Christmas Presents

Star Wars Christmas Tree

All my friends know I am a huge Star Wars fan. This tree goes great with the blue and silver theme we are sporting this year.

Scarf + Burt's Bees Almond Milk Hand Cream + Lavender Spray

My friend totally was reading my mind this year because I was totally looking for a green infinity scarf and I was specifically looking for that almond milk hand cream. I mean seriously, she was using some kind of supernatural power.

Cards Against Humanity
The bigger, blacker box plus the 90s nostalgia pack plus the fifth expansion. My collection is growing!

Lunchbox
A new lunch box that even comes with some tupperware! I do bring lunch every day to work to save money so a new lunch box is a must.

Chocolate + 2TB External Hard Drive + Lip Gloss
Dark chocolate with pralines and mint cream filling because I'm a chocoholic. The external hard drive was from my secret santa. A pack of 10 lip glosses from my aunt.

Michael Kors Watch + Tory Burch Flip Flops
A watch was on my wishlist since I do need one for work. I didn't expect to get such a fancy looking one though. And yay flip flops in my favorite color! Gotta wait until the summer to wear those.

Miscellanous Stuff
Some gift cards and some money. I also got this nice lotion from a coworker and a very nice smelling soap from another coworker. The Chipotle and Panera gift cards were also from coworkers :)

Zoolights

This year was the first time I've ever gone to the Zoolights display at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. I mean, I've been to the National Zoo before but not for the Zoolights. Groupon and living social deals have a way of making my family go places. Anyway, the deal was for free parking since parking is expensive probably to offset the fact that the zoo itself is actually free. If you have ever gone to the National Zoo, you will know that getting there is quite a hassle. It's still a bit of a walk from the closest metro stop. Driving there is kind of terrifying if you take Rock Creek, which is like the winding road of death. Taking Connecticut is kind of annoying also since you end up going through Dupont Circle and the National Mall area. But it was whatever to me since I won't be the one driving.

Our deal included tickets for tubing, the train, and the carousel. Before any of the animal attractions closed, I took my brother to see the pandas and the reptile house. We didn't spend too long there. Then we went to go eat dinner at Ted's Bulletin in Mosaic District Mosaic District was also nicely decorated for Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Sadly, I had to work that morning and it was a super busy morning. Afterwards, I went to Clyde's in Ashburn to have lunch with two friends. Then went home to spend lots of time getting ready. I went to church to see my brother perform in the choir but it was so hot that he almost passed out. Then went home where my family was hosting Christmas Eve. We were quite fancy this year.

Photo credit goes to my uncle, Mike Ablaza. He took all the photos for us this Christmas. The theme this year is silver and dark blue so I dressed to match that theme. I can't believe Christmas is over already and now looking forward to celebrating the new year! What presents did I get? Anticipate that to be a whole long post on its own.

Oh Christmas Tree, so silver and blue

This year, the theme of my Christmas tree is silver and white and a navy or dark blue. I just love that combination. The tree is of course, real. My family always gets a real tree. It smells so nice. The tree is from Merrifield Garden Center. Some of the ornaments are also from there and some of the other ornaments were from Michael's. We got all these ornaments on sale when my mom and I went shopping the day after Christmas. By the way, the deals after Christmas on Christmas stuff is pretty amazing. If you can brave the crowds, I highly recommend it. Anyway, do you think my tree is pretty?

Merry Christmas Eve!

Party at the Waterford

I attended a Christmas Party at the Waterford this month. The place was very nicely decorated and I wanted to take pictures because I was pretty proud of my makeup that day. I spend about an hour and a half, I think, on makeup alone. Anyway, the food was great. We had beef kebabs and salmon and rice with mushrooms. Then the dessert table was filled. We did some raffles and a fun gave involving a Christmas song. There were quite a few performances and it really did get lively in the end. Even Santa was dancing "Jump on it" and it was so hilarious. The kids were all so energetic with the games. The downside was that it was on a Sunday so we couldn't really continue the festivities too late into the night. It's too bad though. I think it could have been really fun if everyone didn't have work and school the next day.

Christmas Train

I went on this thing called the Christmas Train with my family. It is basically a way for kids to experience riding a train but Christmas themed. So we got on the train at the Burke station. It was a short train ride, only about an hour, so half an hour each way. Santa and Mrs. Clause come through all the cars giving away candy canes. They then also distribute a coloring book about train safety. In the last half, Santa comes back to say goodbye and then it's over. Then the conductor punches holes in your tickets, polar express style. It's a fun experience for kids if they have never ridden the train before.

Holiday Fun at The National Harbor

This post will just be mostly pictures. Anyway, my family and I went ahead and visited the National Harbor one night. The trip was unplanned. Our previous plans got canceled and since we were in the area, we thought we might as well go there anyway. So they have this new Ferris wheel and it is really nice mostly because of the view and the fact that the cars are insulated and heated. The tickets are pretty expensive though. Also, the National Harbor does get decorated to match the holiday season.

I attempted to do the Elsa side braid on my hair but my hair isn't long enough so the braid kept unraveling on the opposite side. Anyway, the view from the Ferris wheel is pretty spectacular. The cars are also very well lit inside so taking pictures wasn't too hard.

After all this picture taking, we went to eat at Rosa Mexicano for some delicious food and that was a good end to the day. We didn't stay very long. It was pretty cold and we were all just so tired. Anyway, other nice holiday sights so see are the Gaylord hotel and the ICE sculptures. If you are every in the area, be sure to check it out!