Christmas fun!

We're celebrating Christmas 4 times this year.

Yesterday-Tulsa, Today-Pryor, Tomorrow-Santa. Next stop.... Philly!

Merry Christmas to you!! More from NYC next week!

Celebrity Sighting #5 (this is a good one)!

Over the weekend we had a marathon shopping day (8 hours to be exact). Yes - the kids were fried by the end of the day. Anyway - one of our many stops was a little street vendor in Soho. There we were... me and DEBRA MESSING, shoulder-to-shoulder, admiring the goods. It was fun. There were cameras everywhere. Look for me (and Debra, of course) in the upcoming celebrity trash magazines!

Christmas Cookies!

We made cookies this week. It was fun...and messy.... but mostly fun!
Note the w.t. wine bottle rolling pin. I guess it could have been worse - it could have been a beer bottle!

Did you know...

Did you know that magazine stands have cell phone chargers? For just a few bucks - they'll let you charge your phone for 5 minutes!

Did you know milk is sold at room temperature in a box? I placed my first order with Fresh Direct and got milk (or what I thought was milk). It wasn't cold and it wasn't in a carton or jug. I read the label and it had an expiration date of May, 2006! SO WEIRD. You have to refridgerate it once you open it - but you can keep it in your pantry for up to 6 months! I was skeptical - but it's actually really good (cold, of course - I didn't dare try it warm).

We went Ice Skating at Bryant Park on Saturday night. It was a blast. Griffin did so well - he didn't fall down even once!
We also visited Santa at Macy's. The kids both loved him! It's so easy to be in the Christmas Spirit here... it's magical.
As you can see - even Libbie is in the Christmas spirit!!

Starting to feel like home

Mom worked her magic... our apartment is actually starting to feel like a home. The other rooms aren't quite finished yet - more pictures coming soon.

Sharing my lunch with you...

My new friend, Kelly (7A), invited us over for lunch today! It was lot's of fun and so good that I wanted to share it with you (below).

Kelly has given me endless info on babysitters, schools, restaurants, shopping, parks, doctors and tons of general NYC tips. She's here for just 3 years (has already been here for a year and a half). They're from Seattle and her hubby works for KPMG - they're here on a similar "rotation" type arrangement. I'm very lucky to have met her - I feel like my learning curve of the City has been cut in half!

Chicken Salad Recipe
1 large can chicken (12.5 oz can)
2 Tb. light mayo
1-2 tsp. spicy mustard
1/4-1/2 finely chopped red apple
1/4 cup sugared sliced almonds (put nuts and butter in a pan, add some brown sugar until they turn slightly brown - then put on foil to cool)
1/4 cup or so of dried cranberries
1 green onion chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Canal Street... oh my!

We ventured down to Canal Street this past weekend. Wow... what an experience.
I had NO idea about the stuff going on down there. We were shopping along the main drag (probably looking like normal tourists) when we heard someone whispering "Gucci?" "Prada?" "Louis?" Kimmie knew the drill - because she's done it before. So I grabbed my wallet and followed them. Me, bubba and Kimmie proceeded to follow a lady 2 blocks away on a little side street. All she said is "wait here"... "someone will come get you". She waited with us for about 5 minutes until a man met us at the corner. Just so you'll get the picture - this was a small, ally- like street in Chinatown, off the beaten path. I would never recommend doing it at night and will probably never do it again - even in the daylight (sorry Melissa and Kerri).
The dude came to the corner and said "follow me". We walked another 2 blocks into what looked like an apartment building. We walked up some stairs and up more stairs and up more stairs until we got to a little door with a HUGE padlock on it. He unlocked the door - let us in - and locked it behind us. What I saw next was very disturbing. A massive sweat shop with people scurrying around and sewing their little fingers off. He quickly escorted us past that room and into a tiny closet (literally - a closet). He came in with us and shut the door behind us. There was no room to even turn around. It was just the four of us and about 100 beautiful hand bags! They are literally the best fakes I've ever seen. There was little to no difference in these and the real thing. Even the liners of the purses looked the same with the same embossing on the labels. We were very rushed and I was so overwhelmed I didn't buy anything. Kimmie bought two (at a fraction of their real price) - paid cash- and we were out of there. Check out this link - it's very interesting....
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-04/12-20-04/a15wn373.htm

Family Time

Mom, Dad, Bubba and Kimmie came to visit us this weekend. We did lot's of shopping, eating and sightseeing. The Christmas decorations are beautiful.... the Macy's windows are extra neat this year!
Since there were so many of us - the subway was our mode of transportation all weekend. I'm getting more and more confident with the whole thing. It's actually pretty easy and makes everything so accessible. It snowed 2 inches on Saturday night and we're expecting 5 more tonight.
Chris is leaving today for his first business trip since we moved here. Walking Libbie in the snow with the kiddos will be interesting- but I'm up to the challenge.

He popped the question...

Bubba and Kimmie are engaged!! They surprised us this weekend with the news. Brett designed the ring - it's stunning. It looks like a soap opera ring. They're hoping for a late spring or early summer wedding. We're thrilled to have Kimmie in our family!

Worth Every Penny

I got my first New York haircut and I love it!

The first salon I tried was $180 for the haircut alone... Not gonna happen!

I asked around and found a little salon called "Alice" right down the street. It's supposed to be the best kept secret on the UES. My haircut was $72 (which I thought was a bargain after hearing $180). The stylists are all Irish and great.... I was very pleased!!