Christmas Eve's Eve

today I was talking to my sister and she reminded me that it was "Christmas eve's eve" and asked if I had reminded Buck of what today was, so when I thought of it, I hadn't. I immediately got off the phone with Paige, called Buck and told him Happy Christmas Eve's Eve and asked if he remembered that that was today. He chuckled a little (and I could picture the grin on his face) and said he did remember. (I could tell he was at work because he was trying to remain serious and not seem too enthusiastic, yet I could tell he really was) We're all grown ups now, but we still get excited at Christmas.

When we were younger, all my brothers and sister would be SO excited for Christmas that we would start a countdown wayyy earlier than necessary. We would refer to days as "Christmas eve's eve's eve's eve's eve's eve...and so on because we could hardly wait until the big day. But now, I blinked twice after August...and boom! Christmas is here! What happened? Where did the time go?

As much as I love the gigantic family my immediate family has grown into, I do miss the days of old when all four of us would sleep together in ONE bed on Christmas Eve, stay up late laughing and talking and wondering if we were going to get oranges in our stockings aggggain and what time Mom and Dad would finally break and come get us to see what "Sandy-Claus" (as we so affectionately refer to her) had brought. It was usually a standard rule that we could get up no earlier than 6 am, but we always tried to push it. As we got older 24 straight hours of A Christmas Story on TBS was incorporated into the Christmas Eve tradition, but looks like I'll have to go it alone this year... Nevertheless, even though I think I'll actually be able to sleep on Christmas Eve this year, I still love it!

Christmas 1987 (the glory days)

Merry Christmas from the NYSE!

This is what I see every night as I pass the New York Stock Exchange walking home from the RW train. Isn't it beautiful?!

SNOW DAY!

except, I still had to go to work? I haven't seen this much snow since 1993, when I was 7. I couldn't figure out why everyone wasn't shutting down their businesses and scurrying out to wipe clean the grocery shelves of all the milk and bread? Nonetheless, yesterday was a fun day - the first big snow storm of the season in NYC! It snowed ALL day - almost every 30 minutes I kept getting up from my desk at work and going and staring out the window. It was beee-au-tiful! Here are a few pics I took on my lunch break:

100 dishes to eat in AL before you die

I've always heard about this list and have always had in the back of my mind to find it, and I FINALLY did thanks to a book that I bought today called "1001 Things to Eat Before you Diet" (I thought it said before you "Die") It's sad how well I know SO many of the restaurants and dishes on this list...

12 Days

this is the best you tube video I have ever watched. amazing. It's an acapella group from Indiana University called Straight No Chaser and their version of the 12 Days of Christmas.



and thanks to an email forwarded to me from Brendan, I now know the meaning of all the crazy parts in the 12 Days of Christmas carol and that they aren't really so crazy. Click this link to read about the history of the song: http://www.byrum.org/misc/christmas/origin.html

celebrity sighting no. 7

Ok get ready for this...for those of you who know me, you are going to freak out when you hear this celebrity I sighted AND talked to.

Last Saturday morning, I was volunteering at the Birthday Party for Jesus with the Children's Ministry at Redeemer, and there just happens to be one of my favorite celebritites (ever) that attends Redeemer. I heard that she brought her kids to a lot of the events, but I had never seen her - Elsabeth Hasselbeck. And yes, she was there with her two kids, Grace and Taylor. I spotted her when she walked in and kept hoping that she would bring her daughter to my table to make the Christmas tree ornament craft where I was stationed. I kept debating in my head whether I should tell her how obsessed with her I am or just pretend like I didn't know who she was. I assume she gets tired of the wacky fans telling her all the time how much they love her and especially at a church event with her kids, but after much internal deliberation, I decided to go for it. I mean, I was a fan from the very beginning when she was on Survivor 2: The Australian Outback. My dad and I used to watch it every week and root for her...

So, I decided not to try to discuss issues of global warming or Rosie O'Donnell with her but just to nonchalantly mention that I am her BIGGEST fan and that I watched her way-back-when when she was on Survivor. So, that's what I did when I was supposed to be snapping Grace's picture with a polaroid camera to make her ornament. I prefaced it with saying that I was sorry to do this to her because I knew she probably hated it, but she was very gracious and said it didn't get old and she appreciated it. And I was on cloud 9 for the rest of the day (and week...)!

Elisabeth and her daughter, Grace

they have everything in New York

well, almost... they don't have my mom's cooking. But, fortunately for me, I was able to go home for Thanksgiving and stock up on it.

I can't think of a meal that looks much better than that.....

the big 2-3

My birthday was last Monday and I turned 23...so old. The weird thing is, I don't feel a bit different than the day I turned 16 or 20 or even 10, but the sound of the word "twenty-three" just sounds old.

But, considering it was my first birthday where I was actually away from home and from family (one of the great benefits of having a Thanksgiving birthday...) it was incredible! It started out Sunday night with Brendan surprising me and taking me to see the Rockettes (which were amaaaazing!!) and then out to dinner. Then, I was surprised at work first thing Monday morning with LA throwing homemade confetti in my face and shouting 'happy birthday!' At lunch, LA and I had plans to go out together, which was nothing unusual, but when I got in line at Goodburger, Pamcakes jumped out and shouted 'happy birthday' which was another great surprise! (They were all trying to prove me wrong with my statement of hating surprises.) After work, LA and I hopped a cab to a "destination unknown"...thankfully, I avoided the blindfold by promising I wouldn't listen when she told the cab driver where to go. We ended up at Serendipity, one of my favorite yet very touristy restaurants in NYC, but PERFECT for a birthday celebration! Dinner was great and great company. After I got back to my apartment, I thought all of the birthday celebrations were over until an unexpected doorbell rang and Brendan had come down to surprise me so that we could hang out on my actual birthday. I couldn't get over how many times I had been surprised (and actually liked it) and was so thankful for all the love I felt from friends and family on my b'day. Thanks to EVERYONE for all of the phone calls, text messages, and well wishes on my special day :) It was one of the best birthdays ever!

outside of Serendipity waiting for our reservations

traditional Serendipity pic - we can't go there without taking one of these!

roomies! and aren't the Christmas decorations so beautiful?!

me, Pamcakes, Lara, and Carrie

I wish I knew what LA was laughing so hard about...

I think this is when the waitors were about to sing happy birthday to Karen.

love this pic!

peanut butter frozen hot chocolate, all gone.

Carrie, LA, Lara, me, Pamela, and Victoria

CAN'T walk past this door without taking a picture. I think I have one from every season...

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on my FAVORITE holiday of the year! Before I posted this, I was thinking about my Thanksgiving last year and remembered that I was blogging way back then. Check out last year's blog post to see how the things I was thankful for (and anticipating) then are total reality now! And I'm still just as thankful for them... it's fun to look back and see the way that God works.

upon my arrival at the airport in ATL

Mom: "you brought your HUGE suitcase? I guess I was right when I said you were a diva."

Me: "a DIVA? that's the only suitcase I have in New York, so that's what I packed in..."

Mom: "well, it's ok because they say Sarah Palin is a diva... so you're in good company."

reminiscing the days of old...

I've been meaning to put these pictures up for a while but have just kept forgetting. Last October (2007) I came for a weekend visit to the city to be reunited with half of the "the group" from the summer before. We had a fab photo shoot in Central Park, and the three of us who live in NYC now decided to make it a tradition. The first weekend in November, we took over Central Park!


Then & Now:




Then & Now:



Then & Now:



Then & Now:



Then & Now:

the south is calling

4 DAYS (and counting!)

"those X-acto knives are vicious"

...that is a direct quote from the ER doctor that pulled my flapping finger off today after gushing blood (and that's NO exaggeration) for 2 1/2 solid hours. And I'm blaming it all on Obama. I was in the interiors library at work cutting down some VCT tile samples for a presentation board when another designer across the table started talking about a recent Obama interview. I looked up to hear what great and wonderful things she was going to say and I was going to have to endure while simultaneously diverting my attention from the matter at hand - I forgot I had an X-acto knife box cutter in my hand in which I was applying an extremely large amount of pressure to, to cut through a very thick piece of flooring material. I'll spare all the bloody, gory details in which I almost fainted and almost caused about 14 other coworkers to almost faint as well. Needless to say, I ended up in a New York City emergency room for a couple of hours with a prisoner on crutches being followed by two policeman with handcuffs and chains, a homeless man and a few other less than fortunate people. As I looked around, it suddenly hit me, I'm not in Alabama anymore...

Three hours and a tetanus shot later, all I have to show is a big, ugly white bandaged finger!

more than I bargained for...

this is the weather forecast for the upcoming week here in NYC. did I really sign up for this?! it's ONLY the middle of November...

10-Day Business Travel Forecast for  New York, NY (10005) Weather for your life  Weather Related to...    Aches & Pains Air Quality & Pollution Allergies & Pollen Boat & Beach Cold & Flu Fitness & Exercise Flights & Business Travel Golf Weather Health Home Improvement Interstate Driving Forecast Lawn & Garden Outdoor Recreation Pets Schoolday Weather Ski Conditions Skin Protection Sporting Events Vacation & Travel Guide Wedding Planner   [ English | Metric ]  Printable Forecast Forecast Conditions High °F Low °F Precip. Chance         High Temperatures  Low Temperatures  Precipitation  Wind Speed        Mon Nov 17 Mostly Sunny 46° 33° 20% 46°F Tue Nov 18 Partly Cloudy 42° 28° 20% 42°F Airport Conditions Wed Nov 19 Sunny 38° 29° 20% 38°F Thu Nov 20 Rain / Snow Showers 39° 26° 30% 39°F Fri Nov 21 Sunny 40° 28° 20% 40°F Sat Nov 22 Rain / Snow Showers 39° 31° 30% 39°F Sun Nov 23 Partly Cloudy 40° 35° 20% 40°F Mon Nov 24 Showers 42° 32° 30% 42°F Airport Conditions Tue Nov 25 Scattered Snow Showers 42° 30° 60% 42°F Last Updated Nov 17, 12:59 AM ET Printable Forecast Details Video Text Averages

celebrity sighting no. 6

and the last celebrity sighting is by far my favorite of all! Ok, so I knew I lived in Gotham City and all, but I didn't know that Batman actually came out during the day... and especially to a place as populated as Central Park. But here's the proof:

celebrity sighting no. 5

who knew celebrities hung out in Central Park? although, I would beg to differ that this woman is actually a full blown CELEBRITY, I still knew who she was when I passed by her, which is more than anyone can say about me when they pass by me, so I guess that says something about her status... either way, my strong aversion to her still stands.

you can't see her face, but the red-headed woman on the right is Kathy Griffith.

celebrity sighting no. 4

so I haven't been updating like I should on my recent celebrity sightings... the first one was a few weeks ago and was pretty exciting for me (if you know me at all) because you know how near-and-dear this man's show is to my heart. I just wish Kelly Ripa had been with him when I spotted he and his wife Joy...

Regis Philbin!!!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

the sad thing is, this picture was taken on Halloween night. Nevertheless, isn't that a beautiful sight?!

ps -

the pictures in the posting below are not in order from the weekend and it really bothers me...but I can't figure out an easy way to get them in order, so just pretend they are if it bothers you as much as it does me...

a lot like Alabama

the second to last weekend in October, our fellowship group from Redeemer went on a retreat to New Hampshire and stayed at Brendan's parents house. We went in order to be able to see the beautiful fall foliage, and it WAS beautiful even though, according to Brendan, we missed the peak. It really reminded me a lot of Alabama in the way it looked. I can't decide if that is because it just wasn't a city like I've become so accustomed to or if it really is similar in nature and look to the Heart of Dixie. On Saturday night we went to Boston to have dinner and then explored the city a little after that. I loved Boston, and especially following the "freedom trail" that led us straight to Paul Revere's house!

                                   Me, Pamela and Carrie in Boston on Saturday night

Pamela and the "freedom trail"

Me and Brendan after dinner

Our group in front of Mike's Pastry...only the best pastries in Boston

(check it out - www.mikespastry.com - you can get it delivered!)

       Trying to lift the heavy chain. (the one the boys could barely lift...)

Our whoopie pie and cheesecake!

Our group at Mine Falls

The girls with the beautiful foliage!

          Brendan's first trip to McDonald's since 1991. (I'm trying to break him...)

Pamcakes and I snuggling before she left from New Hampshire to head back to NYC