Five on Friday – Christmasy Events from This Week

This week has been so much better than last week, thank goodness, so I have nothing but love for you today!  Don’t you just love it when everything is sunshine and unicorns and rainbows?  Or in this case twinkle lights and Santas and Christmas cheer?  ;o)

A few of my favorites from this week…

O N E – A Very Special Gift

Brian and I celebrated our ninth anniversary back on December first, and part of my gift from him had not yet arrived by then.  It finally delivered on Monday, so it is one of my favorites for this week.  I don’t typically share much about what B and I give to one another for anniversaries and such, but this was extra special and I wanted to remember it.

For number nine, he picked out a necklace with a snowflake charm on it because he said that it reminded him of the snowflake ornaments that we gave out as favors at our wedding.  <3  And little did he even know that I have wanted a necklace with a snowflake charm for more than a decade!  This guy sure does know how to get to me.  I haven’t taken it off since Tuesday morning when I put it on! 

T W O – Another Visit with Santa

Tuesday evening we headed to the mall to see the Santa Clause that we have been going to since Jacob was born.  We have found that if you go on a weeknight in the late afternoon, there’s no line, so sure enough, we arrived at 5 and there were only two or three kids in front of us.  That gave me just enough time to fix Olivia’s hot mess school hair before sending them on their way.  Both of them walked right up to Santa and climbed up on his lap… no fear this year!  

T H R E E – A Kind Gesture

We followed the Santa visit with dinner at Chick-Fil-A in the mall, and I have to brag on their employees for a minute.  We all know how wonderful Chick-Fil-A employees are… they are all genuinely kind, patient, and extremely well-mannered, but one of their employees took it to a whole new level Tuesday evening. 

We had just gotten seated at our table, and I realized that Olivia’s juice box didn’t have a straw.  When I told Brian that it was missing, a Chick-Fil-A employee who just happened to be sitting at the table next to ours (he was either on his break or not even working that day) overheard me, and he immediately jumped up and said, “Your juice box is missing a straw?  I’ll go grab one for you!”  I thanked him and told him that I could get it myself since he was not on the clock, but he said, “I don’t mind at all!” and he ran to the back to grab one for us. 

That kind gesture really made my night.  It’s customer service and positive attitudes like that that makes me a Chick-Fil-A customer for life!  We love them!

F O U R – A Ride on the New Double-Decker Carousel

While at the mall Tuesday evening, we had to stop by and ride the new double-decker carousel that they just put in the mall.  It is so huge!  The kids were in awe, and of course, wanted to ride on the second story.

F I V E – 8th Annual Girls’ Scarf and Ornament Exchange

My girlfriends and I have been doing a dirty Santa scarf and ornament exchange every year since 2009 (you can read more about them here) and we held our ninth one Wednesday night.  Now that we all have babies running around, we’ve found that it’s easier to just go out somewhere instead of throwing it at someone’s house, so we had ours at Bonefish. 

The group varies from year to year as we always welcome friends of friends, and constantly have girls moving, and this year there were six of us – perfect for a large booth in the back corner! 

We started the evening with a round of Winter White Cosmos and this may have been the first time in years that all of us were able to drink together since someone in our group has pretty much always been pregnant for the last six years.  Haha.  After drinks and bread, the main courses came out – steak, garlic whipped potatoes, and a Caesar salad for me – and then we ordered another round of Cosmos before pulling out the numbers to play Dirty Santa.

We played for the ornaments first, and then we played a separate game for the scarves.  I was extremely pleased with both of my winnings!  So cute!

It was such a fun night with my favorite ladies… we were definitely way too loud and we definitely laughed a lot.  My stomach muscles even hurt the next day… that’s a sign of a good time, I’ll say!

Honorable Mention - Watching the Pentatonix Christmas Special

Did you guys see the Pentatonix Christmas special this week?  We recorded it and watched it Thursday evening with the kiddos, and it was just fabulous.  There is just so much talent in that group... Brian and I have followed and loved them since 2011 when they were on The Sing Off.  Do y'all remember that show?  Oh, how I miss it!  

But anyway, I could not love Pentatonix more!  And apparently the kids agree because they were both enamored.  We have all of their Christmas albums and this is the third Christmas that we have listened to them (aaaand sometimes we listen to them during the summer months, too), so the kids know all of the songs by heart.  Their very favorite is Mary, Did You Know? and they were pleased as punch when they sang that one on the Christmas special.  Olivia is completely obsessed with that song and she knows all the words, so she sang her heart out right along with them.  And every time the camera would pan away from the girl and focus on the guys, she would yell, "I wanna see the gell (girl) in the fparkly (sparkly) dress!!!!"  It was so flipping hilarious.  

Anyhoo, in addition to Mary, Did You Know?, Pentatonix also sang Hallelujah and That's Christmas to Me, so I was a happy "gell" too, as those are my three favorite songs by them.  ;o)  Anybody else tear up every single time they hear those?  Just me?

Happy weekend, friends!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites,  September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.