Under Armour Pants

Fall is officially here and although I find the brisk days refreshing I will always be a sunshine kind of girl. I swear I must be the biggest whimp in the world. My mild San Diego climate kept me sheltered from the ´real world´ the world of hail, sleet, snow, and real cold. I wore my under armour pants to a bar on Friday night! I wore them like they were legging and put a dress on top of them. Hannah, who is from Maine, noticed but didn´t make fun of me. I mean, the coldest it has been so far has been 50 degrees...not exactly bone chilling.

So with all this change in weather it started making me think of fall and all the cool things you do in fall...pumpkin carving, baking the seeds, apple cider, hot chocolate, baking cookies, candles, fireplaces, scarfs, you know the normal fall things. Well here the only fall like thing is the weather. No changing leaves, no streets lined with carved pumpkins, no Thanksgiving dinners. It´s a little bit of a downer.

So fall got me thinking about Christmas. And the winter season...and I want to say the thing I am looking forward to most about coming home is our annual Christmas party. My poor mother spends over a week cooking the most delicious gourment food. Chicken skewers with spicy peanut sauce, blue cheese tart with tangy cranberry topping, baked brie pastries with jalepeño jelly, corn and red pepper leek soup, Georgia of the Cove soup, breads, a giant succulent turkey, dips, and the deserts...oh god the desserts. Chocolate cakes, tarts, tangy, sweet, creamy, chocolatey crunch, it´s mouth watering. We spend two days baking the cookies alone. Every kind of delish cookie you can imagine, coconut, walnuts, almonds, sprinkles, lemon, ginger, frosted...YUM!

The house always looks fantastic. We clean everything, put out all the Christmas hollies, the candles, the special table cloths, the green and red pillows on the couch, and the bathroom towels are dainty and embroidered with little wreaths. Outside Dad strings up the classy looking white lights in rows over the patio. We hang big Christmas bulbs from the Ficus Tree and have both fire places going. We pile blankets up on the outdoor sofa and you can always smell the apple cider.

It´s one of the best days of the year...and right now...I WANT IT TO HAPPEN TOMORROW! I love Barcelona but they don´t get into the spirit like we do! Maybe it´s because we don´t have as many fiestas as they do...so when they happen we go all out. But I´m so excited for this Christmas season.