Countdown to Christmas Thread

[Marilyn. 340]

so I made the truffles and they are now in the freezer waiting to be dunked in chocolate.. I made them about 1/2 tablespoon size..

[Marilyn. 340]

the truffles look way cute.. I dunked them in dark choclate and drizzled them with white chocolate.. I did a few in white chocolate but I didn't have enough white choclate to do more then just a couple...

I had a few problems when I was trying to drizzle them with chocolate, it got kind of clumpy but I still think they look cute.. I am downloading some pics right now...

[Marilyn. 340]

[Marilyn. 340]

this was my favourite boat of the ones we saw at the Boat parade.. it had the Grinch song playing... and I loved the lights.. some of the boats looked liked the lights were just slapped on willy-nilly... this person looked like he put some though into it..

we saw some boats that looked cool but they were on the other side of the bay.. they had already gone past where we were..

this was one of them.. I actually got a good pic of it with my zoom all the way up...

Edited December 22, 2008 by *Marilyn*

[Marilyn. 340]

this was one of the decorated houses along the bay... it had won the light competition this year...

I wanted David to take a picture of the front but he only took video

[Krikit 1,163]

Ohmygosh, Marilyn. Those truffles look fabulous! And the boat parade lights are so pretty.

[Marilyn. 340]

yeah I think those truffles will be something I will make every year.. they were simple to make.. I like simple ...

yeah i really enjoyed the boat parade and told David I want to make it a Christmas Tradition...

it has nothing to do with the fact that I had the best strawberry margarita ever at a little bar there

[Krikit 1,163]

Strawberry margaritas ftw!!! Oh, and I love little kitteh warming up on the Christmas lights.

[Marilyn. 340]

Strawberry margaritas ftw!!! Oh, and I love little kitteh warming up on the Christmas lights.

I actually got 2 strawberry margaritas.. it was happy hour ..lol David had to help me drink the second one though....

[DeadPoolX 9]

I just turned on Christmas In Wonderland and its making me miss all those things I hated about back home like WEM.

I've been to West Edmonton Mall quite a few times and for a mall, I liked it. I get lost there, but then again, I do that in whatever mall I'm in. Interestingly enough, I didn't think WEM was all that large. Sure, it had some unusual things (like a theme park, water park and a crazy pirate ship with a seal performing tricks), but the overall mall didn't seem huge. I think that's because most of the stores were built on a large scale. That probably made the mall seem smaller.

My wife thinks WEM is overly cheesy and far too much of a tourist trap. She preferred the Houston Galleria (which is only the 5th largest mall in the United States, but still quite large in it's own right), because she felt it had more class.

As a side note, I also get lost in the Galleria. I've lived in Houston my entire life! But whenever I enter the Galleria, I become a directional moron. I don't know how, but my wife knew where everything was the first time she shopped there.

[Carlawarla 1]

I just turned on Christmas In Wonderland and its making me miss all those things I hated about back home like WEM.

I've been to West Edmonton Mall quite a few times and for a mall, I liked it. I get lost there, but then again, I do that in whatever mall I'm in. Interestingly enough, I didn't think WEM was all that large. Sure, it had some unusual things (like a theme park, water park and a crazy pirate ship with a seal performing tricks), but the overall mall didn't seem huge. I think that's because most of the stores were built on a large scale. That probably made the mall seem smaller.

My wife thinks WEM is overly cheesy and far too much of a tourist trap. She preferred the Houston Galleria (which is only the 5th largest mall in the United States, but still quite large in it's own right), because she felt it had more class.

As a side note, I also get lost in the Galleria. I've lived in Houston my entire life! But whenever I enter the Galleria, I become a directional moron. I don't know how, but my wife knew where everything was the first time she shopped there.

I think everyone should experience WEM at least once in their life. I've been once, and thank you, never want to go back! The prices are atrocious as well.

In the spirit of Christmas, I took a pic of my tree.

[trailmix 77]

Ahhh Carla, I love your tree and your Husband's train is so nice there on the skirt!!

Thanks for posting those videos Marilyn, I may take some video of something and see if I can post it to photobucket, not sure which formats they accept.

Yes krikit, after I posted that I was thinking about the whole picnic thing too - it would be fun, if it is warm on Christmas day, I think we might just eat outside

We went out for Christmas dinner quite a lot in Calgary, to the Blackfoot Inn, except last time we went it the food was not great, so we stopped going.

My Husband and I visited WEM and stayed at the Fantasyland - the first time not in a theme room and we really enjoyed it. We went to see Tonic at the club there - which is why we really went.

Then we went again when he had to go there for work and stayed in the Polynesian room, it had mirrors above the oh-so-uncomfortable bed. I got blister's on my feet from shopping and his work didn't finish until like 3 the next day and I had to get out of the room at like noon - but whatever

Edited December 22, 2008 by trailmix

[MrsCat 6]

Carla, the tree is lovely. I trains!

Tonic was awesome, I didn't even know they went to Edm. My girlfriends and I stayed in the Polynesian room once and you're right the bed is so uncomfortable and the mirror about the bed was so tacky.

I hated WEM around the holidays because it was so crowded and you had to push through everyone to get anywhere. Although if you went really early in the morning on a weekday, it was the best place to do the Christmas shopping because everything was there, no walking outside, you could get a stall right the near the entrance and once and a while there would be some good sales.

DPX, I have to agree with your wife that mall can be so low-budget sometimes. However in the past 2-3 years, its really went through some upgrades (finally) and they've managed to secure much nicer and quality stores. For awhile there it was like shopping in Yellowknife, NT.

Although Carla, my husband agrees that he finds the prices outrageous there. Guess I was used to them and thought them normal.

[Marilyn. 340]

hmm, most of the Virgin America flights from Seattle to LA were canceled yesterday and today... my brother and sister-in-law are supposed to be flying out tomorrow...

[MrsCat 6]

hmm, most of the Virgin America flights from Seattle to LA were canceled yesterday and today... my brother and sister-in-law are supposed to be flying out tomorrow...

I hope the weather clears for them and they're able to make it on time.

I'll ask the weather god to cash in a couple favors so that you can have your family on time.