GTKY Monday - 3T edition

dominicandreamer

Hope you all had a good weekend and are ready for the holidays.  I can't believe we only have 3 more days until Christmas.

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?
2. What has been the worst?
3. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve?
   
4. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left?
   
5. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker)

Can't wait to see everyone's responses.  

BandM14

What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?   That's tough, DH is such a good shopper! This probably makes me sound super materialistic, but the Louis V bag he got me 3 years ago definitely comes to mind. Or, Justin Timberlake tickets last year because they were so hard to get and it was an amazing show!

What has been the worst? I honestly can't think of one, and even if I could I would be nervous to put it on here and upset someone haha-- I always pretend like I love my gifts, even if they are just okay.

Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve? When I was growing up we usually did Christmas Eve mass, but now it depends on travel schedules and stuff. I usually push to  have everyone open one gift Christmas Eve though, and my parents always give in .

Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left? Totally done with decorating (we aren't hosting so I just did the tree, mantle, and outside lights), and all done with shopping too. I have 3 gifts left to wrap for DH's family but we aren't seeing them until the weekend so I have time!

Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker) I posted this on the check-in, but I got him a suit! He already knows because he saw the box and guessed. I also got him more clothes (jeans, couple shirts), and a "manhattan kit" that I put together. He has been really into ordering manhattans whenever we go out to dinner or drinks, so I got him all the ingredients including a nice bourbon and put it together in a box with a shaker and recipe. I can't wait till he opens it so I can steal some cherries .

Edited because I forgot words.

deelopi9

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?  A silver watch from DH, we had just started dating and this watch caught my eye, I didn't say anything. At Christmas he gave it to me and had it engraved w/ the words Always.
   
2. What has been the worst? I bought myself this jewelry set one year and it disappeared just 1 month after I bought it, my ex-boyfriend took it, wrapped it and gave it to me for Xmas. I'm still shocked. It was a catalog pick so it wasn't something he would find in a store. Total ass
   
3. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve? Christmas Eve is normally with my uncle, Christmas morning open gifts at my house w/ mom & brother, Christmas Day noon open gifts w/cousins, Christmas Day Dinner w/Dad & stepmother.
   
4. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping? Not decorating, finished shopping, haven't even started wrapping. I'm gonna wrap gifts tonight, put on some christmas music and get into the spirit. I have to muster it up.
   
5. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker) One thing I'm really really grateful is that I get to spend Christmas Eve & Christmas Day with him. He's a firefighter paramedic so for the past 6 years he's either worked one day or the other. We exchange gifts, I got him a 50 min massage at a hotel, axe body spray gift package, and the yearly traditional underwears and socks. 
   

Happy Holiday's Ladies!!!

deelopi9

@rainbowbridge14 That was our last x-mas together, I was with him for 6 years and it wasn't like I'm high maintenance. He could have gotten me a card and I would have been happy with them.

Gizmo36

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?  Two years ago, my H gave me a Notre Dame football jersey that I had wanted since elementary school.  
2. What has been the worst?  MILs bf gives us restaurant.com certificates every year and we never use them because the ones he gives us require us to spend quite a bit of money just to have a little taken off with the certificate.  If he's going to spend $10 on us, please get us a Dunkin Donuts gift card or something more useful. 
3. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve?  No traditions, although I've heard that one of the SILs might be starting to host something Christmas Eve.  
   
4. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left?  We only have a tree, shopping is now done as of an hour ago, but I really haven't started wrapping yet.  I should be doing that right now...oops!
   
5. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker)  I buy too much.  I started on Black Friday with a lot of online shopping and I haven't really stopped until now.  He's getting a PS4, a bunch of shirts, a few pairs of jeans, and a bunch of small things.  

theholmanherd

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?

          Well, my Nespresso machine is amazing. However, when I was young (8 or 9?), my parents coordinated with our neighbors to do a big treasure hunt for my brother and me around our neighborhood. At the end of it, we were in a neighbor's garage, looking at our brand new bikes that my parents spent the whole night assembling even though they had colds. It was magical!

1. What has been the worst?

          I can't really think of anything. I remember one year (I was like 6) there was a doll I didn't like, but I realized I was being a brat about it and I ended up liking it.

1. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve?

          We used to get new PJs, unwrap one gift, and watch a Christmas movie (Polar Express, Home Alone, Santa Clause with Tim Allen, etc).

1. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left?

          Yes. I sent everything out on the 1st of the December, except for the 3T exchange.

1. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker)

          I already answered this in the Weekly Check-In, but we go out together and get our gifts together. DH is terrified to get the wrong gift, and I can't keep a secret, so it works for both of us.

Tiko99

Happy Holidays everyone!

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received? Probably my purple and pink bike I got when I was 8, I loved that bike.
2. What has been the worst? This is a hard one.....but I'll go with razors. I was unemployed and my $112,000 salary ex husband was concerned about money and got me razors because it was something I would buy on my own. Yeah I was unemployed, but we were by no means concerned about money! 
3. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve? Christmas Eve is HUGE in my family. We are Italian and my grandmother used to cook the whole 7 fish dish for dinner when my grandfather was alive, but cut back after his death. We always make calamari red sauce with linguine for dinner and a bunch of sides. We also exchanged gifts with the extended family on Christmas Eve and left Christmas morning for the four of us when I was little. This is my FIRST year away from my family for Christmas so I will be missing out on my traditional Christmas Eve dinner so I'm a bit sad. I'll be with my fiances family and they don't do anything Christmas Eve. 
   
4. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left? Started and ended decorating the day after Thanksgiving (which only includes the tree!) and finished shopping for my fiances nephews/nieces and parents yesterday!). I still have to wrap. 
   
5. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker) We have a wedding to plan and spend money on so we decided to buy our two dogs DNA tests so we can find out their breeds and my fiance bought me jewelry cleaner for my amazing, new engagement ring. Nothing beat our first Christmas, I surprised him with tickets to a Social Distortion concert in LA along with staying at The Standard Hotel and dinner. He took me for a four day weekend to a resort in San Diego....pretty much hard to top the first Christmas so we have scaled back since!

nd613

What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?

Tie between my Puppy (who is now 8 y/o) and my engagement ring. 

What has been the worst? 

My dad gave me a petrified butterfly that he found at a Christmas market in the city. I still have it because apparently it was kind of expensive and I am afraid to throw it out. Every so often someone will see it and ask "is that...?"

Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve? 

MH's family usually does Christmas Eve but this year we are heading down to my sisters, so we will miss it. 

Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping? If not, how much more do you have left? 

I am almost done. Still need to find a couple more gifts after work tomorrow and wrap them. 

Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? We got married in April so I am kind of gifted out. I got him a couple shirts and a pair of sports gloves he wanted. We need a new computer so we are just going to order that and call it a day.

wanderlust508

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?  ***Engagement ring and proposal from MH on Christmas day 2010    Can't really top that one!
2. What has been the worst?   *** I once had a distant aunt give me a bottle of (mens) cologne when I was 11 years old.  She owned a beauty store that sold lots of lower end fragrances.  I believe this one was a knock off of a Giorgio Armani fragrance.  I think I even said "Thank you so much ...but I think this is for men."  My aunt insisted that it was a women's fragrance.  And later my parents chastised me for being rude with that comment LOL.  
3. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve?  ***It's different every year.  We'll probably go out to dinner this year (with my parents, MH's parents, my brother and his GF who will be coming up from LA).  
   
4. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left?  ***We bought a snowman lighted lawn decoration.  We still need to put that up (who knows, MH may get lazy and not end up doing it).  Other than that, we might put up a few outdoor lights.  The indoor decor is all done (I put up the tree on my own and did a few other things).  I need to get a few more presents.  
   
5. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker)   ***We usually have.  This year we'll probably just give each other a date night of the others' choice.  MH wants to go to this restaurant in SF.  I might ask to go to a broadway show.  

dominicandreamer

@Lemonliz Your #2 makes me kind of sad.  Did your parents ever know how important it was for you?

@deelopi9 Your DH sounds very intuitive.  What a great first Christmas gift.  

@DayDreamSam I feel the same about my family this year.  I hope you guys have a great one whatever you end up doing.

@BlueFairy5 & @Tiko99 I love that so many of us celebrate in the same way.  I've never heard the actual tradition spelled out though.  I'm sure I can Google it but do you mind sharing the story behind it.

@TheHolmanHerd What a cute Christmas Eve tradition. 

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received? A couple years ago DH found all the books I had been eyeing and gifted them to me.  It was like 20 books and Christmas that went on for months.
2. What has been the worst?  When I was in middle school my backpack was so heavy my only gift for Christmas was one of those luggage rack things that could roll.  To be fair, we didn't have much money and she really was looking out for me.  But I looked like an 80 year old woman with that thing.
3. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve?  My husband's Italian heritage means that our Christmas Eve is spent with a lot of family and even more food.  We do an annual silly white elephant exchange too.
   
4. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left? I only have one gift to wrap but other than that I'm done.  
   
5. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker). DH is feeling a lot of pressure with our anniversary in Dec and my 30th in February that we decided to skip all gifts this year.  To make it even more interesting we even made a deal that if anyone buys a gift, the recipient gets to pick our next vacation outright.  We get pretty serious with our vacation planning that no one wants to give up that much control.  

dominicandreamer

BlueFairy5 said:

(Did I go to Catholic school for 13 years?  Yes, I went to Catholic school for 13 years.)  

No I didn't grow up Catholic but my husband did.  I'll have to pick his brain some more. :-)

Thanks for the background.  DH's family is from southern Italy so that makes sense.  What's interesting is the men are the Italian ones (mostly) in the family and it's of course the women of different heritages that cook Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners.  

rae0315

What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received?

I always get gifts I like and it's hard to pick just one. Probably one of the best though was my high school boyfriend surprised me with a command start system for my car. (Living in the north I consider a command start a necessity of life now) But at the time we were just kids and it was a big expense so I thought it was awesome.

What has been the worst?
I honestly can't think of anything that has been horribly bad.

Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve?
My family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. That's when the big dinner with all my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents will be. Only one more sleep!

Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?
Just about.
If not, how much more do you have left? One more present to wrap

Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? Normally we don't exchange presents for anything. But this is our first Christmas married so he gets a stocking now. Just little things like new mitts and underwear and cologne.

Tiko99

@BlueFairy5 Thanks for the explaination for the 7 fish dinner! I didn't put it together with Catholics not eating meat and all that fun stuff. I'm so sad I won't be eating my traditional Christmas Eve dinner

megrae12

1. What has been the best Christmas gift you've ever received? Probably the Paperwhite I got two years ago from DH. He completely surprised me with it (which is hard for him to do). 
2. What has been the worst? Underwear from my mom. Every. Year. I can buy my own underwear. I don't need it as a Christmas gift. 
3. Does yours or SO's family do something for Christmas Eve? Honestly, I never know where we are going to be over Christmas. We have to travel all over the world it seems like. We travel the entire length of my state then got into two more states. We literally spend the whole week of Christmas on the road. It's awful. 
   
4. Are you completely done with your decorating, shopping and wrapping?  If not, how much more do you have left? I am done for now. We are seeing my family after the New Year, so I am going to worry about their presents then. 
   
5. Do you and SO exchange gifts and if so what did you get him? (you probably don't want to post if he's lurker) Ugh, I have not gotten H anything yet. I think it will happen after we get back b/c I have to order his stuff and I don't want the packages to be sitting on our porch while we are gone. Bleh.