Never enough time

What a whirlwind...can you count 20 days a a whirlwind?  Somehow it felt like it was.  I've just returned from visiting family in Washington for the holidays and I have the post-holiday blues.  It's a very strange thing to have the important people in your life split on separate coasts of the country.  Every time I go back to Washington, I spend the first week missing New York, then the second week soaking up my friends and family (namely my mom's babysitting), then the third week, I'm ready to go back to New York but simultaneously miss my family and friends already.  It may be some form of mental illness.  lol.  

I think this time was particularly hard because of the job situation.  Being in between jobs meant that I had plenty of downtime to see everyone, but the uncertainty also means I don't have a planned return trip, and this will probably have been my last 20 day trip. While my last job wasn't ideal, it meant that I was able to work remotely, so I could take these long trips without having to take vacation time, but it seems unlikely this will be the case in the future. 

Enough of the sap, I had an amazing time!  Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to the past month or so: 

As soon as I got back to Washington, my mom and I went into full Christmas mode!  She had already decorated just enough so it felt like Christmas when I got there, but we usually do most of it together so she saved a bunch...

Of course we had to have Christmas (or music) movies on while decorating...this year she graduated us all to small stockings, and J got his own, too! I guess I have to keep him around.

My brother was in desperate need for an Ugly Christmas Sweater, so I whipped this puppy up for him.  It was pretty amazing, all of that garland made it weigh a million pounds, and I sewed bells in it so when he shimmied it jingled.  haha...does anyone have any ideas how to make homemade ugly Christmas sweaters my livelihood?

I squeezed in as much Goodall time as possible.  First Kaitlin and I had a wild night on the town, which in our world means a dinner out at a wine bar, and a tasting flight of "bubbles." It was so good to reconnect and gossip like we don't live 3,000 miles apart.  I got my usual favorite, flat bread with roasted figs, goat cheese, honey, and pistachio.  It's the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

A couple of nights later I headed back over to the Goodalls for our annual gingerbread house building. Sweet little Lila got in on the action this year, and probably ate just as much candy as she put on her house, but she was so proud of herself and for the record, some of the candy did make it on her house.

My mom and I did our normal holiday bake-a-thon but she had to work throughout the holidays so we had to seriously scale back the variety of cookies.  We still made chocolate crinkles, sugar cookies, snickerdoodles, peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, fudge, and rice krispie treats, so I don't think any of our recipients really noticed. 

If you look closely you'll see Humphrey hoping my dad will share some of his sugar cookie with him...poor neglected Humphrey.

The Monday after Christmas both of my parents had the day off from work so we all went to this little Bavarian village on the side of the mountain, Leavenworth.  We indulged in bratwurst for lunch, spiced German wine, beer, and wandered through some of the cute little shops.  Living so close to it, I never thought about the history, but J was asking how it came to be...upon googling it was literally developed to be a tourist trap.  In the 60s the town wasn't doing well economically, so they decided to create a faux Bavarian village, and voila! Success!

Then came New Years...J and I couldn't decide what to do for New Years Eve.  As much as I love my family, we decided we should do something other than stay in with my parents so we went down to Portland for a couple of days.  We lucked out and found this really cool "speakeasy" style party, and spent the night dancing and drinking...So fun!

We had a few low key days with my family, and then headed to the airport early on the 6th.  I didn't cry but I did a little on the 4th.  To make coming back feel more monumental, there was a snowstorm in the morning that meant an extra 2 hours on the plane with Humphrey.

The Most Perfect Day!

This weekend has been such a blur. I once again tried to cram way to much in but I wouldn't change anything. 

First, J and I went to see New York City Ballet's "The Nutcracker." It's funny because my experience or the Nutcracker was always Pacific Northwest Ballet's and I assumed it would almost all be the same but as it turns out, the NYCB choreography is much truer to the original choreography. The dancing was just on another level. Even J murmured "how is that possible" at one point during the sugar plum fairy's dance with her cavalier. 

The only draw back was all of the kid noise. Haha. It sounds like such a snobby thing, and I really love kids. Plus, I know when I have kids I'll bring thing to theater and ballet, but it's just a strange thing when you pay a lot for a ticket to go to the ballet and hear kids rustling candy wrappers the whole time. Actually my biggest problem wasn't the kids, it was the adults who somehow thought that since it was a kid friendly performance it meant they could behave as kids. The woman beside me literally stood for the beginning of the second act, and we had good seats. It's not that she couldn't see. (End rant. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to bring my kids and be the mean mom that won't let them rustle candy wrappers). 

After the ballet we headed to Brooklyn to this neighborhood called Dyker Heights. It was featured on one of those, "Extreme Christmas Lights" specials, and for a good reason. More lights than you can imagine. J was such a good sport and I laughed good-naturedly about my pure joy and enthusiasm despite the freezing weather. 

(More lights below)

On the way home he surprised me by stopping at my favorite restaurant in my old neighborhood, Lot 2. He won serious points with that move and then was rewarded by them having his favorite cocktail featured as the drink of the night (Veiux Carre...recipe at very bottom. It's the perfect winter warm you up cocktail. It was a shame I don't live a few blocks away and we couldn't stumble home because we both would have gladly imbibed more.)

Then we were going to have "Christmas" because I'm heading to the west coast for Christmas with my fam tomorrow but we decided to watch an episode of Breaking Bad instead...priorities. Christmas tonight though!

A Christmas Story of Mistaken Dates

You know that scene in "A Christmas Story" when all of the kids are ogling Higgbee's corner window display? It was recreated last night as J and his friend passed this liquor store in the West Village. Stopped them in their tracks and I watched as they nearly smashed their noses to the window. 

We were on our way to see Jimmy Stewart in all his glory in "It's a Wonderful Life" at the IFC center...that was until we got to the theater and picked up our tickets and they were for Thursday the 18th. I even remember double checking dates when I bought them but apparently I was having a lapse in mental clarity then because they don't even start showing it until Friday. 

Thankfully we had also had an amazing Italian dinner with a friend (fresh pasta, bread, wine, dessert...so much gluten...so much goodness) so the evening wasn't a wash. We even had tiramisu! I wish I had pics for you, but we devoured it too quickly. 

So I tried to be a grown up about it and not cry in disappointment, and J and I went to one of our favorite book shops, bookbook before heading home. Tiramisu and books, not exactly the night I had planned but not too shabby when I think about it. 

Dreaming of a White Wednesday

Snowy day spent in Chelsea today. I half loved it and half hated it. Something about being out rushing about in that cold wet stuff wipes you out (and may or may not explain my extremely unhealthy dinner.

My poor suede booties took a swim in Saturday's torrential rain, and now are getting a good dose of snow, but I love them so much I can't help but wear them most days. 

I stopped in at Chelsea Market for a quick gift and can never help but stop and gawk at these lighted arches. They're seriously the stuff of my dreams. Lol 

I was also joined by what appeared to be a preschool caroling field trip. It was so cute they'd walk a few yards then burst into song again. Mostly their teacher (striped hat) would sing and they'd mumble along until they got to jingle bells which appeared to be their favorite. Ah, the city steals my heart again...

And then, on an unrelated note, as I was weaving my way underground at Time Square I saw this...it's not so much the woman holding the sign that caught my attention but the complete indifference of the other New Yorkers...it made me chuckle 

Christmas Cheer Galore!

I was so excited when Kaitlin told me about the Christmas Cheer Exchange, of course I was on board! Did you even have to ask?  It was so fun picking out a few little things for my secret recipient, and then when I got the box in the mail, it was like Christmas morning.  I was explaining to J about it, and he said, "Oh, so it's something Christmas fanatics do?"

My lovely little gifts came from Sarita at "It's my Girls' World"

Thank you SO much! The package was so cute, and the candy was delicious (I may have eaten a turtle almost immediately)!

Also, she included some yummy smelling homemade soap and lip balm.  I almost don't want to use them because they smells so great. 

Our tree doesn't have many ornaments so the ornament was immediately added to the collection. 

And these pencils are so so cute!

I <3 NY (Weekend Edition)

I love NY, but some days I REALLY <3 NY! Saturday I spent an incredibly rainy day trying to accomplish some Christmas shopping with a friend. Of course we started with brunch...as is customary for all New Yorkers. We were talking about how brunch exists in other parts of the country but in New York it's an institution.

I tried to remember to snap some pics in between the rain drops...

One of my favorite things about New York is the art that you encounter when you take a minute and look. The entire city is like a gigantic canvas. This was from the sidewalk in front of Clinton Street Baking Co. I was craving their pancakes like crazy (maybe the best, ever) but they had a 2hr wait so we were standing in the rain googling brunch locations. Luckily in New York you're rarely more than a couple blocks max from a great brunch. 

I had this amazing Texas Toast French toast in orange blossom honey, covered in fresh fruit and whipped cream. I of course, also added a little pure maple syrup...when in Rome...

(Above) Outside the Duane Reade where I broke down and bought a new umbrella because I felt like a drowned rat. 

Finally we hit our breaking point and went to a movie, which conveniently was next to a Mexican restaurant where we indulged in Margaritas and a zillion calories. They look Christmassy though!

Then I headed over to Grand Central where a protest was taking place. Even with the mob of people, the police all hanging out, the holiday spirit was still in full force (below). 

I hit the magazine stand for some train reading

And then when I got home I took Humphrey for a walk, turned my new umbrella inside out, got soaking wet (again), then unsuccessfully tried to stay awake until J got home. 

Even though I spent most of the day in between drenched and just pruned, it was definitely an "I <3 NY" kind of day.

Sunday I headed out to brave the city shoppers, busy shoppers, dressed in holiday style...in the air there's a feeling of Christmas...but really there was, everyone was in a great mood. The only problem was there were lines everywhere. I think we were all just glad it stopped raining! It was gorgeous but oh so cold. 

After shopping I grabbed a quick bite in Chelsea then headed over to hang out with the Chelsea boys. 

We played on the roof for a while until one of the littles accidentally kicked a pipe and caused water to spurt out everywhere.  Once the panicked crying stopped (surprisingly not from me) we went in side to warm up and make gingerbread houses. I was really impressed by how long and hard they worked on them. They aren't known to have the longest attention spans in the world. 

After gingerbread mania, J picked me up from the train and I did a quick change in the car while he drove to some friends house so that I wouldn't be covered in icing when we got there.
("Don't get pulled over, I don't have pants on.") We had a nice quiet evening with some pizza, a Seahawks win, and I got to snuggle with their adorable little baby.  I may not have wanted to give him back when it was time to leave.

All and all a pretty great weekend. 

I'm linking up here, here for some more weekending!

Tradition Make Me Happy!

Months ago I told J I wanted to do a Christmas tree ornament exchange. It was when we were still joking about how long we'd be able to stand each other, and I think I said, "well that way if we're still together we can look at them and be like, aw, our first ornaments...and it we're not together we can smash them."

Every so often he'd ask, "are we really doing an ornament exchange?" And the a few weeks ago he proudly exclaimed, "I know what ornament I'm getting you!"  He's acting like my enthusiasm hasn't been contagious, but every now and then I catch a glimpse between his eyerolls.

Luckily Christmas is never far from my mind and I'd already ordered his too. Look at this cute "je t'aime" bunny I found on etsy. One of my favorite early dates was going to a movie "je t'aime, je t'aime" and I'm always saying it to him in a thick ridiculous Pepe Le'Pew accent.

 

He got me this adorable ballet dancer from the Nutcracker. We're going in a couple of weekends and he teased me for putting the date tickets for the ballet went on sale on my calendar. 

I can't wait to continue this tradition! What are your traditions?

Happiest Christmas Tree

Santa! Christmas has arrived! 

I'm slightly fanatical about Christmas. I've been preparing J basically since we met about my obsession and then talking about getting a tree since summer. 

My family has always gone to cut one down ourselves. I think there is something special about seeing a tree amongst hundreds of others and deciding it belongs in your family. There is a song, "happiest Christmas tree," that I always think of when choosing a tree. 

I was determined to cut one down but all the determination couldn't compete with plain bad timing. We were going to go Friday after J was done working but then he ran late and the tree farm closed early, and we had a friend taking a train to come over so we didn't have time. I'm kind of surprised but I totally took it in stride and suggest a trip to Home Depot. I think I shocked J too. 

We got there and all of the trees were already bailed. J thought this was convenient. I thought it was an outrage and joked with another equally outraged customer. How will we know what it looks like?! I chose this little guy because the bottom was peeking out and it looked ok. 

We asked for help tying the tree to the and the guy came out with a roll of shrink wrap. Haha. I'm so sad my battery on my phone died because the process was hilarious. He wrapped through the inside of the car then over the roof tons of times making the car look like Thanksgiving left overs. J refused to use his phone for a picture out of embarrassment. The whole ride home other drivers were gawking and it's a Christmas miracle we didnt cause an accident. 

It all worked out though. Our tree is up, and all decorated and it makes me so happy. The apartment is in a state of chaos because of the great move-in but in one little corner there is a bright calm. I'm in love with this scrawny little tree.

Target(ing) Christmas

Earlier I posted about home, and then I went to Target. Maybe home is where the Target is. That store gets me every time. I needed a tree stand, and ended up with a tree stand, an adorable gift exchange gift, and a bunch of other stuff I didn't completely need. 

The one thing I can't find anywhere is glass ball ornaments! Does anyone know where I can get them? All I can find is those plastic ones and I don't want to hang disco balls on my...I mean our...tree.