Thanksgiving in NYC

It was such a wonderful time with my family.

Thankful <3

Life is good

My family is on their way up to NYC right now! Oh sweet.

What fun it is to have guests. To clean, bake, make sure everyone has clean sheets and a mint on their pillow (nah, jk on the mints... I actually put lavender on their pillow. Gotcha again). But I do love having people over!

So, I just made these homemade Cinnamon Rolls. Oh snap. They're amazing. Actually, I rolled and sliced and left the unbaked rolls in two dishes in the fridge, which I will bake in the morning. But the reject ends of the rolls, I baked up tonight and they're oh so good even w/o icing (I'll make that in the morning, too). You should try it. I will not lie, it's a ridiculously tedious process that requires much patience, 6 cups of flour (6!) and time alone in the kitchen. But if you're looking for a baking project, here it is:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Ever-Cinnamon-Buns/Detail.aspx

I have to work tomorrow, which is cool. My family is going to get more of the touristy things out of the way while I toil away working for the man (but do not get me wrong, I love my job and am so thankful for it). Tomorrow night we might go see the Macy's floats before they make their debut down Broadway on Tgiving.

I just can't wait to spend time with my wonderful family!

Life is good.

And the dish ran away with the spoon

Well, come Wednesday I will be in the warmth of my own apartment here in New York while I graciously get out of everyone else's way in the City while they travel to LaGuardia, JFK or Newark to catch a flight in maybe/maybe not bad weather, lug around suitcases and deal with the stress of it all. I will most likely be baking away with my sweet family. Ahhh.

I am having a total of 12 people over for Thanksgiving dinner and am tickled pink! I can't wait! However, there is one problem. Where do we sit? We have a little round table in our kitchen that sits 4, maybe 5. I feel like it's not Thanksgiving unless we're all sitting at a table. So I might bring in the rusty old table from the terrace, throw a tablecloth over it and call it a day. That might work.

But then I come to the issue of our dishes. We have mixed matched plates and most of them are hand me downs from the girls who used to live here and almost all of them have chips on the edges. Oh how I wish I had beautiful plates and linens but I might have to resort to using paper plates (gasp!) and paper napkins. One day...

So a few weeks ago, I was walking to work one morning and happened to see these plates in the display window at Scully & Scully:

Oh they're so beautiful but for $60 per once a year plates I think I'll wait til I register. But if I could, I would love for these to be my Christmas plates. The ones I bring out for Holiday dinner parties and Christmas dinner. Aren't they just adorable? They remind me of my Mom!

I've also been eyeing these next plates and would love for them to be my Summer plates. They just look summery and of course they're of CP, which is awesome. And they can be found at Fishs Eddy in NYC.

Ok, since I'm on a roll I'll also mention these other plates that I love. The pictures don't do them justice. Two of the families I babysit for have them and they are darling! They're from Villeroy & Boch and they can be my Spring plates.

I haven't thought of Fall plates, but I'll let ya know when I find them. I know it's pretty rediculous to think of having four sets of dishes for the seasons but it is fun to dream! :)

Thankful

Yesterday I hosted my 2nd Annual Tgiving Feast and what an amazing day it was!

A huge thank you to all of my friends for making it a wonderful time and for bringing such delicious sides and desserts! Yum!

me and Tom had a few issues but he pulled through!

friends!

the whole gang!

Busy as a Bee

Hi Friends,

Nothing new to report. But thank goodness it's Friday. I don't think I've ever been so ready to get to the weekend. Tonight I might be going to the Duke game at the Garden. My roomie is going now to try to get tix... oh that would be sweeet! But if not, then I'll go to FG and afterwards hit up my friend Bradley's bday party at a bar where apparently the Olsen twins celebrated their last birthday. Nice.

Tomorrow morning I will be a prisoner in my own apartment as I'll be chillin with Tom the Turkey as I bake his sweet little hiney in the oven. I hope Tom will work with me and give me his best effort (ie tender, moist) as there are 30+ people coming over to feast upon him! Yes, tomorrow is my 2nd Annual Tgiving Feast! I have been looking forward to this for months. Let's hope there's enough food and room for my sweet NYC friends!

Thanks to Facebook, I have heard from practically everyone in the South that it's snowing! Jealous! Send it up here, folks! Not that I need snow right now when my life is a little bit crazy... but bring it tomorrow after the feast, where I can sit on the couch stuffed as a turkey, watching a movie and watching the snow fall. Oh funny story, last year some guy friends wanted to go sledding in CP and didn't have a sled (we don't have a lot of space up here, people) so they thought of the bright idea to use someone's wok. Yeah.

It didn't snow a lot last year, so I'm hoping for a foot all at once this year. The first hour of snowfall in Manhattan is magical. So beautiful and serene. However, as we all know, New York doesn't stop. For anything. After a good few hours of snow, it's just slush on the sidewalks and you take the risk of becoming Carrie Bradshaw in the opening credits of S&TC when she gets splashed by the bus... as crazy cab drivers tend to get a thrill of driving fast through puddles leaving the innocent bystanders, waiting to cross the street, in a mess of dirty, slushy snow all over their Burberry coats. (Side note, I've thought it would be rather fun to marry a man with the last name Bradshaw... know anyone? I mean to be Carrie Bradshaw... I'd be cool for the rest of my life!).

Ok, well I'd love to stay and chat but I have a weekend to get to. So do you!!

Wordless Wednesday

Tonight

I'll be honest, I've debated on whether or not to share just NYC fun stories or to be real. It's easy to be real with your close friends and family who know you well, love you, know your heart and what brings you joy and what you struggle with. But this is a open blog and I don't know who all is reading it. For the most part, it will be light and fluffy. But I haven't been able to figure out what to write besides what is on my heart, which seems most pressing. Honesty is best and being authentic is something I'm working on. So here are my thoughts of late, both simple and deep.


Tonight I was the last one to leave work (rare) and before I left, I stood outside on the balcony and looked at the magnificent City in all of it's lights and grandeur. But it couldn't even compare to the sunset behind it. THAT is what is truly grand. That is what took my breath away. When time stands still, worries fly away with the wind and you take in all of the beauty.

This morning on my run, I started when it was really dark and I saw little white specks falling from the sky... I just figured that it was from the trees or something. Towards the end of my run, the amazing sunrise showed me that it was actually flurries.

My heart is heavy. Heavy for my friends who have lost their jobs and those who are waiting to hear if they still have a job. For those who don't have a home. For those whose home is the subway, the stoop of a church or the park bench. For my friends who are going through hard times. For businesses that have had to close. For my sweet Grandmother who is all alone. For friends who are struggling with singleness. For my "adopted for a year" sister who is from Ethiopia and lost her parents and has no money. For parents who have lost children.

I talked with my boys tonight and it made me miss them terribly. I talked with Nicholas for a good 4 minutes. We had a nice conversation- yes, we conversed back and forth. How is it that my heart holds such love? Why is it that I miss them so? I don't want to be a nanny again. But it somehow seems so unfair that they can't be a regular part of my life. That I wasn't supposed to raise them and care for them for two years and then just leave. How I wish I knew them now.... to know the little things. Like how Nicholas only liked certain, particular songs on a cd and what things would make him laugh... and the dinner plate Alec preferred and how we had our little, special bedtime saying. I don't know what they like now. And that's ok, they're not my kids. But sometimes it just seems unfair that I can't be with these two little boys I love so much.

I'm thankful for kind people... the ones who greet you in the doctor's office like you're the first and only patient they've seen that day. What cheerfulness and friendliness. It made me feel special and it will be remembered.

I'm exhausted and weary. For some reason it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders tonight.

But what joy there is in knowing and feeling the deep love of God- how he cares for the little sparrows like the ones I saw on my run this morning. But how, even more so, how much he loves and cares for me. And what better display of that than on the Cross.

That is my hope.