We started christmas with preparing the last things for the Christmas breakfast which we had planed for Christmas Eve at our Condo. Danielle worked on the Lemon Pie and the Apple Cinnamon Muffins while I was setting the table for dinner. It’s an extendable one which we fully utilised.

After all preparations were done we put on our ugly holiday sweaters and I’ve to say I really liked those cozy sweaters despite they were beyond ugly.

Besides the breakfast we also had some gifts under our tree for the four of us ranging from sugar to Noise-cancelling Bose headsets and Socks, sweaters and T-shirts. The food was delicious and most of it was gone before we went to a Christmas Eve Mass in the Eglinton St. Georges United Church. Yes we went to a church for the first time in years and we had some expectations since the building looks great from the outside (I borrowed the following picture from here).

At 9 o’clock the mass should have started but shortly after we a drunk woman started calling us out for all kind of things because her Christmas was ruined 3 years ago and then she didn’t want to leave and started drinking from the wine and playing with the bread.

After about 45 minutes the priest decided to continue the service downstairs in the gym but 5 minutes after we started the drunk woman had finally left the church after an Emergency Medical Support unit took care of her. 

And so we all went upstairs again to continue the service without going to the communion since the wine was gone and the Hostia (bread) wasn’t usable anymore since the drunk woman touched it. But the part that took place was good, especially singing Silent Night together while everyone hold a lighted candle…

When the mass was over we walked back through the pouring rain to continue eating, drinking champagne, beer and wishkey. And in the meantime we were watching the Movie A Christmas Story while playing Monopoly “A Christmas Story-edition”. That was one of the gifts we unpacked.

In the beginning it did”t look too good for me but in the end I won the game with have the green and the blue streets with houses on them in my hand. We finished the game at 2 o’clock. And after we took this last picture together with Suzy it was time to call it a night.

The day after we had a lazy start and walked around, found a GeoCache, had FaceTime calls with most of our family and in the evening it was time for dinner at Martin & Sabrina’s place. Martin decided to buy a piece of Salmon for dinner and he selected a 1.600 Gram piece. Sabrina did her magic with the “Techno-Thermomix” (A French kitchen machine) and we had a delicious dinner starting with a Squash soup, some vegetables, salad and a delicious potato gratin. That all combined with some Belgian White’s from the Mill Street Brewery made it a perfect Christmas dinner.

After dinner we went to bad a bit earlier as usual during a vacation since it was Boxing Day the next day. At Boxing Day the biggest sale of the year starts in Canada. And off course as the shopaholics we are, we needed to be there. Together with Martin and Sabrina we left our parking garage at 7:00am sharp and drove to the Yorkdale mall. And it was crowded already…but we ended up with some good deals like a 7-for-all-mankind jeans 40% off, a nice shirt for Danielle at Tommy Hilfiger from the new collection (40% off) and 2 nightstand lamps from Crate & Barrel.

The weekend after we walked a lot through and around Yonge & Eglinton since the weather was really nice. And we decided to try out a new restaurant the Mandarin Buffet Restaurant across the street. And one thin I can tell you every buffet restaurant you’ve seen in Europe cannot be compared with this one there was so much food to pick from and it was always available…

Needless too say we left there with stomach-ache and rolled back to the authorised of the street were we got back on the couch to watch a movie.

This morning we woke up and told each other this day is the reason for this vacation and this is also the day we looked forward too for a year. We managed to get a late checkout (14:00) in the Indigo hotel which fitted almost perfect to the time we should be in the church (15:30).

Since we still wake up early due to the jet-lag we had some time left today. Danielle thought that shopping would be a great way to spend the morning and we went to Woodbridge Centre. She wanted to buy slipper as an exchange for the black heels she had brought with her. But first we needed a breakfast and we ended up at the Starbucks. Danielle found a nice pair of slippers which fitted perfectly to her dress.

After successful shopping we went back to the hotel to change from jeans to dress/suit. After changing we packed the suitcases in our car and went towards the church in Staten Island. The church is new and looks great. It is the most beautiful church I’ve ever seen.

The wedding mass was nice and somewhat different them we are used to from in the Netherlands. There was a live singer and the participants are participating more. The priest even made some jokes. After somewhat over a hour the mass was over and it was time to congratulate the newly weds. Then we needed to rush to the hotel to be on time on the party location which was in the Venetian in Garfield New Jersey.

There was a lot of traffic on the road but in roundabout 45 minutes we arrived at the Holliday Inn. And we were just in time for the latest shuttle towards the The Vemetian which meant we could both drink some alcohol! When we arrived we both were blown away. Such a nice location. In between the other 240 guests we soon found a table with Richy and Denise (the people we celebrate thanksgiving with in 2009). The food served at the cocktail party was delicious, they were serving a huge amount number of really big shrimps. Rumors go that there is no shrimp left in the oceans near New York City.I also had a short look at the location and made some pictures with my iPhone.

Soon the 2nd part was starting and we were sitting on table number 20. With other friends from Glenn. The dining room was even more beautiful then the other areas of the location. The food served was very tastedful and contained Sushi, Burgers, Chinese style food, Italian food and probably lost more but it was too much to try everything. You all know I’m a big eater and I’ve seen some food coming together but this topped everything. And the things I tried were really delicious.

And where there is dinner there is also a dessert. And I didn’t make any pictures of this part since I was blown away. It seemed to be even more then the main course. There were a white chocolate fountain, milk chocolate fountain, wafer makers, popcorn machine, cotton candy, cocktail glasses with different kinds of pudding, chocolate mouse, cake, fruit covered in chocolate, fruit. Can you remember the picture of the strawberry we had at Magic Kingdom in 2009, the one bigger then a golf-bal? Today I should have brought a honk-bal because the strawberry were bigger and more tasteful.

And in between the eating there was a lot of dancing going on. And yes there was some alcohol too. They actually had some interesting beers like Guinness and Corona! There were cocktails and shots without limits. And the following guy, Sully “took one for the team”

I think this picture says it all. We had an awesome experience and if they ask us to come to the party again we would definitely do it! The two families and the friends of both Glenn and Gina are great we’ve met a lot of nice and interesting people.

And the. A couple readers asked after pictures from the dress. I would first try to describe it. Gina was the shining star of the day. Her dress was American made and that was something you could see by all the shining stones on the dress.

And then there was also the groom.

Glenn, Gina it was a pleasure to be part of this wonderful day. We can’t thank you enough for inviting us. I’m looking forward to the anniversary party’s already! 😉 Thanks for making us part of the beginning of your future together.