too many things i have to go to sleep

 we began the day with taking down the christmas tree ornaments . . 

 as we had to get the tree to washington square for it to be mulched.

 greg is taking off the lights. you can see chanda's shoes and tutu in its pouch waiting to be carted to rehearsal.

 we wrapped the tree in an old sheet so it's needles wouldn't get everywhere . . morgana was a big help (chanda was at a ballet class at peridance).

 destination: washington square!

the tree mulching guys made sure i filmed from the best vantage point .  .

see? they were very helpful!

 beautiful washington square!

on our way to chelsea market to look for a gift for the young girl chanda will be staying with in missoula, montana for the ballet competition she's doing.

i also was figuring out what vitamins and supplements chanda should take with her for the week to boost her immunity and keep her strong and healthy. 

 taking the high line to chelsea market . . 

 the beautiful snow!

 oh my goodness . . now at the studio for chanda's rehearsal . . will this day never end?

the gamzatti piece . . 

 getting ready for the comtemporary piece . . 

 and the neoclassical piece . . three dances in all.

 after picking up chocolates at burdick (and getting hot chocolates to go!) and chicken from the butcher, we dropped everything at home and then went to darling to look for a gala dress. fortunately, they had a fifty percent off sale!

 greg made us a delicious chicken soup with carrots and celery.

the gala outfit: a simple black skirt and bright blouse made by the shop owner. and now . . to bed! probably without even enough time to dream. we're up at 4 am to get to the airport.

twelfth night

yarn along on tenth day

 i finally finished the 22 little clouds shawl i was working on with ginny's yarn dyed in safflower and indigo.

during these twelve days of christmas i've been reading christmas tales and stories by louisa may alcott, published by barnes and noble.

 i've also been working on two different socks: one in felici yarn by knitpicks, and one in merino singles happy sock yarn by la bien aimée. it would be nice to finish the mates to them now!

(hermione lives the best life.)

joining ginny and friends this morning . . 

tenth night

gifts from upstate

we received two christmas packages yesterday. one was for all of us and had the loveliest santa which now graces our windowsill. 

and one was for morgana which held the most adorable little mushroom . . thank you so much eva and family, for adding a little bit of christmas into our day!

panettone panettone

 it was a federal holiday today, so greg was off from work again (though chanda did have ballet class). it still being a holiday for him, it was necessary to open the panettone we had been saving for three kings' day. 

 it's a big panettone so i suppose there will still be some leftover for friday . . 

 it was a card game day . . . 

 and board game day, though greg did venture out to see the second avenue subway which has finally opened. he sent back several pictures of the mosaics they have up. everyone has been raving about the beautiful artwork in the three new stations that opened.

i love how they reflect the people we see everyday.

 our dinner tonight . . chicken, salmon, lima beans and kale.

getting closer and closer to friday . . 

ringing in the new year

 we drove up to connecticut saturday morning to celebrate new year's with my mom. the colors along the way are all browns and greys and steel blues now, with patches of white.

 at around 9 pm we had sparkling cider with herring on crackers and shrimp cocktail along with little potato puffs . . all hors d'oeuvres we would have with my mom and dad out on montauk in past years.

 and we watched the ball drop at times square on the tv.

 new year's day . . 

 we made bacon and eggs for breakfast and had leftover ginger butter cookies, san's mini fruit cakes and pfeffernüsse cookies for dessert.

it was a beautiful day. we've had more sunny skies this holiday time than in past years.

(i realize now that we forgot to bang the pot lids!)

we dropped my mom back at her assisted living apartment where chanda and morgana posed with the fish tank (we discovered that all the fish in the tank have personal names which are written on laminated cards that hang next to the tank along with their latin name and their geographic location.)

the fish ran away whenever i came too close to the glass with my camera.