merry christmas :)

just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very merry christmas!

christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays - the music, the food, the gifts, spending time with family...i love it all.

the first thing we did this morning was open presents. 

later on in the evening, we sat down for an amazing dinner cooked by my beautiful madre.

the menu this year consisted of turkey (which was roasted in coke...what?!) stuffed with cornbread and ham, corn casserole, roasted potatoes, rice, pasta salad and italian cake for dessert. 

my sister also made a traditional german mulled wine called glühwein and it was delicious.

all in all, it was another amazing christmas spent with the ones i love the most.

although missing was my cousin, sherley, who is soaking up the sun right now.

jealous.

i hope you're all having an amazing holiday season.

and to all my torontonians who are still without power - keep warm!

merry christmas to all and to all, a good night.

:)

vanessa

ps. 

some christmas snapshots to share:

some of the homemade christmas cards i made this year

pps. i discovered what could very well be my new favorite christmas song.

i present to you "xmas time" by jim jones, lol.

christmas dinner - work edition

last night i attended another work christmas event.
my boss was kind enough to treat all the managers to a delicious dinner at this cute little french restaurant called the rushton.

we dined on an amazing three course meal selected from a menu that was created just for our little group.
i chose the caesar salad, steak frites and a tarte tatin - vanilla ice creme for dessert.

*salivates...

my dinner date, jennifer

once again, a great night with great people doing what i love most - eating!

:)

vanessa

ps. only 5 more days 'til christmas and i have yet to purchase a gift.

just. the. worst.

christmas party - work edition

on tuesday night, i went out to this quaint italian restaurant with my work colleagues for our christmas party.
we were served an amazing 8 course meal - some plates more so than others...

this antipasto plate was a little much for palette...

after dinner there was a raffle followed by a little karaoke sesh - even my boss got in on the action, haha.
i work in the medical field, so it was nice to see everyone dressed in something other than scrubs.
all in all, it was a great night with great people.

i was having too much fun and forgot to take any pictures.
luckily for me, my friends alicia and racquel were on the ball and captured this gem:

**please excuse my sister jennifer's outfit - she literally had just stepped off the plane.

shout out to pepperdine law, lol.

hope you're all having a wonderful christmas season!

:)

vanessa

fab 5 - christmas songs

with just nine days left til christmas, i decided to share my top 5 all-time favorite christmas songs in a new series i'd like to call "fab 5".

seriously, if any of these songs come on just know that it's about to go down.

*an honorable mention must go to "carol of the bells" - my most favorite instrumental christmas carol of all-time.

david foster/trans-siberian orchestra/destiny's child/pentatonix - doesn't matter who's covering it, know that i am humming along.

what are some of your favorite christmas songs/carols?

:)

vanessa

christmas gift guides

now that i'm all done with dreaded finals, i can now focus my attention on finding the perfect gift for my loved ones. 

this will be my family's second year doing the whole secret santa for the adults/gifts for the children.

we've yet to draw names, so i don't know exactly who my secret santa is just yet but to help me narrow down some gift ideas, i created a couple gift guides :)

1. one line a day (a five year memory book) ; 2. floral phone case; 3. sephora gift card ; 

4. bordeaux by essie ; 5. portable battery charger ; 6. eos lip balm ; 

7. monogram mugs ; 8. knit infinity scarf

1. art of shaving kit; 2. knit cardigan sweater; 3. portable battery charger; 

4. concert/sport tickets; 5. wool scarf ; 6. patterned socks ; 

7. black wrist watch

and just in case my potential secret santa stumbles upon this blog post...

1. lavanilla vanilla grapefruit perfume; 2. love ring (etsy); 3. fujifilm instax mini film; 

4. ikea gift card; 5. jazzy jubilant by essie; 6. 2014 planner

what are some of the items you'd like to get or are excited to get for your loved ones this christmas?

:)

vanessa

let the festivities begin :)

december: |di-ˈsem-bər,| - n.
a month of lights, snow and feasts;
time to make amends and tie loose ends;
finish off what you started and hope your wishes come true

happy december, y'all.

:)

vanessa

ps. i can finally sing this song aloud again *wipes away a single tear*

cold december night - michael bublé