My First Christmas in the PNW

Alex flew up for Christmas this past weekend, and our adventure began Thursday night in Seattle. We drove down to Portland on Friday evening and decided to stop in Long View to visit Charles! We got caught up chatting with Charles, playing scratchers and the lotto, and ended up staying longer than expected.

By the time we got to Portland it was past midnight! We met everyone up at the Barrel Room - LOVE that place. It was my first dueling piano experience, but there was also an outdoor dance area with a club dj setup! I had fun even though I barely drank anything. I'd like to go back there one day.

On Saturday afternoon we went to get brunch at Jam on Hawthorne. I ordered the corned beef hash and it was SO GOOD. I also poured some of my coffee into Chad's milk and we made a masterpiece! It was yummy. We did some shopping before we headed back to the house and I took my nappety nap.

We had family dinner later that night and there was SO MUCH GOOD FOOD! After dinner we went to Peacock Lane to check out the houses. The pretty lights were a lot cooler than I was expecting. I can't believe San Francisco doesn't have a block with decorated houses. I surely wouldn't mind living in one of those areas, maybe not in Portland though.

We went back to the house and watched Jingle All The Way. The movie was so cheesey, starring two of my least favorite actors - Sinbad and the Governator. It was okay, Selena seemed to enjoy it at least. After the movie we opened gifts. David is such a sweetheart, he got gifts for Alex and myself! I think mine was the better of the two, the most adorable polar bear ear warmers. Perfect for winter!!! The gift-opening ceremony was heartwarming, my family never did anything like that.

After the gifts were all opened, it was around 1 AM. The young adults decided to partake in a game of high card low card, for half shots. Alex and Wilton ended up taking the game to the next level, and they continued to drink into the wee hours of the morning. They both paid the price, HAHA.

The next morning, we went to Legin for dim sum with the family and Wilton didn't make it. I'm surprised Alex did, he was a mess the night before... standing-up sleeping HAHAHA. Dim sum was pretty good, I actually liked the chicken feet there!!! That's impressive in itself. I left shortly after we got back to the house because I didn't want to drive at night. Unfortunately, I hung out with Charles and Sunny too long during my visit in Long View and I ended up driving up in the dark through a storm. It was SCARY. I very seriously considered pulling over and getting a hotel room for the night because it was absolutely pouring and I could barely see anything. Luckily I got through it and a few hours later I was at home unpacking.

I changed and headed to Victor's house for Christmas dinner. I was late for serving but I got to eat everything except for the asparagus. Darn! Oh well. All of the food was delicious, especially BJ's wings and JR's mom's flan. After dinner we drank boots and hung out. It was a merry Christmas indeed!

My first Christmas in the Pacific Northwest was delightful, fun, and so much more. I'm very thankful to have been invited to celebrate with the Huangs, and as always they were a blast. And such wonderful hosts! I had a very Merry Christmas, and again I am reminded of what excellent company I've been blessed to keep.