trader Joe’s, and we really liked it for its unique look, all the materials it came with, and its unbeatable price — only $7.99! It’s imported from Germany, and while we have yet to eat it, the gingerbread was pretty soft and thick coming out of the box, compared to the rock-hard gingerbread you find in most other kits. It looks and smells delicious! I just love everything Trader Joe’s sells, especially during the holidays!
Here is the time-lapse video of us assembling and decorating the gingerbread house! Special thanks to Dan for setting the camera up and editing the video for us. 🙂
Some additional photos…
Decorating the gingerbread house
The completed gingerbread house!
Love the little people and dog!
Miwa and I with our completed creation!
And Mio’s reaction to the gingerbread house? She saw it this morning during breakfast and broke out into a huge smile!
Curiously pointing at the people and the dog.
Maybe next year, Mio will be able to help build one with us! 🙂
Among Dan’s birthday gifts was a remote control quadcopter, and he’s been having fun playing with it all weekend. For me, it’s more fun watching Mio’s reaction to it — a mixture of uncertainty, curiosity, and apprehension with a hint of excitement. She likes to chase where it goes, but maintains a safe distance and at times gets scared and runs away from it, towards me.
One of Mio’s favorite things to do these days is a “roll call,” in which she calls “Mama” and “Dadoo” to which we respond “Hai!” (Japanese for “here!” or “yes”), and then she waits for us to call her name and she responds “hai” back. She will often repeatedly do this for five rounds or so. I’ve tried to capture it on video, but she gets camera-shy every time. Here’s an old video from almost a month ago that we took on Thanksgiving Day — it’s usually a lot more enthusiastic, but she is a bit reluctant here. Still fun to watch, though! 🙂
We celebrated Dan’s birthday with a quiet dinner at home and birthday cake, as we’d already had our fancypants dinner last weekend. For dinner, I made Dan’s favorite — unagi (eel) donburi — and for dessert, I baked and frosted a German chocolate cake (also his favorite!). It was my first time making the coconut pecan frosting from scratch, but it was surprisingly easy and turned out delicious!
The German chocolate birthday cake I made for Dan!
30! A milestone.
Putting the cake decorating skills I learned this year to use!
Homemade coconut pecan frosting on top and in between the layers.
The handsome hubby turns 30!
Dan was psyched by the Android series 3 collectible dolls I got him for his birthday!
Dan’s favorites from the collection. 30 years old but still a kid at heart! 😉
Happy 30th birthday to my better half! Thank you for being such a wonderful husband to me, and a loving father to Mio. I’ll be joining the thirties club soon enough, in a couple weeks!
