It's Christmas Time in the City

It was a magical trip. Needless to say, there's nothing like New York City during the Holiday Season and I hardly know where to begin. Above was taken near Rockefeller Center, home of the famous ice skating rink. (You'll have to pardon all the blurry photos I took the entire trip. What was up with that?????)

After arriving in the city and dropping my luggage off at the hotel (my room wasn't quite ready), I decided to head down to pick up some cookies at one of the suggested bakeries on the Chowhound website. I had promised the kid I would come home with some wonderful Italian butter cookies the area is known for and thought I would get that out of the way. (Did I mention that I had invited my brother Jim to meet me in the city? Of course, I wanted to get all my "must-do's" before he arrived on Monday!) I walked the 12 city blocks only to find Pozzo's Bakery closed up tight. I thought perhaps it was just closed on Sunday. But on my way out of the city and on the way to the airport on Tuesday, it was still closed; so I'm afraid it has closed down for good. Geesh, I'm glad I didn't do that schlep again only to find it still closed! You'd think I would have called first. I'm not that organized. Perhaps one day I'll learn.

On my way back to 5th Avenue, I passed Rockefeller Center. It was a mob scene. I don't think I have ever been there on a weekend. Wooosh! It was totally packed. There was an orchestra playing on the ice; and it was so lovely hearing the beautiful Christmas music coming from all around. One of my favorite Swiss chocolatiers is located there, Teuscher's. The kid and I actually went to the shop in Zurich last year. I always have to get their Champagne Truffles. Yum. I got a big box so my brother and I could eat a few and I would have plenty to bring home. I also picked up some goodies for friends, family and stockings.


I strolled through Times Square and then back up to 55th. I thought the M&M Store (yep, one of those there) had a cute little movie playing above its storefront. Way too creative. (The Corona is for Raphi.) It was a tad cold and of course all my scarves were stored in my luggage since it was almost 70 degrees (f) when I left Nashville, and so I bought me a little wool cap from one of the street vendors--$10. It reminded me of my Aunt Ollie for some reason. She used to always have a little cap on in the winter and she must have had one like the one I bought. This little setting was outside a florist. I liked the look of the large river stones in the grate and the red vines running through it. And, of course, there are many many shows playing. I just happen to walk by this marque and thought you might enjoy seeing Grease.

Then I headed on over to 6th Avenue where I ran into Radio City Music Hall. They normally have the humongous toy soldiers for their Christmas shows up on the roof, but this year it was their 75th year of the show and changed the scene. So pretty. It was about this time that I received a phone call that my room was ready. Yippee. I was ready by then to get settled. I passed Saks Fifth Avenue but I never made it back to look at their window displays. The lines were ridiculously long, and remember, I don't do lines. Booo hisssssss. I wonder if they were as fun as they were last year?

More to come tomorrow.

Greetings from NYC

Yay! Shelley was the first to guess correctly so she gets a gift from New York. I actually saw her win this morning and I already picked out her gift. And I'm feeling especially festive so I'm going to send something to Rosa in Switzerland. I will email you Rosa in order to get your address.

Busy busy here so I'm off again. Silver bells . . .

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Where in the World is Rosa?

The hub sent me away for a couple of days. The kitchen idiots are coming in on Monday and Tuesday to finish the place up--yea right. I couldn't stand the thought of seeing their stupid faces and so I'm out of town until Tuesday. You can say it's just "what the doctor ordered."

So here's the deal. The first person to guess (correctly) where I am will get something special from here. I haven't decided what I'll send, but of course, it will be good (guuuud).

Okay, one, two, three GO!

Scratch & Sniff Here

Oh, if only you could smell the Christmassy fragrance happening here right now.

Yep, the tree arrived, around 7 tonight. Before I could even take any pics of the box's arrival, the hub had whipped it out of the box, cut the trunk and, with the help of the kid and the movie star, had it in its stand in the study. Bella was quite curious, as I had imagined. I think she would already be hanging from the top if I hadn't kicked her out of the room. Aha, now I remember why we put the French doors to this room! To keep the little rodents out!

Speaking of which, Abby likes to take a power walk after dinner every night. Unfortunately, you'd never know it from her shape, poor girl. (I feel your pain, Abby.) When she's finished, she comes and scratches at the window. If I sit really still, she can't see me. Aren't I mean? Fa la la la la.

Decorating Diva

Guess I'm finally in the mood, as moody as I've ever been--snicker. I've been decorating like a mad woman. Well, actually I'm decorating at a leisurely pace this year. And I'm enjoying it. I think I have it down to a science at this point which helps tremendously. Miss Bella, above peeking through the poinsettias, is hampering what I'm putting out. I normally have my little Patience Brewster faeries going up the staircase. It's hard enough keeping them there just with the normal motions of the family, but with Bella, it would be impossible for them all to stay where I put them. This is from last year. You get my drift? I don't even know if I'm putting lights on the banister. Haven't done that yet.

Family Room

The Kitchen Area

Front Hall

Dining AreaThe hub made it home safely from Dubai. He was welcomed home to a festive house. Still no tree yet. Maybe tomorrow. The kid is outside putting lights up on the deck. All by himself. While I blog. Poor guy. It got cold here yesterday. It was warm in the morning and turned dark mid-day and then burr doggy. The temperature dropped really quickly. I even had to turn the heat on upstairs for the first time this season. Along with the heat, I had to pull out the humidifier at 11:30 last night because I could already feel my nose closing up. Isn't it fun being old? No, not really.

Study

I think I need a little greenery to put around this frame, don't you?

There's the Christmas Spirit

Spread the love. Bella is normally attacking Abby or terrorizing her. Today, she lay on top of her and loved her. There ya go.

This morning started out with a bang. I was sitting in the kitchen and I heard the next-door neighbor's little dogs barking at Frankie, my mom's dog. I smiled because the dogs have been in Los Angeles since the family decided to move this summer. It was nice to hear them again as they are all here for Christmas. Then, I heard the most God-awful sounds of dogs fighting. Scared me to death. I thought "Oh Lord, one of the little (chihuahua) dogs have come through the fence and Frankie (a fat corgi) got one of them!" I ran outside and Frankie was outside the fence fighting with Rocky! I screamed at Frankie and he stopped and ran to the side of the yard. When I looked to see how Frankie had gotten out, I noticed the gate was completely off its henges, still pad locked on the other side (since crazy woman, I put pad locks on the gates to the back yard and mom's apartment). After getting Frankie back in the yard, I looked at the gate. It looked as if someone had taken it apart to get inside the yard. Now, this worries me. First that it is so easy to take off its henges and get inside the yard, but second, who did it and why. First I thought crazy woman. It terrified me that someone was trying to get in the yard in this manner. After thinking about it for a minute, I remembered the kitchen idiots taking the old dishwasher down to mom's and at the time I wondered how they had gotten into the yard. I am hoping it was them and it was just the norm for them to forget to put the gate back together. Regardless, when I was coming back in from putting it back together the phone was ringing. It was our neighbor, with the dogs, asking where the emergency vet was as they were in the car with Rocky who was bleeding profusely. OMG. Frankie had literally torn the little guy up. When they said little Rocky was in a bad way, it just tore me up inside. I suppose losing Roo dog not so long ago is still so fresh in my heart. The thought of them losing their Rocky just killed me. Long story a little shorter, Rocky had six stiches (which is a lot for a little guy) and had to stay in the hospital all night. They had to wait literally all day in the emergency room. And then, the mother, after driving the kids home and heading back to the vet got in a car accident! OMG. All because of Frankie and the gate! She is ok, but I just feel absolutely horrible that any of this happened. I thank God that she is alright and Rocky is ok and will be fine. I tell you what though, if the kitchen idiots did leave the gate off its hinges, they will be paying for the veterinarian bill. Too much. And so, it's just been one of those days. Please keep Rocky in your thoughts for a speedy recovery, if you will.

I am keeping on trucking though. After three days of Christmas music and still not in the mood, I found XM has a new Led Zeppelin station--ALL Zep. Let me tell you, after a Black Dog and a You Shook Me, I was whipping the place into shape. After visiting my friends at the emergency vets, I ran down the street to Costco and bought some beautiful poinsettias--two white ones for the dining room and one red one for the front foyer (or wherever it may end up). They are lovely and after being so worried about the dog, I just threw myself into decorating the house.

I found this box with a new tree I must have purchased at an after-Christmas sale last year. I really needed it too. I put it in my study (feng shui travel room) with my fish. I normally just put these "house" ornaments around the table, just asking for trouble. I think it looks nice and I'm sure the fish are enjoying the new views--yea right. I also put my Sarabella family ornaments up, this year in the the dining room. It needs a little something else, but I will get to that later. I literally opened one box of stuff today. I have a long way to go.

I moved all the plants around to make room for the poinsettias and the tree (which I hope comes this week). I love all the green in the family room. The kid and his friend (yes the one who owns the dog our dog almost killed) put all the candles in the windows. I tell you one thing, I'm not feeling the lights on the outside of the house this year. The kid is going to kill me, but I'm just not feeling it. I will put the big old fashioned colored ones on the back deck for us to enjoy, but I don't think the garland and little pearl lights will be adorning our front porches this year. The thought of putting them up and taking them down is overwhelming. I don't do overwhelming. I think the window candles will look just lovely, don't you? Don't even think I'll put the wreaths in on the windows. Nope. Just don't wanna.

The hub is in Dubai but will be home soon. Today the teenager said something I thought I would never hear come out of his mouth (as he was lugging all the Christmas boxes up from the basement). "How does dad always figure the best time to leave?" All I could say is "You got that right." Finally, the guy feels my pain, lol. And thus, this is why I now order a Christmas tree. I've learned to just "git-er-done" in his pre-Holiday absence. It will be pretty and festive by the time he gets home. Now, ya think he really planned it that way? giggle. I'll be glad when he is safe at home, regardless.