**Recipe posts will continue next week!**

The holidays are officially over. Everyone is officially back to work. I think that’s the worst part about all of this. Sure, we are all sad that the holidays have come and gone, but the most depressing thing of all is that we are sitting in an office as opposed to enjoying time with our friends and family. There isn’t another break to look forward to for quite some time. But we do have the memories of the past couple of weeks to get us through this tough time…

I, personally, celebrated Christmas in Tennessee as well as New York. Lots of traveling and meeting of new faces. You see, Michael and I got engaged (thank you…thank you…) earlier in the holiday season and it was time for us to endure all of the “Congratulations” and “Best Wishes.” He flew out the 23rd and I followed the 26th. We purchased separate tickets prior to the engagement for any of those people who find it weird we spent the actual Christmas holiday apart. So off he went to the Big Apple and I stayed to enjoy some holiday fun here at home.

My family has our traditions, of course. After all, what kind of Southern family would we be without our traditions? To start, there is the Christmas Eve Cocktail Party at my Grandmother’s house. It’s hard to imagine a holiday without this particular event since I’ve been attending it for as long as I can remember. The food is great and the company is even better. With my engagement as well as my brother’s (last Christmas), I’ve really begun to cherish these moments because the traditions may be changing as new additions to the family are made.

The cocktail party is followed by Christmas morning, of course. It is filled with gift giving and receiving as well as brunch that always consists of breakfast casserole, potato casserole, sausage balls, and sausage pinwheels. Screwdrivers and Mimosas’ are also flowing at this point (it makes it easier to graciously accept that ugly sweater your Aunt gave you…)

The rest of the day is full of movies and dinner preparations on my part. You see, I make Beef Wellington every year for dinner (for the last several years, that is) and lots of prep is involved, but it’s always worth it because it’s a wonderful addition to the celebration.

After good times with my immediate family, the traditional Christmas was over because I was off to New York the next day to see Michael’s family and attend their annual Christmas party, which was a blast. It also gave me an opportunity to eat some delicious pizza and NY bagels (trust me, no bagel down here comes close to what they have up there).

Oh, the holidays were far from over, though. We flew home the following Monday and went up to the mountains of North Carolina to celebrate New Year’s on Wednesday. The rest of the week was filled with football games, fattening food, and cold champagne. Then, suitcases were packed and goodbyes were said. It was time to get back to our normal lives. 😦

So, here I am writing this from my couch in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It finally feels like Winter as there is quite the chill in the air. Christmas decorations have been put away and the pine needles that fell from the tree have been vacuumed up. I have a feeling this year will be one for the books. My baby brother is getting married in June, my older sister and her husband are officially house hunting, and Michael and I will be married be years-end. 2014, you were spectacular, but 2015 will be the year to beat.

Cheers and I wish you a wonderful New Year!