We rang in 2016 with our traditional fireside dinner as a family of four. Charlie helped me set the table with plenty of party hats and noise makers. Everything on the dinner menu were tried and true favorites so it was easy to assemble (I made dessert the day before). I'll include our menu with recipe links below. Following dinner there was some charade playing, a little dancing (break dancing moves from C) and a lot of dessert eating. Charlie was in bed by 9:00, very late for him, while Andrew stayed up with Jimmy and I to watch the ball drop. All in all, not the most exciting way to celebrate but certainly my favorite.
There were a number of times over break, when we were together as a family, where I caught myself willing the moment to memory. My favorite evening was a couple days before Christmas when we went down to Fountain Square to go ice skating. It was unseasonably warm and the rink wasn't very busy. Christmas music was playing over the speakers, all the twinkling lights turned on as the sun went down and we all were so happy together. Just as we started what was to be our final lap around the rink a rain shower (think monsoon) came out of nowhere and we got completely drenched as we ran for cover. We laughed
and screamed yet managed to make our way across the street for dinner over looking the square. It's one of those days I'll probably forget in a year or two but I desperately don't want to because these are my very favorite kind of memories. Just the four of us, happy, doing something quite ordinary but enjoying each other's company so much. All these little moments that make a life, I hate to think how many I've forgotten over the years, all the reason to be more present while they are happening (Meaning, put the phone away! Sometimes in an effort to document these everyday moments I find I'm distracted rather than engaged while they are happening. If that even makes sense? So that night I had my phone in my pocket and we stopped just for a second to have a stranger snap our picture and then the phone went right back to the pocket again. Sorry instagram.)
As I've said in past years, I'm not a big resolution maker but the one thing I intend to be more mindful of this year is my screen time, especially with my phone. I took a little hiatus over winter break and it was so freeing. So here's to memory making in 2016, to being present, to being gentler on myself and more forgiving of life's little hiccups! Cheers!
Our NYE Dinner Menu ~ shrimp cocktail (bought pre cooked fresh shrimp and served with lemon wedges and pre-made cocktail sauce - easy) || rosemary & garlic rack of lamb || Gruyere & thyme popovers || basil, Parmesan potato puree || sauteed grape tomatoes || buche de noel, topped with sparklers for dessert
