IT’S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!! Is everyone else as excited as I am?! This is my favorite time of year because of all the hustle and bustle and cheer. Not everyone gets the “cheer” part (especially here in northern Virginia), but I just take that as inspiration to smile at as MANY people as possible. It’ll occasionally totally throw folks off, but whatevs. In the words of my favorite elf, “Smiling’s my favorite!”

We’re going dark here on the blog starting Wednesday, and we’ll be out for a full week! So be on the lookout for an amazing anniversary experience session tomorrow, and another post on Wednesday, and then we’ll see you the following week!

As always, lessons learned/events that transpired over the past week!

• Einstein Bagels should not have a drive-through. We went yesterday morning before church (when we were already cutting it close, timing-wise), and it took 15 minutes to get through the dang line. And when we finally did escape, both sandwiches were cold and my coffee was lukewarm at best. And because of our [read: my] poor time management skills, we missed the annual Christmas pageant at church. DANGIT. Lesson learned: bagels are not worth it.
• I had myself a regular “Real Housewives of Northern Virginia” afternoon yesterday! I baked Christmas cookies and sipped on a couple of Moscow Mules (in our sweet new copper mugs from our friends Ben & Camille!)- it was the BEST. Sure, I may have eaten so much dough that I was no longer interested in the baked cookies, but that’s part of the game.
• We went and saw the new Star Wars movie on Thursday night at 10pm, and even though I’ve never been a huge Star Wars admirer, it was SO MUCH FUN seeing it with all the hardcore fans! They’re the ones who start whooping and cheering when the initial blast of music + rolling “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” credits come on, and every time a fan favorite appears on the screen. They’re the ones who get all the obscure references to past movies, and who give a hearty round of applause as the movie comes to an end. It’s just fun to be a part of something like that!
• And conversely, the Sunday afternoon crowd was super boring. Yes, I went and saw it again yesterday (don’t judge me), and the theater was full of parents + kids. Which was awesome! But also severely lacking in whoops and cheers. Next time I’ll limit myself to the midnight premieres.
• OH MY GOSH DID YOU SEE THE NEW JK ROWLING MOVIE PREVIEW?!?!!?!? I wasn’t planning to watch it but it came on before Star Wars- I absolutely cannot wait for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them!!
• Reading through these bullet points, you guys must think I’m a the world’s biggest dweeb.

Merry almost-Christmas, friends!! Here’s a fun throwback to an #abbygraceballerinas session from last winter with the gorgeous miss Haley :).