And There Was Christmas

It came and went pretty quickly. We missed the big ole blizzard that shut down NYC, but did get a light dusting down in south Georgia, which has maybe happened twice in 30 years. I took a lot more pictures of the snow, but forgot to upload them today. Will try and post later. There was family, there was food, there was Clay's (special whiskey) Christmas Punch and there were pretty intense games of Monolopy - one that will even go down in history.

(Please imagine the following paragraph read by the guy who narrates the timeless holiday film, A Christmas Story.)

It was nearly 1am. Clay's special Christmas punch was melting in everyone's glasses. My brother was dominating the game as usual, had picked off Geoff and I in rapid succession and owned nearly every property on the board. He was about to beat poor cousin Clarke, who owned one measley monopoly, nearly all of which were morgaged to keep him in the game while he languished in jail. The Free Parking pot had grown considerably. No one had landed on it for nearly the whole game. We realized there was a fortune in there. Clarke's final chance to roll doubles and get out jail came. He shook the dice, gave it a special magic "Hail Mary" blow and....BOOOOOOM! DOUBLE FIVES! As soon as those dice hit the board, I screamed, forgetting it was 1am and my aunt and uncle were sleeping in the next room. Clay's face sank. Clarke appeared to be in shock. Double fives! Liberation from jail, a trip to Free Parking to collect All.That.Money and the game took a turn. Despite all of Clay's scrambling and wheeling and deeling that occured afterwards to emerge the victor (and it was impressive), Clarke won that night. And underdogs the world over rejoiced. He stood a little taller the next day. No longer could we be held down by they tyranny of Clay having a monopoly on winning Monopoly. There was equality. There was hope. There was Double Fives!

There wasn't much that could top that epic game.

There was, however, a family jam session.


I forgot to bring our stockings so Mom stitched Geoff's name on the back of the one I had when I was a kid. So we shared. And even though it's crocheted, and therefore stretches to become the world's largest stocking, it didn't fit everything. And it kind of looks like it has a tumor in this picture.


The blizzard did affect us getting home though. Even though the blizzard was over, our travel day was over 24 hours instead of a 2.5 hour plane ride. It was Planes, Planes and Automobiles. After attempting to leave Savannah at 12noon, we eventually got out of Atlanta at 8pm on a flight to DC, rented a car, drove a few hours, got a hotel room near the Delaware border and drove the rest of the way the next morning. Turned the rental car in at Laguardia, where (thankfully!) our luggage was waiting patiently and hailed a cab home. Have never been happier to be home in my life.

Some scenes from our epic journey...

The Savannah Airport - where it all began


The Delaware Memorial Bridge



Some Drive-by scenes of Brooklyn from the BQE





Very very glad to be home. Very.

Many more thoughts and exciting things coming up in the New Year to share. Stay tuned!

Sean and Christina

Realized we haven't posted a video in a while. For your Christmas-wrapping procrastination pleasure, here's one we did earlier this year. Such a cute young couple. I liked that the groom seemed all tough, but you could tell he was really emotional all day. It was such a pleasure to be a part of their wedding!

Streetscenes: 6th Avenue (10th-14th Streets) - Wednesday 9:45am

Cinderella in the City

I walked past this sight on my way home from the gym this morning.


It seems my neighborhood had a visit from Cinderella in the night. Now, how does this happen? A lost scarf or hat, I totally get. A glove...absolutely. But a shoe? How do you not realize that you're barefoot all of a sudden?

From what I can figure, this could only have transpired in a few ways:

1) It fell out of some poor girl's overnight bag. She was on her way to her girlfriend's place for dinner and then a night on the town and a sleepover and she was probably so pissed when she realized she was down a 4 inch heel. They do not let you into da' club with no shoes on. This ain't no beach town.

2) An angry girlfriend walked in on her man in the presence of a lady he had no business being with and promptly threw that lady and her crazy ho' heels out the 5th floor window. This shoe is all that survived the incident.

3) Cinderella does actually live in my neighborhood. If this is the case I'm glad I didn't tamper with the evidence and I sure hope he finds her. I am a sucker for a Rom-Com after all.

Here's hoping.....

Ho Ho Ho

The latest addition to this year's Christmas Extravaganza. I have to say, I am reeeeeeeeally into Santa-in-a-Hot-Air-Balloon. Kind of a lot. Am I wrong that he classes it up a bit?


I mean, as much as this crazy display can be classed up?


I will say, the landlord sure is bringing it this year. There are more lights and garlands than last year and way more Santas-in-snow-globes than ever before. Last year they were in the place of honor, before they were usurped by Hot Air Balloon Santa. This year you can sorta see them tucked in the back corners near the door. I bet they feel totally jealous of Hot Air Balloon Santa. There could actually be a lot of politics and rivalries with all these decorations, now that I think of it. I bet all those Santas and Christmas Carousel Creatures TOTALLY hate the new kid who usurps the place of honor every year. It probably gets ugly. Or at least awkward.

Regardless, any way you slice it, it's....

Just Like The Olden Days

When Geoff and I were dating and he lived in CT, I got very familiar with the Metro North. Getting to Grand Central in time to make an express train, which ticket machines had the shortest lines during rush hour and how to navigate the tourists waiting to meet their friends at the clock.

Last night was a Christmas party for all of Geoff's photography friends and I was able to go with him. He headed up earlier by car and there I was catching the 6:11pm train on track 25, scrounging for the best seat on a full train, and arriving in Bridgeport to find Geoff waiting for me. He was in the car, right outside the entrance to the station and he leaned over and opened my door for me, just like back in the old days. It was a lovely flashback to weekends in Connecticut and the early stages of our relationship. I liked it. It made me smile.

Oh Christmas....Shrubbery

Last year you may remember my attempt at a Christmas tree was a wreath. Now granted, a wreath that got a much better photo shoot than I managed this year. And complete with a very excellent decorating idea that I did (in fact) see in Real Simple this year. I think they are stalking my blog for ideas.


Hm.


Anyhooooo, this year, we're making a bit more progress toward an actual tree. We've graduated to a small bush. A few days before Thanksgiving, Mom mentioned that she could cut me a Christmas tree from their land in Maine and bring it down to hand off at Thanksgiving. I insisted that I would need something small, something that could maybe sit at the end of our entertainment center, as opposed to a real tree on the floor. Well, Mom heard me loud and clear and just in time to pack up the car, she pulled me a "tree" out of a rock in Maine, stuck it in a pot, and lo, I have officially moved up in the world. From wreath to... shrubbery.


I love it so much.

Forgive the fuzzy iPhone photos. I love how random it is. How it swoops weirdly to the side. I'm calling it avantgarde. It's very "artsy". Very non-conformist. Very "doing its own thing". I honestly could not love it more. It's the perfect amount of "tree" for us to manage with our crazy lifestyle. And those shell ornaments sure were just plucked from the beach on a walk with my mom over Thanksgiving and just tied right on with red string. It couldn't look more busted, particularly in these horrible, horrible photos.

I mean it's nothing fancy and legit like this.


But that's even a hair overdone/Martha Stewart-ish for my taste. Though certainly, closer to my actual taste. I mean, honestly my shrubbery looks like something a third grader brings home from school. But when those little white lights come on, all is right with my world.

I think it's heaven. Even if the photos are atrocious.

Coming Up for Air

Well, it's December. Which means I survived October and November. A feat in itself. And honestly, the last two months have felt kind of like I've been continuously scaling a building. It's been difficult. On a number of fronts. I normally feel like I'm a fairly positive person. I can take a lot of things thrown at me and just keep soldiering on. But these past couple of months have been different. Have kind of beaten me down in a way I'm not used to. Nothing epic or life shattering, and there are zillions of people who have it a lot worse than me, but it's been surprising (to me, though not to the other people in my life) that I've not really been able to rally back like I usually do. I'm hoping that a bit of a holiday lull at work will help things. Ultimately, there's more to examine than just that. And I'll be attempting those things as well.

In the meantime, I can't believe how much you've missed. The annual Halloween extravaganza outside my apartment building, our visit to a farm in Queens in October (so fun!), the return of Tom the Pilgrim Turkey, many adventures in cooking, multiple openings at work, my visit to a burlesque show that a friend was in (one of the cleaner ones out there I would imagine - pretty fun!),Thanksgiving at the Cape, and an attempted burglary of our apartment (luckily it happened when Geoff was home and scared the idiot away before he could even get inside). Other than that it's been mostly work, work, work. Here's hoping things are going to turn around soon... They have to. A good weekend which included time in the kitchen and real conversations with my husband led to me returning to my creative pursuits today...blogging and photography. So that must stand for something.