A Vintage Domestic Chemist: Christmas, New Year's, and Other Things

Hi all!

I feel like every year the holidays sneak up on me. Well, this year was no different. Except...

We got to go to Florida for Christmas!

Yes. 85 degree weather is glorious when you come from the frozen tundra of New Mexico.
Oh and it snowed the night before we left for FL.

I love the mesas covered in snow...but well, we needed warmth.
So to FL we went.

The FL airport had a Christmas Tree vote going on

Funny thing about seeing family...sometimes it's all about the pictures...

And other times it's not.

We have no pictures from Christmas Day with family. But we had a lot of fun seeing everyone again. It was a year so different from any other but I'm so thankful to have been able to see everyone.

It was also fun catching up with a few friends from high school in the short time we were there.

Anywho, the next day Mr. K and I drove to Walt Disney World for a much needed break for my mom and some fun in the sun with my sis and an old friend.

I love this shot. My mom and I chose the same color nail polish without the other knowing. Plus, beach.

Mother-daughter shot.

While waiting for a dinner reservation in the Beach Club resort we found a life size gingerbread carousel.
It turned too!

Complete with chocolate shaving manes and tails. And hidden mickeys...which we found all of them.

Oh, and of course I had to know the proportions needed to make such an epic creation.
Voila!

They measured the eggs in PINTS. All I could think of was "They come in pints?!" from Lord of the Rings.

Well after dinner, we all went back to the villa for some fun with opening our presents.

I love this shot. Captured the spirit completely!

The next day Mom, Mr. K, and myself woke up early to get to the Magic Kingdom early before the crowds came....hahaha. We still had an hour's wait at the new Dwarf Mine Train ride at 8:15am.

But it was worth it.

Had to get the castle pic!

We toured around the rest of the day, enjoying some new treats (LeFou's Brew in Gaston's Pub is great, by the way. A must try!) and catching up with Mr. K's brother, C, and his wife, H, and her family.

Then K and CC met up with us in the afternoon and Mr. K and I begged off to go see Epcot on our own. But we got to do some shopping and LeFou-ing with them before we left.

LeFou-ing is a new word I made up. We had the Brew with them and talked and laughed.
I'm going to keep it.

Anyway, this is a great shot of us!

I forgot that you can actually wear the sunglasses and not just keep them as a headband. Oops.

Well, off to Epcot we went. It was less crowded mainly because it wasn't the Magic Kingdom and we were only interested in the countries.

Not really sure what these are supposed to be...maybe snowflakes?

And of course, the ball.

Well, we ended up staying a little later than we planned and had to eat dinner. Italy has some great food, by the way. Just saying.

And it's worth the splurge to eat at the fancy restaurant. They serve you water, focaccia bread and olive oil, and massive olives right when you sit down.
Sadly necessary in our case as both of us had let our blood sugars get too low.
But the pasta dishes were great and the wine the waiter recommended was delicious.

After that we milled around maybe a half hour before heading back to the Magic Kingdom.
We'd originally thought we'd meet up with my family again, but they'd left for the villa to relax.
However, we got to meet up with C and H and their family for the Electric Light Parade!

Oh, and the castle was all "frozen" for the holidays.

Then the parade began.

Fun fact: The floats originated in Disneyland and were shipped to Disney World for the parade. They are the original ones. Kinda cool!

Other fun fact: the music sticks in your head for a VERY long time after the parade.

I thought this float pretty nice. Salute to those who protect our country.

And then I said "selfie" and somehow three others appeared in the shot!

Didn't manage to get a shot of H's family, but I had a blast with them. Lots of fun!

And all too soon it was over. And we flew back on a rocky flight, but thanks to the pilots, we landed.
Even if Albuquerque was covered in frozen fog.

Luckily, we had already planned to stay the night nearby in a hotel, otherwise the one in the morning drive would have been a lot worse if we'd had to go back home.

The next day I had a trick up my sleeve and took Mr. K to the St. James Tea Room.

They had a Nutcracker themed high tea and it was exactly what we needed to rejuvenate ourselves.

They never cease to amaze me with the decor and the spread.

We love that place.
And yes, the sugar plum tea actually sparkled.

It was so cozy in there. We almost fell asleep.

Well...almost.
Until we had the scones. (To die for!)

And dessert.
There's always room for that.

Scrumptious!

Then we made our way home. And prepared for New Year's Eve.

We went to a party at a friend's house which was a lot of fun and we got to have some yummy spicy cheese dip. Thank you, S!
Then we made the long 100ft journey back home to our house where a few friends came over with their pup to play games and such.

Mid-gaming, I asked Mr. K for a photo...I should have known this would happen.

Other other fun fact: When you live in Mountain Time, TV times are hit or miss. Most of the time I think they flip a coin and decide when they'll show a time based on which side it lands.

Meaning: They forgot to televise the ball dropping for Mountain Time folks.

We did see it for the East Coast at 10pm. And at 11pm. And we just had to hold out one more hour past midnight to see it happen for the West Coast.

Mountain Time gets no love.

Anyway, "Happy New Year!" we said and had a toast.