Looking Back : Christmas with Dallas Friends

While in Dallas for Christmas, I got to see many of my friends, which was nice. It can get kind of crazy when I go back trying to balance time between friends and family. For shorter trips, I tend to just plan one dinner or something and hope that all my friends can come, but then it's hard to really talk to anyone and not all my friends are friends with each other, so it's not always the best scenario (not saying that any of them dislike each other...my friends are too nice/mature for that!). It's always fun for me though :) This time, I tried to spread it out a bit more...I probably packed too much in as it made things pretty busy and it made the time go by way too quickly!! I enjoyed seeing so many people though and we did some pretty fun things!!

Michelle, Jennifer, Brooke, and Andi came over the Friday before Christmas week. I was at Beth's baby-sitting so they came over around 8:00 after the boys were in bed. We ordered pizza and salad and then made Christmas sugar cookies. It was really fun and we made A LOT of cookies. Brooke brought some awesome decorating tools and is really good at it....I learned a thing or two and may be a bit more confident now to stray from my normal simplistic decorating. While the girls were over, I also had them assemble their own Christmas gift from me. I made all my NYC and Dallas friends ornaments this year (stole the idea from Kelly's blog). But, I ran out of time that day to finish assembling the ornaments for these 4 girls so I let them make their own. Does that still count as a gift??? (Oh, and Kristen, I had one for you with an "r" for Ray and forgot to give it to you!!! I left it in "my" drawer at my mom's house so I can give it to you some other time I am back).

Brooke, the master cookie creator

These were probably all Brooke's creations

Another Brooke cookie

Um, probably not Brooke's (Andi?)

Random mix of fun cookies!

We forgot to pull out the camera until Michelle left,

but here I am with Brooke, Andi, and Worley

and some of our cookies!

Worley brought us each one of these brownie bites!  I
love how she stuck the candy cane stick in it and I
LOVED how they were brownie bites instead of cake
bites. Y'all know I love cake bites, but I think I
might like brownie bites even better!

On Saturday, I met my old Ernst & Young gang for brunch. It is always fun to see these girls and get caught up. I wish I had the chance to see Kelli a bit more that week, but things were just too busy for us!

This trip to Dallas was the first time I met up with some of my New York friends. Many of my NYC friends are from the Dallas area and now some have started to move back to Texas. So, I had the chance to catch-up with both Sarah and Kristen while I was there. All of us were in Community Group together until Kristen and Sarah moved to Texas in August/September. It was really good to see them and they are both doing so well and enjoying their new lives in Texas. On Sunday I met Sarah for church and then brunch. We went to Watermark so she could try it - she's still on the church hunt. After, we went to Gloria's for brunch - yum! On Wednesday, I met Erin and Kristen for dinner at Taco Diner. Kristen had a small ranch wedding soon after moving back to Austin and she brought her album to share with us which was so fun. It was a really sweet, intimate wedding.  I love my NYC/Texas friends.

On Sunday night, I got to (kind of ) participate in Bunco for the first time since moving away. I used to be a regular with the group. We didn't end up actually playing Bunco, but instead had an ornament exchange and a cookie exchange....two of my favorite things!! I made Gingerbread Chocolate Chunk cookies. My friend Jen made these last year for a NYC exchange and they were amazing. I don't think mine turned out like hers, but they were still good. The cookies Tamara brought were my favorite -- Chocolate Mint cookies, made with Andes Mints (which I love).

I had lunch with both my old Dallas roommates. I went to Deanna's house one day for lunch so I could see her and her boys. We had a good time catching-up and her boys are SO cute. They might be the happiest brothers I've ever seen. Smiling ear to ear the whole time. Another day, I picked up Kristen from work and we went and had a Greek lunch. It was good food and good conversation as always!

Andi and I did the Jingle Bell Run and it was so fun! I used to do it every year in Dallas, but then they quit doing it after Hurricane Katrina (it used to benefit Carter Blood and they were too busy with other things that year).  It's finally back and I want to do it every year! A lot of people came out for it...many decked out in crazy Holiday gear. The run/walk (we did a little of both!) took us through the Design District and there are a lot of new stores popping up down there. It was interesting to see what's there and I may have to go do some shopping down there some time. After the run/walk there was a little party inside The Anatole and we had fun there, too.

My week ended with an amazing mani/pedi date with Michelle at Julie's salon. Julie used to work at Maile Nails...a salon I went to almost every other week for about 5 years. I loved it! I had read that Julie had branched out on her own - she was always one of the best at Maile. So, I wanted to check it out and it was amazing!!! I actually ran out of time for my manicure, but the pedicure may have been the best I've ever had and I cannot wait to go back!! They massage your legs and feet for a very long time and even use hot stones. It was heavenly.

So, as you can see, I was busy, but got to do a lot of fun things with some fun friends! It was great to celebrate Christmas with everyone!!

Looking Back : Christmas 2009 in the City

Community Group Christmas! My CG got together for a night of good food and celebration! Robyn made delicious BBQ chicken and we all brought a little something to go with it. I ran out of time to make anything and we didn't have any bread coming, so I picked up Popovers w/ strawberry butter from the Popover Cafe....yum! We sat around talking for hours. I love this group of girls!

This city is seriously the most festive place during the Holidays!! I love it.  All of the big business buildings decorate to some extent.  They usually bring out the same decs every year.  This year, a couple of the buildings on 6th Avenue right by the NHL building had new decorations which was fun and exciting!!

The Fox building put out these new red trees

And the building next to them had these huge, fun lights!

Mindy and I decided to spend an evening after work checking out all the Holiday lights and decorations. We started out with dinner at the Burger Joint - I haven't been there in ages and LOVE it. It is so good and a little hidden treasure. Plus, it was close to the start of the Holiday Department Store Windows. We walked by several of the Department stores to see their windows....Bergdorf's, Saks, Lord & Taylor, and finally Macy's. Bergdorf's was by far the best. Their Holiday windows are beautiful! I love how they incorporate their clothing into the displays, unlike the other stores that just have crazy displays that don't actually relate to any of the products they're selling. Also, Bergdorf's windows each had a different material they used to create a work of art - one was all green grass/plant materials, one was all glass, one was all paper, etc.... They were really amazing! We also walked up 5th Avenue and saw all the smaller stores that are decked out for the Holidays. We walked into St. Pat's and got to see their choir rehearsing and see the Nativity Scene inside. We saw the Saks light/music show and the Rock Center Tree and skating rink. We stopped along the way at Magnolia Bakery for some delicious Hot Chocolate - I'd never had theirs before and it was so good! It was a very fun night and I'm glad I had a chance to enjoy the City lights before I left town.

There was a choir practicing when we stopped

in St. Pats, so we stopped for a bit to listen

I love Nativity Scenes!  This is the one

inside St. Pats.

Rockefeller

I always love the snowflake show at Saks!

Windows at Lord & Taylor

Macy's windows were interactive.  At this one, you

got to fill out some answers to questions (Mad Libs

style).  It used your answers to create a letter to

Santa.  Here's mine!

Craftacular Fair -- I decided to go to a craft fair I'd read about and it was so great! When I got there, the line to get inside was very long - they were at capacity. It was cold and I debated leaving, but decided that if all those people were there, it must be worth it. It was really cool. I didn't buy much - one baby gift, but they had a lot of really great things I enjoyed looking at. I also got to help make my own bag using cool machines that cut fabric, iron on stickable fabric, etc.... Fun!

The bag I helped create for myself!

Holiday Markets - One of my favorite things between Thanksgiving and New Years are the holiday markets that pop up all over the city. I made it to 3 of them this year - Bryant Park (multiple times), Grand Central, and Union Square. I love to browse through these things and always find at least one Christmas gift for someone and always end up buying some sort of jewelry for myself. I got some earrings and a bracelet this year.

The Holiday Market at Union Square

Bryant Park is so festive!

Kim's candle -- One of the girls in my community group lit the Candle of Peace during Advent. Kim started going to our group just weeks before she was going in for a double mastectomy. I had met her a few times through Baylor stuff, but she was a new friend for most the other girls. It was a scary time for her and she was in need of a support group, as her parent's were in Houston and her mom was recovering from a 2nd round of breast cancer herself. The girls in my group really stepped-up to help Kim out during this time and we provided her lots of meals to make it through the weeks where she wasn't feeling well and in a lot of pain. Jen and Erin made a video about the experience that was shown at the church service and then Kim lit the candle. It was a neat experience to have together.

BOOTS!

I am going to try to participate in some of the Friday "Show us Your Life" carnivals over at Kelly's Korner.  It's a good way to get some new topics for my blog and I like reading some of the others as it's a great resource for all kinds of ideas!  This week, we're blogging about where we like to shop.  Since I'm totally into my boots right now, I thought I'd blog about some recent boot related purchases.

I love boots in the winter and since moving to New York, I've gone a bit overboard.  But, it's all I wear all winter long and I love them and need them for work and play!  I recently got a new pair of black leather boots (my old ones desperately needed replacing).  I bought news ones online at Endless.com .  Have you been there yet??  It's an amazing website with shoes and accessories.  They often have specials and coupons.  My boots were on sale and I had a coupon, so I saved about $100 or half the cost of the boots!  My favorite thing about Endless is that they ship overnight for FREE!!  It's amazing.  I can place an order at 4:00pm and it will be at my desk when I arrive to work the next day.  I love that!

Also, this week I bought some Boot Bandits.  Have you seen these?  I got the Fleur de Lis ones and can't wait to try them out with my boots over jeans or with a skirt!

2Bandits makes all kinds of these cute pieces for your boots.  I went with a more neutral color so that I can wear it with all kinds of things and both my brown and black boots!  Plus, they were on the cheaper end of the line :)

Latest Celeb Sighting

I passed by this former actor on the street while out to lunch today....

Love This! Empire State of Mind

From the kids of PS22!

Stalker

So, I'm pretty sure John Stossel is going to begin thinking I'm stalking him.  Remember when I saw him on the subway back in December?  I'm pretty sure he noticed me staring at him that day.  I really wasn't staring because it was John Stossel, but more because I was just trying to figure out if it really was John Stossel.  I'm sure he's great on whatever Fox show he's on now, but I promise, I'm really not that enamored with John Stossel.  I'm pretty sure he noticed me staring.

Well since that first sighting in December, I've shared a subway car with him three more times.  He seems to live one subway stop south of me and works in the Fox building which is right next door to the NHL building.  I always situate myself on the south end of the train when going to work and the north end of the train when going home as this puts me right by the station exits nearest to where I'm heading.  Apparently, he does this, too.  And it seems we must commute around the same time.  Every time, I fear that he remembers me from that first time when I stared at him a bit too much and a bit too long.

Well, it gets worse.  I have tickets to The View on Monday morning (watch in case I'm on!) and I just checked their calendar to see who will be on that day.  Any guesses?  Yep, John Stossel.  Boy, is he going to be freaked out when he sees me sitting in the audience. 

It's actually rather depressing, I mean of all people I could be stalking, John Stossel would not be near the top of my list.

Vermont Cuteness!

This is the Public Library I grew up going to in

Columbia.  It didn't actually look like this back then,

as it's been remodeled, but it was just as ugly then.

This is the library I used during my college years at Baylor

This is the library at SMU where I spent

MANY hours studying for the CPA exam.

This is the library I just became a member of in NYC

And this is a library in Vermont!

Do you see how cute that is?!?  Oh, my. 

And here?  A Town Hall in Vermont

This one is a School District building

And here we have "Little Barn" situated

right next to a similar bigger barn

I love New England cuteness and Vermont isn't nearly the cutest state up there (I'd have to rank Connecticut as #1).  However, given the opportunity to spend a weekend in "second-rate" Vermont, I'll take it!  Lucy and her co-worker, Angela, were going for a weekend of skiing, Kim and I decided to go along.  I was the loner who didn't want to ski or snowboard.  I just don't think it's fun in my old years.  It's so scary!!  Not to mention painful and frightfully cold.  No thank you.  I enjoyed exploring Vermont...spent many hours in Kim's car just driving and looking at the beautiful scenery and all the cuteness.  I welcomed hours spent alone with my thoughts, hot cocoa, and Lucy's Avett Bros CD that I listened to over and over and over.  And, when the girls weren't on the slopes, I had a blast hanging out with them, too.

The weekend included:

- A late night drive Friday after work.  We took Kim's car and it took us about 5 hours (only 4 to get back on Sunday).

- We stayed in a loft apartment over a garage next to a couple's home.  It was SO nice.  They just built it 2 years ago so everything was new and clean and it was the perfect size for the four of us.  We loved it and I seriously think I'll be back there some day.

This is the main part of the home

And this is the loft where we stayed next to the home

The view out our front windows...wish it had

been sunny this day..the pic would have

turned out much better. It was gorgeous!

- STUCK in the Snow!!
I was driving when we pulled into our home away from home about midnight on Friday/Saturday.  There was a slight incline and I just didn't give enough gas to get up over the snowy/icy hill.  Then, we slid back into a snow bank and were officially stuck.  The owners of the home came out to help, but we just couldn't get it out.  We left it where it was for the night and a neighbor came over the next morning with a truck to pull it out.  Angela then tried again to park closer to the home and got stuck AGAIN...literally 10 minutes after the neighbor had left.  Our lovely hosts called their neighbor to come back and pull the Jeep out again.  At that point, I was a little glad that I wasn't the only one who'd managed to get the car stuck!  We decided it was the tires.  Although we had 4-wheel-drive, the tires weren't all-weather radials and didn't have the traction needed for snow and ice.  We parked at the end of the very driveway for the duration of the trip and just walked down the long, snowy driveway to our home.

- Shopping!  I didn't hit up too many great stores, but didn't conquer everything on my list.  I know of a couple of other towns I'd like to scope out next time I go back.  I did find some antique stores I enjoyed, one was particularly good and the owner of our loft told me that New York designers go there to find treasures!  They had some really great furniture.  I love looking at that kind of stuff and dreaming about what I could do with it...if only I had the space and an unlimited source of income.  We stayed just 15 minutes from Weston, VT which gets a big spot on maps because the Vermont Country Store is there.  It's a VERY famous store and I was so excited to go.  Unfortunately, I wasn't all that impressed.  It was HUGE and had a little bit of everything.  Almost like a department store, but on a smaller scale.  And a little bit more random and lower quality.  I found it to be a little odd and hillbilly-ish.  I would go back there again if in the area, but mainly for the free food samples they had which became my light lunch on Saturday :)

- A lot of my time was spent driving around the countryside taking pictures of cute things, which I found to be all the more quaint in the snow.

This was a little Inn I ran across.  The icicles on many

of the buildings made everything so charming!

I took a detour to visit this farm where they make

maple syrup and cheeses.  It was a cute place,

but stank to high heaven there, so I left pretty quickly!

So many pretty churches in the snow!

Even the old boarded up churches

in Vermont are cute!

I believe this is a child's playhouse.

It was so cute!

I ran across this Bake Shop on Saturday and made

a mental note to go back Sunday, but it was closed.

Next time.  I wanted to try their Whoopie Pies!

Instead, I went to this bakery which was

literally a room in the back of someone's

house.  I saw A LOT of those types of

businesses while driving across Vermont.

I found two covered bridges of Vermont!

This one was down a pretty large hill and I was

too scared that if I drove down I would get stuck!

So, I hiked down and it was worth it!  Such a

pretty, quiet place in the middle of no where.

The water and ice below the bridges was

pretty magnificent as well.

- Home cooked meals!  I cooked dinner on Saturday for the girls after their day on the slopes.  We had chili  with fritos and cheese, corn bread, and wine.  It was yummy!  Our hosts had left us Vermont cheese and crackers and homemade brownies.  We used the cheese as an appetizer and shredded some to go on our chili and had the brownies for dessert!  On Sunday morning, Angela made us scrambled eggs and potatoes.  I don't usually like breakfast potatoes, but these were soooo good.  I might start trying that at home some weekends.  We spent a little over $10 each for the food for dinner and breakfast (including wine!).  We NEVER eat that cheap in the city. 

- While the girls skiied Okemo on Saturday and Stratton on Sunday, I checked out the lodges a little.  Okemo was a little small-town and the lodge was a bit run-down.  I didn't spend much time there at all.  Stratton was much nicer, but I ran out of time to spend there.  Next time, I will take a book to read and go in the shops there.

My skier and snowboarding friends!

Kim, Lucy, Angela

On the way out of the mountains, we were treated

to a beautiful sunset.  Perfect way to end a perfect

weekend.

I really think this is a weekend trip that we will re-do at least once in the future!