It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

Christmas Time, how I love thee. Merry music, a surplus of sweets, red lipstick, and get-togethers galore! I can't even stand how much I love this holiday. I'm that person who is kind of obsessed, so sorry about that. I've been taking in all the holiday cheer this month with gift exchanges, ornament exchanges, and more recently A Fancy Pants Christmas Party and brunch at The Mission Inn. I will divulge more.

Part 1: The Fancy Pants Christmas Party

Once more the Reyes duo graciously opened their home to properly celebrate Christmas. A fire was roasting, appetizers were fresh out of the oven, and Madeline was hanging mistletoe right when I walked in. Everyone looked lovely with their fancy attire and the house had an air of cheeriness about it. The large Christmas tree making it's home in the living room was decorated wonderfully and She & Him's new Christmas album spun away on Madeline's new record player (good job Aaron). This party was off to a good start. As people began trickling in and everyone began to mingle out came the ingredients to make homemade gingerbread men. These little fellas were a success story in more ways than one. First off they were just plain delicious with their homemade frosting, secondly Grace Mia Fox lent a helping toddler hand (making this gingerbread process hilarious), and all sorts of gingerbread creatures were concocted. Gator man and running gingers, I'll let the pictures explain. Afterwards Madeline became a barista extraordinaire! Hot cocoa and eggnog lattes were being made at an alarming rate and consumed at an even faster speed than they were assembled. I even got to hop in on the action and use this heavenly espresso machine. I need one, yes need ; ) All in all this party was perfect. Just the right amount of holiday infusion and mixture of people for good laughs and memories. I look forward to making this party tradition!

Part 2: The Annual Brunch at The Mission Inn 

Every year I look forward to this part of December; to have brunch with close family friends at The Mission Inn in Riverside. It's a fun thing to get dressed up and stuff your face at this historic hotel. Fun until you want to puke from consuming too much food. Right. Moving on. Every year for the past couple of years has been highly enjoyable and this year was no different. We went right in around 9:45 am and got straight to business. The people at The Mission Inn do such a good thing with the food. I mean really good. It's so delectable and well done you can't help but go back for seconds/thirds/don't judge me. Unfortunately my brother couldn't make it this year so  only 3/4 of the Angelone family partook of the festivities. Hopefully next year he'll be able to enjoy it with us. As for now I'm still recovering from this morning. Sigh.