Christmas and Champagne

Delicious balsamic vinegar!

If you are in Winter Park, FL, check out the Ancient Olive!

Sister store!  Go smell some teas and spices!  Also in WP, FL

Park Ave. Winter Park, FL--my favorite street!

Pink Champagne...it's becoming my signature ;)

Christmas Eve Shrimp

Honor the toil that goes into a bottle of wine--get the last 9-11 drips after it's empty

Emily Ellyn's lovely champagne brunch--scrumptious food!

Lots of mixing options!

A beautiful decanter!

With the hostess!  Photo Credit: Scott Richardson; @1educatedpalate

Christmas lasted a little more than a month longer than usual.
Due to my previous job, I was unable to visit my dad and step-mom in Florida during the holidays.
I planned to visit in January, though.

Thursday I flew from Roanoke to Orlando.
Wednesday I was trying to figure out how to dress for 21 and 70 degree weather.
Thanks to my new, favorite J.Crew chambray shirt layered with a short sleeve shirt, I was successful.

To my complete surprise, the Christmas decorations were still up (and the tree was still alive!).
So, when we celebrated Christmas Eve with our traditional shrimp dinner, the Christmas tree was on.
Saturday morning was our Christmas morning, during which we enjoyed coffee, tea, and cinnamon buns.

After "Christmas" ended, we popped over to Emily Ellyn's (Food Network Star Season 8 finalist) house for a champagne brunch (my first!).
Everything was lovely, from the food, to the decor, to the drinks.  It was a fabulous time!
Her guests were a fun, eclectic group of people with fun backgrounds and great personalities!

Daddy, Pennisu, and I had planned to order sushi and watch Djokovic take on Murray at the Australian Open Saturday night.
However, (and this is why I rarely watch the AO) I had the time messed up.
So, we ordered sushi, watched the latest episode of Downton, and went to bed (because we had to wake up at 3AM to watch the final).

3AM arrived, we watched part of the AO Final, I packed, we left for the airport, and I slept most of the way home.
Elizabeth and Michael picked me up from the airport, along with Isabelle and Amelie (who looked like Eloise in matching pink tutus, white shirts and tights, and black, sparkly shoes).

It was a fantastic trip with visits to the dentist and doctor, an awesome visit with a different Emily (future London roommate!), and a stroll through Winter Park with a visit to the Olive Oil and Tea shops!