Christmas In New York

Christmas in New York is....magical:).  That sounds so cliche, I know.  However, it is true! Eric and I went on a Christmas journey a couple of weekends ago.  We did everything that we though one should do in NYC at Christmas time....we started with a birthday celebration for Eric, saw the Rockefeller Christmas tree, went into FAO Schwartz and the Apple store.  Then we walked down Fifth Ave. to see the hustle and bustle of Christmas shoppers and buildings that were decorated like presents.  We even went to see Elf, the Musical on Broadway!  I don't know that pictures will translate the magic, but it's worth a shot!

 Ornaments have become a tradition of ours, seeing as Eric proposed with one... This ornament will be a great reminder of our first year of marriage!

 

Here we are, exactly a year ago, getting engaged! We look pretty much the same, huh?

This ornament brought a smile to my face when I pulled it out.  It has the names of all of the people in my old house church.  I was the lucky recipient to get it last year in an ornament exchange. 

 Even Murphy looks magical... (sorry, couldn't resist)

 I look extremely awkward in the one photo we were able to get Murphy to look at the camera, so I gave up after this one.  Doesn't he have "rotten" written all over his face here?  You can just tell he is getting ready to bolt. 

 Without The Murph. 

 Eric's birthday celebration started at The Stumble Inn.  We saw a review of their stuffed cheese burgers on the Food Network.  When we saw that, I tucked this place away in my mind as the perfect place for Eric's birthday dinner.  He loves casual places and burgers.  He was not disappointed:).

 Taking his first bite...

 His was stuffed with cheddar and jalapenos...mine was American and mushrooms.

 The tater tots were a hit.

 Needless to say, we cleaned our plates...

 And Eric was a happy fellow.

 We warmed up with coffee for the second leg of our Christmas adventure.

Yep, I played with this one on Photoshop.

 This was the line to get into FAO Schwartz.

 Inside the store...

 Harry Potter land...

 Teddy bear land...

 The Rockefellar Tree...

 And alas, we ended with our own outdoor Christmas tree, right across from our apartment in Brooklyn.

The true magic of Christmas comes in 4 more days, when we are able to make our way back to Indiana to be with family and friends.  But until then, we will soak of the NYC energy at Christmas time!

Gobble Gobble!

Why did the turkeys cross the globe?  To get home for Thanksgiving, of course!

Eric and I thoroughly enjoyed our whirlwind trip to Indiana for Thanksgiving.  We decided to make this trip all about family, since we were there for such a short time.  We started with a couple of days stuffing our faces with food and playing ping-pong with the Rogers' in Marion.  Then we headed south to Zionsville for more stuffing our faces and shopping!  We feel so lucky to have TWO great families to spend time with.  We feel even luckier that they are relatively close together, so we can see both each time we are home. 

I was very camera happy at the beginning of our trip (with a heavy emphasis on two little ladies), but then became quite a slacker for the second half.  I am going to have to make up for it and take extra pictures with the Smith family at Christmas-time:). 

 Sooooooooooooo precious:)

 

 There was a lot of time spent picking out favorite ornaments on the tree...

 Emmy cracked me up all weekend long....though she NEVER let me hold her! (I am pretty sure she forgot me when I moved to NYC)

 Maddy made our awesome place settings.

 My parents cleaned out the attic and put all of our old toys in tubs for us to take.  Chad and Eric enjoyed some time with GI Joes.

 Pops.

 Part of the feast.

 When did she grow up???

 My first shot with the self-timer.  Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself:)

We are looking forward to more quality family time in two more weeks.  We hope to squeeze some quality friend time in that round as well!