Happy New Year's Eve!

New Year's Eve snuck up on me again like it tends to do. But this time, I was already in full on planning mode and had groceries bought, laundry done and managed to get the Christmas tree and some bags of trash and unwanted stuff out of the house before party time. So bring on the friends and good times. I was ready for it. Nacho had to work again this holiday so it was going to be me and the folks hanging around if I didn't invite a few friends over. And since we've managed to do the same early NYE party countdown for the past 4 years or so, it was nice to hang again with the same close group. I'm glad I have them. So happy new year and here's to hoping there will be more of the same in 2015. I'd be very happy with that. Cheers!

Christmas crazy

Practicing their Santa beards 

Thankfully after Elisa's Daisy Scout ceremony on the 20th, we made a quick trip to get donuts at Peter Pan Bakery. They had everything. So good. 

The next day I made this cake for a tree trimming party at the Burns family apartment. It was swirled with red and green inside and pretty tasty if I do say so myself.

Christmas Eve was full of family and friends. Mom and Dad arrived that afternoon to a gray and foggy city. I finally made the ornament that mom had given me at Thanksgiving and we spent the evening at Carmen's house celebrating the holidays with friends and lots of good food. The weather was so mild and balmy we really could have walked home. On the way to the car, the girls enjoyed a few of the lights strung around the neighborhood. And of course, I had a lot of work to do once we made it home. But still I managed to catch the end of "It's a Wonderful Life." And for that glorious few minutes, I was overcome with the wonder and beauty of that night. What more could I ask for? Oh, yes, sleep...

And then it was Christmas morning and the girls were up and at it. We built so many toys that day I lost count. And we played and hung out at home all day long. It was a nice relaxing day even though Nacho wasn't there to share it with us. That was really the only downside this year. We didn't have a big dinner or invite anyone over the night which was actually just fine. The girls didn't nap, so it was probably best that they made it to bed on the early side. But before they slept, we had a peek at the lovely cityscape visible from their room. What a gorgeous clear night in New York City. And that moon! Wow. It was the perfect little slice to top off our Christmas. This is always one of my favorite days of the year and I was happy to say it still felt that way even though we weren't all together. Grandparents made up for a lot. Glad they made it after all.

Merry Christmas from Queens

This Christmas we didn't exactly get everything we wanted. No, Nacho had to work for four days straight this week after almost a month without a trip. Even knowing there was a good chance he'd be called on reserve, it was still a shock to hear that he was going to be gone for Christmas. The girls took it mostly in stride. Elisa was more clingy than normal his last day and it made me realize that she's aware of his absences even when she doesn't say much about them. For me, I was glad that all the shopping was done and I could pretty much pare down my schedule so I wouldn't be too overwhelmed on my own. The fact that my parents were coming to visit for the holiday and planning to stay through January made it much less depressing. At least we wouldn't be alone. But still, Christmas Eve with all its anticipation and energy came and went and going to bed alone on the couch was not my most uplifting evening of the year. I didn't make it to bed until almost 1:30 a.m. after finishing up a few things for the girls. So at 3:30 a.m. when Carolina came out of her room talking, I bolted upright and stopped her before she could enter the living room. She was babbling about waking up and I wasted no time in spinning her butt right around and marching her back to bed. She was still talking and saying something about Elisa being awake, but thankfully, she wasn't. I left the room and returned to the couch hoping that they wouldn't both come back out in a few minutes. Naturally it took me awhile to fall back asleep after that little hiccup, but by about 7:30 a.m. when I stirred on my own, I was almost rested. The girls finally woke just a little after 8:00 a.m. and I was amazed.  Having mom and dad just down the hall to come out and see them open their gifts was a real treat. The rest of the day was a blur of opening presents, throwing paper and plastic all over the apartment and building things that require more blueprints than any child's toy should. But it was also a lot of fun. Now time for bed again after such a marathon 24 hours. Merry Christmas to all and we'll have more presents (and hugs) for Nacho when he returns tomorrow.

Holiday Outing: Big Apple Circus!

December is such a festive time in the city and with young kids it's sometimes hard to get out at night and really enjoy the atmosphere that all the lights and people rushing around can provide. But at least we have the annual playgroup circus outing to make sure we get out there and enjoy it. This year we didn't know whether to get Nacho a ticket because he was on reserve. Fortunately the day of the circus another friend's husband couldn't make it so we scooped up a ticket once we realized Nacho wouldn't be getting a call. Then off we went to Lincoln Center to grab our seats and concessions a little bit early. Not being rushed was such a relief and the kids weren't too crazy. I thought the show this year was maybe even a little better than last year. The contortionists joining each other inside that little tiny box and the trapeze artists (one of whom fell! yikes!) were definitely highlights.  The only disappointment for Elisa was the lack of clowns which she complained about once the lights went up. "But it can't be over! I didn't see any clowns!" I think she wanted to see "Grandma" who wore the red nose and such.  But as one usher told me on the way out, Grandma is semi-retired, living in Switzerland and currently having some "health complications." So no more circus for him. As for Elisa, she almost kept it together when I repeatedly told her we weren't buying a bunch of plastic crap. At $20 a pop for a light up toy, I just couldn't splurge for it the week before Christmas. I know she wasn't happy, but it got better once we moved away from the group and jumped on the train home. So another year of traditions down and I'm glad we made it again.

Christmastime in the city

When I found out yesterday that our mild weather might last another day and that in fact, today's high would be in the 50s, I thought it could very well be our best chance to see the Rockefeller Christmas Tree during the week. And I really wanted to see it before the weekend and that last home stretch countdown to the 25th when everyone and their cousin will be in the city schlepping around from windows to trees and back. Last year we made it there during the day which was fine (and balmy) but I really prefer to see it all aglow.  So tonight was do or die and we went for it despite a small chance of a rain shower. At the last minute, I got a text from Irene about heading to the park and instead I invited her to come along. Luckily, she was up for the challenge--with two kids in tow--and we all rode in on the bus together getting great views of the stores and lights on Fifth Avenue without actually having to drag the soon-to-be-tired kids along. By 45th Street or so, we were able to get off the bus. I hadn't noticed before but closer to Rock Center the sidewalks are actually barricaded so the bus doesn't stop there. Happy crazy holidays, New York. And let me tell you, we weren't the only ones with the genius plan to see the tree tonight. But hey, so what? It's Christmastime in the city and we didn't have to wear hats and gloves and scarves to go out this evening. So I'll take that as a win. And it really was. It was absolutely beautiful and I'm so glad we did it. Our holiday bucket list is getting shorter. Capping the evening off with a little walk to Grand Central where we snagged a table and some Shake Shack was just what these tired, hungry kids needed. Though really, they did pretty great overall. I even bought them ice cream. We made one last pit stop at the whispering wall in the station before zooming home on the 7 train where we met a Puerto Rican family whose father was also named German. And that, my friends is why New York City is so great. We hit all the highlights on a perfectly temperate December evening. I walked a total of 13,000+ steps today and it all felt so good. Going to bed with a happy heart and a little more holiday brightness. Not bad, I say.