Kutschbach Christmas

I wanted to take a minute to wish all my bloggers a very Merry Christmas! I hope the reason for the season was within your hearts :-)

I have to admit, I’m a bit nostalgic this holiday season! I seem to be seeing things in a whole new light this year. Naturally it’s very evident in my mind that this is my “last” Christmas as Maggie Kutschbach with just my family and traditions. Next year I’ll have a husband and another whole family with new traditions to incorporate into the mix. I look forward to it but at the same time I feel a little sad too! My mom kept saying, “You better be here next year!” – when in reality I have NO idea where I’ll be! Patrick and I have never discussed what we will do about holidays but I guess like every other couple we will take turns splitting them each year.  So this year I tried to take it all in and enjoy it as much as possible!

As you can probably guess, Patrick and I did not get to spend the holiday together. He had practice Christmas morning then boarded a plane to Kansas City. Football players don’t get Christmas off! I am going to head down to see him for New Years though. I’ll be on a plane home all New Years day but it will be worth it to get to see him and ring in 2011 with him! He’ll also be on a plane New Years day, only heading to Indianapolis instead of Pittsburgh.

Every Christmas Eve since I can remember we have gone to my Godmother, Lois’ house. It’s an open house and anyone and everyone shows up! After food, drinks and plenty of laughs we always head to the late night mass. Growing up it was at Midnight but as of recently it has been changed to 10:00pm. I always enjoy this mass because it starts off in candlelight and it is so beautiful! After mass I always open one Christmas gift.

Yesterday, I opened one of my favorite gifts, a Shannon Crystal 4-way cake plate! I have to laugh, a few short years ago I would have HATED something like this ha-ha! Now, it was wonderful :-) My mom and I found it last week while Christmas shopping and I fell in love with it!! It can be a classic cake plate, a cookie tray, a punch/salad bowl or a veggie and dip stand all with the turn of the pieces! It’s beautiful!

On Christmas morning I woke up and went to my parent’s house to open the rest of my presents. As a child I woke up SO early all by myself. These days I have to admit, I need the alarm clock to get me out of bed ha-ha! I actually got my favorite gift this year (besides the iPad of course!!) twice! My sister Katie bought it for me as well as my mom. Both of them knew I wanted it so badly!

That’s right, I got my bridal robe from Victoria’s Secret!! I love it! I will take the second back and perhaps get the rest of my wedding night garb?! ;-)

After opening my gifts we headed up to the Sweeney house for the annual breakfast! Since Katie and Ted added so many family members to the family we now go to them each Christmas morning. It is so special seeing the kids so excited about Santa and Christmas in general! They are what it’s all about! I’m the baby of the family so it is amazing to see what Christmas is like through the eyes of a child :-) After playing with all the new toys and a delicious breakfast I actually fit in a little Christmas nap-a-roo! When I awoke I got ready and headed to my parents house for our grab-bag and dinner.

My family started the grab-bag tradition this year. Because of the wedding, everyone thought it would be best to just buy for the kids. So to stay festive all adults drew names and bought one present (minus Mom and Dad…they are always very generous!) I had my sister Kristy and I bought her a perfume set. My mom had me and bought me a gorgeous Wilton Armentale serving tray! Wilton is my new obsession since registering for the wedding! I love this serve ware! Not only is it beautiful, but you can also put it in the oven on a grill or in the freezer! I didn’t register for this piece but I absolutely love it!

Dinner was great. We had turkey and it was really good. We were kinda expecting ham which brought up the discussion of what do others eat on Christmas? Feel free to post what you ate below! My mom ALWAYS adds a scratch-off ticket at each place setting of the table. I was this year’s big winner! $10 – yeah!!! A new holiday tradition, Mom added in some wine this year…hilarious! She asked my sister Katie what kind she should get and Katie said Pinot Grigio. Katie laughed and said our mom would probably never remember what it was called, and that she might as well have called it “Penis Grape” lol! We quizzed mom at dinner and she called it “Pina Grina” – hilarious!!  

After dinner and some dancing and laughs my nostalgic self drove downtown to keep with my holiday tradition of seeing the Macy’s windows. I’m a bit sentimental over them! 2 years ago I actually took Patrick to see them and after we shared our first kiss!! It was sad not having him there this year but I took pictures to share with him – so I may as well share with you as well! Usually the windows are very extravagant but this year they were toned down a bit. Neat note about them, each one was made out of just paper!!! It was based on the “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” story…

I went on to explore the rest of downtown Pittsburgh and it's beautiful Christmas spirit :-) I loved seeing my city all light up! If I'm not here next year I will miss it SO much!!

Sunday morning, the day after Christmas, I woke up early and went ornament shopping with my parents. I've done this with my parents since I was a little, little girl! My parents are big collectors of Hallmark ornaments and it looks as though their addiction has stemmed down to me...Check out my first collection!

From left to right we have the Grizwald's house all lit up (LOVE Christmas Vacation!), The 2010 Snowflake, Our Christmas (for Patrick and I to journal about this holiday season), Merry Christ-Moose (I loved her little red high heel shoes!!), Airplane (for my newly licensed pilot!!), a mixer, cupcakes, and a single cupcake (all for my kitchen tree!) and Patrick's old teammate Troy Polamolu. I'm happy with them and I hope Patrick likes them as well!!

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Please be festive and safe as you ring in 2011 next weekend!

Talk to you again next year :-)