waiting for 2024

last slice of stollen which i had this afternoon (now we have a whole new loaf from a german baker in vermont that tsering brought over).

 
cricket is sniffing the gift for marisa which tsering took with him when he brought the loaf over (a little something from burdick chocolate, marriage frére earl grey tea from sweet rehab on sullivan street, and bayberry candles from sturbridge) . . i also stopped at faicco's for mortadella and soppressata to take to marlene on tuesday . . and martinelli's sparkling cider for greg and i for tonight.

it's an hors d'oeuvres night . . we also have shrimp and cocktail sauce for later . . (also herring for me). we texted with morgan about an hour ago . . celebrating with harley at aisha's house and everyone had watched the london fireworks on the telly.

visiting with janet

bayberry candles, a poetry book by ada limon and fruit gels from burdick for janet's christmas presents.

we had a holiday tea together this afternoon. it was nice to sit and enjoy the season in front of her tree . . a warm and familiar seasonal observance.

lots of delicious treats!

walking home . . 

dinner with chanda and greg . . spaghetti and meatballs and a salad . . 

my lovely book from janet . . a memoir of provincetown on the cape!

fourth day of christmas

i spent the day trying to catch up with laundry . . but also ran a few errands in soho and walked home again via raffetto's and so was inspired by proximity to pick up a box of lobster ravioli . . 

which greg and i enjoyed having for dinner.

off broadway

tonight greg and i took the train uptown to see deychen in her play with bedlam productions, arcadia by tom stoppard.

at the west end theatre on 86th street . . 

for the second act, they switched the scene around so that the audience sat along the edge of the stage and the actors were in the seats at the very front of the stage. i liked the different perspective. 

deychen was wonderful, and we had a nice surprise in that her dad, tsering, came to see the show tonight too. at the end we all hopped into a cab and rode home together downtown.

christmas lights in brooklyn

 
ron and andy texted last week and asked if we would like to visit our old neighborhood in dyker heights to see the christmas lights.

we had a very fun time . . admiring the houses and also hysterically laughing at how excessive some of them were.

 

we stopped in front of our old apartment building on 78th street by 14th avenue . . andy and i chatted about how inexpensive our rent was . . which was reflected in the number of cockroaches we lived with!

greg and ron posing at the entrance . . 

continuing on . . !

(discussing if the family at one house were charging for their hot cocoa or handing it out for free . . )

(this video features the candy cane striped tree and the raining icicles tree . . )

(the one with the pretty lights)

(hysterical laughter in this video, along with the panda bear themed house) . . 

(the one with rudolph)

(the candy castle . . )

driving by the building ron grew up in until he was six and his family moved to florida, to the same town as greg. this is 86th street and 12th avenue. the hair stylist used to be the "tickle toe inn" and my aunt rose and uncle rudy had the apartment above (they owned the building). i have such fond memories of climbing the stairs to their railroad apartment and walking down a long hallway to the kitchen from which wafted the most enticing aromas. our families had many fun times together.

we stopped at bridgeview diner for dinner - a place we often went to when living in the neighborhood (greg and i have made frequent stops here on our way to and from jfk airport).

i seem to order matzoh ball soup a lot!

the verrazzano is in the distance . . 

it was a very fun night!

christmas eve

wishing you a peaceful night and a merry day . . 

holiday visits

we visited ferrara's cafe this morning (where morgan, harley and i were two weeks ago), as we usually do each year two days before christmas (lille julaften in norway).

fterwards, korrina did a little christmas shopping before going to work and greg walked to veniero's on 11th street for our christmas cookies (he said there was such a long line that they weren't doing their cafe service). meanwhile, chanda and i walked along mulberry street and visited a shop she likes along with strand books before walking across town and getting on the express train to 72nd street for our annual holiday visit with homeschooling friends.

they baked cookies and built a gingerbread house.

my friend olga's beautiful tree.

sweet nutmeg has the coziest couch with a beautiful view.

delicious vegetable soup (anything olga puts together is always delicious . . she's a gifted cook).

solstice lights . . 

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in london, morgan and their friend merlyn attended a performance of a christmas carol . . 

'tis the season!

morgan also sent a photo of harley and her cat summer enjoying a cozy time in front of a warm fire on the solstice . .