loooooong pre holiday day

Today I was up and at it early. I had to stop at the bank, pharmacy, and gas station all before work. I still made time first thing to do yoga and my morning journaling.

Work was a quick half day which started with my usual chai tea and ended with my salad & taco pasta prepped lunch before heading out. I was driving up to my family's pre holiday evening event. I expected traffic - which is helpful to keep my patience as the usually around 1 hour drive turned into 2. I was able to swing by and meet my cousin's new baby and make it to the holiday house in time to help with prep and be ready to settle into chatting as others arrived.

My family is still a little confused on my decision to go vegan. So much so that some of them are still thinking I am back at the pescatarian stage which I did for about a month, a year and a half ago. But I am also not trying to be pushy or cause inconvenience for it (if I can avoid it). So I snagged a couple crackers and tiny pickles from the appetizer set up (mostly cheese and meat). For dinner, my aunt got some mushroom risotto for me and we usually have veggie sides:

Then we were all hanging out chatting, I was there much later than planned catching up with another cousin and chatting with others about Secret Santa.

I got home around midnight.