Priorities.

They seem to have changed now that James is here. What once seemed so important ~ now not so much. I no longer feel the need to get a pedicure on a weekly basis. And Ed doesn't feel the need to rush out to Best Buy to purchase the newest DVD to hit the market.

The same goes for the gifts that Ed and I give each other for special occasions like our anniversary which we celebrated yesterday. Since we are on a tighter budget these days, we decided to put a price cap on our gifts this year. In keeping with tradition, we decided to get each other gifts made of cotton - and under $25.

I was lavished with a beautiful and comfortable spa robe - made of cotton.

Ed received a cotton T-shirt with his favorite Big Bang Theory/Sheldon Cooper saying "Bazinga!"

Since my gifting was so silly, I decided to do something special to highlight our life together over the past two years of marriage and the almost six years of being together. I can't take all the credit for it – I got the idea from my favorite DIY blog YoungHouseLove.com. I just thought it was so clever so I decided to give it a whirl.

I love that it highlights all of the important milestones that we've hit in our relationship. Plus it's another way to dress up the somewhat bare walls in our house. :)

We'll be able to "do it up" on our anniversary in future years ~ we do still need to get to Ireland and Scotland to go on that honeymoon that was foiled by that darn volcano. But in the mean time, we'll stick to the little things that make us happy.

A Mangiaracina Christmas continued...

So I know it is now 2012 (Happy New Year!), but we are still going to dwell a bit on the end of 2011 ~ specifically the holiday weekend.

Christmas Eve was in New Jersey with the Basile/Petrelis family (aka Mom Q's family). We always look forward to this day not only because we get to see Grandma and all the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, but because of the food. For as long as I can remember, we have had the traditional Christmas Eve fish dinner and I'm not talking just any old fish. I'm talking lobster, shrimp, scallops and calamari. In addition, there are stuffed shells, chicken parmesan, stuffed mushrooms, veggies and the most delicious Italian bread you can have (slim pickin's down here in VA for real Italian bread).

We cook all day and eat all night and enjoy each other's company in the mean time. And this year, everyone was treated to the Jets/Giants game. Unfortunately things did not go in our favor (major Jets family), but we still had a good time. At the end of the night, we celebrated Grandma's birthday with ice cream cake, home made 3-layer cookies (thank you Aunt Ruth!) and nut cups (thank you Aunt Linda!). Lucy enjoyed herself - especially when Aunt Suzy put the reindeer antlers on!

We spent the night in New Jersey and headed to Long Island first thing Christmas morning. We were spending the day with Mama Mangiaracina, Ed's siblings and my brother-in-law John's family at the Mangiaracina household in Wantagh. In typical style, we got a very warm welcome from Marty, Joe's black lab and spent the day prepping the food and eating the food (seems to be a holiday theme!). I'm happy to say that I cooked my very first turkey and it actually came out really good!! At the end of the night we exchanged gifts (some great loot btw!) and headed over to the Basile house in Levittown to spend the night.

On Monday morning, we once again woke up early to hit the road and headed back to Virginia. Lucy had gone home with Grandma and Grandpa Q. after Christmas Eve and we were anxious to see her...especially since her surgery was looming. We flew home, took quick showers and headed over to the Quartuccio house for dinner and gifts. Grandma B. was in town for a few days so we got to spend more time with her which is always a great thing.

Now, if you know my Mother, you know that she loves to shop so the gift bounty was plentiful. Ed was treated to some great stuff including some new shirts, Apple's Time Capsule, and another Smallville season...among other things. I totally cleaned up with some new maternity gear, Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume and comfy slippers...among other things.

Overall, everyone did great and was happy with all the great gifts. Even James was treated to a huge bounty of books and an adorable outfit from Aunt Suzy. But more importantly, we had a great dinner and got to spend some quality time together before Grandma B. and Sue Q. headed back home.

So there you have it. A Mangiaracina Christmas in a nutshell. It flew by in a snap, but we enjoyed every minute of it. So...now onto 2012 and all that the future holds. Happy New Year everyone!!