The Holiday Season

December 9th - Gingerbread Wonderland at Frelinghuysen Arboretum 

I joined my girlfriend Stacy and her two girls, Bianca and Emma, once again for this fun event!

Magical Door

Hurricane Candy

Notre Dame got the most votes.

December 11 - the 4th night of Chanukah

December 12th - East Village

Creepy pic I shot with Diane after drinks with Wendy.

December 13th - AP's Holiday Party

Me & Eva

My colleagues Lisa and Michael

December 15th - Scott Babe & I watching the Simpsons

"obscure card games" LOL!!! I play pit!!!

December 16th - Some bubbly at Pig & Prince

December 19th - Holiday cheer at Matt & Lauren's gorgeous apt. on 56th St.

Loved their courtyard, too!

December 23rd - Made Pinwheels that my Grandmother always used to make

Christmas Eve

Lunch:

View from Cemetery Hill  road in Washington -- Driving to Kyril & Josephine's from my parents house. 

Kyril's home in Frenchtown

8 acres with vineyard, carriage house and chickens!

Homemade lasagna for their family dinner later on.

Let's get this party started!

Scott Babe

Bandit (Laura's pooch)

Pizza!

Josephine slicing peppers

Bandit and Stella

SO GOOD!

Stella warming up.

In addition to lasagna, Josephine will be preparing Peking duck which is their son's favorite.

Christmas Eve

Dinner:
*Sadly, no pictures of the main course, Luchow's sauerbraten -- my Grandmother used to always make this.

I had my mom's name this year for Secret Santa and splurged the day after Black Friday with her gift from Lenox.com. My mom loves to entertain and she loves Lenox. And she's ALWAYS wanted Lenox Christmas dishes. I got her going with dinner and salad plates. UPS delivered it to her door a couple of days later. She said that she was so happy that she was shaking—wasn't expecting it. She could not wait for Christmas Eve!  

Our annual raccoon torte from Swiss Colony!

My mom did a lot of cookies this year -- this pic only shows what I chose to devour :-) 

Christmas:

Christmas morning: Scott Babe and Tarissa

Purring Ginger getting cozy with Daddy

Tarissa's self portrait with Charlie

Tarissa's shot of Ginger

Christmas lunch at Uncle Frankie's:

Mommy & Uncle Frank

Day after Christmas at Aunt Lisa & Uncle Ken's in Bangor, PA:

Downstairs Living room (another tree in their upstairs TV room!)

Budweiser themed tree in the Bud room!

Aunt Lisa impressed! Spicy Tomato-Cheese Soup in shot glasses along with Mini-Grilled-Cheese (Sandra Lee recipe or was it Rachael Ray?)

We had to cut the celebration short because the roads were getting bad :-(

Scott Babe thought it was a bit nutty that we stopped at Hot Dog Johnny's on the way home! Mmmm mmm mmmm!

All I want for Christmas is...

I was PUNKED. I was DUPED. I was TRICKED on Christmas! Whichever way you want to say it, here's my silly story:

We picked Secret Santa names on Oct. 27th, Tarissa's birthday.

I only had ONE thing on my list this year -- My girlfriend Cyndy recommended the game Catch Phrase to me last month. When Cyndy recommends something to me, I take note!

On November 14th, I sent an email to everyone saying:

If anyone has my name, I would love to have this for Christmas!!!
Catch Phrase! game
+ the 2 AAA batteries that aren't included! LOL

On Dec. 11th, my cousin Christi emails me:
I need a wish list for your secret santa please.

I responded,
I sent it already! Catch Phrase!

We exchanged our Secret Santa gifts at Uncle Frankie's house on Christmas Day. I had a few presents from "Santa" by my feet. I first opened wine glasses + a bottle of Zinfandel.  Nice BUT this wasn't Catch Phrase. I was acting like I was 6 years old again! Next present, a practical 4 x 6 picture frame. "Santa" knows I'm a shutterbug, but still no Catch Phrase!

I unwrapped the final gift from my Secret Santa.

Pet Petter???

 This is NOT what I wanted!!! I'm disappointed. I had a sad face on. WHAT IS THIS???

Our kittens don't have fleas! I said out loud!

I sat for a couple of minutes in disappointment.

Unbeknownst to me, my brother David shot this picture of our cousin Robbie, as I was opening my gifts. (I learned later that he was my Secret Santa and master duper!)

I opened that box and was truly surprised that my Catch Phrase game was inside. ♥

Batteries not included but that's ok! :-)

Good Eats with Good Friends

October:

Lillie's in Times Square

YUM to the pulled pork sandwich!

Pearlie and I ate here before seeing New Order at Roseland. ♥

Well...maybe this wasn't good eats, but it was good company! Merrideth and I ate at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central. I had always been curious about it. Too bad the fish wasn't as fresh as they claim and presentation was cafeteria style. Yawn.

Pretty bartender 

Wienerschnitzel (with chicken) over spätzle and apfelstrudel ♥

Zeppelin Hall Biergarten in Jersey City -- Katie knows how to get a group together at a hip location. 

I'm spoiled to have Frame so close to me at work! Lindsay joined me for lunch one afternoon. :-)

Lunch with Matt at his cafeteria at HBO! Very cool!!!

Raymond's with Scott Babe. We love their daily specials!

Local Pork "Duo" - Spice rubbed pork tenderloin, crisp pork belly, banana grits, garlic rubbed broccoli rabe, verjus reduction. (I substituted green beans for the broccoli rabe!)

November:

Lunch with Marie at Frame

 (I'm still learning how to take take Panoramic pics with my new iPhone 5!)

Dinner with Luly at Pig & Prince ♥

Shake Shack in the Upper East Side with Stefan and Eva.

My first time at that location!  

Frank in town from California. Delicious dinner at Pig and Prince.

December:

OMG. I have died and gone to heaven!

 This was no ordinary crab cake. This was the best I have ever eaten! The restaurant's website doesn't have this version listed for me to give you a precise description, but let me just say that it had lobster in that creamy sauce! 

 We dined with Jenny on a Saturday night and dummy me took no pics of us! :-( 

 Add the Stone House to your to-eat list and skip the valet parking. Also, if you plan on getting married, have it here and add me to your guest list! hehe

Holiday Breakfast with Mrs. Robinson at Raymonds. The top picture isn't mine and it isn't taken at Raymond's! I just think it's too damn cute not include somewhere on my blog! ♥

After work drinks and a bite to eat with Diane and Wendy at The Wren in the East Village. :-)

Holiday brunch with Tamar. This was a big deal for me. She lives in California and trips back to the east coast are rare. And who knows when I will ever get to L.A.!

 Tamar is in Boston for the holiday season, but only in NYC for 40 hours -- the weekend before Christmas. My gut told me that I had to make this happen. I'm grateful we got to share a little bit of time together and catch up. Once again, I'm at Lillie's! I may not recommend their home fries, but I do recommend keeping in touch with those you find dear. ♥