December Miscellaneous

Good thing I like my coffee in front of the Christmas tree, too!   99% of the time I drink my coffee at my desk in front of my computer, so I have to take photos when I sit in the sunroom or in the family room.    And while summer is gorgeous, winter isn't horrible to look at either.  It can be annoying to be outside in it, but sitting in the house it's just fine! 

Around the bad weather, we had our deck replaced.  The deck is framed in by the house on three sides so the only edit to make was to build out.   We removed the railing and some thick bushes in favor of steps all the way across and extended the deck two more feet into the yard.  It's so much more spacious and open now! The new color is very similar to the prior stain but it's a composite material.  The color match is important because we did not change out the decking in the sunroom.   It wasn't as damaged since it's covered.   

We participated in a Secret Santa program where we bought for two teenage boys.  Luckily my teenage boy helped select the hoodies and joggers and socks and gift cards, since I'm not knowledgeable enough to know the brands since I don't buy William name brands.  

William and I volunteer once at month at Donut Sunday after mass.   I'm an expert on keeping things tidy and the drink containers full.  William collects from the donation baskets and makes sure the kids get help with the juice drink.  On Our Lady of Guadalupe Sunday there were dancers from our twinning parish in Aurora.

Cocktails & Cookies

I hosted a holiday happy hour for friends to kick off the Christmas season.   It was also day two of two weeks that John was traveling so it felt like good timing!    Since friends were bringing the cookies (and appetizers), I focused on the cocktails.  I made pitchers of Sugar Cookie Martinis which were served in frosted sugar rimmed cups and a Christmas Old Fashioned with sugared cranberries on toothpicks.  About 20 ladies joined me for the festivities and we had a lovely time eating and drinking and chatting. Lucy stole the show with her sweet nature and good manners (not jumping or barking).   

NYC Thanksgiving - Saturday

Saturday we took in the iconic Rockette's Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall.   It worked out well that we could cab from the hotel to 30 Rock and leave our suitcases in my office while we were at the show.  Then after the show, we retrieved our bags from across the street and cabbed to the airport for our flight home.   I was telling one of my partners this the next week about how I used the office as a drop zone all week, and he said that's a pro move.  He rattled off how he always did that with his preschoolers since they have to use the bathroom so much and to take snack breaks.    I was nodding right along because preschoolers, high schoolers and I all have the same schedule.

Maybe we were tired....Maybe my expectations were too high....Definitely John was sitting next to an annoying person taking flash photos throughout...but none of us loved it.   It was fine, but a one-and-done for sure.  There was less dancing and less Christmas music than I was expecting.  I guess I hadn't considered the story telling element of the show as compared to it being a series of dance numbers.  Oh well.  It was very convenient for us to get to/from, and now we can say we have done it! 

NYC Thanksgiving - Friday

After a lovely evening at Ryan and Tarek's, we slept in before venturing down the street to Bryant Park for something brunch-like at the Christmas Market.   We were a bit overwhelmed by the crowds and underwhelmed by the selections (well...the prices) and just got a Biscoff sandwich and then returned to the Italian restaurant from day one for a proper lunch.   After carb loading, we walked to Times Square to meet Ryan for our SIX matinee.    

William agreed to take lots of photos this trip since he was often taller than us depending on hair!

SIX was exceptional!  The three Shields are not big musical fans, but this one was fast paced and modern and all of us loved it!  Ryan knew he was going to love it before he got there, and he was not disappointed.   The show does not have an intermission so we had plenty of time to leisurely stroll over to Hudson Yard for our late dinner with Tarek.   We included a detour though Macy's where they still had some of the end of the parade route staging setup. 

We either didn't walk around all of the sides in order to see them or they were ho-hum, but there were no really special Christmas windows like I see at Marshall Fields' in Chicago.  Inside there was a section devoted to parade history and merch.

Dinner was amazing!  We went to a Lebanese fusion restaurant called Zou Zou.   We all loved absolutely everything we ate!   As we were nearing dessert, a group of Ryan and Tarek's friends were seated at the table next to us.  Clearly this is the it place to dine! 

NYC Thanksgiving - Thursday Afternoon

Ryan and Tarek hosted us in Queens for Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving Dinner.   Ryan is always an excellent holiday host and cook!   We enjoyed several family favorites and the company.   The views and the cat cuddles were also winners.   The place settings are from our Grandma Leona.