Christmas 2012.

i hope you all had an amazing holiday celebrating Jesus' birth (if you celebrate)! i had a wonderful time with my family.

my Christmas Eve was full of the usual traditions, which i love!

pictures with Santa... at 18 and 20 years old. we're just cool like that. ;-)

lunch at in-n-out with daddy

and then my brother and i baked a batch of my grandma's sugar cookies - they're the best sugar cookies in the world! they disappeared so fast that they evaded my camera.

after that i went to church with the fam

and then we came home and had our (unpictured) traditional crackers + cheese + meat tray for dinner!

Christmas morning was i was up bright and early to get cooking on a special breakfast. i LOVE breakfast so Christmas morning breakfast is always one of my favorites! i made Martha Stewart's Mushroom-Cheddar Fritatta with a few modifications. since my dad & brother aren't so keen on broccoli in the morning, i split the recipe into two square pans and put all the broccoli on my side. i also added 2 eggs and 4 egg whites, and 1/4 cup milk to the egg mixture, as well as crumbling in a few pieces of bacon into each pan.

they turned out really well (minus being *slightly* overcooked - while they were baking i was working out in our little home gym with my momma so I didn't pull them out quite on time)! we also had Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and pigs in a blanket - Christmas morning staples in our house - as well as pomegranate arils and OJ.

not to mention this bomb-diggity coffee creamer... the stuff is so good!

after breakfast it was time to open stockings, which is what i was most excited about because this year i was in charge of the stockings. my family has always had most food-based stockings so i had a ton of fun shopping and picking things out for everyone - food shopping is the best! 

everyone loved their stockings & i'm quite excited to dig into all of my goodies. lots of nut butter, protein bars, coffee, chocolate, granola, TJ's treats, and a few other things! 

after stockings we opened some presents and then headed over to visit my grandparents in their assisted living home. [insert yogurt + granola snack here] we chatted with them and my aunt, uncle, and cousins for a few hours and then made the drive back home to finish up presents. 

[insert leftover fritatta and baked pumpkin oatmeal here]

i think one of my favorite presents was the cat toys we got our kitties because watching them go crazy was hilarious! 

some highlights of my Christmas were getting a baby coffeemaker for my dorm room (so excited about this, even though it's not exactly allowed ;), a replacement iPod shuffle for working out, some new music, a few cute tops, and workout gear from Lululemon! my mom picked out a few things for me (run for your life crop, heart opener tank) and i had picked out a pair of wunder under pants because i've been oogling those for a long time. i'm currently wearing them and they're so unbelievably comfy i don't think i'm ever taking them off! i also got this awesome water bottle:

if you can't read it, the back of the water bottle says "because i like muffins (not muffin tops)". makes me laugh :) 

after we finished up presents, it was time for dinner! my dad smoked a turkey (he makes the best turkey, hands down), i made mashed potatoes and gravy, and my mom had made my grandma's homemade rolls. these rolls are my kryptonite. but seriously. i have never had anything that compares - so fluffy and doughy and just freakin delicious. 

no room for veggies on my plate because a) i was too lazy to make them and b) i needed more room for extra rolls in my tummy!

just look at that fluffy deliciousness! 

my plate:

plus three more rolls because they're just THAT good. hey, i only get them once a year, so it's go big or go home! 

i also had some see's candy and a small bowl of ice cream for dessert because no day is complete without dessert in my world. 

& in the spirit of WIAW (and since i have some eats i haven't gotten the chance to show you guys yet) i thought i'd share some yummy eats from the past few days. 

salad with rotisserie chicken, lentils, mushrooms, and white bean hummus

vitality bowl (acai strawberry banana smoothie base topped with granola, strawberries, and bananas)

starbucks gingerbread latte... times like 10. these are so good!

quinoa, lentil, and broccoli bowl with cheddar and parmesan

bowl of ice cream while watching a Christmas story

amy's vegetable barley soup bulked up with spinach, quinoa, and cheddar cheese

a huge froyo while out shopping. marshmallow & cookies and cream flavors with graham crackers. HEAVEN.

homemade cheese ravioli (with mushroom and alfredo sauces) that my dad picked up as a special treat! 

sticky fingers pumpkin scones with a drizzle of honey. 

today has been spent mostly relaxing, getting a good workout in (BodyPump and the stairclimber), and eating up delicious leftovers :-) later in the afternoon i'm going to go to the movies with my family!

what was a highlight of your christmas? 

favorite holiday treat?

hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near.

praying for connecticut <3

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 i'm finally home and i'm so, so thankful for my family and friends.

i've been enjoying my time at home so much. lots of TV watching, baking, dance partying, trips to the gym with my momma, running, and spending time with my family.

my brown sugar cookies

yesterday we went into the city - one of our christmas traditions!

i started the day off with some delicious caramelized pumpkin pancakes (with barney butter of course) and a kickboxing class at the gym.

kickboxing was followed my a green monster (AHH! my first one in months!) and a shower

and then we were on our way!

 

we dance party on BART. #normal

my city!

visited the kitties in the macy's windows <3

chipotle for lunch! i got a burrito bowl with brown rice, steak, black beans, corn salsa, and guacccc.

macy's!

we're kinda crazy. (:

 in front of the big christmas tree!

i love this picture! one of my mottos: life is better when you're laughing. 

and of the course the night ended with froyo on the couch and a movie with the fam!

today i had a yummy breakfast (1 egg and 2 egg whites with spinach, & a whole wheat bagel - half with butter and half with almond butter), went for a run with a good friend, and zumba'd with mom. 

my mom and i also made a ton of chocolate pretzels to give as gifts and i baked these amazing magic cookie bars (with dark, semisweet, & white chocolate chips, and almonds). 

we dance partied while the bars were baking! i love my mom so much. 

and now i'm off to enjoy some pizza and decorate the christmas tree with my family :) 

Vlog #2! {Sweat Pink + WIAW}

hey guys! i made my second vlog today (here's a link to the first!) and it made me realize how much i LOVE to vlog! i used to be afraid of it but now i've gotten over that - i love it so much because i think that it kinda gives you guys a behind the scenes of the ol' bloggy in a way.

anyway, i made the vlog before i realized what day it was! tuesday = WIAW posting night! silly me. but i talked about a few of my meals in the vlog so i figured i'd share photos of them at the end of the post. best of both worlds, right?!

super exciting news in my vlog, too, so if you have the time i'd love it if you watched! (pssttt.. hint! check out that sidebar over there-->)

onto the WIAW photos! 

this morning i made this amazing coffee i scored at target the other day - anything coconut and i'm in heaven. i also had some almond butter toast and forgot to snap a pic! 

and my lunch at the little cafe:

nonfat latte that i added a truvia packet to (because i'm that crazy weirdo that carrys truvia packets in my purse.. and my wallet.. and my car...), a open face creamy mushroom & chicken sandwich, and a side salad. all of it was absolutely delicious! 

afternoon snackage was a little too much peanut butter cookie dough.. it's so freakin good!

and dinner is going to be a tofu stir fry exactly like this one i made awhile back:

and dessert is going to be a green smoothie since i haven't had one yet today and we're on day 2 of the green smoothie challenge!

what was the best thing you ate today?

any suggestions for my hair dilemma (i explained in the vlog)?