New Year's Eve 2010

You know that saying, "what a difference a day makes"?  In my case, I'm in awe of what a difference a year makes.  Last year on New Year's Eve (2009), Scott and I were in a U-Haul moving me up to Wisconsin.  I remember how stressed I was.  And how sad.  It was awful.

This year- New Year's Eve 2010- was about a quadrillion times better.  I am so, so, so very thankful that Scott and I are back to living together under the same roof again and we have our beloved pets with us.   We're extremely fortunate to have a beautiful home and we love being here together.

Because we were in Columbus, Scott and I didn't exchange gifts on Christmas day.  We decided to wait until New Year's Eve.  Sure, we could have exchanged gifts sooner-- on some random day between December 26 when we got home and yesterday, but we wanted to wait until NYE so there would still be a holiday feel when we opened our presents to/from each other.

So that's how we spent New Year's Eve.  Just the two of us.  At home.  With our pets.  Exchanging gifts by the Christmas tree.  It was a wonderful evening.  I loved every minute of it.

We kicked things off by mixing up cocktails.  Scott had Captain's and diet Coke.  I tried something new:  a French Martini.

Vodka.  Chambord.  Pineapple juice.  Very tasty.

Scott is quite the creative gift-wrapper.  He goes to great lengths to try to ensure I can't guess what any of my gifts are before I unwrap them.  He puts things in odd sized boxes.  He has even been known to put hand weights in boxes to alter the weight of the package.  This year, he stashed and wrapped a gift in this box which, as you can see, still has gloves in it.

Here is what was inside.

A bottle of Aveda purefume (as Aveda refers to it).  I love this stuff; it smells so good.  Scott got me a few other yummy things from Aveda as well.  He knows I am an all-Aveda girl.  He got me Hand Relief, which I desperately need because my hands are so dry and chapped that they're actually sore.  He also got me 2 items from the Personal Blends line, including lotion and another purefume spray.  I like many of the scents in the Personal Blends line.  They are designated by number.  I have typically worn #5 and #9 but recently discovered #20, which is what Scott got me in the lotion and in the purefume.  #20 smells like Sandalwood.  Mmmmm.  It smells so good.

Scott also wrapped gifts for me this year from the pets.  It was so cute because he would ask me when I picked out a gift to unwrap, "Who is that from?"  If I replied Jadies (our nickname for Jada), for example, Scott would say so sincerely, "Jadies?  What did Jadies get you?" Like he didn't know.  

Apparently Jada, Rudy and the cats did their Christmas shopping for me at Dazzle, one of my very favorite shops here in Madison (link).  Dazzle sells all kinds of bling and girly things (costume jewelry, handbags, etc.)  This is what Jada picked out for me.

A very bling-y snowflake ring.  It just seems right to have a snowflake ring when you live in a wintry state like Wisconsin.  And bling is always good no matter where you live.

Rudy also had a gift wrapped up for me from Dazzle.  The first picture is of the gift box.  The picture following shows how gifts get packaged up from Dazzle.  Kind of snazzy.

This is the ring Rudy picked out for me.  It attaches to 2 fingers.  Arguably pimp-like, but it's a popular style right now.  I actually like it-- it makes me chuckle every time I look at it.

I also got a gift from the boyz, as we lovingly refer to our cats.  Simon and Isaac picked out a cover for my large Miche bag (purse).  This also came from Dazzle and I think it has 'dazzle' written all over it.  It's kind of hard to see the actual color in this picture.  It's a deep sea-foam, teal type of color.  It's got a little bit of funk to it.  

Apparently Santa Claus shops at Dazzle also.

Santa picked out this bracelet for me with a peace sign charm on it.  Santa knows what I like.

In addition to Rudy, Jadies, the boyz, and Santa Claus, Scott got me some awesome gifts this year too.  First up, a scarf/hat/glove set from the Boston Store.  I commented to Scott when we were driving back to Wisconsin from Ohio after Christmas that I like these hats that are in style right now with the ear flaps with the dangly cords on them and pom-poms on top.  I had no idea when I made that comment to him that he had such a hat already wrapped up under the Christmas tree for me.  Isn't this a nice set?  The hat and gloves are lined so they are nice and snugly warm.  Scott did good.   

Many years ago a friend of mine gave me a cute cosmetic bag.  It's orange and has a big "J" initial on it.  I have carried that thing in my purse nearly every day for probably 5 or 6 years.  As I'm sure you can guess, it's starting to look shabby by now.  I told Scott a couple months back that it looks so bad, at this point I'm actually embarrassed to pull it out of my purse in any kind of a public setting.  Scott heard that message and got me a new cosmetic bag for Christmas.  He went all out and ordered it on line from this place.

I haven't checked out the website, but Scott says Leatherology has a lot of cool stuff.  I know this much:  the cosmetic bag he picked out for me is beautiful.  You can tell when you touch it that it's good quality leather.  Scott even had my initials put on it, which are kind of hard to see in this picture.  They are on the lower right of the bag.  Scott is so sweet, thoughtful, and detail-oriented like that.

I got a lot of presents this year/every year.  Too many.  (Is there such a thing??)  I make that comment as I notice that this is turning into a very long post.....

Are you familiar with this brand of shoes?  

I wasn't familiar with dansko shoes until I moved to Madison.  One style in particular is very popular here.  They come in a whole host of colors and designs/patterns.  Scott got me a basic black pair....

...and a funky, shiny deep red pair.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that we have a jetted garden tub in our master bathroom in our 'new' house here in Stoughton.  Jetted tubs may be kind of dated and played out, but I'm not going to lie:  I love it.  I love taking a nice, warm bubble bath with those jets swirling the water like a hot tub.  My favorite brand of bubble bath is Kiss My Face.  I actually like all kinds of Kiss My Face products, in addition to the bubble bath.  They are sort of hippy, tree-hugging type products.  I used to get Kiss My Face bubble bath at Wild Oats on Lane Avenue in Columbus (which I think is called something else now.)  I thought they also carried the Kiss My Face brand at Trader Joe's, but Scott said when he went to Trader Joe's here in Madison that they didn't have any.  Scott was not to be deterred though.  He got on line and ordered me 5 bottles of Kiss My Face bubble bath, 3 chap sticks and 2 bottles of lotion.  

I can hardly wait to take a bath, but it's going to be hard to decide which "flavor" of bubble bath to use.  These are the scents Scott picked out for me.  Tell me these don't scream hippy.

Peaceful Patchouli

Early to Rise:  Wild Mint & Citrus

Early to Bed:  Clove & Ylang Ylang

Silky Soft:  Lavender & Lily

Anti-Stress:  Woodlands Pine & Ginseng

All these wonderful Kiss My Face gifts made me want to kiss Scott right on his face.

Throughout my life I have received many, many wonderful, generous gifts.  I'm not sure I have ever been given a gift that made me burst out into tears though.  This year might have been a first for that.  Several weeks ago when Scott and I were shopping at Hilldale mall here in Madison, I came across a necklace that I fell for.  (In case you didn't already know, I'm a jewelry junkie.  I can't get enough of it.  To me, when it comes to jewelry, the bigger and the gaudier, the better.)  Hilldale is on the prestigious side of malls (link). Smaller and classier than big malls like an Easton or Polaris.  Hilldale very much reminds me of the old Lane Avenue mall or Worthington Square back in it's heyday.  Macy's is the anchor store at Hilldale, but it's mostly comprised of small boutique-type stores.  There is a Sundance movie theatre there and there is also a cool, gourmet-type grocery store called Metcalfe's (link).  Anyhow, I fell for this necklace.  When I checked the price tag, I found it was 90 bucks.  I wasn't going to pay 90 bucks for a necklace for myself, especially so close to Christmas when I needed my funds elsewhere.  I didn't think Scott was paying attention when I was admiring the necklace.  He thinks all my jewelry looks alike.  Silly boy.

Apparently Scott was paying closer attention than I thought he was.  One of the last Christmas gifts I opened was this.

   

Inside that heart-shaped package was the necklace that I had admired.  I couldn't believe it.  I couldn't believe Scott was paying attention and that he would remember which boutique it was in and that he would go back for it.  I was so touched at how kind and generous and thoughtful and giving and loving my husband is that I just burst into tears.  And the necklace is just flipping fabulous too.

 

That's an overview of many of the ways in which I was once again spoiled this Christmas.  More than enough about me, I'm sure.  The main thing Scott wanted this year was a PS3.  I soooooo didn't want to buy him one.  I'm not a gamer.  I don't understand the appeal of gaming.  I think the games are ridiculously expensive.  And Scott can tend to play obsessively in spurts, as evidenced by his use of a PSP that I got him a couple years ago.  I had to come to terms with the fact that gift giving should be about the person to whom you are giving the gift and not about yourself.  So I broke down and got him the PS3.  Clearly it made him very happy.  

   
Isn't Scott cute?  He is such a cute, sweet boy.  This beard thing he has going on makes me laugh.  I guess when you are a dude in a cold state like Wisconsin, you grow your beard in the winter for warmth.  As I was leaving for work the other day, I asked him what his plans for the day were.  He said, "I think I'll grow my beard a little more." 

Time to wrap things up.  This has been a very long post.  Before I close, I want to share a couple pictures of Rudy.  She loves Christmas.  As we were opening gifts, she was sitting right there in the living room with us, watching what was going on. 

We love that little old girl so much. 

And, finally:  I started the post by commenting that Scott and I mixed up a few drinks for present-opening time.  Scott with his Captain's and diet and me with my French Martini's.  By the time it was all said and done, I think I had 4 cocktails.  I was tanked.  Lots of presents.  Lots of drinks.  The next morning, Scott said we had partied like rock stars.

I think that about sums it up.