Well, it's never any good when everybody leaves, is it? When my mom left on Tuesday, at least we had Christmas to do pretty much as soon as she pulled away. There's nothing like opening a boatload of presents to cheer you up, right? My dad stayed on a few more days, and while he was here we did some of our standards like an amazing meal out and lunch at PF Changs (to both of which I wore MY NEW COAT!). We had extra snuggles and cocktails at home and abroad (And now we know we can make a French 75 here in our own kitchen, which is...good, right?) When my dad finally left, it was rainy and cold, and we all needed to recover. I took to my bath, Lucy took to the fire and spent all of Saturday afternoon reading. Callum went to watch the hapless Eagles at a friend's house on Sunday while Neel and I took a tour of the tile store, soaking up some inspiration for the next bathroom project. So much to think about, you know?

I'm soaking up some inspiration for some upcoming cooking. Some is just regular weekday cooking and some is a bit more fun that that. I'll tell you more next week. And poor Cal. When he was at his friends house, their beagle bit him on the toe. It looks worse than it is, and it looks much better now that's he's had a bath. Still, he was pretty skeeved out for a bit. And that boy loves his dogs. As I'm writing this, it's Sunday night and we're snuggled up to watch some football. The dogs are cuddled up (finally) on their new bed. Violet, who has been to the doctor more in the past two weeks than I have all year and is on more meds than a grandma, is starting to feel much better.

It's almost the New Year. What do you think of that? I'll pop in tomorrow with my annual resolution list, and then I think I'll sign off again until Friday. Ease back into things. I am seriously (foolheartedly) considering a 365 photography project, and I have some other plans for the upcoming year. Both in this space and all my other spaces. I can't wait to share it with you, my lovelies. Mostly, I feel so grateful that you've been here on the journey with me. What would I do without you?