DC is my hometown...
... but I think Austin is "home" now.
Arrived on Saturday night. The whole fam came to pick me up at the airport, and we went to Ted's Montana Grill in Crystal City for dinner. We all had various forms of bison meat -- steak, meat loaf, short ribs, burger -- but nothing so impressive that we have to run right back. It was a little unnerving to sit underneath the wall-mounted giant stuffed buffalo head. (His name was Maximus.) When we got home, we celebrated the last night of Chanuka. I got a penguin to add to my collection (a collection that is growing daily as my mother goes out shopping), a lovely bracelet and three books I wanted (including a knitting book) from my brother. Poor kid had to brave the Crafts section of the bookstore to get the Yarn Harlot book. heh. I also opened my new (RED) iPod (thanks, Andy!) and started loading songs onto it. I loooove it!
Xmas eve at Kelly's was tons of fun, as usual. We only had nine people this year, which was a nice, small group. Hannah was the only little kid, and she milked it for all it was worth. She tried on her pink cowgirl boots as soon as she opened them, but I think they were a little too big, and not quite comfy without socks. But she did like them! (She was a crankypants all day long, and by that time, almost nothing was making her happy.) We had Kelly's awesome lasagna, salad, Aunt Karen's garlic bread (spread: 2 sticks of butter with four cloves of crushed garlic, tarragon, basil and ... dill? It was yummy), and cream puffs with chocolate sauce for dessert. We were stuffed! Kelly's mom gave me a neat long wooden sign that's a star and four stripes... If I can figure out how to get it home, it'll look great on my wall. :)
Xmas day: Chinese food! We did the reverse of the stereotypical Jewish holiday, though... we went for dim sum at Fortune and then went to the movies. We saw the latest Christopher Guest movie, "For Your Consideration." It was better than "A Mighty Wind" but not nearly as good as "Best in Show". I don't know if it's because my aunt breeds and shows dogs, or if it was just a funnier movie overall, but that by far is my favorite Guest movie. Well, ok, except for the Princess Bride. ("You don't by any chance have six fingers on your right hand?") and Spinal Tap. The rest of the day wasn't terribly exciting... and the weather was icky.
Boxing day, mom was up and out at 8am for the day-after-Xmas shopping at Lord & Taylor! I wasn't nearly awake enough to go with her. I probably should have gone along - she ended up buying a half-dozen 2' tall Santas! (I'm so confused.) It turned out to be international foods day - sushi for lunch and Indian food for dinner. Ryan and Becky picked an Indian restaurant in Columbia that was on the Zagat's list... it was hard to find, but the food was very tasty.
I'd probably have more to report, but I managed to get sick -- or a really bad allergy attack -- as soon as I got here. Just like what happened when I got to LA for Thanksgiving. ICK!
Arrived on Saturday night. The whole fam came to pick me up at the airport, and we went to Ted's Montana Grill in Crystal City for dinner. We all had various forms of bison meat -- steak, meat loaf, short ribs, burger -- but nothing so impressive that we have to run right back. It was a little unnerving to sit underneath the wall-mounted giant stuffed buffalo head. (His name was Maximus.) When we got home, we celebrated the last night of Chanuka. I got a penguin to add to my collection (a collection that is growing daily as my mother goes out shopping), a lovely bracelet and three books I wanted (including a knitting book) from my brother. Poor kid had to brave the Crafts section of the bookstore to get the Yarn Harlot book. heh. I also opened my new (RED) iPod (thanks, Andy!) and started loading songs onto it. I loooove it!
Xmas eve at Kelly's was tons of fun, as usual. We only had nine people this year, which was a nice, small group. Hannah was the only little kid, and she milked it for all it was worth. She tried on her pink cowgirl boots as soon as she opened them, but I think they were a little too big, and not quite comfy without socks. But she did like them! (She was a crankypants all day long, and by that time, almost nothing was making her happy.) We had Kelly's awesome lasagna, salad, Aunt Karen's garlic bread (spread: 2 sticks of butter with four cloves of crushed garlic, tarragon, basil and ... dill? It was yummy), and cream puffs with chocolate sauce for dessert. We were stuffed! Kelly's mom gave me a neat long wooden sign that's a star and four stripes... If I can figure out how to get it home, it'll look great on my wall. :)
Xmas day: Chinese food! We did the reverse of the stereotypical Jewish holiday, though... we went for dim sum at Fortune and then went to the movies. We saw the latest Christopher Guest movie, "For Your Consideration." It was better than "A Mighty Wind" but not nearly as good as "Best in Show". I don't know if it's because my aunt breeds and shows dogs, or if it was just a funnier movie overall, but that by far is my favorite Guest movie. Well, ok, except for the Princess Bride. ("You don't by any chance have six fingers on your right hand?") and Spinal Tap. The rest of the day wasn't terribly exciting... and the weather was icky.
Boxing day, mom was up and out at 8am for the day-after-Xmas shopping at Lord & Taylor! I wasn't nearly awake enough to go with her. I probably should have gone along - she ended up buying a half-dozen 2' tall Santas! (I'm so confused.) It turned out to be international foods day - sushi for lunch and Indian food for dinner. Ryan and Becky picked an Indian restaurant in Columbia that was on the Zagat's list... it was hard to find, but the food was very tasty.
I'd probably have more to report, but I managed to get sick -- or a really bad allergy attack -- as soon as I got here. Just like what happened when I got to LA for Thanksgiving. ICK!
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