Christmas in New York

Right before Christmas I had a work trip to NYC.  It was a quick in-and-out visit but the night I was there I managed to visit Rockefeller Center to see the giant Christmas tree and the ice-skating rink.  I've never been to New York around the holidays and was quite excited to take in some of the 'traditional' sites.

Taxi ride in from JFK

In Jacques Torres Chocolate

The tree!

30 Rock ;)

Merry Christmas!

Catch Up Posting!

You know you love these posts --- the ones that show how much I've neglected my blog over the past months and have a lot of random things to cram into one giant blog roll?  Well, this is one of those!  Honestly, these types of posts are really the most telling because it will give you a snapshot into what is really going on in my brain at all times --- always hopping from one thought to the next :)  Here goes...

Baby Shower for Stratton Mary Michaels
A few girlfriends and I got together and hosted a shower for our dear friend, Blake.  She's due in early January with her first baby, Miss Stratton Mary.  If you think that sounds "Southern," you'd be right -- Blake is from Macon, Georgia (and went to UGA...but I don't hold that against her!).  We all chipped in and brought food and decor, games etc.  My assignment was the gift for guests, instead of food or something that would end up in the trash, we did pink and grey nail polish, after Blake's nursery colors.

The Hostesses with Blake
L to R: Nicole, Kim, Lauren, Blake, me, Priscilla

Heliotrope Ridge Trail Ski Tour

The day after the shower, Will redeemed a coupon for a ski tour (I made him some sports-related coupons for our anniversary). The idea was that we'd get in some nice turns early in the season - it was really clear and a beautiful day.  The reality was we hiked with our skis on our packs for most of the day and then had a few small turns in an area that I was not comfortable with. We were off trail because there weren't many people out and we were following some ski tracks that had been put in and we knew it wasn't right but thought the winter route may have taken a different route than Will was familiar with.  End of day, we learned not to follow existing tracks just because they are there or people ahead of you are taking them.  Go with your instincts, your knowledge of the terrain, and make good decisions.  Overall, even though we hiked with skis most of the time, it was beautiful out on Mt. Baker and we got in a nice workout.

Iced waterfall

Whistler, BC

Next up --- Thanksgiving in Canada.  Sounds funny to say, eh? We went to Whistler to ski again this year over Thanksgiving like we did last year. Technically, we were there the day after Thanksgiving; our friends up the hill, Kal and Amy, were kind enough to invite us to have Thanksgiving dinner at their house again this year (I failed to take a photo). Whistler is such a nice resort and not super crowded early on in the season. Roughly a third or a fourth of the mountain was open, if I had to guess, but still plenty to keep us busy while we were there.  We had a little studio condo with a full kitchen right by the lifts.  The days went like this: wake up, Will would make coffee and breakfast and get everything packed while I dress (b/c he always wants to be first one in line at the lifts), ski until about 2 pm, afternoon nap and tv watching session, cook dinner and walk around Whistler Village. Oh, and all the while having a nice drink or two, or three :)  I have a feeling we'll be back for many more American Thanksgivings to come...

California

Mini-update but still wanted to include this one for the photo alone.  I went to California for work, UC Davis, who happen to be the "Aggies"... so fitting!

Cows on campus!

Parties

The last section to this update will be "parties" --- including a Stella & Dot jewelry party that I hosted, a birthday diner, and a cookie swap party at Priscilla's house with my close group of girlfriends. Blake is a Stella & Dot stylist: http://www.stelladot.com/sites/blakemichaels and she brought over her jewelry to host a party.  It was lovely and I think everyone who came had a nice time and got some great Christmas gifts.

Last week my friends and I got together for "Mexican Monday's" at Poquitos in Capitol Hill to celebrate Kim's (from Texas, sort of) birthday.  She regularly has "Mexican Monday's" throughout the year so it was only fitting that we do this for her big day. To add just a bit more commentary, it was exactly 20 degrees last week in Seattle, the coldest it's ever been since moving here, so in the group photo below you will see me in a giant puffy vest, which I wore under my giant, below-the-knee, puffy coat --- and I was warm!  Only thing I needed was a pair of puffy boots.  A bit off topic, but this is my favorite coat of all time, so if you need a dependable go-to, that's super warm, comfortable, machine-washable, check out the Patagonia puffer.  I purchased a kid's one for about half the price as the 'adult' version so if you're petite, I'd recommend going this route. Mine is the black one below, but looks like they have replaced it with a chevron-style (sans hood) this year. A jacket in Seattle without a hood is a deal-breaker for me though. http://www.patagonia.com/us/shop/girls?k=eY

And, lastly, a picture from last night's get together at Priscilla's (from South Carolina) house. I had to include this because my friend Corinna (from Mississippi) just had her second baby, Georgia Leigh.  Do you see a theme with lots of my "Seattle" friends, haha! Here I am, holding her 5-week old sweetie; not a peep came out of her all night, so well behaved!

That's it, sum, finito, done!  I'm heading out next week to NYC for work then directly to Alabama to visit my family then to Atlanta to visit my inlaws for Christmas.  What I'm hinting at is don't expect another post until after the new year.  So, my dear readers, until then, have a very Merry Christmas!