Christmas Shoes 2011

This is the type of thing

that deserves it's own post.

This tradition has become a very popular

and widely known story.

I received texts, Facebook posts

and e-mails about the

story of 

The Christmas Shoes.

For the first time since it has started,

I had people begging for pictures

of the newest creations.

Thank you!

If you are new to the Christmas Shoes tradition,

you can read about it origins here!

You will not regret this.

So, without further adieu...

I give you

CHRISTMAS SHOES 2011

My mom's creation on the left, and mine on the right

My theme this year was

"A Jolly Holly Christmas"

I took some of my favorite things and 

and put them on another one of my favorite things,

FLIP-FLOPS!!!

Mom took a daring but intriguing route

with the theme of

"Christmas Shoes...on Shoes"

Yes, they are smaller shoes added

to the already glorious shoe base.

I went with pink as the main color

and added a pink poinsettia flower

with a feather boa 

and glitter

and smiley face stickers

OH, and rhinestone

trimming around the edge of the flip-flop

I could almost see this as another

Kardashian sister accessory.

The search for this year's Christmas Shoe

inspiration has already begun.

And...

If you are interested...

Once we have completed 

Christmas Shoes 2012...

We will be putting a calendar together

with pictures of all the shoes

that have been created thus far. 

Details will come later this year,

but we are considering

selling them for a very small price

so that you can have the spirit

of the Christmas Shoes

all year round.

What a great Christmas or birthday present this could make...

Just sayin!

Happy 2012!!!

Yeah...so...it's been a while. I'm sorry. Can we still be friends? 

Really?! 

Thanks!

Whew! Ok. Now that that part is done,

it's time to recap the holiday season.

NOVEMBER:

November came and went so quickly. And the sad part is

that it wasn't really eventful until

Thanksgiving. 

So here is a few pictures to show how things

went down

I finally perfected the crust. 

Boo-yaw!

Here is the completed work of art. My hubby really

outdid himself with this one.

Only a minor injury was sustained.

Here is a little tidbit of advice...

DON'T cut cold butter with a dull steak knife.

It hurts.

You will swear.

No really...you will.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun!

We spent it at my parent's house and enjoyed 

all the fun and food.

It wasn't so cold this year

which made it very nice.

DECEMBER:

December was a little strange this year.

It didn't really snow.

It didn't really get cold.

It was kind of bizarre.

But, we made do.

I received a wonderful early 

present my SOL Jenn.

It has become my motto

I love it! I drink my green tea out of it

everyday!

We got around to putting up the tree

and, as always, it was fun!

Putting the tree together is an adventure every year

One of these years I will find

a way to make it easier

Christmas on Center Street 2011

can now begin!

I am sure that for everyone,

December is a very

stressful month.

I had a few naughty moments

but I didn't care.

For example,

this was my breakfast 

for a couple mornings

No, not the healthiest. The hubby

did pack me a breakfast,

but it was gone by 8 am and

I was still hungry.

Here is what saved me a couple times.

Try the Vanilla Coke Zero.

It's yummy.

My iPod is pretty much what

gets me through the day

at work.

On Christmas Eve,

my parents treated us to a wonderful

dinner at The Grand America Hotel

in  downtown SLC.

It was AMAZING!!!

There was so many different types

of yummy food.

And crab.

LOTS of crab.

King crab

Snow crab

all pre-cut and ready to eat.

The butter sauce was off the chain.

Seriously! 

Here are some pictures we took after dinner

while walking around.

Me and the hubby outside the toy shop

I can be a flying princess too!

The beautiful tree outside in the courtyard with my mom and sister Gina in front

Such a cool star!

My mom and Gina again

The Gates ladies after dinner
L-R: Jill, Wendi, Gina, Mom, Andrea and ME!!!

I want this tree!

Christmas Day was wonderful!

I got some sweet pink Bear Paw slippers

and the Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 game.

That came in handy when I got

the stomach flu and was down for a few days 

following Christmas.

Not cool. Once again, I hurt.

I swore...a lot.

In my stocking,

the hubby gave me a cute little monkey 

to add to my collection of decorations at work

Our nephew, K, gave me the flower

on our first Valentines Day together.

And, of course, our engagement picture.

It's nice to have these on my desk.

The monkey kind of looks like the hubby.

I love it!

So that was our holiday season. 

I don't have any resolutions this year.

I think it will take some time to come up with some.

Maybe...