holiday shopping

greg and i had different chores and errands to do in the morning and then we finally met at union square to look together for a record for my nephew. after visiting barnes and noble (which didn't have what we wanted) we headed to petco for cat food . . 

and ran into santa! was santa in petco . . 

and were these pups and their owners waiting to see him? 

i think they were because here's santa on the balcony by the cat food aisle! i also overheard a manager whispering to santa that a line had formed and he needed to come in and visit with the customers. greg and i were very amused and today when reading an article about christmas trees i saw a long island pet store ad with the times that santa would be available to meet their customers' pets. i guess it's a thing to do these days! i think it's very cute and very crazy. 

we had not eaten breakfast and at 1 pm we were very hungry and happy to find a cozy diner near where we were shopping.

lots of food! half of the wrap sandwiches came home with us.

the grinch kept an eye on us as we ate.

walking home . . such a beautiful sky.

(we were at janet's solstice party for a little while in the evening where we saw several homeschooling friends we hadn't seen in years!)

monday: errands and advent

i discovered a levain bakery on 18th street when out holiday shopping this afternoon (i was also on my way to drop off korrina's bag of st. nicholas treats since i had forgotten it on sunday).

this shawl reminded me of the shawls my mom crocheted in the 1970's for my sister and i.

at abraço . .

 

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we lit our second advent candle this evening, since we were out so late last night (i made escarole soup with meatballs and lentils) . . 

the second light of advent is the light of plants,

plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.

holiday shopping

i went shopping today for christmas gifts for various family members. i also stopped at the container store for holiday wrapping paper and green and red tissue paper. above is a photo of the fish's eddy store which has kitchenware. i had a store credit that i was happy to use up from a tablecloth i had returned in the summer.

it was my first time visiting the lego store

i was pleasantly surprised at how friendly and helpful the workers were. honestly, i've never met such relaxed and happy store workers before. they must have a good manager!

hmmm . . i wonder what cricket and zuzu would think of this tuxedo cat? 

we had ravioli from the eataly market for dinner.

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.

a grey day

and it's december . .

it turned into such a grey day, but i was glad it wasn't raining for milly's walk. however, it was raining for my walk to buy panettone and other holiday fare at the eataly market, trader joe's, paper source and the container store. 

rainy and wet . . . . but iridescently beautiful.

rainy day shopping

i met up with my friend joanna today, at the rubin cafe. she had german chocolate christmas bells to give me. they're from trader joe's, but made in germany. since the online german deli store closed, (my supplier), i was happy to get them. we both had one after our lunch of mulligatawny soup and chickpea stew, and they were very good. in the evening i visited the myak holiday store on perry street and came away with a skein of yarn for a hat, which has turned out to be very complicated to make! it will be a few weeks before i can sit down and watch the youtube how to videos.

thursday

the light was beautiful today, especially as it was reflected off the freedom tower when i was walking downtown to meet friends for hot chocolate at burdick's. 

it glistened turquoise, pink, pale purple . . 

and steel blue grey in the late afternoon. i had been in chelsea doing holiday shopping errands, and then after dropping two bags off at home, i walked to soho.

the young ones were in ellen's dance class while the moms and i had peppermint mochas and hot chocolate. we all felt festive as holiday decorations are up everywhere and everyone seems to be in a lighter frame of mind.

walking home the empire state building looked pretty lit up with white and red lights (the red is difficult to see in this photo).

at home i made a dinner that was almost completely orange . . maybe next week i'll make salmon with carrots and sweet potatoes, rather than chicken.

i had stopped at trader joe's on the way home to pick up a panettone for $4.99 . . we've never had it before and i wanted to give it a try . . the verdict is that it's very good, just a tad sweeter than the sophia brand we've had in the past.

biscotti and espresso and more holiday shopping

 well, what did we have when we returned home? biscotti and espresso of course.

 and we trimmed the tree.

 my favorite decoration: the little red pig i've had since i was a little girl . . 

 yesterday's baking . . 

  chanda and i had some last minute shopping to do . . 

 at a special chocolate store/coffee shop we recently discovered!

 on our way to eataly to pick up an olive bread we passed a new art exhibit at the corner gallery in the  flatiron building.

a paper replica of the guggenheim museum.

 the moon peeking out from behind clouds and shining over the met life clock tower building (completed in 1909).

 heading home again and passing lionbrand's holiday gingerbread window display . . 

 and passing along one of our favorite holiday sidewalks: the romp family's christmas tree market.

chanda is staring at a huge holly tree. we've walked past this tree probably hundreds of times but only just realized how big and beautiful it is.

it also has many berries which means that there's a male plant next to this female plant.

 we were so late returning home for dinner that greg was already there.

morgana's new christmas mobile made from kite paper.