When the college peeps return to the homestead, guess what happens? Board. Games. And to my utter delight? THIS particular game has been chosen as the starter of our festivities - SCRABBLE! (Little do peeps know... I've been playing Words With Friends for YEARS and have a leg up on them all, skill-wise. Ok, so they know but are just feeling brave - HA!)

Our plan was to have the College Peeps all home by Friday and eating my famous lasagna by Saturday.  And guess what?  It all worked out, and with all of us going back for 2nds and 3rds! We'll be eating 4ths tomorrow after Christmas Eve mass, so it's the "Gift that Keeps on Giving." Praise be to God.

After running smack into this exquisite leather and fur jacket while in Dillards yesterday, I knew this dream item would be the perfect addition to my Christmas 2017 wish list.  And why is this particular jacket so "dreamy" to me? Because I ran across a similar jacket in St. Pancras railway station while touring Europe with my folks a few years ago. We were loading on and off trains through the Chunnel and took advantage of the layover time to do a little bit of souvenir shopping when this expensive gem caught my eye.  But unfortunately, I squashed my urge to buy the jacket back then and bought a toy double-decker bus for my son instead. So after giving up my dream of owning that leather and fur piece of fabulousness so long ago, it only seems right that I should dream that dream all over again.

​If only Santa will agree with me on this.

Celebrating Friday Happy Hour with this bubbly Moscato sweetness, a gift received from a fellow tennis team comrade who must have known I would appreciate it after a stressful week of team reorganizing, long distance parenting, doctor appointmenting (well-checks), and empty nest maintenance/housecleaning. Feeling grateful for moments such as these.

Flashing back to 1989, this precious photo displays Grandma, me, and Mom sporting "VIP" (Very Italian Person) t-shirts that we purchased at a local shop in Bradford, Pennsylvania, during the Festa Italiana. Bittersweet in so many ways, this photo captures a rare moment in time where Mom and I were able to visit Grandma before she passed to celebrate a small piece of our heritage - Grandma actually has German and French roots and I am 50% British.  But at that moment in time we were "Very Italian Persons" and nobody was going to argue with that.

Technically, this weekend was our own personal Homecoming with the youngest peep returning home for a visit after being away to college for a solid month and a half, the longest time away ever.  And although he only spent about 48 hours back at home, we enjoyed every single minute of it. From the big hug/smile he greeted me with Friday night to the "Pump You Up" Schwarzenegger quips while weightlifting in the home gym, I was reminded of why I have missed that guy so much.  Even this photobomb on the road back to campus made me melt just a little bit more. And now, on a Sunday night, the nest is all empty once again.  Who knew this whole new-life-chapter thing was going to be so rollercoaster-ish?

During our annual family fireworks display last night, we managed to capture some magical DSLR slow-shutter images, sparkler-style.  And despite all of the warnings against handling these so-called fiery sticks of doom, we played with fire anyway and had a ton of fun doing so.

Sometimes pictures are just better than words, and this slideshow says almost everything about the latest major milestones experienced in my world over the past couple of months.  From the youngest's high school graduation to a family vacation in Oahu, Hawaii, we have had enough excitement to last us all a lifetime... or at least a few months until the next set of milestones jump out and smack us in the face.