#NailedIt

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

I can barely contain my excitement as I write this post... I fly home today and I get to see my family SO SOON! I'm the last to arrive - my brother and sister are already there, but what can I say, I like to make an entrance ;)

Ian and I exchanged gifts over the weekend. He had gotten a fancy bottle of Cab so I decided I would cook a yummy meal to go with it, and then we could open pressies afterwards!

I insisted on using my fave glasses (from Anthro) even though, as Ian pointed out, they're cocktail glasses, not wine glasses... oops! Whatevs, though, they're way cuter!

I started the meal by mincing a whole bunch of garlic for a loaf of garlic bread :) Super easy recipe... I sauteed about 6 cloves of garlic in a bit of olive oil, added salt, pepper and oregano, then spread the mixture on one side of the loaf and butter on the other...

I cut the baguette in half to make things a bit easier. I wrapped each one in some tinfoil and popped it into a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes. Then I took them out of the foil and baked them for another 5...

Its a good thing to start with because they make the whole house smell divine!

For the main course, I had gotten two little filet mignons from Whole Foods. I was a little nervous, because I had never cooked steak before, but it turns out it's the easiest thing in the world! I just seasoned each side with some salt and pepper...

Mine's the little one :)

And then cooked them in a skillet with some butter! 

3 minutes on each side and they were perfectly medium rare...

Not shown: After the steaks were done, I spread some goat cheese and a little balsamic vinaigrette on top. They were seriously so good that Ian and I made a joint pact to never eat steaks any other way, hehe.

For a little bit of green, I tossed some fresh arugula with the remaining balsamic vinaigrette and shaved some parm on top.

Here's Ian's serving...

And the table setting :)

Ian switched to a 'proper' wine glass, sini little thing!

In my opinion, the Pièce de résistance is always dessert. For this dinner, I attempted a (verrrryyy simple) chocolate pot de creme from the Pioneer Woman and it turned out perfectly!

Super light and fluffy chocolate mousse with yummy whipped cream on top. I also cut up some chocolate chips to sprinkle on top because lets be real - presentation is everything. 

PRESENTS TIME! FINALLY!

Ian went first. I can't quite remember the last time I was this excited about a gift I was giving someone. Ian is a huuuuge music lover, so I did a whole bunch of research and picked out the best record player in existence (and in my budget)... For those curious, it's an Audio Technica AT-LP60.

Isn't he cute :)

He absolutely loved it!! Hooray!

My turn!

He got me THE most perfect card...

And the absolute most amazing gift... tickets to Europe, baby!!!

I'm holding our flight itinerary, SFO>>AMS, CDG>>SFO

Amsterdam and Paris, here we come!! As you can see, I totally freaked out, ha! I feel like I may still be in shock... I seriously can't believe it!! Every time I think about it, I get super giggly and giddy and I can't seem to stop smiling :) :)

I'm truly the luckiest girl in the entire world! Ian, you are simply the best human being of life :)

Ian's gift, part deux. I hid this one, so he didn't see it initially - I feel like the shape really gave it away...

Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" record, which has his two most favorite songs ever: Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here. Because you can't get a record player and not get a record!

After everything sunk in a bit, I wanted to tell the whole world, so I mass snap-chatted my fam :)

It was such an incredible night! I know gift-giving isn't the whole point of Christmas, but there's something so magical about watching someone light up after opening your gift and knowing that you totally #NailedIt

I hope everyone's Christmas is as wonderful as mine so far! xo