Merry Christmas everyone! We had a lovely holiday in San Francisco with my sister, her husband and their new baby.

Living far from most our family and working in an industry that doesn’t slow down over the holiday makes those special times when we can be with people we love during Christmas even more special.

I just couldn’t get enough of my new niece. Holding her, laughing at her little squeaks and experiencing a glimpse of what being a mom is like made this a Christmas to remember. I can’t wait until she’s older and we can start all the holiday traditions like putting cookies out for santa and seeing her eyes wide with glee when she realizes Santa came.

Anyway, here’s a quick recap on some of the best parts of our Christmas:

The Presents:
I couldn’t help but spoil little girl with some presents. First, this “baby’s first christmas” ornament I found on Etsy (this isn’t my nieces name, just an example).

Then a super cute New Year’s Eve outfit from Zara baby. They have the cutest kids clothing!

Luke got this super-cool duffle bag from J.Crew. I love the leather straps.

I got some PJ’s from Victoria’s Secret.

And new natural face lotion I’ve been eyeing.

Luke’s parent’s also got us this adorable entry way bench and storage unit for our new house!

We got totally spoiled this year.

The Food:
We had two awesome meals this weekend, but since my sister planned the menu, I don’t have recipes to share! One I did make sure to catch though was this amazing stuffed apple we had with our Ham on Sunday.

This is a Food Network recipe from the Nealys. Basically it’s a hollowed out apple filled with a mix of dried cherries, brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon. Then the apple is baked with some cider until it’s tender. It went PERFECTLY with the salty ham. I would definitely make these with pork anytime.

The Movies:
There’s nothing I enjoy more during Christmas than watching a good holiday movie on the couch after stuffing myself full. Normally it’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, but this year we decided to go with an oldie and watched White Christmas.

If you haven’t seen this one, it’s a classic. Bing Crosby. Supper clubs. A Ski Lodge. WWII soldiers. And some amazing singing and dancing. We couldn’t get over how small Vera Ellen’s waist was!

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas. Made even better by the lack of traffic on the way back to Tahoe.

I hope yours was filled with family, food, Christmas Carols and visits from St. Nick.