My favorite holiday: NYE2012/3

After Christmas, I worked two days in DC before Mike and I left for backwoods Virginia to a cabin in the woods that we and some other friends from William and Mary had rented for the weekend. "Friends from William and Mary"? Hah, no, I need to call them something else. They are my WM family. Every year (has it been every single year since we graduated from college? I think so?) we get together for New Years Eve at some pre-determined and sometimes centralized location to welcome in the New Year together. The last time we were all together was at the #wuliawedding so I had been away from these people for far too long.

Back to the story....

Day 1:

Mike and I got severely ill (it was the cold from hell which had been going around DC apparently) right before we had to leave for the trip and so we stopped somewhere to stock up on airborne, dayquil, nyquil, and cough drops and then just popped chewable airbornes the whole drive down. When we arrived, we discovered that this 'cabin in the woods' was more like a 'mansion in the woods' complete with arcade-style video games, loft movie theater, fireplace, 6 bedrooms, hot tub, wraparound deck, and grill. Unfortunately, Mike and I were so sick the first night that most of it was a blur. I do remember laughing about how funny it was to be so ill when everyone around us was so full of energy and cheer. I also remember the amazing dinner waiting for us as soon as we got there. There was a couple assigned to each meal and the first night was ham steak, mac and cheese, marinated vegetables, and apple with a sweet yogurt dip courtesy of the Blesers (Wulia)!

Pic taken from the first night when everyone was dressed up as hipsters and Mike and I were sickly. I was downing hot chocolate to stay alert. 

Day 2: New Year's Eve Eve!

Woke up feeling much better, but I don't think it has anything to do with how we were woken up.

Everyone in the house was woken up to the "Circle Of Life" from the Lion King being blared at the highest volume level achievable through each person's door. A personalized wake-up call from Jake/Kelly/Alex for Day 2. After groaning and moaning and then finally accepting defeat, everyone woke up to a breakfast of crepes (both savory and sweet!) from Jake and Sladky. I managed to take a picture because I was just so in awe of the homemade crepes.

Mike (wearing my Redskins hat that Wulia got me!!) with the crepe spread.

Dinner was homemade chicken chili from Kelly and Alex. The boys played Munchkin (which can be compared to Dungeons and Dragons concerning its level of nerdiness), while the girls watched football (defying stereotypes here). We also dressed up as literary characters for that night's theme. I was Hermione! Then Kelly and I proceeded to have a Mary-Kate and Ashley photoshoot with the Christmas tree and we all danced to Call Me Maybe and Audiostrobelight.

Kylie was Cheshire Cat. Cohen was, you know, that little kid. Sladky was Huck Finn, I think.

Hermione and Rigby! (Jake's dog)

From our photo shoot. I just don't know what else can be said. It needed to be posted somewhere.

Day 3: New Year's Eve!

Brunch from Kylie and Cohen was cheesy eggs, toast, and bacon egg cups (like the ones on Pinterest!). Dinner was ordered pizza. We got all dressed up for New Year's Eve, played Boom (obviously), and made many amaretto hot chocolates. We also played a game called 17 which I forget how to play, but it wasn't that bad. There was something about a red coat and complimenting people.

Mike and I being weird after we changed out of our dress up clothes. I'm just loving the casual stuffed black bear in the background.

The boys being responsible and cleaning up the night before we had to leave. 

Day 4: New Year's Day!

Mike and I were in charge of the last brunch and prepared a sausage casserole. We all packed up, cleaned, and said our last goodbyes before heading in different directions. Mike and I stopped to see my sister, mom, and stepdad in northern virginia on the way back to DC. We opened presents, ate cookies, and watched two episodes of Downton Abbey with my youngest sister! I'm going to add "willing to watch two hours of Downton Abbey (a show he has never seen before and we still had a 1.5 hour drive back to the city) with my sister and I" to the list of things I love about Mike Johnson. [Edit: Since New Year's Day, Mike has been hooked on Downton Abbey and has started watching Season 3 with me.]

Perfectly broiled sausage casserole!

Next update will be about my birthday and adjusting to getting back to work.!