happy Mai Tai new year!

We have full bellies after dinner here and a few hours to go until 2025.  So far, a lovely night to wind down the year, thanks in no small part to this delightful, handsome man making us cocktails.

A happy Mai Tai new year, one and all.  See you tomorrow/next year!

songs of the year (1-10)

As the year wraps up, so does this list.  I've moved on from Christmas music season already - for all that I love a long lead up to Christmas with my listening, it's a pretty hard stop when Christmas and Boxing Day are past.  Ah well.

Here's hoping there is good and enjoyable music ahead in 2025!  Now then, on to my top ten....

10.  Turning Stones (Mind Against Remix) - CamelPhat & SOHN

9.  Beat Of Your Heart - Purple Disco Machine & ÁSDÍS

8.  how to change a tire - Zach Hood

7.  Untidy Creature - Sleater-Kinney

6.  Happier (feat. Clementine Douglas) - The Blessed Madonna

5.  One Night/All Night - Justice & Tame Impala

4.  CHIHIRO - Billie Eilish

3.  Tonight In Belfast (Edit) - Orbital, David Holmes & Mike Garry

2.  Supernova - Bananarama

1.  Andrew - Ben Platt

soup's up!

Leftovers mean more than reheating!  Yesterday I cut most of the meat off the hambone from Christmas dinner, then made a stock from the bone and scraps clinging to it.  Strained that and cooked a bag of split green peas in it, adding in diced onion, carrot, and ham.  The result?  Soup for dinner!  I also made a batch of buttermilk biscuits, and I have to say, they were not half bad!

The leftovers of the soup will make a lunch or two in days ahead as well.  Yay!

Boxing Day 2024

Our last full day with Marie.  I hadn't seen Merp in over a year, and here we were, almost done with her visit.  Alas.  Ah well.

It was an exceedingly lazy morning for us on Boxing Day, and that was fine.  What did we have to do, after all?  No entertaining, none of that.  We did take a late morning walk around the block in case there were good sales, but no, not really.  Nothing we wanted or needed.  So we hopped in the car and headed into DTLA.

It was surprising to me to hear from Marie last week that, despite her multiple trips down to California, she had seen relatively little in the LA area.  We weren't going to fix that on this visit (but I did book her a ticket to come down in October for her birthday and to take her to Disneyland, which she hadn't really been to as an adult), but we did at least get somewhere she hadn't been before:  Grand Central Market.  Our goal was lunch at The Oyster Gourmet,

and we accomplished that. 

Oysters

and poke

and a drink each. 

Nice and light!  We wandered the market some, tempted by things we saw, but otherwise not shopping or dining.

We poked in some other stores in Pasadena in the afternoon.  I picked up a few holiday items on sale, Marie got some bitters, Conrad got himself a mystery novel.  We came home, Conrad napped, and Marie packed.  Van came by later in the afternoon, and shortly after Maestro opened, we were seated at the bar for dinner.

We always enjoy Maestro, of course, but Boxing Day dinner was especially nice.  First, the food was great - birria tacos

and the chicken mole

among the items we shared.  Drinks, too! 

But I was happy that Marie got to sip some finer tequilas, ones that she can't find up in BC, and talk with Marco and Paul about the various ones.  Paul kindly sold her a bottle at cost, and that gave her a couple of bottles to come home with and enjoy.

Dinner done, we came back to the condo for bûche de Noël and chocolate martinis.  A treat to end the visit.  Van headed home, and the three of us repaired to the couch to watch one last romcom.  It was an earlyish night for us as we had to take Marie to the airport at 6 the next morning.

That was the holiday visit with family.  I sometimes think about how Conrad, Van, and I each have only a sister left, no parents (well, Marie and I have a stepmother, and she has a birth mother still living, and there are step and half siblings galore).  I'm glad that Marie and I have a great brother-sister relationship, and I'm grateful she could come for Christmas.

silent night

A bit of a cheat, that title, describing what this photo suggests more than the actual night itself.

Van came over last night, we had a healthy serving of leftovers from Christmas dinner, then we started to watch Emilia Perez.  When we heard Van gently snoring, we woke him and suggested that he either head up to bed or head home to do the same.  He opted for the latter, and Conrad

and I switched to a handful of episodes of Young Sheldon, a show we long resisted but have been enjoying immensely.

But the idea of a silent night, of the peace of the season is there.  We did get out today and pick up some dried split peas for me to make soup, and then swung by Amara for a weekend breakfast. 

That was my first time leaving the condo building in two days, and heck, I didn't even make it more than five feet past the front door of the condo yesterday.  It's been restful, relaxing.  I'm doing more today than I have the past couple of lazy days, but I'm being willful about not overfilling my days off.  Eight days until I am back on campus, and I am happy not to have too many obligations.  

I confess, I would have loved time in the Vancouver condo if we still had it.  Some greyer, wetter weather.  No snow up there, but it might have been possible.  I should have liked some time to listen to music, watch the weather and the city lights and just be at peace.  Ah well.  Making the most of these quiet days before 2025 kicks into gear.  May you be doing the same.

Christmas 2024

I was out of bed on Christmas morning before everyone.  My earliest morning in the past week (I'm writing this on the morning of Saturday, December 28, and I was out of bed a few minutes after 10 - can you believe that???!!!), and I took advantage by throwing on some walking gear and getting outside for a stroll. 

So nice and peaceful on Christmas morning.  Barely anyone around.  I admired the neighbourhood decorations,

messaged with friends, and enjoyed the tranquility.  

And then I came back to pick up Marie to take Olive out for a short walk.  Look at her! 

What a beautiful girl.

Van and Conrad got themselves going eventually, and the four of us had an easy breakfast.  Van opened a couple of presents that were under his tree,

Marie and I finished off the dishes from the night before, then we headed back to the condo to shower and change

and get ready for dinner. 

In practice, that also meant a nap for Conrad and a holiday romcom for me and Marie, but you get the idea.

Van and Olive came over about mid-afternoon, and once I had the macaroni and cheese in the oven and cocktails made for them, we opened stockings. 

Stockings are a big deal in our home, as you can tell, and that took a lot of time.  The others had wanted us to open presents as well before Natasha arrived, but by the time stockings were done, I needed everyone to get to work on making sure we were set up for dinner.  We did presents with Natasha after dinner, and that worked out quite fine.

Dinner was alright. 

We got a ham on the bone from Honey Baked Ham, but it didn't heat up as well as I wanted. 

Ah well.  The sides were fine - the macaroni and cheese turned out to be a decent recipe that used a custard instead of a roux. 

I was pleased with the biscuits, too. 

I also made a parsnip soup

at the last minute so that we had a reason to serve some caviar to Natasha (as a garnish).  It's likely our last big holiday meal with her because she is moving in February, and I wanted it special.  We had stopped at Bristol Farms earlier in the day to buy the caviar, and we found crackers as well.  Hanukkah crackers, which we thought would be fine. 

Never those particular ones again, though - no paper crowns inside, and when we pulled them open, they shot out large confetti pieces that littered the table and floor and got into the soup and drinks.

Conrad and I served up a nice Italian wine we'd picked up at Eataly through the dinner, but we poured Champagne for everyone first.  Out came the bûche de Noël,

and that was thoroughly enjoyed.  The evening would down with Conrad and Van taking on dishes duty,

and then, after Van and Olive left, I slipped into a holiday onesie

and the three of us watched another holiday romcom.

It was a flurry of work right before dinner, but all in all, the day was a fine one. 

I hope you all had a very happy Christmas!