Tree Trimming and a Christmas Eve-Eve Run!

We woke up relatively early the AM after our Chicago road trip...

Some of us took a bit longer to wake up than others...

The smoked salmon from the previous night was calling our names...

Just add an Asiago bagel...

Some coffee...

And a schmear and you're good to go! I felt like I was back in NY! 

I visited Joe's friend Steve's gym as a guest in the afternoon and put in a good 4 miles- it has BEEN forever since I've run- it's humbling to think that this summer 10 + mile runs were the norm and now 4 miles feels long, but it's good motivation to take advantage of my school break to get back into the swing of things!

After the gym, we finished our shopping and then headed home to shower and have dinner- Fridays are pizza nights in the Kurtz household- and then it was tree trimming time!

I LOVE looking through other people's Christmas ornaments- it's so fun to hear the stories behind them. It made me think about my family's tree back in NY- I was missing my 'rents and sibs hard core, but then I found this gem. A philosopher's quote on Christmas traditions, by my husband as a 3rd grader. 

And then there was this...

My darling husband has perfect vision, but evidently one year his precious childhood self decided that he NEEDED glasses, despite the fact that he could see with no problem. The year of the glasses...

After an all-in round of rock-paper-scissors with Joe and his sister Liz, I won the honor of placing the angel on top of the tree. 

Joe went out to play with his friends after the tree-trimming festivities, so I got a Krumkake making lesson from the MIL. 

Krumkake is a Norwegian Christmas cookie and a tradition for my husband's family. I got to learn the easy way, since last year Santa brought the MIL a fancy krumkake iron (instead of the old-school stovetop cast-iron press). 

There's a bit of technique involved, but for the most part these are pretty simple!

This cone form is used to shape the still-soft cookies as soon as they're removed from the press. 

This small bowl of dough makes A LOT of krumkake!

We switched back and forth between operating the iron and rolling the cookies so that I got to try both. 

They turned out beautifully! Mission accomplished! 

Truffles and Babies and the Theatre, OH MY!

I'm on vacation! Comin' atcha from South Bend, IN, I am happy to report that I've spent the last two days eating, relaxing, exploring Ancestry.com with the MIL and overall, not doing a whole lot. Oh. YEAH.

I have SO much to share with you guys! This post brings it back to this past Saturday, when I attended a cookie exchange party at my beloved friend (and bridesmaid) Christina's house!

My contribution to the evening? Oreo Truffles, natch! SO EASY. And they had been a huge hit at my party a few nights before! I prepped these Friday PM after officially finishing my first semester of grad school! HUZZAH!

They're essentially fool-proof. Crush a box of oreos. Mix in an 8oz package of cream cheese. Roll and freeze for an hour.

And then decorate as you please!

I dipped the top half in white chocolate...

...and then drizzled some regular chocolate on top!

I made three batches (yielding about 35-40 per batch), so while the going was EASY, it was very time-consuming. 

Skyping with sisters helps to pass the time during tasks like these.

The following AM my 100+ truffles and I schlepped out to Jersey for the cookie exchange!

The spread was impressive! The babies agreed... 

After the party Santa rolled by on his sweet ride...

And Auntie Keelie got to spend some time with this handsome fella!

After a 2.5 hour bus ride (for a one hour trip- thank you, NJ Transit), I met up with my upstate homies, Jarred and Gen! We're all actors... can you tell?

Jarred and Gen had dinner with some friends of theirs while I recovered from my food coma and then we went Joe's final performance of his show, Vampure. 

What a day!

Updates on my travel adventures comin' atcha! Are you guys traveling for the holidays or staying home?