Happy to be Home

Ahhhh…  I sit here, finally back in our flat, enjoying the fruits of my Christmas presents – new pajamas, cosy slippers, season seven of ‘The Office’ – and I although I had a lovely two weeks in Florida, I am happy to be back! What are some of the highlights of our trip, you ask?

• Christmas Eve and morning at my Dad’s house with him and his wife Donna! Drinking some whiskey, knitting by the pool, watching my brother catch fish from the dock, spending time with everyone!
• Shopping with my mom!  She took us to Orlando where we stocked up on things we’d been waiting all year to buy (jeans, undies, shoes etc. – things that are cheaper in the US than the UK), we went to Joann’s fabrics for some fabric for my Minoru jacket (pictures forthcoming), and we also went to the yarn shop in Cocoa Village called Knit & Stitch – she had a Groupon so I got some lovely Madeline tosh sock yarn and sock yarn Addi needles!  I really loved the shop and the owner was so friendly.
  
• Finally getting to meet Nicole, my older brother Richie’s fiancée, and spending time with them over lunch – so happy for them!
• Girls’ Day Out with my mother-in-law Sue and sister-in-law Amanda!  We lunched and shopped – Sue gave us a bit of shopping money and took us to Plato’s Closet, a higher-end consignment shop where I scored some sassy heels!
• Orme family Christmas at Trent’s parents’ house.  Trent put on a wild and intense hunt for our brother-in-law to find his gift, a bottle of the recently issued limited edition Shackleton Whiskey remake;  Trent’s dad Chuck put on a series of races which I lost miserably (but later made up for by kicking everyone’s butt at Mario Party); and we had a delicious Christmas dinner which Trent made!
• Hitting all our favourite US restaurants that we miss so much (yes, they are silly!): Chick-fil-a, Meg O’Malleys, Five Guys, Chili’s, Red Lobster, Makoto’s and Panera Bread, yum!    I should have gained 20 pounds but somehow only managed gaining a few.
• Going to the Brevard Zoo and feeding the giraffes with my younger brother Steven, his girlfriend Gina, and my mom.  I also got to pet an alpaca!

• Getting my hair cut and highlighted!  New year, new hair right? Pictures forthcoming.
• Being with our kitties again!  For not seeing them for an entire year, they still love us.  We even got some cuddling in!
• Visiting good friends in St. Pete and St. Augustine! We really miss our friends and had a great time catching up.
• Recreating a photo of me and my brother Steven from TWENTY years ago, as a Christmas gift for my mother, which she of course loved:
  

  Kristen and Steven: 1991 and 2011

Well now I am back, well-scrubbed after 24 hours of travelling, flights, and layovers, laundry is being done, bags are unpacked, and I have about 500 unread blog posts to read.  Happy New Year!