Merry Festivus!

Happy Festivus! Merry Christmas!

It was a fun one this year! Michael and I woke up Christmas morning and Bella donned her gay apparel and we unwrapped presents! Bella first, of course. She didn’t seem to “get it” but she loved her new rope toy. She immediately ran off to destroy it while we opened our presents.

It was a leisurely morning. Michael built a fire, we watched A Christmas Story and just chilled out until my parents arrived. They were on their way south–somewhere SUNNY AND WARM (jealous) and they stopped in Portland to take us to brunch before they went on vacation. We went to Gracie’s again this year. We used to go to The Heathman for Christmas brunch and then one year I was too late making a reservation and they were booked so I tried Gracie’s and we loved it much better. That is the new norm now.

It was such a nice, sunny day out in Portland! We arrived at Gracie’s and had a nice table near the window. I was in desperate need of some coffee. I’ve been so tired lately. Not quite the “run down” tired but more like “I think I’m getting sick and I’m so sleepy” tired. The coffee took the edge off, slightly.

Gracie’s is in the Hotel deLuxe–a very swanky old-world hotel downtown. It was built in 1912 and was remodeled back to it’s glory. There are old black and white photos from the 20’s–50’s movies all over the hotel. It adds to the 1940’s glamour of it all.

I’d been craving French toast lately and the first year we went to Gracie’s I had theirs and it was a-mazing!! But when I got there and looked at the menu, I ended up getting something else. I ordered the eggs benedict on top of crab and shrimp cakes. Wow, it was a decadent dish! The hollandaise sauce was surprisingly light tasting and I loved the crab and shrimp cakes. It was cool that they put the poached eggs on that instead of biscuits.

I think their ketchup was homemade. It was great. Michael got the huevos rancheros. I had a bite; it was pretty spicy. Yum!

My parents love this restaurant, too, so it’s nice that we can do this. After brunch I asked the front desk if we could see a room. It’s a hotel that I’ve considered booking for our wedding night. The front desk clerk graciously gave us a tour of a few different rooms. The deluxe king suite was super nice! It was huge! With windows on two walls overlooking downtown Portland. There was a humongous walk-in-closet and a huge bathroom. It was a really nice room and I could see us staying there after the wedding. I was glad we got to take a peak.

After that we went back to the house for presents and visiting and then my parents took off for parts unknown in sunny California. Michael and I headed over to his mom’s house for the evening.

We had lots of munchies there — a cheese and cracker plate, a “everything pickled” plate, a veggie and yogurt dip plate. Plenty of food! Michael’s mom did some kind of beef tenderloin for dinner. It was perfectly prepared. She wrapped it in the cooking twine and then used the Montreal seasoning to crust the outside of the beef.  It was so good. I’d love to try something like that but cooking meat is not my specialty.

Michael made his mac n’ cheese and it was a big hit, as usual. I had a little but of everything. Honestly, I was still pretty full from brunch!

(It’s been a lot of eating lately. Like a little too much honestly. I most definitely will not be stepping on the scale until I get back on track. Too many Christmas cookies (delicious ones made by Michael’s sister) and lots of carby-good things.)  It was a really nice holiday with everyone. I was glad we got to see everybody. I wish I’d been able to see my brother. It sucks he lives so far away.

One of the gifts we got from Michael’s mom was a headed mattress pad. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. I miss having flannel sheets in the winter time but Mr. Scrooge hates them and so we haven’t had flannel sheets. But the electric pad is dual controlled! His and hers temperature settings. Finally, one of the gifts Michael gave me was a Kindle. I’m also excited about this but honestly struggling with it. I’m usually pretty tech-savvy but for some reason it’s hard to figure it out! I KNOW there is a way to check out ebooks from my library for the Kindle but I can’t figure it out. Any tips??