Christmas Presents

The best Christmas presents this year were the intangibles. I have a four year old, and I'm convinced that this is the best age EVER to experience Christmas. Every single thing was magical and fun, from seeing Santa at the mall to riding the Pink Pig to donating our old toys to Goodwill. Every. single. stinking. thing. It was wonderful to see him jump up and down when he opened a much desired Lego set, and he has played and enjoyed all of his toys for days. So fun.

My husband took off the week before Christmas for vacation, instead of the usual week between the holidays. This was great for us--it really allowed the Tomato King to get in on the excitement of the holidays, without, as he puts it, the post Christmas hangover. It's the 28th now, he's back at work, and I have to say, he has something there.

But...

I got a lot of cool stuff this year, too, so I thought I'd share some of the highlights.

Mrs. Meyers lemon verbena counter spray. I'd read about it over at The Nester, mentioned it to my mom, and voila! I had some to open on Christmas Day. And, yes, it really is all that.

Also from my mom. Anchovy paste. I know, not something you always get excited about, but I actually love anchovies, and this makes it really easy to use them.

This cutie! No, I didn't get him for Christmas, but I did get this awesomely soft, sweet, I want to wrap myself in it, hemp jersey blanket. I love it, he loves it. All is good in the world. And, yes, that's eczema you see on his face, probably due to the cheese I sampled at the Mexican market before I remembered, um, cheese=dairy. Duh.

Kitsch! These might be my favorite present. Vintage Tervis tumblers. There are 2 more, but I was impatient, and they are still in the dishwasher. Very, very (very!) cool, though. Both Mike and I adore these.

Thanks to Jessica at Craftily Ever After, I printed out this very cool JOY picture. A Christmas present from someone who doesn't even know I exist. Everyone loves me. :)

It wouldn't be Christmas without new reading material. I finally own one of my favorites, Cheap Fast Good, so I can stop checking it out from the library. I also got a fabulous cookbook Bon Appetit, Y'all, and this great magazine, Where Women Cook, that was so frivolous and expensive I didn't even ask for it. I was thrilled to read it, though!

New kicks! My old shoes didn't fit well after my last pregnancy, and I no longer have an excuse for not exercising.

I may return these.

And this wasn't a gift for me, but turns out, it really was. Mike has needed glasses for a LONG time. He's just been too *insert whatever word you want here* to go get them. So, with time off this week, he went and got cool new glasses. Yay. Why is this a present for me?? Cause I no longer have to listen to a single complaint about how he can't see. I'm claiming this present all for me. Thanks, honey!

And, to top it all off, we got this great new Flip video camera, which allows my oldest to show just how excited he is over being alive.