It’s kind of become our custom to have our “fancy” Christmas dinner a few days after Christmas, instead of on Christmas Day or the day after like we used to. But this year, I had to stretch the definition of fancy, because with grocery prices the way they are, there’s no way I could justify buying something like a beef tenderloin or standing rib roast or pork crown roast like I have in the past. So I decided to run with the Italian theme of our Christmas school, and make bolognese, which isn’t exactly fancy, but is really nice, and also a favorite of everyone here that I don’t get to make a lot because it takes a lot of time. I also baked Italian bread and some breaded artichokes, and made a tossed salad to go with it…it might not be the traditional definition of fancy, but it worked for us!
For dessert, I made cannoli, and if that isn’t fancy, I don’t know what is!
It may have different from our usual Christmas fare, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!
It’s already time for a look back at this year’s festive fashions for Christmas Eve and Day!
My Christmas Eve outfit is often the same…a red, white, and green dress with a velvet bodice and full skirt with a harlequin print. It’s probably the most festive pieces in my wardrobe! I added my standard Christmas Eve accessories including a sparkly brooch and a stack of Splendette Duchess Bangles.
After church I changed into a Miss Candyfloss dressing gown:
For Christmas Day I wore a dirndl with my newest Rare Dirndl apron and a Miss Candyfloss Clarisse-Gia blouse, plus a different stack of Splendette Duchess Bangles, an Erstwilder brooch worn as a necklace, and my sparkly brooch (again):
I changed into a different Miss Candyfloss gown when we got home:
And then I had to change up my accessories, too, because I received a gorgeous RockLove Jewelry necklace for Christmas, and I couldn’t wait to wear it!
I love that I have sartorial traditions to look forward to every Christmas!
It doesn’t seem possible, but Christmas Eve and Day have come and gone already!
Our celebration started on Christmas Eve morning, with Christmas Crunch:
I made time early in the day to deliver gifts to all of my neighbors on Gloriana, and also chased Roald around my island for a bit, trying to get the perfect picture (which I did).
Bunny had to work in the morning, but when she got home, she put the finishing touches on this year’s Advent Lego project, Rivendell:
And then we went to my second-favorite service of the entire church year, Christmas Eve candlelight:
Candlelight being a relative term, as it was still fairly light out when the service was over. We didn’t stop by the city of St. Louis Christmas tree downtown this year, so it was pretty bright for our drive through the Way of Lights!
When we got home, I made wassail, which was a bit of a change for us…I think it may become a new tradition!
And we enjoyed a gingerbread layer cake with gingerbread mousse filling and molasses cream cheese frosting, and topped with sugared cranberries for dessert.
We also played our new Christmas Eve board game, Ticket to Ride Northern Lights. I lost spectacularly, but not as spectacularly as Ladybug won!
We watched the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker and Rick Steves’ European Christmas, and then I filled the stockings and escorted Mary and Joseph to the stable. I hope there’s never a day when we don’t want to put up the Little People nativity, even though we no longer have any little people living in our home1
On Christmas Day morning, we enjoyed our favorite coffee cake:
And then we went back to church, nice and early so I could get some pictures in front of the beautiful church Christmas tree:
Our church is always beautiful, but there’s something extra special about it at Christmastime!
The family picture we took after the service is probably one of the nicest ones we’ve ever taken!
We opened presents when we got home, and then I got started on dinner, the best dinner of the year, the famed “Pick Out Dinner!”
Setting the table is pretty low-key compared to Thanksgiving, but I still like to make it look nice, including napkins folded like Christmas trees. I added a few small Christmas trees to our traditional centerpiece of the Advent wreath…they balanced out the additional candles I often add quite nicely!
We had quite the spread this year!
We spent the afternoon and evening watching Christmas movies, playing games, and building Lego sets. The weather was far too warm for Christmas (it felt, smelled, and sounded like Easter!), but thankfully the weather isn’t what makes for a good Christmas, and we had a lovely day. And luckily for us, Christmas lasts for 12 days, so we still have our “fancy” (although dialed back a bit this year thanks to rising grocery costs) dinner and more cookie baking to look forward to…and maybe even some colder weather! Merry Christmas!!!
After 25 days of building Lego Rivendell throughout the season of Advent, the set is complete!
This is a really great set, and full of splendid details. There are a lot of minifigures, including the entire Fellowship, and Bunny had fun posing them around the set:
Here are a few shots from above:
And a look at the back of the set:
And here are some details that I just really like:
This was a great set for an Advent project. Even Turkey, our resident Lego expert, found some aspects of the build challenging, which is no easy feat. It split up pretty nicely, both across the 25 days of Advent, and in terms of how many bags each of the Fab Five got to build. And I still think it’s the most beautiful set Lego has ever made, and after seeing all of the tiny details and elements of building, I’m even more convinced!
One more Christmas mani, featuring a base of Holo Taco “Green Taffy” with polka dots in “Red Licorice” and “Bottle Service,” plus a topcoat of “Shooting Star Taco” on the thumbnail and “Silver Flake Taco” on the pinky nail.
Saturday was a very exciting day, because we went to Christmas Traditions in St. Charles, MO, where Chickadee got to see her very favorite Legend of Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge:
She was also very excited that this year she got to see the Sugar Plum Fairy, and also Santa Lucia (on Santa Lucia Day!) and the Christkind!
Last night was one of my favorite nights of the whole year…Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Garden!
I really think this is the best lights display in the area, and the Central Axis is the best of the best…I could watch it all night long (and I’m pretty sure my family thought that was my plan!)
I love how there are always new elements to the displays, like these butterflies:
And I think the gorgeous water lilies outside the Linnean House are new as well, but I’m not 100% sure. Either way, I really love them!
It’s always nice to see our favorite, familiar displays, too:
The projection on Tower Grove House was updated to a “12 Days of Christmas” theme:
It’s always nice to warm up by one of the fire pits:
One more look at the beautiful Central Axis before we go:
