Home

This is what home is like.

Break was excellent. It was so good to go home, eat good food, drink good wine, roll around on the floor in blankets and gab with my family. All with zero intention of getting things done. (So much getting done prior to coming home) Thanks Andersons and Zach :) The major issues on the daily docket were: 

1. What is for dinner?

2. What is our activity today?

Our first dinner together was at the Ambassador Hotel, in Baltimore. Best Indian food ever (Inc'l NYC. No lie). After garlic nan and the Bengan Khas (stewed eggplant tomato amazingness) and Chicken Madras, we experimented with Cardamom ice cream. Smells like febreze. Or lavender. You can feel it in your nose. Quite an entertaining thing to eat.

Clare, Zach and I took on dinner one night, cooking Venison sausages, balsamic marinated portobellos, and Israeli cous cous w/ parmesean, peppers and onions. 

As you can tell by Clare's sweatshirt and Zach's hat,
Mom and Dad are attempting to reduce their carbon
footprint.

Goes together like peas n' carrots.  

Dad did dinner all of the other nights. A big shout out to him and my mom, as they were the ones to instill a curiosity for food in me. Growing up, my sister and I were always in the kitchen. Chopping veggies. Adding more chocolate chips to the cookie dough. Kneading pizza dough. Watching something rise in the oven. Sifting till our hands ached. We did a crappy job at sous chefing while at home, but did enjoy the seemingly effortless and totally gourmet meals. 

Crabcakes, red lentils w/ poblanos and green beans. Om nom. 

We decorated the tree in record time, guided by the rule that only homemade or tacky ornaments could go up. This was the main reason that Lacey Angel lost to Toilet Paper Roll Santa in the Tree Topper Smackdown. 

2010 Champion, TPR Santa

Homemade ornaments by our cousins.

Sunny the fox in the foreground. His necklace
lights up.

All other time was spent doing something physical (climbing, yoga, bosu) or watching movies back to back because I had already used up all of my energy for the day. 

Final Notes: There were 5 pairs of cat socks and two pair of bike socks exchanged on Christmas morning. Mom can still kick my ass in an exercise class.