All right, so I seem to have taken an impromptu blog-cation. Here is the really fast version of how my Christmas and New Years went:

I decorated my apartment for Christmas.

A little Christmas DIY

Later I attended the Brighton Christmas Party where I danced the night away with all my favorite coworkers and wore a really great red hat (all the best people do).

Love these girls!

My red hat! If only you could see it properly (I was terrible about taking pictures that night). Carol lent this beauty to me for the night.

I also attended another office event with a lovely quartet.

They won my heart by playing from the Amelie soundtrack.

What December is complete without a gingerbread village?

Then I flew away to Sugar Land to see the family. I had a green Christmas (my favorite kind). I was happy to find our orange trees had actual edible oranges.

Oh Sugar Land I do miss you.

Look at that green grass! Gotta love it.

Oh, and there was lots of great food (per usual) .

Yummy Cuban food

For my Mom’s Christmas present, Gabby and I  took her to Pinot’s Palet (it seemed to be the craze over the holiday). We had a great time!

Our paintings were supposed to include a silhouette of a happy couple but we all ended up making stubby, horrible stick figures we painted over, lol.

I got to visit a few friends while I was home. I saw my friend Kimberly and her girls (I can’t believe Leslie is four now!!). I also had a gluten free cookie bake off with the lovely Jessica (We have been in different states/continents/cities for far too long). We made delicious ice cream sandwiches with the finished products.

Like any good holiday break my time home also included a new TV obsession: Scandal (oh goodness the drama). My parents also introduced me to Call the Midwife (Very different sort of drama).

Before I knew it I was flying back to Utah. I started a new job the very next day (Crazy, right?). It was hard to say goodbye to the wonderful friends I’d made at Brighton, but I’m excited for this new direction in my life.

Whew, I think that covers most of my blog-less gap (more or less). More concise, coherent posts coming soon (Including one on my trip to the Midway Ice Castles)! Hope everyone started their new year right.

Currently: just finished Code Name Verity (Elizabeth E. Wein) If you haven’t read this yet I highly recommend it.