Chrismukkah recap

 In my mind, Christmas decorations turn into clutter the second Christmas is over, but this year? I felt very bothered by all the junk (and the HUGE living room tree that ruined the traffic flow of the entire room) BEFORE the holiday.

So, this was us at 7:30 yesterday morning

By the time Dorothy and I got home from shopping (a marathon event that made me miss my mom, whom we called on the way home since her Hanukkah gift funded some of our excursion, and my Bomma), BOTH trees were on the curb, and Ben even took the lights down outside.

I got right to work on Christmas beds and only made it to TWO  (which means I have FIVE beds to change today, which is a lot even for me).

We started our shopping marathon at the mall, where I found new earring backs for the gorgeous earrings I got for Christmas (one of the backs fell off I think when I tried on a new hat I got (that is lined with satin so I can wear it to run and not ruin my hair), and I am SO LUCKY that I did not lose the earring). Next, Dorothy swapped out some Aerie leggings for sweats (and I got a really adorable skirt/sweatshirt combo set and MIGHT GO BACK TODAY for a weekend lounge set). We also hit up Ulta, where I only came away with my favorite under eye patches and dry shampoo.

Next, we went to the fun outdoor mall with fancier stores that is less fun in the winter. Dorothy didn't even wear a coat, and when I pointed that out, she said, IT'S OK. I WILL GET A HOT CHOCOLATE.

Dorothy had a bra top to return to Lulu , but we could not do it because it didn't have a tag, even though I had the order on my app AND the packing list from the box-- apparently they have a problem with people wearing and returning, but OMFG you guys. I don't even think it came with a tag. She liked the bra-- it is just a little long in the straps (and it has one thousand straps in the back), so I texted the amazing costume wizard from her dance studio who is going to try to fix it for us, which is awesome. But! We stood in THIS LINE OMG to do the return and then when we couldn't Dorothy decided NOT to buy the shirt she was standing in line with. Don't worry-- I still got leggings, which is the really important thing.

We trolled Anthro and Free People because they had a 50% off sale price clearance even happening and then we went to Sephora where we both bought tons of stuff. Notably, I got a dark pink eyeliner which might be terrible, but I am excited to try, and Dorothy continued to love Tower, which is a brand I never would have glanced at without a tween in my life. Also, the Rare Beauty lip stain that I did not buy in favor of the classic Benetint is STILL on my hand after using makeup remover at the store AND taking a shower, so I think I made a bad choice.

After Sephora, Dorothy decided she actually did want her long sleeved t-shirt from Lulu, and I regretted not buying a giant scrunchie, sooooo we got BACK IN THE FREAKING LINE MY GOD.

The tl;dr s that neither if us has any holiday money left, and we had a blast AND picked up smoothie stuff from Whole Foods because I GOT A NEW BLENDER!!!!!

We had a delightful cozy day on the 25th-- opening gifts, admiring gifts, attending Minnie's ukulele concert.

I started the day with a festive pre-dawn run

And admired the quiet

The elves brought matching PJ pants and fun shirts

So much opening!

New running glasses!

Annabel smelling Dorothy's new perfume

Only left the house for dog walks!

Coop is an expert bracelet maker

Ukulele concert-- we got tickets, even

SHE TOOK MY SPOT

We spent the days leading up to Christmas with Ben's parents and had a lovely, lowkey time.

Jack baked the perfect chocolate chip cookies with his grandma

Minnie (who tested positive for strep on 12/22-- but negative for all the viruses) made her own batch of Santa cookies with her own bagged frosting (I always only make my own frosting, but the store bought colors are way more vibrant).

Dorothy made the eyeball cookie

We had eve of the eve dinner at our favorite Thai place

And! The kids saw Mall Santa. (Jack saw his 18th mall santa, in fact, so he is officially off the hook for Santa pics, and I wonder how many more years we can keep up the tradition).

We had hot chocolate and viewed the Capitol Christmas tree on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is also when Toofy and Snowflake (our elves) dropped off our jammies and went back to the North Pole (phew-- definitely did a bad elf job this season)

Some Christmas Eve gifts, too (poor sick little Minnie-- she did not spread it to anyone and she feels much better now)

Phew! What a long wrap up. Gold star if you made it this far, and I hope you also had a delightful holiday.