Hope you all had a Merry Christmas yesterday! C. has been sick for the past week, so we had a low-key day at home by ourselves, filled with tons of food and holiday movies.

Table runner: World Market; Hurricane lamps: Target; Copper string lights: Restoration Hardware

Since moving to the Bay Area six years ago, and with most of our family still in the Midwest, we've forged our own holiday traditions. Most are quite different from what we did growing up, so it's been fun to decide what we think is the most fun and just do that!

Starting with Christmas Eve, we go see A Christmas Carol in San Francisco, followed by a bit of last minute shopping. At night, we usually attempt to find a good Christmas service to attend (surprisingly difficult; we haven't found one worth repeating yet), wrap all our presents and finally put them under the tree (since Mugsy the Pug has been terrible about getting into them earlier), and then start the cinnamon rolls for the next morning.


I've been making these cinnamon rolls (adapted from the original recipe from Pioneer Woman) for the past five years, pairing them with champagne for a huge dose of comfort food and fabulousness. Each time they improve just a bit, but we've learned they can lead to sugar overload and need to be balanced with something savory, so this year accompanied them with steak and eggs. Thanks to C., who was the one who made our table so pretty!


If you had the chance to create new traditions for your family holiday, what would you do?

It's Christmas Eve! Recently C. and I went to the coolest show – the movie Home Alone, screened at the San Francisco Symphony. I had never been to the symphony before, so this was an ingenious way of hooking me with a holiday classic and then adding a live orchestra and children's choir.

Home Alone at the San Francisco Symphony

An added bonus was that the director of Home Alone, Chris Columbus, opened the show. He told us that when they were working on the movie (way back in 1990) he had the cast imagine themselves 25 years from then, seeing Home Alone come on late-night television, and how it would need to feel as timeless in the future as it did then. Mission accomplished...and also good advice for nearly anything you tackle in life.

C. + I at the symphony Coat: Lipsy London; Turtleneck: Old Navy; Pants: Banana Republic; Shoes: Joan and David

SF City Hall

This was an incredible experience, and apparently it's quite popular for symphonies to do all over the country. The SF Symphony does a film series every year, including Hitchcock in 2013-14 and The Godfather coming soon in January 2015 (sadly, so popular it's sold out already).

The Godfather, coming soon to the San Francisco Symphony

If I could make a request, I'd put in for Love Actually to be the holiday film next year. Other excellent movie choices would be anything by Baz Luhrmann or my personal favorite, A League of Their Own. (I just discovered that Carole King, who did the song "Now and Forever" for that soundtrack also performed the theme song from Gilmore Girls. An amazing linkage!)

Which movies would you want to see at the symphony?

Left to right: Cover Girl Bombshell Volume, Maybelline The Falsies Volum Express, Maybelline Great Lash, L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Intenza, Ellis Faas, Urban Decay Perversion, Benefit They're Real!, Bobbi Brown Extreme Party, MAC Haute & Naughty, Too Faced Better Than Sex, and Cargo HD Picture Perfect. (Shown in reverse order on eyes below)

Other products used: Tarte Emphaseyes Waterproof Amazonian Clay Brow Mousse, Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation, Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette, and Vichy Pureté Thermale 3-in-1 Cleansing Micellar Solution (as remover)

Were you as surprised as I was that the differences between all these mascaras are barely discernible?

I had two favorites, starting with MAC's Haute and Naughty, which was no surprise to me. When I first purchased this I was so impressed that I texted my sisters a picture immediately and told them they needed to check it out. I also (surprisingly!) loved the look of L'Oreal's Luminous Butterfly Intenza, along with the brush/way it applied. When asked to give their opinions from the photos, both my sister A. and husband C. chose L'Oreal as their favorite look, too.

As for the disappointments, Benefit's They're Real! was clearly at the bottom for me; it just didn't do anything in comparison to the others.

My detailed thoughts on each mascara:

1. Cargo HD Picture Perfect: Lengthening, but not as voluminous as I'd like
2. Too Faced Better Than Sex: Dramatic, but clumpy and hard to remove
3. MAC Haute & Naughty: Long, full and controlled application – love!
4. Bobbi Brown Extreme Party: Nice application, but not as full in appearance
5. Benefit They're Real!: Separates lashes well, but messy to apply and results aren't impressive
6. Urban Decay Perversion: Pretty feathery look, but not as full as I'd like
7. Ellis Faas: Nice application, with long feathery look, but so expensive ($34!)
8. L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Intenza: Long, full and defined – surprisingly, love!
9. Maybelline Great Lash: Natural feathery look, but not dramatic
10. Maybelline The Falsies Volum Express: Pretty and feathery, but doesn't live up to the name
11. Cover Girl Bombshell Volume: Does what it says, but messy both to apply and remove
12. One coat MAC + one coat L'Oreal: Combined my two favorites