The BOY made this statement last night and I couldn’t help but agree.  There’s no snow, it isn’t particularly cold, and I can’t say there was much pomp and circumstance to my day.  I worked Christmas Eve morning to afternoon and then met my trainer at the gym.  After a few days of indulging in holiday treats, I knew a serious strength session was what I needed before the long weekend.  He agreed with a tabata style workout…ugh!  I had a few errands to run and so I got them done before arriving home at 5pm to a sleeping BOY and excited kitten.

Our big Christmas eve plans involved dinner and a movie.  Since we had no food at home and I knew it was too late for a dinner reservation, we thought a movie at the fancy theater was the perfect solution.  We arrived early for a drink and then grabbed turkey sliders to go into the theater to watch MockingJay Part I.

 

To be completely honest, MockingJay was my least favorite of the 3 Hunger Gamess books, so I wasn’t sure how the movie would go.  Curled up with my blanket on a recliner with popcorn and red wine, the movie kept my attention and didn’t disappoint!  The BOY and I returned home to an adorable Cooper ready to play while flipping through TV and sipping on green tea.

It’s that exciting time when Trader Joe’s has my favorite holiday night cap!

I was looking forward to sleeping in Christmas morning, but the BOY had other plans to meet his family.  My family’s plans…meeting my mom at the yoga studio for a 10am class.  All great days don’t go as planned. My mom skipped yoga (I still went and loved the fun, yet challenging class under the Christmas lights) and the BOY’s mom wasn’t feeling well.  My mom, the BOY, and his dad all ended up meeting for lunch at the deli.

After lunch, we all went our separate ways.  The sun was shining and it felt like a glorious fall day.  I found an open grocery store before a planned ME day.  Well, actually a me and Cooper day.  I had tons of laundry to do and was looking forward to finally doing some holiday baking.  With a Lifetime movie in the background, I had the most wonderful day!

I was most excited to make a loaf of fresh baked gingerbread!

Which looks FANTASTIC!

Meanwhile, I also made a gluten free Christmas favorite White Chocolate Puppy Chow.  Then I retreated to the couch to fold laundry and catch up on the DVR.

Even though the lack of blistery cold and laid back vibe made the day seem less Christmas like, it made it all WONDERFUL!

Wishing you all the merriest of Christmases!

 

Gingerbread Loaf

From Tastes of Lizzy T’s

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoons ginger

¾ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

½ cup molasses

½ cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

powdered sugar for dusting the top, if desired

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, molasses, butter, eggs and vanilla until well mixed.

Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, stirring just until blended after each addition.

Spoon the batter into a greased 9×5 inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool.