Holiday Spirit

There is so much to do in DC during the holidays. I feel like we have a list a mile long, and we barely check anything off each year.  (This could also be because Bria's and my immune systems are practically non-existent-- between the two of us, we've been sick for five weeks out of the last four.) But we managed to pack in quite a bit since Thanksgiving. Here's a rundown.

When the fall weather was still around, Bria and I took a stroll through our favorite cemetery in Old Town. Areas of it are still in use, but there are also headstones that date back to the Civil War.

Bria wrote a letter to Santa. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture or scan it before it went in the mail!

In years past, I bake and cook up a storm for various Christmas gifts and goodies, but somehow, this year, I caught a crafting bug. I have no idea what's happening to me.

Though I did host a baby shower in December, where I made four different kinds of cookies: gingersnaps, mustache-shaped sugar, apple pie cookies, and nutella stuffed brown butter and sea salt chocolate chip. (I know, right?)

And we did make our fair share of treats, like when we made sugar cookies, and after Bria had her fill of decorating, I stayed up an extra three hours decorating the rest. Oy.

We went to an awesome gingerbread decorating party. Confession: I am known to hot glue my gingerbread houses together. So when I had to rely only on frosting . . . it wasn't pretty. Bria wouldn't let me help with the decorating, either, and she was pretty hopped up on sugar, so let's just say we didn't win any awards.

We brainstormed, gathered props, exploited our friends' generosity, and walked dangerously close to a couple nervous breakdowns to film our annual Merry Mangum Christmas video. 

Which, of course, included buying our Christmas tree! We had to try five different places to find the right size, but in the end, we were successful! I love our little tree so much. And yes, it could have fit in our car with room to spare, but Bria insisted on it being tied to the roof on the way home from the lot.

 

 We packaged up lots of presents for our dear friends and family, and sent them off with lots of love (with pompom decorations made by Bria!)

Bria had an awesome Christmas program at her school (which is run by a Methodist church). Her whole class dressed like Wisemen, followed by a great family lunch.

And she was a lamb in the church nativity . . .

We had a mommy-daughter day on Capitol Hill, eating lunch at 7th hill, shopping at Eastern Market, and dessert at Pitango.

Bria's cousin Amanda turned 18! (and she gave Bria a bunch of glitter tattoos.)

 

On the one Saturday Sam didn't work, we trekked in and braved the crowds at the Botanical Gardens, which is one of our favorite things to do each Christmas. Of course we stopped by the tree at the Capitol and followed up with dinner at We, the Pizza. Yum!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving this year in a beach house in Ocean City, Maryland. No, it was not beach weather (it was so. cold.), but we were only one block from the beach, and it was still awesome to go out and walk around and watch the waves. Rachel and Theresa came from Arizona, and Elisa came from Madison, and we had so much fun all weekend.

We started the weekend with a Thanksgiving program at Bria's school:

On Thanksgiving morning, before we drove out to Ocean City, I ran a 5K with my friend Hillary. (I hadn't run since the half marathon, and hey! I haven't run since!)

We packed our car to the absolute brim, and set off.

We decided to feast on Friday, so once we arrived, we set in on some pre-feast preparations, including brining the turkey. The next day, I tried my hand at spatchcocking our turkey, and it turned out awesome. You can read more about that here. Yes, that is me holding a turkey spine.

Our feast was delicious! Can't believe I didn't take more pictures of the spread.

Sam and I worried Bria would be bored without any other kids, but she was in absolute heaven having her aunts and godmother dote on her all day long.

Sam, Bria, Rachel, and Theresa rented a beach cruiser to ride along the boardwalk and check out the scene.

While Elisa and I walked on the beach and sat on these rocks for a good hour watching the waves. Elisa had never seen the Atlantic Ocean! And it did not disappoint.

There was a Winter Fest of Lights while we were there, and it was a perfect nudge into the holiday season. We were all freezing cold, but had a blast. After the tour around the lights, they had an indoor area with hot chocolate and Santa. Bria's first encounter with a Santa impersonator, in fact.

(Happy Birthday, Jesus! Something I had never heard before coming to the South.)

We decided to go out for a nice dinner to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Since Bria has the soul of an adult, she did great, even saying to the waiter at the end of the meal "thank you so much for a delightful evening."

On the last morning, Sam got up extra early to watch the amazing sunrise.

Elisa and Bria kept each other company on the long drives.

On our way back, we stopped in Annapolis to eat lunch and walk around. Such a quaint little town! I can't wait to go back and explore more.