Merry Christmas, from my family to yours

I'm taking a mini blog break and will be back on Friday... or Monday, if I so choose. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, though! 
Wishing you and your family the merriest of Christmases. I hope Santa brings you everything you wanted and more, but most importantly, I hope you get to celebrate the reason for the season with those nearest and dearest to you. 
Today, my sister, Callie, and I are having a girls day out having coffee, getting mani/pedis and a delicious lunch! Tonight, my family goes to mass and then we host an amazing party. It's hands down one of my favorite nights of the year. All of our family and friends attend and there is tons of food and plenty of cocktails and bubbly. 
We open a few presents, sing Christmas carols, but we do two strange things that most families probably don't do. One has been going on for years now... we sing Christmas carols, and different family members play the piano... but we always end with Viva La Vida by Coldpay. We throw the lyrics up on screen (although we all have it memorized by now) and everyone sings... even Grammie. The woah ohhhh ohhh part gets pretty intense. 
Then, we choose the pop song of the year (one year it was Kesha's Tik Tok, embarrassing) and dance around the kitchen and start our game of 'champagne flip cup'. Everyone gets into it. This was a recent addition to the odd traditions as cousins started to get old enough. It's pretty much a blast to be playing flip cup with champagne, in a cocktail dress, with your parents, cousins aunts and uncles. We don't do teams, we just do it survivor style until there's one person left. Last year, I won... but my cousin, Michael, has been practicing and I know he's got his eye on the number one spot. We shall see, we shall see. 

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Yours,