every year on christmas eve, i sleep with my sister (we used to be scared of santa). besides the fact that she was taking up the entire bed and kicking a lot, i could not sleep all night due to excitement! at 5:30 am, i was trying to reason with myself on why a few more hours of sleep would be really nice. then i realized that i might as well embrace my inner-child and woke up izzie (my younger sister). after bombarding our poor sleepy parents, we came downstairs to a beautiful array of gifts from santa (including my new nikon d3000)! we all ate a delicious breakfast complete with eggnog and then had a marathon opening-present session. we were all oozing with happiness and contentment.

every single year, my mom has gone above and beyond her call of duty to make christmas so incredibly special. i never know how she pulls everything off, but i guess that is the magic of mothers. both my parents are so wonderful, i don't even know how i will ever live up to them.

we also went to see it's complicated (amazing) and sold our titans tickets due to too-cold-weather-conditions and opted for watching in our cozy living room (they lost, sorry parents). later on, one of my friends i have known basically since birth came over and i got to feel her 7-months-along pregnant belly. i had to control my happy tears.

it was truly an amazing day.

i have appreciated the holidays so much this year. every minute of the past few days i just look around and think, "wow, this is amazing, i love my family, this is so great, i am so happy to be here, this is perfect, love love happy happy."

my aunt and uncle are staying with nan nan (a mile down the street) and it has been utter bliss having them here. they are such amazing, beautiful, special people and i wake up happier knowing i get to see them. we've all been talking endlessly, watching every movie comcast offers, and eating and drinking our weights in aged gouda and red wine. i'm already feeling a little nostalgic about it. but the happiness is continuing, as bill and angelica still have a few days here and tyler arrived yesterday.

my brilliant sister isabel has come up with the best recipe in the history of the world. she had a whole batch of them waiting when i came home monday night, and has made two more batches since. needless to say, they are addicting, decadent, and unbelievably amazing. think gooey chocolatey center with a hard shell of white chocolate and peppermint covering it.

ingredients
chocolate cake
chocolate icing
candy canes
peppermint extract
white chocolate baking chips

steps
1. bake chocolate cake using any recipe or even a cake mix.
2. mix crumbled cake with chocolate icing, roll into balls, and place in freezer.
3. melt white chocolate baking chips and peppermint extract using a double boiler.
4. using a toothpick, stick frozen chocolate ball into white chocolate so it's completely covered.
5. let harden, garnish with a little piece of candy cane and enjoy!


if you need a visual, we made a little ina inspired step-by-step video tutorial here.