holidays | loveliness.

Category: holidays
- mission peaks
  
  Posted at 8:00 am by jasminedesirees, on December 28, 2016
  
  We’ve been in the Bay for the last couple of weeks after the semester ended, and we ended up celebrating Christmas on December 24th this year, just because it worked better for a lot of people’s schedules.
  
  So on the 25th, we woke up and had breakfast and opened up our stockings, but then we didn’t really have anywhere we needed to be. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, so we decided to go for a hike and try to burn off some of the treats we’ve been eating. I made two huge bags of puppy chow on the 20th and they were gone before Christmas Eve.
  
  Missions Peaks was about 7 miles total, and was only about 30 minutes away from where we were staying, so it was kind of perfect. It was kind of hard in some spots, it had rained a few days before so it was a bit slippery, and parts of it were pretty steep. Also, there are cows.
  
  It took us about 3 hours total, but the view from the top was gorgeous, and it was nice to get outside and actually do something, even though I like drinking mimosas in front of the fireplace as much as the next guy.
  
  It’s a great option if you are looking for a hike in the East Bay, especially on a clear day because you can see the entire Bay.
  
  Tomorrow we are off for a couple of days in Big Sur, and I am SO excited. We’re supposed to have good weather, and we are leaving super early to try to snag a cliff top spot. It might be really cold, but between by batman onesie and the 400 pairs of socks I got for Christmas, I may avoid freezing to death.
  
  Posted in California, holidays, travel, USA | 0 Comments | Tagged bay area, California, Christmas, hiking, mission peak
- christmasness
  
  Posted at 10:48 am by jasminedesirees, on January 13, 2015
  
  Just a few pics from my dreamy hibernation holiday in Montana, which included too much polar bear plunging (once) and just the right amount of Rumchata (all of the Rumchata).
  
  I am writing this from a Starbucks because we still don’t have internet (or furniture) at our new place. There are two older women across from me discussing how one of their ex-husbands has shacked up with “a floozy”, and I’m sneak downloading Shameless to watch later, snuggled up on my inflatable bed.
  
  Starting tomorrow I should be back to a semi-regular posting schedule, there are still tons of photos and adventures to share from our trip, starting back in Kuta Lombok.
  
  Posted in family, holidays, life, Montana | 1 Comment | Tagged Christmas, family, holidays, life, Montana
- christmas
  
  Posted at 3:00 pm by jasminedesirees, on December 25, 2013
  
  I hope everyone has the best day today, and gets to spend it with all of the people they care about.
  
  I am hopefully either on my way to Mazatlan now, or I’ve already landed and I’m enjoying a margarita with my family.
  
  Merry Christmas!
  
  Posted in family, friends, holidays, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Christmas, family, friends, holidays, life
- i’ve seen Christmas lights, reflect in your eyes
  
  Posted at 10:33 pm by jasminedesirees, on December 19, 2013
  
  We heard about a house in Pleasanton that was crazy decorated for Christmas, so we went to check it out. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this.
  
  There were over 500,000 lights, it was madness. They had a mini-golf course set up, and Santa’s workshop in the garage where kids could come to get their pictures taken.
  
  I should have set up a hot chocolate stand in front, I would have made a killing. It’s great that people are so into the holidays, the electricity usage made me a bit nervous though, but the kids were loving it.
  
  A lot of their neighbours had joined in and decorated every house on the cul de sac, except for one house that was completely decorationless. I felt a bit bad for them, it must be kind of annoying have thousands of people driving by and parking and hanging around your house for a full month, and their complete lack of decorations might have been their way of protesting.
  
  Or maybe they just don’t celebrate Christmas.
  
  It helped get me in the mood for the holidays though, I’ve been skating, and drank egg nog and been to tons of Christmas parties, but it never really feels like Christmas without snow to play in.
  
  This was clearly my favourite one. “You guyth, it’th jutht lemon”.
  
  Posted in holidays, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Christmas, decorations, holidays, life, lights
- parties
  
  Posted at 6:27 pm by jasminedesirees, on December 16, 2013
  
  I love the Holidays for tons of reasons, one of the main ones is holiday parties. They do tend to stack up though, this last weekend I had 3, starting with my work Christmas party on Thursday night. They rented out a nightclub, Temple, and we partied and danced until the wee hours, followed by an obligatory 2 a.m. trip to In and Out.
  
  Friday I had to work, it was a rough morning but they brought in McDonald’s breakfast and Bloody Mary’s to get everyone motivated.
  
  I brought in my own bottle of pickle juice, I like to plan ahead.
  
  Derek’s work party was that night so I left work early, changed in the car and went for dinner and drinks at Rickey’s in Novato. I did pretty well off the start, I had a few martini’s to perk me up, but by the end of the night I was fading fast.
  
  Saturday night we had a White Elephant party with friends, it was a bit more low key, but still lots of fun. I have three more parties this week, Friday is my last day of work, and then we’re off to Mexico next Wednesday.
  
  It’s great to spend so much time with friends and always have something fun to look forward to, I kind of wish it was Christmas all the time, but at this rate I’m not sure I’d survive it.
  
  Posted in friends, holidays, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Christmas, friends, holidays, party
- giving thanks
  
  Posted at 9:19 pm by jasminedesirees, on October 16, 2013
  
  Monday was Thanksgiving (I try not to call it Canadian Thanksgiving even though I’m sure some people think I just can’t read a calendar because it kind of feels weird and dis-associative. It’s MY Thanksgiving so I feel like I shouldn’t qualify it, as though I’m saying it’s not REALLY Thanksgiving).
  
  I haven’t been able to be home for Thanksgiving in a very long time, but it’s become a tradition to celebrate it with friends, food and lots of booze, and it’s far enough away from American Thanksgiving (ha) that I’m not interfering with anyone’s plans with their family.
  
  I’ve had some very memorable celebrations, the time at our Sheridan St apartment or “the ghetto” as it was less than affectionately referred to by our friends, when we didn’t have any furniture except for a tiny, musty futon and ended up eating and cooking most of our meal sitting on the living room carpet.
  
  There was the year that my sister made electric purple sweet potato casserole that was way too nasty looking to eat. The year my friends in North Dakota surprised me with a Thanksgiving celebration of fries and gravy (poutine’s cheeseless counterpart), ketchup chips and perogies even though in their opinion, and this is a direct quote “Canadians don’t even believe in pilgrims.”
  
  And one of my fondest orphaned Thanksgiving stories, my first year living in Honolulu when my room mates who I’d only known for a couple of months surprised me with a KFC picnic in our new dorm room to celebrate. It was my first holiday so far from home and to this day I think it was the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me.
  
  This year was no exception, Derek and I had a turkey cook off (I’m pretty sure I won, ahem) and a bunch of our favourites came over to help us eat it (even though there were 10 of us, we didn’t put a dent in that turkey, in case you were wondering what I’ll be eating for the next two weeks). We had perogies, mashed potatoes, stuffing and some amazing mac and cheese, way too many desserts, and some very intense beer pong matches.
  
  There was the small matter of a puppy almost getting ran over by a car, but it’s pretty likely that it’s not even possible for horrifying catastrophes to occur on Thanksgiving, and everyone walked away unscathed.
  
  So as a status update, today I am feeling fat and happy because of all the delicious things I’ve had to eat lately, and also lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to make so many good friends, all over the place.
  
  Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
  
  Posted in food, friends, holidays, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Canada, food, friends, holidays, life, Thanksgiving
- mama-cita
  
  Posted at 5:27 pm by jasminedesirees, on May 1, 2013
  
  Today I am wishing a happy birthday to my beautiful, wonderful mother. She is constantly setting goals for herself, and works hard to achieve them, never taking no for an answer. She insists on having a good time no matter what she is doing, and she is always taking care of other people.
  
  Whether she is getting her motorcycle license, running a marathon, or hiking the Grand Canyon, she isn’t afraid to try new things. Also, she is probably the best dancer I know. I remember when I was little, I couldn’t wait to grow up and get big so that I could party with her, I always thought her and my dad were so much more fun than any other adults I knew.
  
  So happy birthday Billie Jean, thanks for being so adventurous and feisty, and showing us all that anything is possible with dedication, a positive attitude, and the promise of a margarita at the finish line.
  
  Posted in holidays, life, love | 0 Comments | Tagged birthday, life, love, mom
- birthday roundup
  
  Posted at 4:10 pm by jasminedesirees, on March 19, 2013
  
  Friday was my birthday, as you probably know by now. I had such a wonderful day. I woke up to presents and kisses from Derek, had supermarket birthday cake for breakfast, and then went to work where I had cards, peanuts m&m’s, chocolate croissant, and macaroons waiting for me.
  
  I went out to lunch with a group of my wonderful coworkers and had the best margarita of my life, followed by cupcakes in the afternoon.
  
  Derek picked me up after work and we went to little Italy, to an Italian restaurant called Firenze, where I had seriously amazing ravioli. After supper we got cappuccino’s and wandered around North Beach, and stopped at an adorable little candy shop.
  
  On the way home, we stopped on Treasure Island to see the new light exhibit that is up on the Bay Bridge. It was pretty neat, but I think you can see it better from the city side, so I’ll have to check it out on Thursday when my parents come to town.
  
  I had such a wonderful day, thanks to everyone who celebrated with me.
  
  all things birthday
  
  sometimes you have to wear a sombrero
  
  Posted in chocolate, holidays, life | 0 Comments
- sweets for my sweeties
  
  Posted at 10:34 pm by jasminedesirees, on February 15, 2013
  
  I tend to over-do things. It is one of my best/worst qualities in my opinion. Sometimes I procrastinate, sometimes I will put something off for months or years, but the second I decide that I’m really going to do something, I’m all in, and it needs to happen NOW.
  
  For example, I’ll go years thinking to myself “I think leopard shoes are cute, maybe I should get a pair”, but doing nothing about it. Then one day I will see someone wearing them, or something that would look cute with them and THAT’S IT. I am buying leopard shoes that day, come hell or high water, even if they are wildly expensive, or not even close to the ones I wanted, or two sizes too small. It’s happening.
  
  That zeal can come in handy, though, especially when it comes to holidays. I know Valentine’s Day can be kind of cheesy and commercial, but really what’s wrong with telling your favourite people that you kind of like them, a little bit, some days?
  
  I wanted to send my niece and nephew a ginormous box full of candy, which I’m pretty sure would put me firmly in the running for auntie of the year, but I suspect it might also make me a prime candidate for worst sister ever, so I broke the sugar up a bit with some toys.
  
  package of love for my niece and nephew
  
  A little love for the boy:
  
  he is obsessed with Reece’s peanut butter cups. it’s a problem.
  
  I saw board’s like this on Etsy for $75.00. This one cost me about $6 to make. Ignore my serial killer handwriting.
  
  And:
  
  Back to elementary school- Valentine’s for my co-workers
  
  Posted in chocolate, holidays | 0 Comments
- i heart confetti
  
  Posted at 3:43 pm by jasminedesirees, on February 15, 2013
  
  This is one of my favourite little tricks, it allows you to show your loved ones how much you care, while also annoying them just enough to make them glad you don’t live closer.
  
  First, write out the greeting in your card, or if you are making you own cards, stamp them, glitter them, etc until they are ready to go.
  
  Then take a large pile of confetti or glitter (confetti is nicer because it’s bigger and easier to clean up) and insert it into a folded piece of paper. I used heart doilies because I am festive like that.
  
  Carefully insert the folded paper into the card, facing up, and close the card. Insert it into the envelope folded side first, and send it off to your chosen target.
  
  When they pull the card out of the envelope and open it, the paper with the confetti (or glitter, depending on how much you love/hate that person) will fall and scatter, leaving them with a big, sparkly mess which they will clean up while sending positive, loving thoughts your way. Probably.
  
  Posted in DIY, holidays | 2 Comments
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