Christmas morning we rose at a reasonable hour (before nine) and opened the gifts we had bought for each other. (Silas got me some amazing cookbooks and I'm really looking forward to trying some of the recipes therein and sharing them with you.) We sat around in the mess of wrapping paper and gifts, eating pita chips and goat cheese and pondering what our mothers had always told us about picking up after ourselves. We then decided to leave the mess since we'd probably have to clean up all the Christmases ever after.
Shortly thereafter we set out for the South Side Works theatre. Silas had gotten a zipcar for the afternoon so we didn't have to take the bus. I'd only been to the South Side once before so Silas gave me a tour while he hunted for a parking spot (All the parking garages were closed.). We got there early because neither of us had really eaten a good lunch and we wanted to stock up on overpriced popcorn. But upon arriving at the theatre, much to our dismay, we found it closed. We had bought tickets for he noon showing and the sign on the door said they weren't opening till 1:30. Silas called the ticket company.
Meanwhile, we climbed back in the car and headed towards Water Works. Traffic was horrible. I had assumed that on Christmas people would be staying home, that people had done all their traveling the day before and were just going to rest at home. Not so. Traffic. Was. Horrible. Thankfully by the time we reached Lowe's Theatre Silas had gotten through to the ticket people and they informed him that the theatre had canceled our showing without letting us know. They were sorry and would refund our tickets.
Lowe's was clearly open. In fact, we had trouble finding a parking spot that wasn't a mile away. We were very happy to find that there was a 12:45 showing of Sherlock Holmes that was not sold out and promptly got tickets and since we had time, we headed to the theatre restaurant upstairs. I ordered a Reuben the size of my face and Silas ordered a ginormous wrap. So good. Next time we go see a movie we'll definitely eat there again.
Movie time. After thirty minutes of previews the movie finally started. It began as expected for a Sherlock Holmes movie, but as it progressed I grew worried. Were they screwing with the original Sherlock? Were they turning him into someone he wasn't? Are they ACTUALLY throwing in the whole super natural thing? The answer to all of these was, thankfully, no. The ending was just as it should be in every way shape and form and Silas and I both left the theatre two satisfied Doyle fans.
Once we had returned to the warmth of our hybrid zipcar we turned out attention to letting the A. family know that we were ready for them to pick us up. But. Silas's phone was dead. Someone had taken the time to charge her phone on Christmas eve, but that person was not Silas. So I was given with the job of performing a battery transplant on the phones. Now, let it be known that I get VERY carsick - but I accomplished what was required of me without puking, though I threatened to do so no less than two times.
By the time we got in touch with the A. family we had arrived at the Pitt Union where we had to drop the car off. Our ride was 20 minutes out and it was very cold. It was a rainy and windy Christmas and one of us thought it would be a good idea to wear a skirt and knee socks this morning. This person was/is an idiot. It was freaking cold. After a time (about three minutes) the person wearing pants grew tired of the skirted one's complaining and agreed to go out in search of a warm place that was open on Christmas.
We had to walk several very cold and wet blocks before finding refuge in a Subway that was run by an Indian family. The McDonald's across the street was even closed! So I drank about a gallon of water (I was suddenly really thirsty.) and Silas got his usual diet soda (He maintains that aspartame does not cause cancer and that he likes the taste. *frown*). We rested there for about 15 minutes while we observed the kinds of people that spend Christmas at Subway. People watching - yay!
Eventually we headed back over to the Union where the A.'s picked us up and we headed to their house for the ham, twice baked potatoes and CONGEALED PRETZEL SALAD; OMNOMNOMNOMNOM! SO GOOD! We also played "Origins" which was super fun. I tied with Ben A. for first place. The A.'s gave me my first maternity clothes, which I'm super excited about! I really needed them, honestly, cause none of my "normal" clothes fit me anymore.
All in all - it was a fabulous holiday. I'd like to leave you with a picture. This is a picture of my husband's amazing hair which I want. On my head. Right now. This instant. I will even take the beard if I have to for hair like that. *sigh* My husband is so handsome.
