My insides are mush from my holiday spirit :)

Today, all I want is to be at home, snuggling in front of our Christmas tree. And my Elf Christmas village.

With the craziness of this past weekend looming over me for the past several weeks, I haven't really had a moment to relax, mentally. Now that our big work event is over, a momentous dinner was successfully eaten, a baby was delivered and some Christmas shopping is all off my list, I'm starting to feel cozy and Christmasy.

On Saturday, A blizzard nearly cancelled an annual fundraiser at work, which would have been a huge disappointment after months of work. Luckily, the sun came out, and over 3,000 people attended.

My friend Nikki and I at the event. Those are reindeer antlers I'm wearing.

Our good friends had their first baby on Saturday. He's so darling. I just love him. For the first time, I visited a new mommy in the hospital to hold her one-day old baby. He fussed when I held him at first, because my hands were cold from the snowy night outside. After I warmed up a bit, however, he snuggled into my arms and I was basically content to stay there until the new year!

Me and Baby V. Barely 24 hours old!

My parents and Mike's parents met for the first time on Saturday. We went to dinner at Houlihan's, whose slogan should be "Our Atmosphere is Way Better Than it Sounds, Based on Our Crappy Name". The conversation flowed pretty easily. My parents didn't say anything offensive (I don't think), and had enough in common with Mike's parents that we were able to enjoy two hours together without any conversational struggles. Hands were shook, goats exchanged. I guess Mike and I can get married now...

Sunday was a marathon of a day. I woke up early to make breakfast for my sister and Mike's parents, who all stayed over at our house on Saturday night. I buzzed down to Karleigh's house for outlet shopping with she and Jess and Heather. We shopped heavily for six hours. SIX hours! That's incredible. With an hour of driving on either end. Shopping is usually a "get in, get out" process for me, but it was so nice to spend quality time with friends, and to be productive in my holiday preparation at the same time.

Happy Monday!
This post is brought to you by the smooth Christmas jazz of Vince Guaraldi and strong coffee.