It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

 

 

Last Thursday we FINALLY went to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center!  It was a particularly chilly night and as usual I checked the weather before we left.  The forecast was cool, but there wasn’t any sign of rain / snow in sight.  We rode the subway straight to the Rockefeller building and headed outside.  And there she was in all her GLORY!!!  The 76 foot tall Norway Spruce is: 40+ feet in diameter, strewn with 5 miles of LED lights (more than 300,000 individual bulbs), weighing over 10 tons, and boasting a Swarovski crystal star on top.  She is a beauty! 

We started off across the rink (away from the tree) and then went north a bit to watch the snow flake light show on the Saks Fifth Ave building.  All along the facade of the building they have hung snowflakes that are programmed to light up and “dance” (a la the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas) to Christmas music.  Very cool!!  I was snapping pictures, along with EVEYONE else, the whole way.  My stupid camera ran out of batteries though, so I didn’t get as many as planned…  We took some on Nick’s i-phone, one will be in our Christmas card *hopefully*.  And then as if a scene from a movie, we were watching the snowflake show looking up in awe at the twinkling lights and it started SNOWING!!!  I couldn’t believe it!  We had planned on getting hot chocolate at Dean & Deluca but I didn’t want to go inside now and miss out on the snow.  We decided to take refuge in the warm store after all and get a refreshment.  When we went back outside the snow had stopped, so we meandered back to the tree to get a better look up close.  We took turns taking pictures of each other with our phones & I got a great shot to use as the wallpaper on my phone.  By then, it was time to get home and into comfy pj’s to watch the newest installment of the Office on t.v.  What a perfect night!!!  Could not have dreamed of a better experience.   

LOVE these

 

http://adaanddarcy.blogspot.com/2009/12/pom-pom-beauty.html

Wonder how hard they are to make?  There are step-by-step instruction on the web-site.  I was going to try to make crocheted floral necklaces for all of my friends for Christmas, but that didn’t turn out so well…  While I can pick up the crochet stitches OK, I am having trouble forming them to look like flowers.  I wonder if I can alter these to be small enough for a necklace?  Maybe this will have to be a project for my mom & I in AZ!  :)

crafty (happy) girl

Nick has taken to the library which means that I was left to myself for the day.  So I sat with my cup of coffee & bagel at my desk and continued to craft away on the holiday cards we will be sending out, while catching up on my favorite shows on hulu.  :)  I did take  a break however to have lunch with my man & then go into volunteer (at Room to Grow) in the afternoon.  I LOVE it there!

I am so thrilled with how the cards are turning out, and am even MORE excited that I have some festive decorations strung up above my desk.  I made a sort of clothes line out of some yarn (I have a plethora of that laying around…) and have dangled all of the completed cards off of it for the time being (until we send them out).  And then I plan to hang cards that we receive on it also. 

I ran out of supplies from my Michaels run last week so I decided to venture over to Kate’s Paperie (www.katespaperie.com) in SoHo to restock.  I could get lost in this store!  They have everything dealing with stationary & gift wrapping you could ever want (at a very EXPENSIVE price).  :)  It’s very easy to get sidetracked here & I didn’t do a very good job at staying on task…  I ended up buying two different sticker type tapes to assemble the cards together, one of which I use all the time and another I decided to give a try for something different.  Unfortunately the new product I am NOT a fan of at all, the profile is a little bit too high so it lifts the paper off of the card more than I would like.  And my old standby tape,turned out to be something different – because I was so enamored with all of the glitz and glitter around me, I must have picked up the wrong thing.  So back to Michaels I go tomorrow!!!  Which you won’t find me complaining about.  :)  I got a 25% coupon anyway last week when I was there so I HAVE to go to use it, right?  :)  I will post pics soon of the cards / display.

trying to redeem myself…

I have been baking (high calorie, bad for your body, but taste SO YUMMY) treats for months now.  A couple of weeks ago, while I was getting ready to make another batch of goodness (pumpkin scones), Nick said “can you make bran muffins?”  BARF!!  He twisted my arm :) , & reluctantly I agreed to after Thanksgiving.  Maybe I will like them.  Well, this week is after Thanksgiving so… in an effort to make myself feel better for all of the stuffing, pie, sweet potatoes, & turkey I ate last week (and all of the turkey, artichoke dip, mashed potatoes, and did I mention PEANUT BUTTER BALLS?!?! I will scarf over Christmas) I relented and decided that I would make the muffins this week.  Maybe I will like them?  How bad can they be?  They sell them at Starbucks?   

I had been putting off doing a huge grocery trip for weeks now, just getting by with picking up a few things here and there as necessary from the local store right across the street.  The more I procrastinated about this the fewer our food options were.  And I was literally going to that store “right around the corner” AT LEAST once a day.  :)  For a while I was doing good & going to Trader Joe’s once a week and stocking up.  Problem is that the Trader Joe’s is a mile away, which I don’t mind walking to and from, but I usually go by myself (Nick is usually in class) and that limits how much I can carry home.  And there are “special” days (Wednesday & Thursday) that TJ’s is less busy (and by that I mean the line only wraps around about 1/4 of the store as opposed to 7/8) & the last few weeks those days have been horrible weather-wise.  So today, I made a GINORMOUS list of items (including all of the ingredients for the aforementioned Bran Muffins) that will hopefully tide us over until we go to AZ for Christmas & was EVEN able to convince Nick to go with me. 

We opted to go to the store that was a couple blocks from our building since they have better prices & there were two of us so carrying our loot back wouldn’t be so bad.  After stepping outside we realized that it was MUCH colder than it looked from our apartment window.  The weather out here is so deceiving.  I am used to basically one or two (maybe three) different climate changes in AZ (and they REALLY aren’t  even changes by definition if you look at the temperature swings in other parts of the country), all of which you can pretty much select your outfit by looking out the window.  In AZ you can assume that if the sun is shining you will be comfortable in shorts / jeans & a t-shirt for 95% of the year.  On the 5 days it actually rains in AZ, you can put on a sweatshirt and call it a day!  In NYC the same can not be said…  I had 3 layers on and was still cold to the bone.  I will say that I think my blood has thickened in the 4 months we’ve been here, but I am still not used to 40 degrees!   

After we returned from our shopping trip, I was so cold that I decided to make the muffins TODAY because the heat from the stove would warm up our little studio.  I guess this is one of the benefits of living in less than 500 square feet!  :)  In an effort to make the muffins more appealing (to me), I added an apple to sweeten them up.  There is only 2 tablespoons of sugar in these things!!!  Not so sure it worked, the apple did nothing for disgusting sight of the batter, and they didn’t smell as good as red velvet cupcakes.  Our little home was nice & toasty though!  Nick might not have any competition / help in polishing these off.  :)  We’ll see…    

Thanksgiving 2009

Last week Nicks family came to NYC to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It was 5 fun-filled family days in Manhattan.  Paul & Gaynelle arrived on Tuesday afternoon and Kim rented a car to pick them up at the airport. 

Tuesday night we had dinner at Butter right around the corner from our place with Paul, Gaynelle, Kim, & her boyfriend Sean.  Dinner was amazing & very relaxing, the perfect setting to catch up! 

Wednesday was a wet one, but it didn’t keep us inside.  Nicks parents met us at our place & got the grand tour of our studio!  It didn’t take long!!  And then we showed them around our neighborhood, we went to the Law School, and Washington Square Park before we headed down to the Financial District to meet up with Kim for lunch.  After lunch we browsed around by the water & walked around the shops on the pier while Kim finished up her day and came to meet us to go to Ground Zero.  Not much to see as the site is under construction, can’t believe it’s been over 8 years!  Standing there looking up into the sky it’s hard to imagine how far the twin towers “towered” over the rest of the buildings, it still gives me chills thinking about that day.  We also stopped by the New York Stock Exchange & walked down Wall Street on our way to SoHo for some afternoon shopping.  The boys went off to find a pub for a drink & Kim, Gaynelle, and I set off peruse the street vendors for jewelry.  That evening we went to watch the floats being blown up for the Parade the next day and then headed back to Kim’s apartment for dinner, help her make the pies for Thanksgiving, and hang out until Lindsay arrived from Boston via the Lucky Star bus.

Nicks “Random walk down Wall St.” for his Investment Group

Nicks favorite float – The smurf

 

Thursday morning we met at Kim’s apartment and headed down 50th St. to 7th Avenue where the parade was going on.  Since we were on a side street the crowd wasn’t as bad & we still had a spectacular view of all of the floats!  Growing up watching the parade on tv you don’t really get a feel for how big the floats REALLY are, some of them were the size of neighboring buildings!!!  On our way back to Kim’s place we stopped by Rockefeller Plaza to watch the ice skaters and snap a few photos.  The tree was up, but obviously not lit.  (I think Nick and I are going to stop by and take pictures in front of the tree tonight on our way to Kim’s place to watch the Civil War game.)  Once home, Kim got to work cooking our feast!  I tried to help, but she kept telling me no!  :)  Kim’s Icelandic friends from college, Bjarney & Elizabet, came over & watched football, drank wine, and grazed on appetizers all afternoon until the turkey was done around 5:30.  Kim put together an amazing spread that was delicious!  We ate & sat around the dinner table for a couple of hours until we were all so STUFFED we couldn’t move! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

outside the ice rink at Rockefeller Center

 

On Friday Kim got reservations at the Boat House in Central Park for lunch.  We walked down 5th Ave and got to enjoy all of the holiday decorations and store windows before heading into the park.  The Boat House has a rustic feel with a large fire place, hearth, & leather club chairs in the waiting area complete with garland & pine cones strung across the mantle.   Our table overlooked the lake with boats lined up on the far side, at one point a couple took one out on the lake for a row!  After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This place is so big I get overwhelmed with it all, it was my third time there (two times since we’ve lived here) and after about 3 hours I am exhausted!  Such a great place!!!  We were all groggy after walking around the museum so we decided we needed a sweet treat  to revive us!  We headed to Crumbs for cupcakes & then on to a sports bar to watch football, basketball, and have some nachos!!  After our backwards dinner, we headed back to Kim’s to play Cranium.  We spent the next few hours acting, sketching, & rolling on the ground laughing at / with each other!!  It was great!!!

Lindsay left early Saturday morning, and we went with Kim, Paul, & Gaynelle to shop at Bryant Park!  Gaynelle got a customized ornament from a shop of a Christmas tree with all of our names on it to commemorate the holiday!  (I have been looking for an ornament too to celebrate our first Christmas as a married couple & living in New York, but I haven’t found one that I LOVE just yet!)  We hung out until Nicks parents need to go to the airport that afternoon! 

Nick & I were sad to see them all go home!  I had a wonderful holiday hanging out with my new family!  It was perfect & I couldn’t have wished for a better time!  I am so thankful!!!!  Next up is Arizona to spend Christmas with my side of the family! 

Boston Nov. 6th – 8th

I know I am all out of sequence here, but I wanted to post pictures form our trip to Boston to see Lindsay in November.  I need to be better about blogging more regularly and then this wouldn’t happen…  :)

We rode the Fung Wah bus out & it was an experience…  Fifteen bucks per person each way is a bargain, but it is not luxurious in any way!!!  I think next time we will be taking the “Bolt” bus.

 

church in Lexington / Concord

 

Old North Church in Boston with Paul Revere Statue

 

Paul Revere Statue

 

Plaque on Paul Revere Statue

Lindsay & I in the courtyard of the Old North Church

 

tree at Baylor College, I LOVE the red leaves – I picked up a few and plan on decoupaging myself a bookmark (I know I am not in kindergarten, but I just love the colors!)

Nick & I under this ginourmous tree in Lexington / Concord

crafting

Nick and I have been talking about what we were going to do for Christmas cards this year, I wanted to do a photo card with a picture from our wedding (I mean, you only get married once & we should celebrate that!) & he thought that this would be too expected.  So we decided that I would scrapbook cards instead.  Only problem is, I left ALL of my supplies in AZ!!!  A trip to a craft store was in order…  But I had searched before for & had no luck.  So…

On a side note, I was watching Martha Stewart on Monday this week and she made an advent calendar on one segment.  Nick walked in the door from class as they were completing the calendar and said he always loved these & that we had to have one.  So I added this to my list of things to buy at the aforementioned craft store…  Also in this episode Martha went to the BRAND NEW Michaels Craft store in NYC just up on the NW side of Central Park to surprise customers in the store taking her holiday crafting classes.  So problem solved!!  There is a crafting haven for me after all!  but this could be dangerous…  :)

 

my inspiration

Martha used metal tins with clear fronts from Ikea & glittered discs with numbers on them.  I DID NOT want to hassle with glitter, because lets be honest – the end result is pretty & sparkly but once you use it it winds up EVERYWHERE & when you think you’ve scrubbed your hands and rid yourself of it ALL you find traces of it in your hair, on your keyboard, etc. WEEKS later!  So I opted to go a different direction.  Since I was already buying scrapbooking paper for cards, I decided to use that for the calendar too.  For the tins, I had to get creative because I wasn’t going to trek all the way to Ikea in Brooklyn for one thing, so having just got married & spending UNGODLY amounts of time (& money) in stores like Michaels in their “wedding” aisle, I knew that they sold favor tins that looked just like the ones Martha used.  I bought a set of these, they were smaller in diameter (which will present a challenge in filling them), but will work!  I also picked up a magnet roll to affix to the tins so we can display the calendar on our fridge!  Armed with my 3 bags of goodies I set off toward home to start a day long crafting experience!     

our advent calendar

 

close ups of a couple of days

 

I filled each day with one of Nick’s favorite (bite sized) candies, homemade treats, & some have little love notes in them too.  The first day was Reese’s Pieces and when Nick opened it up he was thrilled, but told me that I was starting off with a bang, and that I should have began with something less “exciting”, like a gum drop, & work my way up to the Reese’s Pieces on the last day.  (I will remember this for the future when we have kids!)  I didn’t want to buy 25 different bags of candy because I would end up eating it ALL!!!

After the holiday I was planning on using the tins to hold / display spices, I even think we can write the spice on the plastic “window” with a dry erase marker and change it if we need to.  I will have to test this out though.

Posts to come of the Christmas card progress…  :)