Townhouse Christmas

Last night was Townhouse Christmas with my roommates.

Last year, I began the Townhouse Christmas "tradition" because I felt strongly that we needed to celebrate Christmas together early before we all went our separate ways to celebrate the real day with our families.  I wanted us to have "Christmas dinner" and that special togetherness you get during the holiday season.

Last year, I'd say the roommates humored me because they knew it was important to me.  This year, they looked forward to it.  And it turned out being such a special time.  Even though it was 10 days early, it really felt like Christmas.

I had fun creating a menu that highlighted a favorite for each person...

Chicken breasts stuffed with fresh basil and havarti

Mashed potatoes with green onions and creamy chicken gravy

Steamed broccoli with pine nuts

Italian bread with roasted garlic

(Jenny - potatoes, onions; Sarah - broccoli; Me - havarti)

Jenny was sweet to supply the sparkling apple-marionberry juice -- which made the table setting that much more festive.  I think stemware makes anything look festive.

Oh... and for dessert ...  Last year I made a fancy dessert, but we were too full to eat it.  This year, I decided to buy fancy pints of ice cream.  Then if we were to full, I didn't put out any effort.  And if we weren't, we would still get one of our favorite desserts.

Here we are posing before dinner.  

The little tree is real.  Everyone thinks it fake.  But it's really real.  It's about 2 feet tall and still potted (which means I'll probably plant it in January rather than waste a good tree).  It ended up on the table because it's too small to sit on the floor in the living room.

In this picture, I'm being an imp... I'm actually tickling both of the roommates who are trying their best not to show it.  But I'm laughing and enjoying myself immensely.  You would never know it, but right before the picture snapped they were both laughing and squealing "STOP!!  JAMIE!!  AHH!  What are you doing?!?  STOP!!" :)

The mantle, stockings, fireplace, and pile of presents

Jenny is known for giving unique gifts.  Sarah got a kick out of the note on this one: "A warning - this one is weird!"  (And it was, but in a fun way -- and perfect for Sarah)

All in all, we had a wonderful Townhouse Christmas.  These are important times to share together.

This is probably the last one for just the three of us... at least for now.  Sarah is getting married, and Jenny is moving to the next festival city.

But, I hope that the three of us will have a chance to get together again some day and catch up and share another Townhouse Christmas.  I doubt it will happen every year... or even every 5-10 years.  Maybe spouses and children will be at the next one.  Or maybe we'll all be grandmas.  Who knows? But I'll be watching for that opportunity.

Some day.