I love you, Santa Claus

I normally love the Christmas season, but this year I just couldn't find my Christmas spirit. I think it has to do a lot with the fact that this hasn't really been a "break" for me. Sure, I have a month off of school, but instead I've been working 35-40 hour weeks, at a theme park, during the busiest season. I haven't relaxed as much as I would like. Also, because I work at a theme park, it didn't seem likely that I would get more than 3 days home with my family.

But this year, just in the nick of time, I received a small Christmas miracle. I ended up getting an extra 2 days off of work, for a total of 5 days home with my family. I also finally got to spend Christmas with some extended family for the first time in about 8 years. It was lovely. And Santa Claus was very, very good to me.

Judging by the picture, I obviously made out like a bandit. The obvious star is my very own KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I'm in love. You can definitely expect some recipes featuring my mixer in the near future. My mom/Santa really understands my dorky love of kitchen gadgets. She gave me a nice cutlery caddy and a spice rack. My wonderful sister gifted me some plates to feature the food for the blog. And I also received two cookbooks; the KitchenAid Baking Companion Cookbook and the Skinny Bitch cookbook, which is full of vegan recipes. Both cookbooks are beautiful, and I can't wait to test out some recipes.

All in all, I ended up having a wonderful family, filled with the most important thing: family. The gifts were just gravy...mushroom gravy (my favorite). I hope you all had a wonderful, family filled holiday. I wish you safe travels and a very happy new year for you and your loved ones.