Merry Christmas! Unexpected Holiday Adventures

Laurie holding a monster size beer while wearing a holiday sweater
Scroll to the "Comments box" or call 206-350-6445 to tell us what you think.
On podcast pages click the arrow to play the episode.

This beer is SANTA size. I had no idea when we agreed to the large, that THIS is what it meant. Too big for me to drink all of it, could barely lift it. But it made me laugh and I loved our start to the night.

Last Call! Send your audio in by the end of day Mon. 28th if you’d like to send a greeting or other feature for our end of year holiday update. This page has all the ways you can send audio along with directions.

Life isn’t always what you expect

Mark and I had SO much fun last year Christmasing in Solvang, that we planned to return this holiday. BUT a series of bumps in the road drained our holiday savings and made us need to be nearer to home. At first we glumly thought to go get a Charlie Brown Christmas tree and make do with leftovers in our fridge for Christmas dinner.

There’s usually options

BUT we live very near to downtown Burbank, so it’s a quick drive. And I remembered that I have some frequent stayer hotel points that would get us a room for free. So we packed up our Christmas train from last year and headed out for an impromptu Christmas Eve.

Computer screen in front of animated train music box

Christmas morning for me – blogging in front of our holiday train that we got on last year’s Christmas trip.

Stop 1 – Beer and Bar Food

We usually don’t have the luxury of stopping off for happy hour. And many of the restaurants in downtown Burbank were closed for the holiday (good for them!). But we saw Gordon Biersch was open, so we popped in. We ordered large beers to save money – but OMG! This beer (which is my top photo) was so big I couldn’t lift it. So we laughed, I leaned over to sip what I could and enjoyed my first order of wurst sliders in memory of my dad, who LOVED German food.

Stop 2 – Enjoy the Town Decor

We didn’t have any plans, but decided to walk around enjoying the holiday spirit. Long time since we wandered hand in hand. Usually our adventures involve hiking with poles or riding bikes. This was kind of romanic and fun!

Laurie and Mark in front of an outside Christmas tree

We stop to snap a pic in front of the Burbank town tree before the movie.

Stop 3 – We decide to see a movie we knew NOTHING about

One of our writing friends, Gabe, had strongly recommended The Big Short on FB. As we passed the movie theater, we saw a showing was about to start. So in we went!

Laurie and Mark at the movies

Snuggled up getting ready to watch The Big Short – not usual holiday fare, but a surprisingly entertaining and educational film about the fall of subprime mortgages. Recommended!

For once we didn’t eat popcorn either. We wanted to save room for a late dinner, in case any restaurant would be open after.

Stop 4 – Thank you Market City!

The good folks at market city took pity on us and let us in a whopping 5 minutes before the end of dinner service. Having been in the restaurant biz, I know what a pain THAT is, but all of the servers and cooks were wonderful and we thanked them mightily for providing a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner.

Bright pink drinks in martini glasses

After the movie we have fancy Merry Cherry Cosmos and a late supper

Laurie in front of a lighted wreath

Enjoying our late Christmas Eve supper at Market City in Burbank – I LOVE the decorations – we didn’t decorate this year, so we depend on the decorations of others.

Stop 5 – Back to our holiday port in the storm

Laurie and Mark make goo goo eyes in front of a Christmas Tree

Time for the mistletoe! Mark and I return to our Christmas home away from home and take a last snap before letting sugar plums dance in our heads.

Stop 6 – Christmas Day in Burbank

View of the pool at sunrise

Lovely Christmas view to wake up to!

Tiny red stockings

Our tiny stockings are hung by the hotel door with care (Thanks writing group leader Samantha for giving us these cute little stockings)

Now as I finish up this post and click send, we will pack our things, bid our holiday adventure adieu, but savor these unexpected memories forever.

However you celebrate we wish you joy and happiness, not only for the holidays, but for every day.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Comments box:

7 thoughts on “Merry Christmas! Unexpected Holiday Adventures

  1. Dawny

    Aaaaawwwweeeee. SUPER lovely Laurie. So awesome you made the best of it. As it turns out your adventures seem better than if you would have ‘planned’ something!!!

    I really enjoyed reading your recap as I e been dealing with a little unexpected/unexplained sadness lately. So thank you greatly.

    Reply
    1. Laurie@CompulsiveOvereatingDiary Post author

      Oh Miss Dawny you are a marvel to read and comment on Christmas Day! I’m glad you enjoyed our little outing, and I’m worry to hear the winter blues is nibbling at your toes. That can be a painful struggle and is no fun. Luckily your ‘Ugly’ present is a wonderful way to wrap yourself in love. We love you too.
      xoxoxoxo

      Reply
  2. Pingback: Facing Future – Screw Fear – The Past is Passed! | Compulsive Overeating Diary | Living With Binge Eating Disorder

What's your story?

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.