Christmas in July

"Christmas in July" is a big thing here, apparently.  I didn't realize this until we tried to buy a turkey one weekend in July and the butcher said, "Sorry we're all sold out...it's Christmas in July!"  

Alrighty then, chicken it is!

We held the fine event at our friends Laura & BJ's house.  She's American, he's Australian and they are awesome.  You've seen them on this blog before, mainly because 99.9% of things we do involve them.  She is totally a mini-Martha Stewart, so the house was fancied out big time:

That hand towel with the pig on it is mine, from Norway.  I don't know why pigs are a symbol of Christmas in Norway, but I love it!  I think it's because back in the old days a family would slaughter a pig for Christmas and have a feast, and the tradition has carried over with pig decor, pig candy, pig everything at Christmas.  I love the Christmas pig, and I adore that checkered pig hand towel!

For maximum authenticity, there were even Christmas cards on the fridge!

I am morally opposed to collecting things, but the closest thing to a collection I have is aprons.  I love aprons.  I can't explain why, I just do.  I love them so much that I hate to actually use them and get them dirty.  It's a sickness, really.

This being July, Christmas crap was half price so I helped myself to another addition to my sweet collection:

The reason we were trying to find a turkey is so Laura's recently-smuggled-from-the-USA turkey fryer could cook its inaugural turkey.

She checked this thing as a piece of luggage!  Now that is dedication to the Martha Stewart cause.

Look at that dumbass (BJ) cooking boiling hot oil barefoot!  That's dangerous, yo.

We ate our runner-up deep fried chicken (delicious, by the way) with a variety of other traditional Christmas delights from our respective home countries/regions.   

There was macaroni and cheese with crab in it (Jamaica), green bean casserole with homemade fried onions (Deep South, USA), ham, and mulled wine (Europe), everything in large quantities of course.  I made sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top - hello Midwest, USA! 

Another decor addition of mine were these super cute napkins: 

It's like both Norway and Christmas barfed onto a napkin, and I just had to buy them when I saw them half price shortly before we left Norway.

When I bought them I knew we'd be moving to Australia, and I bought them with the intent of having a Christmas party with my yet-to-be-made awesome new friends.  I was not disappointed!

Finally, there was even mistletoe, for those who need an excuse to do a little smooching.  

Really, though, this picture is just an excuse to show off my sweet 80's Santa knit sweater!