Giants, Germans, Gatherings

Two Thursdays ago, I met Christina and Rosella for dinner at Rolf’s, a German restaurant in Gramercy. Our driving force was not so much the food as the Christmas decorations. These people go all out. It was insane! Every inch was covered (and I mean COVERED) in greenery, lights, ornaments, etc…. It actually looked pretty. I loved it! Food was not so great and expensive, but I guess they can get away with that with their Christmas decs – it was packed! These pictures do not do it justice!

Two Saturdays ago, I went to two Christmas parties. The first was a small gathering of girls & a jewelry show at my friend, Ashley’s. The jewelry was being sold by another girl and was from a company that’s kind of run like Mary Kay or something. I did not like the jewelry, which makes it kind of awkward when you want to leave without buying anything! I hate stuff like that! It was fun to hang out with these girls for a while though. My friend, Lucy, went with me and we grabbed dinner in Korea-town since it’s right by Ashley’s. I had Bibimbob for the first time – yum! After Ashley’s, Lucy and I headed up to my apartment to get a little more dressed up to go to a cocktail party she had been invited to. It was in my neighborhood at a cute apartment and there were a ton of people there. I didn’t know anyone else there, but it was a fun and interesting crowd!

Two Sundays ago, I went to a Giant’s game with Christina. I was able to get tickets through work – still had to pay for them, but we must have some sort of deal with the NFL because they were very awesome seats for much cheaper than you could normally get them for. We were on the 40-yard-line and way down close to the field behind the Giants bench. It was so much fun! It was cold that day – we even saw snow flurries – but, I had on many layers, so I was pretty warm!

Christina & I Eli Manning, warming up!!

Had to pull out the bonnet for the 2nd Half! Some seats emptied

out as well, so we moved on down to the 1st row - awesome!

This past Tuesday night, I had a cookie exchange with my Community Group. It was so much fun! I made my sugar cookies – I debated making something I hadn’t already taken to group another time, but I knew they love my cookies and I wanted to make Christmas ones! I did stars, snowflakes, and Christmas trees. They turned out cute...and tasted better! I think I may make more this week for my co-workers. One of the girls made drinks instead of cookies – Poinsetta’s – and they were absolutely delicious!! I have had these before, but her recipe was a little different and soooo good!

Wednesday night was book club. We've all been so busy that only Rosella had finished the book. So, we opted to wait and discuss our current book in January to give the rest of us time to finish. We went to dinner anyway and had a blast! We went to Otto, one of Mario Battali's restaurants that I've been to before. It is great Italian tapas and pizzas. Such a fun place to share yummy food and wine.

Friday night, Mindy and I grabbed dinner at Eatery and then went to see Boeing-Boeing on Broadway. I have been wanting to see this because I've heard good things and it has a fun cast. The actresses include Christine Baranski (most recently in Mamma Mia the movie, among other movies. also highlighted in a previous "Name that Actress" blog.), Paige Davis (Trading Spaces), Rebecca Gayhart (Ugly Betty, etc... And also in a "Name that Actress" blog....now I know why she was walking her dog so close to B'way late one night), and Missi Pyle (Charlie & the Choc. Factory and TONS of funny films). Greg Germann (Ally McBeal) was also in the play. Boeing-Boeing is leaving B'way in a few weeks (as are many shows...thank you recession), so time was running out to see it! I got cheap $20 seats in the cute side-boxes...which means we had a partial view, but we could see most of the action and you feel so close to the actors from there. It was fun! But, I was a little disappointed in the play. It was kind of obnoxious, over-the-top type humor that I don't think is so funny. The premise was cute, though.

Saturday morning was a Christmas tea/Brunch at Danise's. There was a good group of ladies from church there and Danise had an awesome spread for us and even sent us home with more goodies! It was a fun morning.

The rest of my weekend was spent shopping...I've hit up 2 of the Holiday Markets, which are possibly my very favorite thing in NYC at Christmas. I went to my two favorites...the ones Bryant Park and Grand Central Station. So fun and a great place to find unique gifts (and get a few things for myself). I also hit a good sale at Lord & Taylor and went on a wild-goose chase for Super-Hero gear for the boys.

Sunday was double-church day. I taught SS in the morning...only had one little girl, Sydney, in my class this week. I contemplated joining the older class that had 4 today, but Sydney said she likes to be the only one! So, we hung out together for a while and once we had completed our lesson and projects the older girls came over to our room to play. Sydney is a performer, if ever I've seen one. She sings, dances and acts...often little musical numbers she has made up herself! It is hilarious. She actually has a really great voice for a 2nd grader - I really think she could be famous some day! She can even do awesome gymnastics and has never taken a class. Late Sunday afternoon, I went to a joint service with our church and the church that lets us use their building for our evening service. This was a candle-light Christmas service that was totally run by the other church (but there were NO candles...what??). It was very, very different from my church's services and, honestly, I wanted to poke my eyes out! It was very slow, quiet, and monotonous...and lasted almost 2 hours! I found myself missing JR's preaching - I will have to go online to listen to the sermon he gave this morning while I was teaching Syd.

This week does not hold any major plans and should be much slower. There are some Christmas-y things I'd still like to see in NYC before I head to Texas, but I also feel like I've been run ragged and need to slow down and spend time remembering what this Season is all about. I want to experience the real JOY we're meant to experience in remembering Christ's birth and I think just spending more time with Him is the best way to get there. I hope to listen to the 2 Advent sermons I've missed at church and I want to read a Christmas book my old pastor in Dallas wrote that I read a few years ago and really enjoyed. Hopefully, I can do those things before Dec. 25th as part of preparing myself to appropriately celebrate on that day!