{best} Case of the Mondays: Amber Sagester

 We all know Mondays suck. 

Each week, I will feature a Monday in the life of someone who can provide some comfort/humor/inspiration to the start of your week. 

HOWEVER. This week is different. And it's my mom, so I have to kind of tweak the rules. 1. It's actually Tuesday. And 2. She can do what she wants because she's my mom. 

Meet Amber Sagester! 

Amber is wife, mother, sister, step-daughter, niece, cousin, amazing friend and a child of God (not necessarily in that order). She is a substitute teacher by day (some days), and a closet do-it-yourselfer and repurposer!  She travels as much as she can with her husband and loves to visit her grown children whenever they will have her... Oh yeah. And she's my mom.  

My Monday before Christmas is busy and beautiful and is the culmination of about 6 months in the planning.  Our family goes to the beach for Christmas.  A tradition started in 1997 and absolutely treasured and looked forward to every year.  There have been as many as 18 at our gatherings, and we take lots and lots of pictures. Having said that, this trip takes some planning, coordination and some serious packing strategy. 

8 AM

It's our first full day in the Outer Banks, and we don't dilly dally. My sister-in-law get to work making breakfast for our hungry army. 

Meal planning is a great adventure...we have 1 vegetarian, one gluten free, 1 deathly allergic to chicken turkey and all things poultry!!!  We generally break up the dinner meals assigning a different group to various nights but we always have a low country boil on Christmas Eve and the traditional turkey/ham dinner on Christmas Day.

10 AM

Make list of groceries that we did not purchase during our MARATHON trip to the store. Literally took us 1.5 hours. 

12 PM 

Go on walk to the beach look for shells and driftwood. It's a BEAUTIFUL day -- cannot beat a 70 degree day in December. 

4:30 PM 

Prep for dinner and watch the sunset over the sound. 

5 PM 

This year we have added a cocktail competition! [Editors note: More on that this week].  Don't put any of us in a competition because we take these very seriously.  I had to taste test my concoction several times to make certain I had a winner. Unfortunately the testing was before 9am last Monday-- made for a happy morning followed by a nap around noon.   

I am first up with my "Felix Navidad" cocktail -- a hearty mix of tequila, cranberry juice, orange liqueur, orange bitters, aromatic bitters, seltzer and lemonade. Erin says more to come on that later this week.   

5:30 PM

Taco Dinner and birthday celebration for my sister-in-law Terri! 

7:00 PM 

Movie in the theater room. Great time to spend together!

9:30 PM 

The family is spread out throughout the house -- watching UNC Basketball, Washington Capitals hockey -- and I'm cozied up reading the new Shonda Rimes book. 

Midnight. 

Lights out and looking forward to the rest of the week -- lots planned. We have a Christmas picture with assigned color coordination--this year black and white and a gift swap we have lovingly named a "Yankee swap".  Hundreds of emails have passed between us, texts have zipped back and forth, dogs have been boarded and we have mostly all gathered together for another blessed week of family togetherness, making memories and driving each other crazy!

The days will be spent eating drinking laughing and enjoying the most important part of my life--family.

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