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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Chicago Pizza Christmas Party

It's no secret that I hadn't been feeling too much in the Christmas spirit this year between Merlin and the my surprise procedure that I had last month. In fact the Big Giraffe was the one who did all the Christmas shopping this year because honestly mental state aside, I just physically felt crummy.

Christmas can be a tough time for me anyway because I tend to get homesick. As much as I enjoy living out here, I find myself especially sensitive around the holidays to the fact that everyone around here seems to have lived here for so many generations that they can practically trace their roots back to the Mayflower. Hmm....I detect a little bit of snideness on my part.

In all honesty, New Englanders do have a reputation for keeping to themselves. That being said, it's not always such a bad thing. Part of keeping to yourself is keeping your opinions to yourself, and I feel pretty confident that no matter what my kids are doing, no one will comment on it, no matter what they may think. Still, if you're not from here, it can just get tiring after a while to try and make conversations. Don't believe me? Try coming to a youth soccer practice and notice how everyone tends to keep to themselves. Based on the number of conversations I've had about it in the past few weeks...not even initiated by me, I think that this time of year tends to raise this awareness within all New England transplants.

Last year we had my MIL visiting us for Christmas which was great. It was also the first time we've had a relative with us for the holidays. For various reasons, our families do not travel for the holidays. We've traveled to visit family, but honestly with two little kids, it can be pretty draining. Thus for the most part we've ended up staying here and making our tradition that we really don't have any traditions; every year we seem to do something different.

After hearing stories from people about the fun Christmas gatherings they were having with their families, and fantasizing about moving, I decided that I too wanted to have a Christmas party. But who to invite without splitting up the descendants of pilgrims? Other New England transplants of course! I joked around with the Big Giraffe that this was operation Take Back Christmas.

I had already decided I wanted to get deep dish pizza this year. Ever since my older son (OS) was born, my aunt and uncle have sent us a Chicago meal for Christmas. We usually have it on Christmas or right around it. I invited three families to join us at the last minute for Christmas Eve. Only two could make it. I had already ordered deep dish pizzas from Gino's East in Chicago, so I went ahead and ordered more. A little insane? Perhaps, but there wasn't really anything I wanted for Christmas this year. This was like a present to myself. And yes, in case you're wondering, the ordering is handled by an on-line group that works with several restaurants in Chicago. The food arrives on dry ice via Fed Ex.

One family brought homemade Christmas cupcakes. Another brought a couple bottles of wine. My aunt and uncle had sent up Garrett's Popcorn, which we regretfully broke open to share with everyone.

The kids ran around, ate, and then ran around some more. The adults drank wine, ate food and hung out. As for me? Well, I may have had a glass of wine...or four...and had a fantastic time. In all seriousness, it was the best Christmas Eve I've had since moving out here and definitely one of the top Christmas Eves ever. Wine aside, it was great to be able to hang out with friends. My kids loved having other kids to play with them. Perhaps in the Giraffe household we have a new tradition.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Deep dish pizza, wine, and friends make for a wonderful Christmas Eve.

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Name:Alex Elliot
Home:MA, United States
About Me:Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

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