Friday, January 11, 2013

After-Christmas Christmas Party!

Sorry this is going to be out of chronological order. At this point, I just want to get SOMETHING from our SUPER-FUN visit home to Baltimore for Christmas up on the blog so you can enjoy it!

Nikki's friend (and Maid of Honor) Audra hosts an after-Christmas party every year. She makes a ton of food, offers a ton of beverage options, and coordinates a White Elephant gift exchange. This year's gift theme was "Cartoons for Christmas." Everyone had to bring something that had to do with cartoon characters, new or classic. Steve's sister (and bridesmaid) Sam came along this year, which was super fun. She and Steve didn't have time to shop for gifts for the exchange, so Nikki bought gifts on their behalf. Oh Lord...

The loot!!

I'll take this one please!

Steve, a.k.a. "Stinja," looks on in amused horror at the weird gifts

Zack, his lady love Stephanie, and her sister Kim acted as a team and ended up all getting Transformers stuff with the odd Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy thrown in. Turns out, making Transformers these days is TOUGH!!

A RARE picture of Audra's boyfriend Tim. As you can see, he's thrilled to get his Transformers toy too.

Tia (bridesmaid!) ended up with a two-part gift. Part one: Super Mario Brothers fruit snacks!

Part two: A matching Super Mario Brothers fleece blanket!

Her husband Jon (best man!) coincidentally (the gifts were originally wrapped) chose a DVD of the Super Mario Brothers TV show! (That's how you know it's true love.)

Stinja was excited to get the special-edition Finding Nemo DVD!

Stinja's girlfriend Julie "won" a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tee shirt and Family Guy boxer shorts (not pictured)

Samantha ended up choosing the gift that Nikki had bought on her behalf. A 47-piece Toy Story puzzle, you say?! Magnificent!

Steve TOTALLY nerded out when he opened his gift to find he'd gotten an Iron Man mask and a Captain American shield (that shoots darts, although not effectively).

Evan chose the gift that Nikki had bought on Steve's behalf. When he tried to guess what his wrapped gift was by shaking it, he asked, "Did you buy a box of rocks?" Everyone had a good laugh when they saw that the gift was actually a box of cereal with cartoon mascot Tony the Tiger on it.

Audra, seen here looking possessed, chose a Hong Kong Phooey doll that Stinja had chosen to purchase. The cartoon drawing she's holding was done by Stinja!

Nikki, seen here looking deranged, chose the gift she'd bought for the party. Turns out, she REALLY wanted a My Little Pony doll, perhaps to relive her childhood. Stinja tried to "steal" the gift during the exchange part, but she threatened him with bodily harm, so he just let her have it.

After the gift exchanged, we played Cards Against Humanity, which is a dirtier version of Apples to Apples. Nikki ended up winning, perhaps because she has the filthiest mind.

Lyra Heartstrings awaits the game

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Inappropriate Mash-Up

Shawn's been under stress at work lately, so I'm going to chalk this weird little gem up to technology-related insanity.