Florida sunshine for Christmas!

Y'all the month of December was one giant BLUR! We had our weekends planned out from Thanksgiving til New Years, and I am so ready for a rest and relaxation weekend, lol. I know I've been slacking on posting in here, but I promise I'll get into the swing of things soon! 

This past Holiday season we made our annual trek back to our old stomping grounds of South Florida, and as usual it was organized chaos, ha ha. Ricky and I are very fortunate to have fairly large extended families  with whom love us very much. That being said almost everyone wants to see us and catch up with us. To the point where before we even get down there our 10 day vacation is pretty much already all planed out. Don't get me wrong we absolutely adore all of our family, but the shuffling back and forth between Miami and West Palm gets old quick. So we split ourselves up, and he saw most of his family in Miami and I in West Palm. It's not what everyone want's, but it keeps them at bay since they get to see at least one of us ; )

 I also took a real camera this time and have tons of great pics, but I just haven't been able to find the time to sit down and upload them onto the good ole laptop. I promise I will soon! Until then below are the pictures I have on my I-Phone of the month of December.

Our friends had a unique wedding on 12-12-12 this year and this is a picture of me with the bride

We had a big impromptu ladies night before the holidays and this was the aftermath -6 ladies killed this all in one night! I'm not sure if I was more proud or hung over the next morning ; ) Needless to say it was good night, lol

My Birthday fell on Tues. this year so we ( Ricky & I) weren't able to really do anything special, and since he was flying down the next we just had dinner and spent some time together. So, long story short, my good friend Anna got a group of friends together for drinks, a belated birthday celebration, and to go see the Trail of Lights at downtown Zilker Park.

One of the displays on the trail

Another view

a bird's eye of view of the trail

across the street is a  giant Christmas tree they light every year ( big enough to see from the highway). It's tradition to stand underneath it and spin in circles ( don't ask me why or how this came about, but it's just what you do -lol)

Me, Anna, and Katie near the tree

On the morning I dropped Chloe off at her boarding place I came across this beautiful sunrise sky

I wasn't here, but this picture was too good to not post. It's Ricky reunited with all of his best buds from college

View of the beach I grew up with : ) I grew up less than 20 mins. away from this gorgeous place and totally took it for granted. Now that I live in a land lock city I try to take advantage of it every time I make my way down home.

Palm Beach

By Charlie's Crab

My sister's workplace, Worth Ave.

I was super lucky to have a chance to catch up with a few friends from home. It's always a blast when I get to hang out with the fabulous Grimason Sisters, Barb, and Fro ( Mr. Alvaro)!!

We were not able to get with my Dad's side of the family on Christmas Day so we met up with them a few days before for dinner and gift exchanges at the Cheese Cake Factory in The Gardens area. This is me and my two youngest cousins Lily & Jack.

This is whole Tetrault clan of gran-kids. From left to right: Hunter & Sam ( both high school seniors! I'm soooo old now)  Sam's stepbrother Cliff, myself, Jack, my sister Monica, & Lily.

My parents celebrated my birthday a few days later at Pizza Al Fresco in Palm Beach. This a picture of by the big tree on Worth Ave.

Downtown WPB had all these great sand sculptures for the holidays

view of the Palm Beach downtown skyline at night

I saw this at  a store while I was last minute Christmas shopping, and I was dying to buy it as a gag gift for my sister. But would you believe that this stuff was priced at $25 bucks?! A little too expensive for me to give as a throw away gift : (

I was able to squeeze one more afternoon at the beach with my mom on the trip, and this was the view I walked up to.

The water was absolutely gorgeous that day

We walked past this area originally with nothing there, but twenty minutes later we were walking  back and this is what we found.  Of course my mom yelled at me from a distance to try and push it into the water, but it was at least 90 lbs., and definitely dead weight. After pouring a few bucks of water on it's gills  we decided that it was dead since there was no movement whatsoever. It was pretty sad.

The Norton Museum of Art had it's annual open house while I was in town, and this was one of my favorite sayings posted on their wall.

Another favorite area of mine at the Norton's Museum of Art.

We spent the tail end of our trip with both families in Disney World, and we all had a blast. It was super packed - like parks were closed to capacity by 10am packed. We still had a great time exploring the hotels and downtown Disney though.

All in all, we had a fabulous time with all of our family! We were only able to see a few of the friends we love so much, but that just means we have to come back and visit soon ; ) I hope everyone had a fabulous December and I promise more pictures next week!

Have a great weekend- Luv Di