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Welcome back friend!
I always love this time of year! Christmas is such a fun time and I just love all the holiday traditions my family has. I fly home this Saturday the 18th and will be celebrating Christmas with my family and will fly back to Dallas the 27th.
Pierce and I are not spending Christmas together and did not spend Thanksgiving together either. It was actually never even a conversation we had, we both just knew and assumed we would be spending the holidays separate. Pierce and I have been dating for almost two years and best friends for two more years before that but we both really value that family time with each of our families. We know that whatever the future holds there might be a day where we spend Christmas and Thanksgiving together, but we are truly in no rush for that to happen.
The holidays are already so stressful and I just can’t imagine breaking each of our family traditions just yet in order to spend the holidays together. My family also lives 1,400 miles away from me so I truly value every second I get to spend with them and am just not ready to split time yet.
My family always makes a big dinner on Christmas Eve and stockings Christmas morning with a big breakfast before presents. We have the most amazing dinner on Christmas Day that my mom premakes. It’s this citrus infused baked tagliatelle pasta that takes days to make. I can’t even find the recipe because its from this cookbook my parents got soon after they got married. I’ll have to find it and take a picture of it and post it to stories! It has three sauces and is just amazing!


Pierce and I are throwing our own little Christmas this Friday the night before I leave and will exchange presents and go out to a fun decorated holiday restaurant. We are actually switching it up this time, usually for every holiday or anniversary we always get Oishii because it is by far our favorite restaurant and sushi place we have ever been to. (Pro tip: get the off the menu items the Royce and Cesar rolls – literal heaven). This year, we decided to go to a restaurant that we love and is decorated so cute for the holidays! I’ll share a peek on stories on Friday!
We will exchange gifts after dinner and I can’t wait to see what Pierce got me because I have absolutely no idea! I usually can guess or have a feeling but I honestly have no clue I just know he has multiple things haha.
Pierce 100% knows what I am getting him and I am so sad because I love to surprise him! I always try to pull off a surprise birthday dinner for him and get him things he doesn’t expect but this year, I needed his help to pick this out. I am getting him the 45 inch Yeti cooler in navy blue. I’m excited for him to have it because he really needs one with all the hunting he does every weekend. It will be one of those gifts that lasts forever and I’m happy I could be the one to give it to him!
I do wish I had something that was a surprise though! Nothing beats that look of joy when you give someone a present.
The only issue is that I need to figure out WHEN I am going to go pick it up from where I online ordered it in Dallas. It was so hard to find one in this color and I luckily found it in stock at a store in Frisco but now I just need to find the time to make that drive this week before Friday haha.
We also got Miller a few little gifts this year mostly because she is still a puppy and really just needs things still. We waited to pick out a dog bed because I really wanted to meet her and see where she naturally slept before I invested in a dog bed. Each dog is so different so I didn’t want to assume how she would sleep. We put up the Christmas tree this year and I got this faux fur tree skirt and Miller LOVES it. She naps under there daily and is not happy a bunch of presents have taken up space in her new spot.
I found some really cute faux fur dog beds and so we are going to get that for her as a little gift! What I love about this dog bed too is how little of an eyesore it is. I plan to throw it over a corner of the rug in the living room and it will easily blend into the space. I really hate when dog beds are an actual eyesore so I’m glad she will get a nice spot to rest and it won’t ruin the overall look of the room. 😉
We are also getting her this squirrel toy. She goes crazy over squirrels on our walks and our friends had this dog toy when we visited their house and she loved it. It is a little more expensive than I typically spend on dog toys so I was glad to see it go on sale (it’s still on sale!).
That about wraps up our holiday plans! I hope you have a very happy and safe holiday season and I can’t wait for 2021!
xoxo,
Zoe