Our Christmas

The weekend before Christmas, I finally got around to baking some holiday cookies and since it’s just two people eating over here, I stuck with one of our favorite cookies: Vanillekipferl

Saturday night, we walked the ‘Fabulous 40’s’ to look at all the Christmas lights. It’s always fun to see how many people go all out for the holidays, but it can also get pretty crazy around these neighborhood blocks, as so many people from all over come around during the holidays to see the lights. Our street is usually used for parking, so it’s is often packed in December. Thank goodness, we have a driveway! 

We started Christmas off with an unexpected dismissal from work on the 24th, which resulted in my lounging around in my PJs on Christmas Eve morning and waiting to FaceTime with my family (who were all gathered at my sister’s house again this year for Christmas Eve). It’s always great to be able to “join” them via FaceTime, but also always sad to not be there in person. 

In the afternoon, I set our table for dinner and started cooking around 5 pm. I always make a point to plan a three-course meal,  print a menu card, and decorate our table, even if it’s just the two of us. It puts me into the Christmas mindset and I simply love doing it. 

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Ok, so the (frozen) potato croquettes that I bought turned out to be tater tots. That’s fine. They were still delicious, just not what I expected.  Will have to make them from scratch next time.

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This is what Christmas presents under the tree look like when all of your family and friends are far away. Do you think Amazon will start sending Christmas presents in pretty wrapping any time soon?

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We opened a few gifts on Christmas Eve (mostly the ones from overseas), but also saved a few for Christmas Day (combining both German and American traditions). We also watched “A child’s Christmas in Wales“. 

I baked fresh scones Christmas morning and put on a big pot of coffee. Yes, what you see there was my first cup of coffee in 21 days and it was glorious! 
We also unwrapped a few more presents.

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I spent most of the afternoon drinking tea, eating cookies, watching Elf, and building this:

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Are you jealous? You should be. I had almost forgotten how much fun LEGOs are until I started putting this set together. Turns out, you’re never too old for LEGOs.

As I mentioned before, December 26 is an official ‘second Christmas holiday’ in Germany, so I tend to take this day off as well. I spent most of the day in my lounge pants, I worked on my blog for a bit (you might have noticed a few minor changes around here, like the header image) and had more tea and cookies (just because). In the evening, we watched ‘It’s a wonderful life‘, because there’s no Christmas around here without George Bailey. 

As always,  the holiday cards that I received over the last few weeks were my favorite! Thanks so much to everyone who sent out cards this year. If you don’t see your card, it might still be in transit.

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How was your Christmas? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

  1. I love how you make your holiday meals extra special by printing menus and making the table so pretty! Your Christmas Eve dinner looks delicious. I love anything with mushrooms so that gravy looks sooo good!

    We had a really nice Christmas. We went to Phil’s cousin’s house on Christmas Eve which was the highlight of our holiday. It’s nice to celebrate with extended family. Paul got a lot of presents and lots and lots of attention! Christmas Day was quieter as it was just our family and Phil’s mom and brother.

  2. Merry Christmas to you. Sounds like you had a wonderful holiday and your table looks so wonderful. I admire people you put so much effort into a meal even for two people. I wish I was like that…
    And the lights in your neighborhood are really fun to watch.

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