Whew, That Was Fun! And the Coolest Candle EVER!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. I know that I did, although it was pretty exhausting.

My celebration really started last Friday, with all our pre-Christmas grandson visiting and family get together. It was tons of fun and it was very nice not to be hosting for a change.

Our plan for the actual Christmas day was simple. Alan and I would finish any last minute shopping on Monday (no matter how hard I try, there is always something I need), then spend the day together, open gifts, and enjoy a scaled-down feast (is that an oxymoron?). My youngest son, David, would stop by, probably eat with us, and exchange gifts.

Then, on Sunday evening, David tells me that he’d like to bring his girlfriend over for dinner. Normally I love when he wants to bring a girl over. Plus, I love sharing my vegan cooking, always looking to spread the news that a plant based diet can be delicious.

The thing was, though, that since I hadn’t planned on any hosting this year, my house, home to six dogs mind you, was not quite as spiffy as I’d like it to be. Plus we’d been gone for several days, leaving the pack to roam freely through our house (with a doggy-sitter of course).

So Christmas Eve was spent with cleaning, picking up those last few things, including vegan marshmallows, which I have to drive to Palm Desert for. I also baked another pumpkin pie and made the cranberry sauce.

Finally, I stopped at Target, not quite sure what I needed. I ended up buying a few iTunes cards and some candles. One candle, an Airwick, promised to glow with multiple colors when lit, although it looked like a plain white candle in glass. It was kind of expensive, but I bought it anyway and put it in my bathroom.

Christmas was lovely. All the work that goes into the holidays can sometimes leave you so tired that you don’t appreciate the holiday itself, but not this year. I was able to relax and enjoy the time with Alan. While cooking even a small Christmas dinner is a project, I love doing it. We stayed traditional vegan, with roast Tofurky, stuffing, sweet potato casserole and mashed potatoes.

I was very excited that Santa brought me exactly what I’d asked for, a new lens for my camera! Thanks, Santa! You always get it right.

Oh, and the coolest candle ever? Watch the video below. For some reason I find it mesmerizing. (Even cooler is that now, two days since it was last lit, it still changes color when I turn on the bathroom light.) Yes, I’m going to buy more of those.

How was your holiday? What was your favorite part of your celebration this year? And for those who celebrate Christmas, what did Santa bring you?