My Favorite Time of Year

She was such a cute girl.  I just couldn't say no...

Let's Go Back: Colonial Williamsburg

We had so much fun on our trip to Colonial Williamsburg.  It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment trip, but it ended up coming together quite nicely!  I really wished that we'd had at least one more full day there to see everything we wanted to see.  But we wanted to see it at least once before we moved back, and we wanted to see it at Christmas, so we made the trip over for a short weekend get-a-way!

This is the Governor's Palace, and it was also our entertainment for the night!  I had called the Williamsburg visitor's center to make our hotel reservation and ended up asking for suggestions on things to do while we were there.  The girl proceeded to tell me that were over two hundred different shows that they offer during the Christmas holidays. And without going through the whole list, we settled on Christmas Tide at Home!  We enjoyed a guided tour around the grounds of the Governor's Palace where we experienced Christmases past in Colonial Williamsburg, learned about their various traditions and customs, and learned about the first Christmas tree in Colonial Williamsburg.  I gave it two thumbs up!

My personal favorite shop...

The Williamsburg Hotel

We also got to see the College of William and Mary.  Founded in 1693, it is the second oldest college in the U.S. behind Harvard.
 

Jonathans's favorite shop...

At one point, I asked Jonathan to "wait right here while I go to the restroom".  Needless to say, he wondered off and went and took pictures of William and Mary...This is me looking for him...Looks like we need a vocabulary lesson...   

Another really neat thing they had was this little portable stage.  This crowd is gathered around watching this guy perform "A Christmas Carol"!  We had so much fun, and I am so glad we got to experience it at Christmas!
      

Deception is a Green Monster

Well, I tried it, and it wasn't horrible.

It sure looks horrible though...

I had seen these on other blogs and needless to say, I was a little skeptical.  I mean the color alone is enough to turn one's stomach.  But once you get past that aspect of it, it's actually pretty good.  I made the Blueberry-Banana Green Monster, although I think you could put just about anything in it as long as it was healthy.  In other words, no pizza smoothies! 

This particular smoothie consists of 1 tbs. flax seed, 2 c. baby spinach, 1 banana, 1 - 1.25 c. almond milk, and 1/2 c. blueberries.  You can find different recipes and the story behind it all here.  Once I read that it has miraculous skin-clearing and hair/nail growing abilities, I was in.  A girl needs all the help she can get!