Weekending: 'Tis the Season!

I just love this time of year, where get-togethers and parties are aplenty, where there are endless things to do with your family, where the food is delicious and oh so decadent, and where the spirit of Christmas feels alive. Home feels extra cozy and seeing the delight in your toddlers eyes every time he sees a Christmas tree never gets old. It's a wonderful time of the year and I honestly wish we had a few more weekends left to celebrate and be festive. Doesn't it always feel like Christmas is weeks and weeks away, and you have nothing but time to buy and wrap presents, bake cookies, watch holiday movies, drink rum and eggnog, yet, it's always over in the blink of an eye!

Before I get to this weekends festivities, I want to share my my gift from the Canadian Blogger Christmas Swap. This is my second year participating in this gift exchange (Lindsey and Leigh host and organize it), and this year I was lucky enough to be paired up with Becky! Cupcake ornaments, chocolates, and a 6-pack of beer - seriously, this girl knows me too well! I haven't tried the beer yet - I feel like it deserves a special occasion since the packaging is so pretty, but it's chilling in the fridge as I write this, so it's only a matter of time before I crack one open.

On Friday, we kicked off the weekend by having dinner with our good friends Kate and Dan - nothing beats a home cooked meal cooked by someone else just days after you get home from vacation and are recovering from jet lag (yes, two hour jet lag is a real thing - it's like the end of daylight saving, only not as bad for some reason). Sully ended up falling asleep on Jim's lap while the men watched the hockey game, so instead of the original plan of me taking him home to bed, we stayed for the game, while us girls drank wine and pinned crafts on pinterest. Now I just need eight more hours in the day to do said crafts.

On Saturday, we decided to drive out to Blackie, Alberta to watch the Canadian Holiday Train arrive. I don't know where I thought I was living that day, as I did not dress appropriately for the weather and was freezing within seconds of being outside. Luckily, I had grabbed Sully's parka, toque and gloves, so at least my child was warm. Sully is obsessed with trains, "train" and "choo-choo" are frequent words out of his mouth on the daily, so he was pretty excited to watch the train arrive, especially since we were so close to it. Totally worth the drive and ten minutes we were there, ha!

That evening, I headed out to my blogger Christmas party, hosted by the lovely Jen of Pretty Little Grub. I have to say, I had been looking forward to this night for weeks and it did not disappoint. It was a small group of us, and while we sure missed some of the other awesome bloggers who couldn't make it, we had a great time eating, drinking wine, laughing and playing our Chinese gift exchange (I went home with caramels and cookies from Trader Joe's!!). I'm so grateful to have this group of girls for friends and confidants, especially living in a city where I don't know a lot of people. It's just too bad that we are all spread out all over the city!

{Jen//Jen//Me//Ange//Leigh//Ashley}

It was a late night, so Jim let me sleep in on Sunday morning (10am!), and even brought me breakfast in bed! Can every day be Sunday? We spent the afternoon putting up our tree (no decorations yet) and running a few errands. Jim headed out to the Motley Crue concert around five, which means I got the whole house to myself for the evening. I have to say, it's amazing what I can accomplish once Sully's in bed and I'm home alone!

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!

Best Chinese gift exchange gift you've won?