Merry Christmas!! Whether you were able to see loved ones this year, I hope you found joy this holiday. 🙂
I feel very lucky to have made it safely to my hometown in Poughkeepsie, NY (following a 2-week quarantine in Pittsburgh). I love spending the holidays in my childhood home each year. Our family is full of homebodies so COVID didn’t change our usual holidays plans as we enjoyed the holidays inside our home. There is always something fun going on and time has flown by as we relax, cook, and play games each day. It’s a rare treat for our whole family to be under one roof, and this visit has been super relaxing so far.
My mom and I LOVE puzzles. Each year the kids gift my mom a 1000-1500 piece puzzle and we tackle it together 🙂
The finished product.
We had a huge snow storm last week, which meant my brother and I were put on shoveling duty. It was nice to get some snow which helped us get into the holiday spirit.
On Christmas day, we ate hot pot. Our family used to do a traditional American Christmas feast, but we switched over to Chinese hot pot a few years ago and never looked back. We are huge fans of HP and we’re always amazed by how much we can all eat.
I also brewed some mulled wine for the special occasion.
Usually mornings consist of working out (I rotate between running, pilates, yoga). I thought visiting the east coast would mean no running since it’s freezing cold, but actually the opposite has happened. I think the extra free time and change in scenery has helped me feel more motivated. I was happy to see my high school rebuilt the track and field – it looks way better than when I was in high school 10 years ago (boy do I feel old)! It’s always gratifying seeing your alma mater improve on its legacy.
I was the official barber for my entire family. We bought my dad high-end clippers for Christmas which felt like more of a gift for me than him since it made cutting hair SO much easier!
LOTS of baking has been happening. After being inspired by the Great British Bake Off, I decided to take on a mix of old favorites and new challenging recipes: pumpkin bread, banana bread, tiramisu, Chinese swiss rolls, mochi, and more to come!
While I feel so happy to be with my family, I sure miss Joe a lot. He was not able to go back to Texas this year and is spending the holidays solo in SF. Luckily we have ample time to chat each day. I love this photo that Joe took; it’s like I never left SF 😛
That’s all from my family’s indoor time this holiday season! I have another week or so here before heading back to the west coast, and I’m definitely going to make the most of this special time with my family. Hope you all are finding things to be grateful for, whether you are with loved ones or not ❤
I Run Like A Girl 