I took so much time off from writing over the holidays, that now I feel a million weeks behind.  I’m going to skip a lot of stuff and not bother showing you things we did two weeks ago, because that would be weird.  So instead, here are the highlights of how we spent the end of 2012.

We had family in town for almost two weeks, which was awesome.  On the very last day with our last guests, we all headed to the Experience Music Project – a museum here in Seattle that pays tribute to local music history, as well as rotating national exhibits.  I’m sure it comes as no surprise that there is a pretty incredibly Nirvana exhibit.

I wasn’t sure how Cullen would do at an adult museum, but he ended up loving it.  He loves music, and he loved running around in all the wide open spaces and jamming to the beats.

It was our last day with Casey’s parents, and it was a great way to spend it.  We are missing them so much already!

Sunday was our first day just the three of us, and while I missed our families a lot, it also felt good to get back to our normal family routine. 

The sun was out and the temps were reasonable, so we headed to our favorite Ballard market in search of some fresh produce.  Our fridge was totally emptied after many holiday meals for a big group, so we needed to replenish the fresh stuff immediately.

We found a few good deals and then headed out, hoping to squeeze in a local lunch before naptime. 

When we lived in Fremont (sniff), we went to Homegrown sandwich shop all the time.  We decided to venture up the hill to Queen Anne and try another location for a quick lunch.  I was totally bummed to find that my favorite sandwich – roasted beet – was off the menu.  Sobs.  But this delicious egg and avocado sandwich with hot sauce helped ease the pain.

Casey shared his seasonal squash sandwich with a hungry mooch (who also had his own lunch he could eat). 

Once we got home and Cullen was snoozing, I unloaded our market goodies.

Bok choy!!  I absolutely love bok choy, and I’m so excited that it’s in season right now.  I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with this yet, but I’m guessing it will be some sort of rice bowl dish to go along with our favorite blackened tofu. 

Shiitakes!  Another huge favorite.  I am a mushroom maniac.  We cook huge batches of sautéed mushrooms several times a week, and whenever I post pictures I get asked for the recipe on Instagram.  I promise I’ll do it soon – just need to find time to cook them during daylight so I can take decent photos!  These were only $6 for a pint, which is a steal of this type of mushroom.  I had to restrain myself and only buy one.

A mixed bag of loose kale – several different varieties.  This bag was only $5, and we like getting flat kale varieties for making raw kale salads.  It is a bit less hearty than the curly kale!

We also scored this giant 5 pound bag of various root vegetables for $7.50.  It’s a mixture of carrots, parsnips, beets, turnips, and I’m not sure what else.  I think my plan is to clean and trim all the veggies, and then roast them all in my dutch oven together with lots of olive oil and rosemary.  Mmmmm I can smell it now. 

Whenever anyone asked me if we had New Year’s Eve plans this year, I just sort of laughed.  We didn’t even bother trying to get a babysitter, and I was very content to ring in 2013 in my sweatpants.  But then it turned out that we did actually have plans!

We rung in our new year with friends at 4pm.  :)  Our friends Nicki and Rick had us over along with some of our other favorite parents and babies.  The adults ate delicious food and drank bubbly things while the babies ran around and threw coasters at each other.  Nicki and Rick made an amazing spread of food – I believe all the recipes were from The Conscious Cook.  Tasty lentil crostinis with goat cheese spread…

Twice baked fingerling potatoes with paprika and chives, mmmmm.

Double chocolate pecan cookies – SO GOOD.

And marinated mushrooms with fresh herbs – these were a HIT!

I also brought a big bowl of “cheesy” pasta salad with kale and raisins.  I might make this again and post a recipe for you guys – it was good!

Fancy New Year’s Eve spread.  So fun to celebrate with friends!

The babies also enjoyed all the fingers foods.

Back at home, we celebrated the last of this year’s holiday season.  It has definitely been one to remember!

We talked about New Year’s celebrations of past, and remembered the parties, the sparkly dresses, and all the crazy things we did when were younger.  Like the year that I wore hair extensions (why did this ever happen?).  Or the year that Casey fell through a closed door and landed in a pile of trashcans on the other side (you had to be there…). The memories were good, and I’m definitely glad we have some wilder years to look back on.  But the present is pretty good too, and I wouldn’t change a thing. 

We finished up 2012, all cozied up on the floor together, watching Cullen literally laugh himself into the ground.  He was the party animal this year! (Sorry the video is long – no time to edit this morning!)

Hope 2013 is treating you well already!

Still catching up!  Since we were traveling last year, this was actually our first time spending Christmas here in Seattle.  And we haven’t hosted Christmas at our house since 2009 in Charlotte.  Before my sister’s family left, we tried to get a picture of the cousins in their matching holiday jammies. 

Getting a good picture of one toddler is hard enough.  But two toddlers?

Pretty much impossible.

We said our goodbye’s to Rebecca and her family, late on Christmas Eve.  Sarah, Casey, and I stayed up late watching Walk the Line and getting things ready for Christmas morning.

Cullen was up at his usual time – around 7:30am – I was so excited to take him downstairs for Christmas fun!  Once I got him set up with breakfast, I got started on our adult treats.  Even remembered to bust out my pretty holiday dishes!

Casey made a giant bowl of scrambled eggs for everyone.

And I made a loaf of spiced ginger pear bread, which turned out really well.  Note: I made this loaf with eggs instead of chia seeds (which the original recipes calls for), and I thought it was much fluffier!).  Delicious.

I also made a pan of cranberry crumble bars, but neglected to take a photo before it was polished off.  Once our bellies were full, we cranked up the fire place and settled in for a morning around the tree.

Cullen was thrilled with anything that was opened.  Perhaps his favorite gift was this set of mini Sodastream bottles that I got for Casey.  He entertained himself for hours by taking the caps on and off. 

Even though he’s still pretty young to understand Christmas, he was such a big part of it this year – a big change from last year when he was just nine weeks old. 

Did I mention that Casey’s parents arrived the morning of Christmas Eve?  We have a full house this year, and it’s been so fun for Cullen to have all his grandparents here to spoil and snuggle him.

We spent a few hours slowly digging through the gifts.  I didn’t go too crazy this year – just got Cullen a few small things.  I figured we have plenty of years ahead where he’ll beg for things like castles and play equipment.  So this year he got books, stickers, and a wooden ball sorter.  He seemed pretty pleased!

I think I opened the last gift of the morning – a shiny new pair of Hunters rain boots from Casey!  I am so excited to finally have good boots to sludge through Seattle in – these will be well loved.

Cullen was totally overwhelmed by all the gifts, wrapping paper, food, and family.  He started rubbing his eyes and was ready to crash by 11am (he usually naps around 1pm).  I ended up giving in and putting him down for an early nap.  I could tell he needed it!

Once he was down, the rest of the family followed his lead.

After a bit of relaxing ourselves, Casey and I got started on Christmas dinner.  I pulled out my holiday plates that haven’t been used in years, and set the table for six.

I never saw a reason to get fancy expensive wedding china, but I did like the idea of having a pretty set of formal dishes.  I ended up finding these at TARGET of all places, and I absolutely love them.  I unwrapped the candle holders Christmas morning – they fit into our table decorations perfectly!

I am so grateful for this guy.  After a month of almost non-stop working, he’s been home for a week now, and I feel so spoiled.  It’s going to be a rude awakening when he heads back to the office next week!

Our dinner spread was tasty and delicious.  I hadn’t planned on serving cranberry sauce, but I had some leftover from the morning crumble bars.  It ended up being a nice addition to our dinner.

My mother-in-law requested our vegan lentil loaf, which stuck to the pan and looked a little funky, but tasted fantastic.  I did it with a tomato salsa this time, and it was a fun change.

We also made sourdough stuffing – more of a Thanksgiving dish, but why not eat it all year long?

I put together a quick greens salad – mixed greens with grapes and mandarin oranges in a pomegranate vinaigrette.  It’s always nice to have something green on the table!

And Casey’s mom made this AMAZING sweet potato hash.  I’ll try to get the recipe from her and remake it for you guys.  There was almost none left afterward!

Merry Christmas, indeed.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season with great food and plenty of family.  Casey and I are headed out for a fancy date night tonight while we still have some babysitters here in town.  Wheeeeee!