Merry Christmas!

and Happy New Year! But is it too late to talk about Christmas? Or the tree we got at the farmer's market? Of course not!

So like I said, we headed to the good ole farmer's market. There were a lot of trees from numerous farms, which was a bit surprising and overwhelming at first. It was great though because good deals could be had and it afforded me the chance to haggle a bit, not to mention everything smelled fantastic!

Anyways after about 20 minutes of checking out the trees, we decided to make a choice, since after awhile, they all look the same and we were in danger of pine-peeping (photography pun alert!) the trees.

So here is Beth giving the seal of approval on our choice:




Our tree hailed from Ashe County, woohoo Western N.C.!


The tree was tied to the top of our jalopy wagon by the lumberjack.

Shucks, I miss my beard!

And here I am giving the tree my seal of approval too!

So back to house to put the tree up and then decorate it with ornaments, lights, ribbon, of which we previously had none. (We also got an amazing wreath from the farmer's market, but I can't seem to find the photo anywhere!)

After numerous trips to the store, kind gifts from friends and one boss, the tree finally was ready!






The view from outside:






We played host this year, and had Beth's grandmother, her sister Brittany, her parents and younger bro Andrew over for Christmas and the weekend. It was great to have the house filled with people, although the cats disagree with us on that!

Our main event was Christmas Day lunch, where we started out with spinach stuffed mushrooms topped with cheese, followed by a pear and walnut salad with mustard vinaigrette and blue cheese:






The main course was broiled salmon with garlic lemon pepper crust:




With sides of mashed potato gratin with goat cheese, garlic and scallions:






and steamed fresh asparagus sprinkled with Parmesan cheese:





For dinner, we had honey baked ham, sweet potato casserole, brown rice and stuffing. Of course, the rest of the weekend was spent eating leftovers of all of above.

And wouldn't you know it, after all the preparation and build up, it was all over with too quickly! Luckily, we had New Year's to look forward to, as we were headed to Whiteville for the big family oyster roast!

More on that to follow, hope everyone had a good holiday!

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Nothing says Christmas like the Movies

For some reason this year, I've struggled to get into the Holiday spirit. Maybe it's because the calendar sneakily ambushed me and suddenly I found myself less than 7 days from the BIG day with not a preparation in sight. (Ok, not entirely true...we had the tree up...mostly decorated, but not finished.) Or perhaps it was due the unseasonal warm weather last week that killed my Christmas Buzz. But most most likely, my Grinchness is probably rooted in the bitter fact that I only get Christmas Day off.

Whatever my excuse, I am breaking clean from my Bah Humbug ways and with that said, I am determined to lift my spirits into a holiday frenzy no matter what. Scrooge be damned. This is Christmas. So with that determination set forth, I am hitting up the telly whilst I wrap my presents, basking in the glow of Hollywood's Christmas delights and relishing in holiday nostalgia.

And lo, I give you

Beth's Top Ten Christmas Movies

10.) All those claymation movies....Rudolph, Frosty, The Year Without A Santa Clause, and the like. Since these movies are made out of clay, I figure I can lump them together....You're welcome for the deliberate pun.

9.) The Santa Claus starring Tim Allen. OK, so maybe it's a tad on the predictable side. And maybe it reeks of the '90's, both in terms of fashion and it's choice lead actor. But you know what? That kid is super cute and the slapstick is pretty decent. So yes, I defend this movie for making my list because trust me, there are alot worse Christmas movies out there people (Fred Clause Vince Vaughn, really?) Maybe I wouldn't buy it, but if its on TV, I am secretly excited.

8.) The Nightmare Before Christmas. Is it a Halloween movie? A Christmas movie? I couldn't tell ya, but for this list's purposes it is now officially dubbed a Christmas movie.. I secretly suspect it's a commercial golden egg, as the story line hits up all the major commercial holidays, thus justifying this movie's prominent display year round. Either way I love it for Tim Burton's updated venture into claymation. Plus it's a musical, something I'll get to in a moment.

7.) The Muppet's Christmas Carol Who doesn't love Kermit and Miss Piggy singing along with all the their Muppet friends, while telling this classic Charles Dickens' tale. My childhood love for the Muppets instilled a deep and unabashed love of musicals, much to Somanna's dismay on road trips.

6.) ELF Somanna thoroughly disagrees with me on this one. But that's why it's my list, not his. If you are feeling down this holiday season, just remember the this Elven Rule: "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." And if that doesn't work watch the scene where Will Ferrell finds out Santa is coming!

5.) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation We all know it and love it despite having the lines memorized. We acknowledge that funnier movies and actors have come along since Chevy Chase's hey day, but the Holiday season wouldn't feel right without a visit from the Griswold's and Cousin Eddie.

p.s. let's all take a moment to reflect on the career trajectory of Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Reflect and give thanks that she found Seinfeld ....and a straightening iron.

4.) Home Alone This was the second movie I ever saw in a theater and at 10 years old, this film convinced me that Macaulay Culkin's comedic genius should earn him nothing short of an Oscar. Good thing they didn't give it to him, the fame screwed him up enough. But nonetheless, this movie is time tested, gut grabbing, slap your knee stick funny. If you haven't seen it in awhile, watch it again because if you don't laugh out loud at this movie, you might not be human.

3.) A Charlie Brown Christmas Linus tells Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about and Snoopy is adorable as always. It just isn't a holiday without the Peanuts.

2.) How The Grinch Stole Christmas You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch! The cartoon version of Dr. Seuss's classic is the only way to go. And I'm betting that song is stuck in your head now isn't it? So I'll save you the effort and post the lyrics here. Merry Christmas!

1.) A Christmas Story "You'll shoot your eye out kid!" I triple dawg dare you to tell me there is a better Christmas movie than this one.



"But I heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight, Happy Christmas to All and All a Good Night!"

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"Is your house on fire Clark? No, Aunt Bethany. Those are Christmas Lights"

It may be an annoying 61 degrees here in NC (my apologies to all those Yankees battling snowstorms and ice, but it is hard to get into the Christmas spirit while I sweat in my Christmas sweater.) But we nonetheless battled through the "elements" of semi-sunny skies and warm temps to get the house all decked out.

Check it out! Trust me, we are already a big hit in the neighborhood (and with the power company.)




Sike!

That's not our house, but you already knew that. But oddly it does make you feel more Christmas-y, doesn't it? Now we're off to start our Christmas shopping. I'm fairly sure tacky and procrastination are complimentary traits.

p.s. The title of this post is for all the movie buffs out there. First one to guess right wins a little somethin-somethin'.

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