Our Christmas Eve Tradition

Greetings friends! One last 2024 Christmas post, as we prepare for the new year. Today (tonight), I am sharing photos from our annual Christmas Eve tradition. 

This yearly outing on Christmas Eve started when we moved to Kansas City in 2019, making this was our sixth year. Many of you know, my husband is in management for UPS and always works on Christmas Eve and usually on Christmas - this makes it impossible for us to travel during the holidays and nearly impossible to make any special plans. The first year in Kansas City, we decided when he got off work on Christmas Eve that we would drive downtown to the Plaza to see the holiday lights. It was nearing 10:00 PM when we arrived in the Plaza, and we were both hungry (we left right when he arrived home and neither of us had dinner). We started looking for an open restaurant and everything was closed...then we spotted the Cheesecake Factory with lights on and decided to take a chance. Turns out, they were open until 10:00 PM. We stopped in, hoping we could maybe get some food to go, but they actually had a table for us and told us they were closing very soon. Now every Christmas Eve, we make a reservation for as late as possible at the Cheesecake Factory and have appetizers and a cocktail…then walk around the Plaza and look at the holiday lights. Afterwards, my husband humors me and we drive around to see some of the best local lights. So, that is how we have decided to spend each Christmas Eve, if he can be home in time – if not the contingency plan is to have appetizers and a cocktail at home and watch a Christmas movie. It is always challenge to be apart from our families for the holidays, but after 26 years, we have gotten used to it and started our own tradition (which is incredibly special to us!).

After appetizers (Tex Mex Egg Rolls and Factory Nachos with Spicy Chicken) and a cocktail (a Pineapple Moscow Mule for me and a Stella Artois Beer for Travis), we walked the Plaza and enjoyed the lights. When we first got down there it was packed with people, but by the time we left the restaurant, the streets had cleared and it was quiet. We drove downtown to Crown Center to see the the giant Mayor’s Christmas Tree and the Hallmark Christmas Experience. Next, we drove through beautiful Brookside to Armour Hills (a KCMO neighborhood off of Ward Parkway) with some of the best lights in the city...and it did not disappoint. Before heading home, my husband suggested a place in Olathe that he sees lit up every day on his drive to work - it is at the Olathe Community Center and Stagecoach Park...it is called Glolathe. This year it had over 100,000 bulbs on over six miles of light strings. We visited at the perfect time; at 11:00 PM on Christmas Eve, it was quiet and we walked the sidewalks lined with luminaries almost completely alone. We chuckled when we got to the pond, as it was surrounded by geese and some were brave enough to be in the frigid cold water! It was the perfect place to wrap up our Christmas Eve tradition...

Union Station lit up for the Chiefs game on Christmas Day.

Thank you so much for spending your holidays with me! Planning a special event each Saturday in December and creating some fun designs/patterns to share made my holiday extremely special. Usually, December finds me a bit sad and alienated, but this year I focused on the true meaning of Christmas; it has been a true joy sharing it with you.

Now, we prepare for the new year ahead. We will be having a casual New Year's Eve gathering at our house - we have invited the neighbors on our street and our good friends in the area. I always create a large charcuterie board and a three-tier tray of treats...many attendees bring a dish to share...and everyone brings their own beverage. We set-up our garage for playing games and darts and everyone just mingles and enjoys the evening. We have found this is a great way to start the new year!

Thanks for visiting with me...I can't wait to catch up with you again soon...

Final Countdown to Christmas Packages

Greetings friends - happy day after Christmas! I hope your holiday was merry and bright and filled with love and joy. It was a quiet day here, just me and my hubby - lounging and watching Chiefs football, pizza and wine, a little extra sleep, and a good movie - all in all the perfect holiday. Today it was business as usual, a few errands to run and back to work.

Before I share the last presents from the Countdown to Christmas Advent Calendar, I have to share what my hubby got me for Christmas. My regular readers know that our household is still on a night schedule...and my sleep tends to be all over the place (yeah, it's been almost two years and I am still not a fan of this schedule!). My husband sleeps like a baby with his eye mask and ear plugs; I don't feel comfortable wearing ear plugs to sleep (I want to make sure I wake up if there is an issue or the dogs need out, etc.) and my eye mask is pretty flimsy (it came from an airline on a recent overnight flight). My husband knows I put in one AirPod and listen to a book every night to fall asleep. He loves his Manta Sleep Mask...and gifted me the Manta SOUND Sleep Mask! It has super-thin Bluetooth headphones, nestled within a ventilated strap and has raised C-shaped eye cups that enable me to open my eyes, while providing a blackout seal. At first I thought it looked cumbersome, but once I got it adjusted for my face and set-up the Bluetooth with my iPhone, I found it to be super comfortable and the sound quality is wonderful. I used it last night and it works so good (even for this side sleeper!) - and I did notice a difference in the quality of my sleep. Let's hope this is a game changer for my sleep patterns!😴😊

Onward with the advent countdown. I wanted to stop in today and share the final 10 days from Jenny's Countdown to Christmas Box with you. It has been so much fun opening a stitchy/quilty gift each morning in December through Christmas...and every day has been useful and special! If you are not familiar with this box, it is a sewing advent calendar from the Missouri Star Quilt Company with 25 numbered and wrapped presents. I previously shared the first 15 days. Today's post includes days numbered 16 through 25. Before I go any further, this is not really a spoiler, as everyone who has this box should already have all the gifts opened - but if you do not want to know what was in each of these packages, stop reading/looking now... Click on images, if you want a larger view...

Day 16: Reusable Bowl Huggers Pattern with Fabric and Elastic

Day 17: Jenny Makes Quilting Sew Easy Button and Stickers

Day 18: Bellissimo by My Mind's Eye for Riley Blake 5" Fabric Stacker

Day 19: Chenille Star Pillow Pattern and Chenille 
(uses fabric from day 18)

Day 20: Sewing Machine Brick Building Set

Day 21: Felted Wool Gnome Pincushion

Day 22: Monogram Accessories Felt Kit with
Page Marker Leather Blanks.

Day 23: Love in Every Stitch Ceramic Mug

Day 24: Jenny's Holiday Quilt Block Patterns (4)

Day 25: Cutting & Pressing Mat Travel Folio
(each side is 12" x 12") - FABULOUS!

That's a wrap on the 2024 Jenny's Countdown to Christmas Box from Missouri Star Quilt Company. A HUGE thank you to my stitching sister that sent me this incredible gift - I am still blown away by your kindness - what an incredible month it has been!

Tomorrow, I will be back with my final Christmas post - I will share photos from our annual Christmas Eve outing and give a bit of history on our tradition.

Tinsel & 'Tinis at Union Station

Greetings friends! I am back with another holiday post - featuring our last Saturday outing before Christmas. This past weekend, we made our way to downtown Kansas City to Union Station for Holiday Reflections...but this year, I was able to get the special adults only tickets (they sell out fast) for Tinsel & 'Tinis at Holiday Reflections, a pop-up after-hours holiday themed cocktail bar. The evening included holiday entertainment (Santa Claus, live carolers, several musicians, and a DJ). Special holiday craft cocktails were served (see menu below) - I tried the Jingle Juice and Partridge in a Pear Tree. Plus there were themed appetizers and Russell Stover was passing out packages of chocolates. It was a very festive atmosphere complete with the visual wonder of the holiday walk-thru village. The halls of Union Station were filled with wonderful displays and twinkling lights, plus animatronics, model trains, and lots of photo stations. We enjoyed sipping and wandering through the displays and watching the live music.

After a lovely night downtown, we took in some holiday lights on the drive home and then watched a couple Christmas movies. Since we are still on a night schedule, we had 10:00 PM tickets for Tinsel and 'Tinis, which worked out great for us.

This evening (Christmas Eve), we will continue in our yearly tradition since we moved to Kansas City. We have a late night reservation at the Cheesecake Factory in the Plaza (downtown KC). We will enjoy appetizers and a cocktail, then walk around and look at holiday lights in the Plaza. Afterwards, we will drive through the spectacular lights at Ward Parkway and several other special neighborhoods.

Without further ado, here are the photos from Tinsel & 'Tinis....

Christmas Day will be quiet here - our annual tradition is sleeping in, Chiefs football, and pizza and wine for a holiday dinner.

I hope you have been blessed this winter season and are enjoying your unique holiday traditions. Merry Christmas!