my family started a tradition of hosting experiences VS gifting things to each other & this year was no different! this is our 3rd year doing this (see what we were up to back in 2017) & it’s so fun because it challenges us to come up with creative ideas and allows us to spend so much fun time together. my brother ben came in town from new york to be with us for the holidays (luckily he can work remotely) and we had the best. time. ever!
these family holiday experiences were a lot easier to plan and do when we had no kids….and before covid! but since we wanted to keep with the tradition and plan fun activities while ben was in town we just tried to keep it simple and easy…nothing that would take too long or be too fancy.
FIRST UP: DEKEL
he planned his experience first & invited everyone over to our house for a large hummus and schwarma lunch alongside froze & italian margaritas from pie tap…YUM! we hung out, drank & played games while atlas napped. our recent favorite family game to play is “that’s what she said” – it’s sooo funny.
baby aero with my cousin bridget
2nd EXPERIENCE: MIRELLE
my sister got us all together at my house & planned for us all to make our own resin coasters! she ordered a coaster kit with extra geode coaster molds. we had instructions & then each of us just looked up inspiration photos on our phone to try to emulate. i loved the blue ocean ones i saw on pinterest so decided to try that & they turned out sooooo good! after they dried for about 24 hours, we added little tiny felt stickers to the bottom so it would look more professional and not slide around on surfaces as much.
3rd EXPERIENCE: Miyan
i took the fam out of the house for my favorite pizza in dallas: greenville avenue pizza company. it was a beautiful evening so we dressed warm & sat on their patio. to finish the evening on a sweet note, we walked to get gelato and a macaron ice cream sandwich. it’s so fun to stroll around lowest greenville because there is such a great mixture of food/drinks/shopping!
4th EXPERIENCE: mom
my mom had us over bright & early at 8 am for breakfast tacos & donuts while we stamped our own bracelets! i picked my boys names to engrave but everyone else chose inspirational words & it was awesome to create something that we can wear & will cherish. after a few hours of hammering away and hanging out, we went to lunch at benihana…wearing our matching texas sweatshirts.
i love how mine turned out!
5th EXPERIENCE: ben & sara
ben & sara planned the last family holiday experience of the season & it was a good one! they took us out for good ‘ol texas bbq at pecan lodge, which if you haven’t been there, you have to go & try the burnt ends, sooooo good! then we walked downtown to the statler hotel rooftop for delicious drinks & instagrammable photo-ops & views!
i made the mistake of not bringing distractions & stuff to occupy atlas one time at a restaurant and will never make that mistake again- ha!
