The Gap | All That Glitters

Mid-way through January already…geesh! It’s been so much fun reminiscing about a very memorable holiday season with you! I’ll be wrapping up my winter adventures with a few fun extra highlights gathered during my Christmas vacation. Next week, I’m looking forward to officially wrapping up the entire 2012 calendar year with a look back at all my favorites in film, leading up to my top 10 personal favorite blog posts of the year! Enjoy the long weekend gang! Here are this week’s final highlights from the holidays:

{My new earrings worn on New Year’s Eve. LOVE.}

{New year, new way to make breakfast. While I’m no stranger to making breakfast on a Saturday morning, I have to say it was a nice change of pace on a Thursday morning over the long vacation to get up and try something new. Rather than scrambling plain eggs, I decided to punch things up and add some bacon and spinach and opted to make roasted potatoes and toast on the side. I couldn’t have thought of a better way to start a Thursday.}

{Making my first cup of tea in my new tea kettle that I got as a Christmas gift. There’s something so ritualistic and cozy about making tea the old fashioned way on a hot stove.}

{As a stocking stuffer, I received this awesome sweet treat from Baked By Melissa. 3 mini cupcakes dipped in chocolate. What a great idea! I found out that you too, can have these bite sized goodies delivered right to your door step from their New York based shop. Check out their website for details.}

{Baby it’s cold outside. Luckily, this new super soft scarf from The Gap helps.}

During the Holidays, most of the fun for me comes from the build-up, immersing myself in the spirit of the season. Weeks of planning, shopping, listening to holiday music, wrapping presents, going to festive parties, stopping by The Grove, sipping warm beverages, decorating and then enjoying the warm glow of a Christmas tree; and before you know it, it’s showtime…

CHRISTMAS EVE

After a relaxing and lazy start to the day, we spent Christmas Eve in Downtown Santa Cruz walking along the quaint Pacific Avenue. It was an afternoon perusing charming boutiques and the used book and music stores. Of course, out of all the boutique places around us, I go and buy something from The Gap (I know, which is like everywhere!). I also tried my boyfriend’s favorite cookie from his old stomping grounds (delish!) before meeting up for a casual dinner and movie with his family. We ended the night with a short drive around town to look at Christmas lights in the neighborhood. It was definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

{Strolling Pacific Avenue.}

{Enjoying the famous Lemon Drop cookie from the Pacific Cookie Company.}

{Admiring the marquee of the old Del Mar Theater.}

{Inside the Del Mar. Our Christmas Eve movie was Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away in 3D. Warning: amazing visuals, super boring and shallow story line.}

CHRISTMAS DAY

Rise and shine, bright and early. Christmas day had arrived and it was filled with lots of smiles, gratitude, food and good company. Let’s just say Santa was very kind this year. It’s always the things you’ve had your eye on, but mentally filed away for another time that happen to magically appear under the tree that are my favorite. I also love a really good surprise. This year after giving and receiving gifts that couldn’t have been more perfect, my boyfriend went and did the unbelievable. The last gift opened was a paper confirmation of a 3 night hotel stay in Carmel. Our Northern California Christmas was being extended! Here are just few photo highlights that don’t even begin to capture all the highlights of that special day. I was in such a fog of happiness, I rarely took my camera out.