I know the first day of winter isn’t technically until the 21st, but over the weekend I really started to feel winter closing in.
Today began with a lovely drive to work through gross, wet snow.
On a more positive note, this has made its way back into my morning rotation:
[Source]
And, as of approximately 8:43 a.m. Thursday, I am officially able to tolerate hearing Christmas music! As of approximately 3:19 p.m. that same day, I daresay I am even seeking it out.
All of our holiday decorations (apart from the tree) are up!
H and I also fit a LOT of winter-related fun into this past weekend. On Friday night after work, we drove down to my parents’ house in New Jersey, arriving just after midnight. My sister M was also visiting from Maryland, so it was fun spending some time with her, and then on Saturday morning my brother J arrived from South Jersey. So it was a little holiday reunion!
M and I got takeout from Good Karma Cafe (fave!!!) for lunch:
Cajun Seitan (one of the best things on the menu imho). Oh my God it’s so good.
Pineapple Tempeh (I have the leftovers of this for lunch today and I could not be more thrilled)
After eating, we were sure to fit in the season’s first dance to Wizards in Winter:
And later that evening enjoyed post-Chanukah (which ended Wednesday night) festivities with the rest of the family:
H and I headed straight back to Massachusetts after the Chanukah party so that we would be up Sunday morning in time for the Pats game!!
So. Many. Layers.
It was my first cold weather game this year and MAN did it make me realize that winter is coming.
We had a ton of fun as always, although for me the experience was dampened by Gronk’s season-ending injury in the third quarter. I don’t know if anyone who reads this blog gives a crap about football, but I really, really do and this is bumming me out majorly.
But I digress.
For the rest of the week I will be consumed with preparations for our annual holiday party this Saturday. I’ve made an affirmative decision to be less of a psychopath for this party than I was for our summer barbecue, and only make 2 things for each course (2 appetizers, 2 mains, etc.) instead of like 12, and buy the rest of the stuff. Okay, I’m making 3 desserts. But it’s a major improvement and I’m hoping will allow me to stress a whole lot less over the coming 5 days.
Expect a full recap of the veggie holiday food selection early next week. In the meantime, this Wednesday, December 11th, I will be providing a stop on the Happy Herbivore Light & Lean blog tour. Please stop by then to check out my review, read a Q&A with author Lindsday S. Nixon, and enter to win a copy of the book!
A.Cook in the Making 
Love these pictures! And dates be darned, it’s been winter here in ND since Thanksgiving!
Thanks!! And stay warm! 🙂
Winter certainly does feel like it’s here, but you’re making the best of it!! Celeste 🙂 PS – I’ve got Christmas songs playing as I write this.
Nice!! I wonder if my officemates would complain if I put some on to play…
What a fun weekend! When are you planning on putting up the tree? I used to really look forward to that Wintry Blend from Trader Joe’s, but I haven’t had it in a long time now. I’ll have to look for it the next time I’m in a city with a TJ’s. I especially like the whole bean version, so that I can pick out the cloves.
Oh wow, I didn’t even know they had a whole bean version! I don’t usually do any kind of flavored coffee because they’re just filled with chemicals (which give me a headache), but I like the TJ ones because they’re flavored with actual spices.
We’ll definitely have the tree up in time for the party on Saturday, but it’s probably going to come to the wire…right now looks like we won’t have time til Saturday morning! Maybe we can play “Run Run Rudolph” while we dash around decorating it.