Home for the holidays! Part 1

Dare I say, best Christmas ever???  I think so.  I do believe so.

An unexpected week off during the season turned into Christmas with our families back in the States and for me, 3 weeks of pure Oregonian bliss.  Michael only had 6 days to soak it all in, but trust that we took full advantage of his rare holiday experience back home. 

Adjusting to the wild time difference had us up before 6 a.m. each morning.  We didn't mind one bit.  For me, it meant coffee with my mom every day.  For Michael it meant an early work-out with Mags and pets and cuddles before breakfast.

Flying in late on the 22nd gave us a full day to reacquaint ourselves with the US of A and reconcile with some of our close friends before the craziness of Christmas officially began.  I knew that I'd have tons of time to get together with our PDX pals so an assembly of Michael's Salem crew was at the top of our list.

First thing first though, we needed to take care of some last minute Christmas shopping.  What better place to "one-stop-shop" than the one and only, Woodburn Outlet Malls.

Nothing says America like a discounted Coach bag.

 

After 2 months of marked up, brand name gear in Gdansk, it was beyond refreshing to see racks and racks of discounted yet fabulous product.  $300 Calvin Klein jacket for $49?  Yes, please.  $200 Le Creuset pot for $79?  Ok!  But perhaps the greatest delight came from the facial decor we picked up down the street at Tony and Laura's house...and so became our newly adopted Christmas tradition...

Merry Mustaches or Mustaching Through the Snow, as we like to say!

Now THAT'S a good looking couple.

 

It just feels right.

 

Mustache swag.

The addition of perfectly structured facial hair made sister wives seem attainable.

Deck those halls, baby.

 A few other notable details of Michael's week home;

• 5 of his 6 mornings were spent at The Original Pancake House.  I joined him for 3 of those breakfasts.  He settled for my cooking only once (it's nice to take a break from the norm, you know?).
• I officially lost my title of "Maggie's favorite sibling".  She wouldn't leave his side for 6 straight days.
• On top of family meals, we managed to chow down at La Margarita, Caruso's (twice), Pita Pit, Jonathan's, McGrath's, Dot's, Burgerville, and Jam (to name a few).
• It didn't rain once - a clear, blue sky accompanied us each day.
• On our second to last night, "Power Hour" with us and the two CJs turned into 87 minutes of fun, followed by an exclusive showing of The Big Lebowski at the Clinton Street Theater.  What could be more appropriate than White Russians and The Dude during the holidays??

All in all, Michael agrees that this Christmas will be a tough one to top.  Not only were we together, but we were amongst friends and family in the great Northwest.  What more could Mr. and Mrs. Kubes ask for?

Stay tuned!  There's much more to come!!