Good morning!! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I spent the weekend visiting my parents and sister in West Lafayette and we had a great time doing some fun Christmas activities!
FRIDAY | After work Kevin and I went to dinner at Il Vicolo Trattoria to get some Neapolitan style pizza. We recently discovered they offered gluten free crust so we wanted to check it out. I ordered the prosciutto and arugula pizza which is one of my favorite kind of pizzas.
Afterwards we drove around our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. Not too many houses had lights up yet, so we may have to give it another try closer to Christmas.
SATURDAY | We drove down to West Lafayette first thing in the morning and arrived at my parents’ house around 11 AM. My mom made us some lunch and then we headed downtown for Dickens on Main Street. There are performers dressed up as Dickens characters singing carols and acting out scenes from The Christmas Carol. They also offer free horse drawn carriage rides around the downtown area. We actually didn’t see very many Dickens characters walking around, but did stop to watch a little of The Christmas Carol. We also checked out a Farmer’s Market where I found a Christmas sign I would love to have!
We walked around downtown and stopped in a few different local shops including my favorite stop – McCord Candies. McCords is the cutest little candy and soda shop where you can grab lunch or pick up candy. They even have real fountain sodas! They make their own candy canes each Christmas which are the best so we always stop in to pick some up.
After our sweets fix, we headed across the river to Purdue’s campus for the PMO Christmas Show. Every year the Purdue Musical Organizations puts on a Christmas Show full of song and dance performed by the students. It’s one of my favorite traditions each year! This year the theme was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in honor of its 75th anniversary.
After the Christmas Show, we went to the Purdue Memorial Union to check out the big Christmas tree they put up every year. Unfortunately, they tree isn’t being put up until today so we didn’t get to see it. Sad day! Here is a look at the tree from last year:
They did however have their gingerbread house out so we took pictures with that instead.
After our adventures on campus, we headed back to my parents’ house for dinner and hung out for the rest of the evening where the boys watched football and my mom and I chatted while baking cookies for my sister’s party the next day.
I love our handmade stockings!
SUNDAY | We went to church with my parents in the morning and then came home and ate a quick lunch. My friend Kelly drove up from Indy with her twins so I could see them for a little bit. I went over to her mom and dad’s house and hung out for a little bit with Miss Claire and Miss Kate. It was so nice of Kelly to make the trip up so I could see her! I loved our little visit!
My sister, Hilary, hosted a cookie exchange so my mom and I went over to her house that afternoon. She did such a good job putting together a fun party! She made a hot chocolate bar:
We had an ugly Christmas sweater cookie decorating contest:
Here was my design:
Everyone brought a great variety of cookies with surprisingly no duplicates! I made a gluten free version of Peanut Butter Blossoms which tasted just as good as the original recipe.
It was a great party and I am so glad I was in town this weekend so I could join!
I had a great weekend visiting with my family! My mom is coming to Chicago this coming weekend for more Christmas festivities so it should be another fun one!
Sara @ Lake Shore Runner says
That sign is so cute! I can’t wait to start baking this weekend
Paige says
Holiday baking is the best!! I’ve been looking for some new recipes to try out this year!
xo Paige
Emily @SinfulNutrition says
Man that tree is HUGE! And your sweater cookie is quite ugly..in a good way, haha! 🙂
Paige says
I love that tree!! We were so sad it wasn’t up yet this year! My favorite ugly sweater cookie was the leg lamp from The Christmas Story, ha!
xo Paige