I am a total sucker for Christmas!  Some time after Halloween I start planning my decorations, presents, making travel plans to spend time with family, and getting events on the calendar that will keep me festive.

This year, we decided to have high tea at a fancy restaurant that is renowned for its Christmas decorations.  The group included my 2 besties, Wendy and Beth, and their 3 preteen daughters; Wendy’s daughter Laura, and Beth’s girls Samantha and Nicole.

A side note:  I knew these women long before they were married and having children.  When they did start to have babies, I just assumed we would drift apart because as a single, parentless woman, I didn’t think our lifestyles would mesh.  Nobody ever told me that my friends’ kids would be super fun to hang out with, and in this case, become my best friends, too.  It’s been that way since they were newborns. 

As the time got closer, someone suggested we should also have a cookie baking day, and with our tight schedules, the Friday night before our Saturday tea date worked out to be the best time.

Friday came, and we all assembled at Wendy’s festively decorated house.

  

To be fair, Beth and I don’t really bake, so it was more of a “let’s go to Wendy’s and watch her and Laura make cookies” evening.

But the little girls did decorate all the cookies with a dedication and intensity that their grownup counterparts don’t display unless there is wine, cheese, or boys involved….

How about the aprons?  They were all Wendy and Laura’s, one was Laura’s toddler apron, which she wore as a sort of bib.

There were some piano players…

…and one of Santa’s elves made sure the Instagram world knew ALL about it.

The big girls drank champagne, then wine…

then left the house completely in search of more grownup beverages (within walking distance, silly!).  We left the kids to watch movies.

Such a fun day/night and a wonderful way to reconnect with old friends.  🙂

The next day was high tea.  We brushed the flour off our aprons, took 2 aspirin and headed out to The Briarwood Inn decked out in our finest.  The restaurant was beautiful.

with good stuff to eat..

but we had picked names for a gift exchange and were all eager to start.  The girls made a big show of walking around the table “musical chairs-style”, not making eye contact, then  stopping at the person whose name they chose.

Lots of surprised smiles…

And lots o’ hugs, too!

These two days were perfection.  I’m so grateful for these girls.  All of them.  And we clean up pretty good, too!

I hope you spent some time with the people you love this year!