Is anyone else so ready for it to be the holidays and have some time off? My work insanity continued this week, with a 12 hour trip to New Jersey on Thursday and so much to do around the event I was attending! Over the weekend I wrapped up my shopping, wrapped up a ton of gifts, and also celebrated Christmas with my boyfriend since we won’t be together. It wasn’t too crazy, but I feel great going into this week and the holiday. - D

Christmas vacation has started at our house, and we have kids home from school and ready to celebrate. The girls have each picked a favorite cookie recipe to bake today (Hadley-Pretzel/Rolo cookies, Cece-anything with red and green M&M’s, Lila-classic gingerbread cookies in fun shapes, Eloise-the chewy gingerbread and molasses cookies from Half-Baked Harvest) and then we’re tackling the rest of the holiday food prep and are on the hunt for the most festive appetizers, which are always my favorite part of the meal! -E

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What We’re Reading and Watching

• I had fallen behind on reading the last few weeks, but while I was traveling read The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones, which is about three couples who travel to Portugal for the wedding of one pair. Their shared history and suspicions take the weekend down a dangerous and twisty path. I honestly did not see the end coming! - D

• I also finished A Touch of Jen by Beth Morgan, which was completely bonkers! It starts out as an almost single white female obsession story, but turns into a completely bonkers horror movie (I don’t want to say too much and give it away!). I was totally riveted by it, but also kind of had whiplash. - D

• I had a cold over the weekend and was stuck at home on Saturday. Luckily, I had a light and bubbly love story to keep me company. To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne, about a struggling champagne store owner (a twist on the ubiquitous bakery/bookstore owners of romcom novels that I really enjoyed) and the handsome and rude developer trying to buy out her store. It was the perfect easy read for a sick day. -E

• I also got very into The Sex Lives of College Girls on HBO, which is written and produced by Mindy Kaling. You can definitely hear her voice in the characters, and it had me cracking up while I reached for a box of tissues. -E

What We’re Buying

• For my Christmas celebration on Saturday I was so excited to drink a bottle of Ulacia Rose Txakoli, a lightly effervescent Spanish rose. My girlfriends and I discovered it last spring and it quickly became a favorite. I order it on Drizly! - D

• If you live in the Annapolis area and need a last minute gift, I would definitely stop by Revival in West Annapolis. They had so many cute things from beautiful salad tongs and bowls to blanket and bags to crafts and accessories for kids.-E

• In anticipation of all the cooking we’re going to be doing over the holidays, I was on the hunt for a new dutch oven. I had been thinking that I needed a Le Creuset but I was very impressed by the rave reviews that the Lodge Dutch Oven received, so I ordered one and can’t wait to try it out.

What We’re Making

• We love anything edible that we can make into a tree or wreath shape at the holidays, so I’m really excited to make the Pull Apart Christmas Tree Garlic Bread from Half-Baked Harvest. And since baked brie is also one of our main food groups at the holidays, I’m thinking we should also try the Baked Gruyere in Pastry-the more cheese and puff pastry, the merrier!

• If we can agree on anything in our family, it’s that we all love champagne cocktails! We’ll usually stick with something classic, like a Kir Royale, at the holidays, but I’ve also been looking at other options in case we want to spice things up a bit.

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