Tuesday, December 29, 2009

New York At Christmas!

Unfortunately I didn’t get to spend any time in the city, but our visits with family were even better!  On Saturday, the day after Christmas, my Mom’s whole family were planning on getting together to celebrate Christmas.  We knew the restaurant they would all be at (they go for every occasion!) and the time.  So we drove from MD to NY, and parked in a spot in my grandparents development so we could spy!  We waited for them to all leave Nana and Popa’s, waited enough time to pass so that they could all get settled in at Kevin’s restaurant, and then… the three of us snuck in the back door and popped up by their table and their looks were PRICELESS!!!  They were shocked, and so, so happy!  It was such a great visit and I was so happy to be there!  We went back to my grandparents after the early dinner and hung out all together until some time after midnight!  It was great!  I also got to go to a really nice little Italian (real Italian!) restaurant with my parents and my Godfather, Aunt and cousin.  It was a really nice evening/visit with them…and dinner was DELICIOUS!! :)   Visiting up north with my family, as crazy as all the bouncing from house to house may be, is always so nice!! :)   And hopefully we can spend some time in the city during one of our next visits! :)   Couldn’t live there anymore, but love to visit!

NY, NJ, MD all in one day – Cool snow boots, a great visit and coming so close to an awesome job, a sleep over with the BEST little sisters and a full day ahead… and all this means, one day closer to seeing my Monito!

Well, I woke up this morning in New York, ate a delicious bagel with my grandparents for breakfast and enjoyed a little more time visiting with them before we left…then off to New Jersey, our next stop.  We stopped there for a lovely visit with my Mom’s sister and her family.  It was unexpected, but wonderful!  We visited at the house for a while and then headed out for some shopping!  My cousins and I always used to LOVE to shop together when we were younger and … we still do!  :)   Had lots of fun and it was a successful outing to the store.  Then home for a delicious dinner that my cousin, Theresa, cooked.  She is a really great cook.  She made a sausage, shrimp, pasta dish that was soooo yummy!  Thanks T! :)   And while I was there, I got to visit two of my favorite little boys!!!  :)   They remembered me and we had such a fun little visit.  Oh, I miss them already too!  And my family, of course!  I really do have such a great family!!  A little story… before I left home to come up north to visit Mono’s family, I realized I had NO shoes to wear in the snow, much less snow boots.  And no stores had them.  I live in the Deep South; they have no need to sell snow boots.  So I had to make do with rain boots and they worked.  But the a few hours before I left I had been on the phone with my Aunt Mare, talking to her and at some point I mentioned I had no snow boots (which by the way were a definite necessity in the blizzard we ending up having!!), little did I know (and she got a kick out of it), she had some really cool snow boots waiting for me under her Christmas tree!  She figured that with the hopeful move back up north, I’d need some snazzy snow boots!  I got brown Coach snow boots, the have dark brown suede on the shoe part, then the part around my lower calf has brown and tan with the signature Coach “C” all over them, and then dark brown fur around the top!  They are wonderful!  And she also gave me a wonderful matching scarf!  I love scarves!  She spoils me big time!  So when I move up north, I am all prepared for the cold weather!  :)   Thanks, Aunt Mare, Uncle Tom, Mark, T and Chris!!!  This whole week a possibility of a wonderful nanny job was in the works.  I was really hoping it would go through, and it was super close to coming through, but the parents of the wife that could have needed me were going to be flying in.  I love the two kids that I would have been taking care of.  They are two of the cutest and great kids I’ve met!  I love them!  There were a few perks to go along with it too, but, the best perk for me would have been spending the week with those two little ones!  They love to bake, color, do crafts, play outside, read … all my kinda stuff!  Ya never know, maybe I’ll have another opportunity in the future! :)   So, now here I am, in the car again (will we ever get out!?) on my way to spend the night with the greatest little sisters ever (little in age, certainly not height! I’m basically shorter than three of them)!!  We’ll spend the day together tomorrow.  I am SO happy they have no school!  And then home we go on Wednesday and that is when I get to see Monito again!! :)   No real plans for New Years Eve or Day, but I’ll think of something fun! :)   Can’t wait to see him!  I’ve had some really nice time visiting with my family and friends these past couple of weeks up north!  Wish we were up there permanently!  Hopefully soon!!!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Blogging From The Airplane…Kinda.

I am sitting at the window seat of aisle 10 on the plane.  We are flying to Maryland tonight to spend a few days.  We barely made it though… well I barely made it.  It should have taken me less than twenty minutes to get from where I was to the airport and it took me 2 hours!!!  Totally unexpected so thank goodness our plane was delayed or Mono would have gone without me.  But we are here, flying high in the sky.  I can’t see any lights, but the one blinking out my window on the plane’s wing.  We should be landing in about an hour.  Boy, though Southwest is the only way I fly, they have stinky food.  One crummy little bag on peanuts, and they say honey roasted, but I don’t even know what they are, and I can drink the amount of juice I got in a sip!  That’s okay… bags are free!! ;)   We were supposed to be going to New York in the morning, but the northeast is scheduled to get a heavy snowstorm and we’ll be staying in Maryland.  I guess depending on the weather, we might go down to Old Town to be with more of the family.  We shall see.  What’s most important though is that tomorrow is Mono’s birthday!!  Happy Birthday Love!! :)   He’s sitting right next to me watching one of his movies on his iTouch.  Pretty neat to be able to do that, huh?  I am not so technological!  I have my laptop with headphones plugged into it so I can listen to Christmas music.  Today was a real hectic day so it is nice to be able to just sit and listen.  I had two purses to sew this morning, should have taken an hour and a half maybe… well it took me 5 1/2 hours because, well everything kept going wrong.  I should have made sure they were done earlier so I didn’t have to do that this morning.  I wasn’t allowing for so much to go wrong I guess.  Yesterday I stumbled upon a great photographer in Maryland.  I was online and I just came across her… You should check her out.  She’s a great photographer and seems like such a lovely person… very talented!!  Megan Beth: www.meganbeth.com/blog She has a website and a blog.  I LOVE photography.  Don’t have a real good camera, or her talent, but I really appreciate others work!!  :)   Be sure to check her out!!!
Well, I think I am going to do a few things on my computer and then put it away.  Maybe I will blog a little more later.  We shall see.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

So, I’m Going To Watch Julie And Julia, Maybe To Get Some Ideas For Better Blogging?!

Hi All!
I’ve seen this movie before, but I thought I’d rent it again anyway.  It made me think I could have a blog when I watched it… and now I do.  Plus I love to cook!  Today was another full day and tomorrow will be even crazier, but all in a good way.  Once Friday comes I am hoping to have pretty much everything done so I don’t have any craziness, just small odds and ends to take care of.  We decorated our tree tonight and celebrated Mono’s birthday with my Mom and Dad.  :)   They gave him his presents and we had cake with my cousins (and dinner too), so all was good.  He’ll get the gifts I have for him once we are up north.  I have them packed in my luggage, which has a big note on the top of it saying, ” Mono, do NOT open my luggage!!”  haha-  I didn’t want him opening it and seeing what I bought him.  I have nothing wrapped, so it is easier to fit in the luggage.  Once I get up to Maryland I will wrap everything for everyone – including Mon’s birthday gifts.  I think we are celebrating his birthday in New York!  We are going to go up there for the weekend, which is ALWAYS fun, especially at Christmas!  I LOVE New York!  What can I say? I am a New Yorker (or was one for the first 13 years of my life!)… Now, I am a Southern Girl! I love the south and how southern people are… the things they do, what they cook.  Oh I love it!  And there really is such a thing as southern hospitality!  :)   So, off to bed I go.  Lots and lots to do tomorrow!  Then Friday – Off to Maryland and NYC!!! :)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Christmas Shopping Is Harder Than I Thought!

I went to look for a few last minute gifts that I had not complete yet, including doing some shopping online, and boy… it can be hard!  You think you have the perfect gift in mind and then it’s either unavailable or not there in the right size, color or whatever.  It’s hard!  haha-  But I think Mono and I have come up with some really nice ideas.  Some will be shipped up north to be wrapped when Santa’s little elf arrives, but the rest have to be wrapped to stay home for Christmas or be packed carefully in my luggage for my little trip this coming week.  I have so much to do with really so little time.  I am sewing things, baking things, painting things… and the list goes on.  I pray I get it all done, along with everything else on my list to do before Friday.  I have two classes, one Monday morning and one on Tuesday morning (both from 9-2) and other than that I will be busy with my projects, errands and chores.  It’s just a lot of little things.  I have to still make sure to keep to my schedule though… Morning Mass (wish I could just sleep late), Adoration, chores, the gym, sewing…. And to top it all off, we still have to decorate our house for Christmas.  Tomorrow after class I am going to have to run into town to get some things to finish some painting projects and hopefully if I have a real successful day at class, I will have less to sew later on in the day.  Hopefully!  Then I have to run to Adoration and home to make some dinner (gosh, haven’t gotten that far yet!) and on to the gym to meet Mono for our workout.  :)   Should be full but hopefully I will accomplish it all real well.  Oh, add a trip to the bank in there!!  Can’t forget that!  Gosh, I really have a lot more odd, random things to do than I thought.  Well, I should get it all done.  I leave for a brief visit up north again on Friday so I have to have all of this done and get myself packed (which for me, takes some planning!) before Friday comes around.  I’ll be gone for a few days, flying home to be here for Christmas… which hopefully will include having my little sisters here!!!  I am really hoping they are able to spend Christmas down south with me again this year.  Nothing is better than waking up on Christmas morning and running to the Christmas tree with them and getting all excited to see what Santa brought!  The smiles and giggles just make me so happy!  Then we get all ready for the day and put the Christmas Parade on and start to get our food prepared for Christmas dinner, and look at each others gifts and call our family and friends to wish them all a Merry Christmas… and that is when I will have to call my Monito. I am always so happy when he goes home to visit his family, but it’s always bittersweet.  I always miss him on Christmas Day… it’s our favorite day, how could I not!?  Well, my babbling continues in this post as well.  I’m really tired and think I am going to just rest for a little bit, then get one or two more things done and head to bed.  Early to rise tomorrow with a full day ahead.  Goodnight!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Getting To Know You... Christmas Style!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?  I love to wrap my gifts in wrapping paper, bows, a nice tag and even a little accessory for an accent on top.  I love to give gifts and it makes it that much better when you can make it look nice!

2. Real tree or Artificial?   We have a HUGE tree, but it is artificial.  I love the smell of a fresh tree, but Yankee candles and wall plug-ins help! ;)

3. When do you put up the tree?  After Thanksgiving, depending on our schedule, but it goes up early in our house!

4 . When do you take the tree down?   At least until January 6th, but it usually stays up longer than that.  We enjoy it for a long time in our house!

5. Do you like eggnog? No, I'm really not fond of it.  Mono is so I bought him a container of it to enjoy!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Oh, as a child I received wonderful gifts.  Santa always brought just the right gift! :)  He still does. ;)

7. Hardest person to buy for?    Hmmm.... I don't usually have a real hard time getting presents.  I enjoy finding something that will be meaningful for each person.  If you don't know someone that well it is hard though.

8. Easiest person to buy for?    My little sisters, Kath, Katie, Monito, my family... I don't know.  They are all pretty easy I guess.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we have two and I'd have more if I found nice ones.  I really love Nativity scenes.  We have a small white porcelain one that my aunt made my parents and then a large one that is really beautiful that we sit in our den, right in the center of the room.  :)

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?  Oh, I definitely do regular mail for Christmas cards.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  I don't remember a bad Christmas gift.  I guess that is a good thing!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?   I like so many Christmas movies.  The older ones are great and a tradition to watch.  I enjoy watching Christmas Vacation and some of the newer, chick-flicky, made for tv ones.  I know, I'm a nerd.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?   I am always looking throughout the year.  If I see something that I know fits that person perfectly, I get it then.  It also helps financially so you don't have to spend so much money all at once right around Christmas!  I do sometimes end up with last minute gifts, like this year.  Yikes!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?  haha- No, that's just not right!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?  Well I always enjoy Christmas dinner with my family, but then our Christmas cookies and candies can't be missed, Peppermint bark is always yummy too... And my Mom makes this yummy Christmas punch with vanilla ice cream and crushed candy canes sprinkled on top!  We are only treated to it on Christmas Day!

16. Lights on the tree?   Yes and they are always white.  We have a very traditional tree.  It's beautiful!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Favorite? Do I have to just pick one?  I like too many of them!!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? I prefer to stay home if possible.  I've always lived close to family so it wasn't hard to stick closer to home.  Now that we live down south, we don't see our whole family on Christmas.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?  Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Vixen, Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Always and angel!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?   Christmas Morning!  Those are the best memories!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?  Stressed out people, crazy stores! Being far away from people you wish you could spend Christmas with.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?   Our tree has SO many ornaments.  There are no rules for what goes on it.  No color or theme to go by.  We have ornaments ranging from ones I made in pre-school to Waterford, Lenox and super delicate ones!  It's a beautiful tree with so many memories!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?    The traditional family meal... At least a ham, lots of sides, lots of desserts, Aunt Mary's rolls, fruit salad... Yummmm!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Oh there are a few things. ;)

The Start Of My Little Thoughts...

I've never written a blog before, but I thought I'd give it a whirl.  I love to write and have secretly been wanting to do this for a while now, but never thought I'd have anything of importance to write about, but I decided no matter how small my life may be, I'm going to do it!  So here I go... writing little thoughts about my little life.  This past week I was up north visiting some family and close friends and now I am back, just in time to get ready for this wonderful Christmas season!  I certainly miss my little sisters back up in Maryland, but I am looking forward to spending Christmas with them.  I came home yesterday and I will be going back up there one week later, next Friday, to spend a few days before Christmas and to celebrate Mono's birthday with him and his family.  I am really looking forward to that too.  Tonight I am babysitting my god-daughter for the evening and am loving it!  She is such a sweet little girl and I love her very much! :)  She fell fast asleep in Mono's arms and then I took her for a little before putting her in her crib and it was such a wonderful and peaceful little bit of time.  I could have sat with her in my arms all night, but I thought she'd be a bit happier in her crib.  She is all curled up, with her blankie, sucking her thumb... a bit like me as a little girl.  Now Mono and I are doing some of our on-line Christmas shopping!  I LOVE this time of year!  The music, the movies, scents coming from all around - the Christmas tree (or in my case, a Yankee candle!), baking, especially cookies (our family has a tradition that my Grandma started - cookie day - we bake Christmas cookies ALL day long!!!)... the lights, the decorations... Oh it is just wonderful!  I have two Santa collections, one collection lines our stairway and the others all sit on the glass shelves in the den.  Unfortunately my collection on the stairs has come to an end since we are out of steps, but there is still room for ones on the shelves! :)  I love to decorate for Christmas... I am sure I got it from my mom.  We have decorations all over!  Garland and lights, ribbons and bow, my Santas, lights in the windows, wreaths on the doors, the tree... it goes on and on and on.  I also set up a Christmas village.  It takes me days to set it up and it has been something I have been doing since I was about 9 years old.  So for about 14 years I have been collection my little houses and accessories and setting it up under the tree each year... in recent years it has grown too large to fit under the tree and now it takes up a third of our living room!  So I have one week to get this all done... and I have a lot of sewing to do for Christmas presents!  So much to do and so little time!  Well, this is a pretty boring first blog.  Hopefully I will get more interesting as I figure this all out.  ;)  Merry Christmas everyone!!!