Hello bloggers & bloggettes! Merry ALMOST Christmas to ya! How was the weekend for everyone? Mine was NUTSO- three parties in three days! So, consider this the highlight reel- I will try to sum up the past four days in as few words as possible. You’re welcome 
Thursday was the big hair day..obviously you know now that I did stay blonde and I let Niki give me bangs- something I have NEVER had in my entire life!! En route to my appointment I picked us up some drinks to fuel my 3 hour foiling process. An eggnog latte with a shot of butterscotch for her (DELISHHHH) and a sugarfree chocolate almond latte (literally THE BEST drink I have ever put in my mouth. ok ok best COFFEE DRINK.)
Obviously straws were necessary.
Here is my before and after for your viewing pleasure 
I LOVE!!! Thanks Niki, as always, you did a fab job
SO, as you can see, it was SEVEN by the time I got done and still had to stop to pick up supplies for the weekend get togethers. By the time I got home, TJ was wrapping gifts like a maniac and I joined in to try to make a dent in our HUGE present stock load. We enjoyed a home cooked store bought dinner-
Before-
And After-
Added some mushrooms, onions, red peppers and a sprinkling of cheeeese. I had two slices smothered in crushed red pepper and some steamed broc with fresh parm cheese. Perfect. 
Friday I had an ALLLL DAYYY staff meeting that doubled as our Xmas party. Really?! Yeah. Really. We got to spent 8 hours working for our party, JEALOUS??? Didn’t think so. Oh well. The food was…umm..not what I would have imagined to be ideal for HEALTH EDUCATORS…picture a menu full of burgers, fries, chicken liver pate (wtf…), and there was even a section called “FRIED VEGETABLES” that was about 10 items long.
I went with a bowl of chili and a side salad. Not good. But it did hold me over. After work/party..although the only partying done was when the boss picked up the check for lunch??..I drove into town to meet TJ at HIS work party. It was at Firefly (remember when we went there last??). Now THAT’S what I’m talkin ‘bout. I enjoyed two wonderous glasses of my new favorite wine-
Super crisp, with a nose full of apple. Love it.
After stopping at home and running the pups for a bit, we headed over to Brent & Ashleys for “cousin christmas.” ALWAYS fun with them. We snacked, we exchanged gifts, we played Yahtzee, and then walked to the bar that is a block from their house. So dangerous.
Action shot.
The boys & the girls…TYPICAL.
Look at how stinking cute their pooch Porter is- TJ and I got him some toys and he would NOT put down this penguin! AWWW.
At the bar, I had a couple several vodka/sodas. And my tipsy face came out-
Ohhh boy. Ummm so needless to say I felt a little rough Saturday morning. But too bad, there was work to be done! We had Tj’s family christmas part 1, and needed to bring appetizers. I made buffalo chicken dip & sausage/mushroom/spinach stuffed phyllo shells as WELL as an apple pie cheesecake. Alas no pics..but they were all awesome so I will make again and document it the next time
Here is SOME of the spread at his grandparents & some choice action shots from the shin dig !
Goin round clockwise- Chicken wings w/ 2 BBQ sauces for dippin; home, cream cheese & pickle rolls; fingers in a crab dip/bread bowl (one of my favs of the day); deviled eggs and my phyllo cups.
The view from the other end of the table- shrimpies & cocktail sauce; my buffalo chicken dip; meatballs in some creamy sauce?; and cheeseball dip with crackers.
There were MANY many dishes unphotographed by moi, since I got in the party mood and took mostly pics of the fam – how boring, right!? Here are some close ups of my fav dishes tho- 
Buffalo chicken dip (you know me + spicy…..)
BAKED crab rangoons. Heavenly.
Creamy ‘balls ( too easy. TWSS)
Oh hey, other papparazzi!
No Xmas party is really complete without antlers, cheesy ties and jingle bell necklaces, right?!?!
And, finally, my FAVORITE pic of the night award goes to…..
Sneering/playing air guitar on my leg, Tj doing…lord knows…and TJ’s youngest niece wondering why the heck she was hanging out with the crazies. Taken by TJ’s OTHER niece. Maybe that explains why only half of the pic is blurred? Dont know, dont care, just LOVE it.
Sunday was Xmas party with Tj’s family part 2. I don’t have any pics, I so sorry. But I think the massive amounts thus far more than make up for it. Basically, we had some wine, an amazing dinner featuring prime rib, ham, garlic mashed potatoes, almond green beans, pasta salad, and a spinach/mandarins/onion/poppyseed dressing salad. And I ate it all. Then there were gifts & desserts (most notably the caramel puffs- which you will be seeing again here, the s’mores bars- ditto, and peppermint kisses). Home by 8, passed out by 9. The end of the ridic weekend.
Nothing too exciting Monday- lunch was a Red & Green salad-
Spinach, cukes, sprouts, red peps, slice of turkey, slice of roast beef, slice of bacon. Using that shiz up!
And, in celebration of some GREAT job news for both TJ & myself, was a recipe I am less than impressed with so maybe I will share after some tweaking. Basically, though, homemade Moules Frites aka Mussels and Fries.
sweet potato & russet potato oven fries
mussels with spinach, bacon, bleu cheese and a lemon/white wine/garlic sauce. meh.
all together now. shared with teej. I could have eaten the entire plate of fries by myself. so good.
And that brings us to Tuesday! Plans include a couple more hours of work, an afternoon spent finishing my xmas shopping, a serious sweat session at the gym and NO IDEA yet for dinner. Wish me luck!!!!!
