Yes, that’s right.  13th annual!  Like Shannon said in her recap post, who knew that one little party she had during freshman year of high school would turn into a tradition that we continue to do year after year?  I can honestly say that Shannon’s home friends Christmas party is one of my favorite days of the year.  I don’t think many people stay in touch with as many friends as I do from high school, so I consider myself lucky that at the very least, we still all get together on this day to celebrate and see each other.

Some of the traditions include:

A $20 Yankee swap
Typically the swap is full of horrible gifts, but I guess this year’s weren’t THAT bad even if I did end up with a board game that I regifted in Tim’s family’s Christmas Eve swap will never play.  This year, a few people decided to put a few theme gifts in there.  The theme being Matt.  There was a painting of Matt as a centaur, a t-shirt with a picture of Matt on it, and a Rubric cube that when finally put together will display a picture of Matt in a pink robe.  And that was three separate gifts!  Luckily, Matt got the picture of himself, but poor Shan got the Matt t-shirt!

Here are some more pictures of the Yankee swap:

Back to the traditions.

Johnny always bringing the worst gift
Think twenty $1 cassette tapes, a 5 pack of Heineken because he drank one on the way to the party, a t-shirt that said “I’m Rick James, b*tch.”  The list goes on.

Delicious food
Shannon always cooks and bakes up a storm for days before the party and she always has the best displays of food.

A re-circulating Chia Pet
A Simpsons Chia Pet makes its way back into the grab year after year.  I seriously will be devastated the year that someone doesn’t bring it.

A signature cocktail
Last year’s was the cranberry pomegranate Christmas punch, but this year was dedicated to Merry Margaritas.  So good, Shan I need the recipe!  Post please.  🙂

Some foodie pictures from this year:

I brought my Pita Christmas Trees, but I didn’t snap a picture of just them.  You can kind of see them in the first picture above.  This is what they looked like when I made them last year:

As usual, the home friends Christmas party was a great time!

Please note new outfit from The Limited:  Green pants and fun new black shirt!  Both were 50% off.

Just like Liz’s party, some people cleared out on the earlier side, but somehow I am always the last one to leave?  I have FOMO (fear of missing out) if I leave before others do.  Tim and I stayed pretty late, along with Matt and Katie, Baka and Esk, Chris, and Johnny.

Thank you, Shannon, for hosting yet another fun party!  Can’t wait until the 14th annual next year!

What’s your favorite annual event?

For last year’s recap, click here!