I can’t believe Christmas has already come and gone. It seems like Thanksgiving was just last week! I had a great week with lots of time with friends and family. I really wish we could have traveled to see even more family this year, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Hopefully next year we will be able to make it happen. When none of your family is local, it is so hard to be everywhere at once!
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is always one of the highlights of the entire holiday for me. This year we went to my Goddaughte'r (Isabella) Grandparent’s house for dinner and gifts. Isabella’s parents Jason and Melanie are two of the best chefs you will ever meet and I always look forward to whatever food they cook. It always tastes like restaurant food! They also have a slightly crazy boxer Copper who is such a goofball!
They host a big dinner with perfectly set tables all across the house. It looks like a Lenox magazine!
Dinner this year was a delicious salad with poppy seed dressing. Melanie shared her poppy seed dressing recipe with me, and I can’t wait to post it on Running in a Skirt later this month.
![IMG_3310[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33101.jpg "Poppy seed Dressing Christmas")
Jason cooked steak for the crowd, but he was nice enough to prepare a beautiful piece of fish for me. It was so fresh and delicious. Melanie’s mashed potatoes were the best I’ve ever had!
![IMG_3311[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33111.jpg "Christmas dinner")
After the crowds left we spent the evening watching Isabella open some of her presents. This year Monster’s High was her favorite. There is nothing like watching a kid enjoy the magic of Christmas!
![IMG_3313[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33131.jpg "Isabella")
Isabella is growing up so fast! It is so nice to able to spend this time with her.
Christmas Day
Christmas day, the hubs and I got to sleep in and make a complete SPLURGE of a breakfast. I was craving banana pancakes of some sort, and the hubs took it from there.
![IMG_3314[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33141.jpg "Hawaii Pancakes")
While I wasn’t looking he even put ice cream on the top of them. We had seem this on a food network show and both wanted to try it. Christmas seemed like the perfect excuse to be really bad!
![IMG_3315[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33151.jpg "Ice Cream pancakes")
Bad=GOOD!
They turned out absolutely amazing! These will definitely have to be a very special treat, but tasted like absolute perfection.
After breakfast we opened presents and called everyone in our family to thank them! It took several hours to get through the calls, but it was worth it.
By afternoon I was feeling pretty restless, so I ran three miles on my treadmill. By late afternoon it had warmed up enough for both of us and the dogs to go for a long Christmas walk around the neighborhood.
For dinner we went to our friends Dan and Sommer’s house. They made a ridiculously good Mexican food Christmas feast. I had amazing fish tacos and really enjoyed their company. They are practically family. I thought I was going to make our own dinner at home, but this turned out so much better.
Dad’s Visit
My Dad came for a short visit the day after Christmas. He was in Ohio for Christmas day and drove back through Asheville on his way to Florida.
We took Dad to a new local Restaurant, Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack and opened even more presents. We were spoiled this year!
On Saturday we ran some errands around town and made our own Christmas feast!
Arugula salad with pears, blue cheese and spiced nuts…
![IMG_3318[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33181.jpg "arugala salad")
…plus smoked scallops, Asparagus and balsamic mushrooms!
![IMG_3320[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33201.jpg "Smoked Scallops")
After dinner we played a game of Gatoropoly. I am the reigning family champion and I pulled out another win!!! Both the hubs and my dad work in finance, so I feel like a rockstar winning the game.
![IMG_3322[1]](https://www.runninginaskirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/IMG_33221.jpg "Gatoropoly")
Dad left Sunday morning and now it is back to normal life for awhile. I’m actually looking forward to the New Year and fresh starts.
I hope you all had a very nice Christmas too!
Thanks to Katie for the linkup!
Your turn?
What did you do for Christmas?
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Amanda says
Oh my goodness the food! That looks so good. I love the Christmas plates and table setting!
JulieWunder says
Thank you! It was such a good time! Now I'm happily on a salad kick this week to balance it all out 🙂
Stacie @ SimplySouthernStacie says
I love that y'all played "Gatoropoly" lol! I think my cousin has that version too. I'm glad you had such a great Christmas! We really have to wait another year for it to come around again?
JulieWunder says
I know! I feel the same way. I hope I don't have to wait a year to get ice cream on my pancakes again 🙂
Blane Sherer says
What an awesome Christmas blog Julie. Glad everything worked out so well for you and the hubs.I had a great Christmas Day at my folks with my daughters and my 3 month old grandson.
Melissa @ Freeing Imperfections says
I love those Christmas holly plates! Looks like you ate well over the holidays! 🙂
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner says
Looks like you had a fabulous Christmas! Ice cream over pancakes?! Yummy
Nicole @ Fitful Focus says
Looks like a wonderful Christmas! I'm going to have to try ice cream on pancakes 🙂
Kathleen says
I love hearing about the different foods and places you try will check out that chicken shack place place.
this yearmy son moved to New York and we actually FaceTime him while he was at his uncles house it was fun to see them. they played the hunters monopoly I think it was called deer hunters.its funny all the different monopolies there are out there now. Happy New Years Julie
JulieWunder says
Thanks Kathleen! It is pretty good. They even have "fake chicken" for me. The sides are really good too. Very reasonable!
Dan Steadman says
sounds busy and fun! We go to my grandmother's Christmas eve for all the kids to open gifts, Christmas Day we just stay home, found early on that trying to move kids from presents is futility...my brother comes over mid-morning and my parents in the afternoon to exchange gifts with the kids
JulieWunder says
Sounds like you had a great Christmas too!
Susie @ SuzLyfe says
What a fabulous Christmas! The food looks divine, of course--um, those pancakes! But really, the best is getting to spend time with everyone close to you. And eating off of Lenox plates, obviously 😀
JulieWunder says
Obviously! I do love some Lenox.
Jessie says
How funny - we have Penn Stateopoly. I love the idea of adding ice cream to pancakes on special holidays. They look and sound delicious.
JulieWunder says
It's pretty awesome for a special occasion. Way too dangerous to try on a regular basis! haha!