Baby, It's Cold Outside

The holidays are officially upon us. And I refuse to let them pass me by in a blur of christmas parties, cookies, slush and sweaters! This year, it's time to stop and smell the roses...I mean, poinsettias? You get the idea.

In an effort to truly enjoy how utterly charming New York City is during the Christmas season, Kevin and I hauled our little tushies up to Rockefeller Center to gape and gawk with the best of them at the famous Rockefeller Christmas Tree.

Standing 80-feet tall, the tree is a gleaming beacon of Christmas and consumerism here in the city. And the imposing Norway spruce is quite the sight. With its shimmering lights wound tightly around each and every branch from end to end, you really can't even see much actual tree--just a mass of glittering LED-bulbs twinkling away as far as the eye can see.

Embracing our inner tourists, we took approximately 3,000 handheld pics of ourselves from various awkward angles in an effort to best capture as much of the tree as possible while still getting in a good portion of our heads. Not easy! Here are a few of the goofiest that made the cut...

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy holiday (and New Year!) and hoping you all get a chance to stop and smell the poinsettias this season.

Merry Christmas!
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Museum Sunday

Kevin and I decided to feed our cultural brains yesterday and visit the Picasso exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum. It's a special exhibit called "Black and White" featuring the artist's work utilizing just those two colors.

Description of Picasso Exhibit

The Guggenheim Museum itself is a work of art (tourists can regularly be found snapping photos of the rotunda's glass-paneled ceiling; we were no exception), so seeing any exhibit there is a genuinely spectacular experience. And the Picasso collection did not disappoint. His prolific career produced such a stunning amount of pieces, that all six, winding floors of the Guggenheim were filled solely with Picasso. And these were just his black and white pieces, peeps!

The stunning Guggenheim rotunda looking up

Nerdy tourist alert!

We thoroughly enjoyed strolling the upwards-circling, spiraled walkways of the Museum, with each passing work of Picasso more grand and fascinating than the next. Our legs, however, did not enjoy it quite as much. We should have started at the top and walked our way down!

We also had the chance to check out the Annex rooms showcasing the Guggenheim's permanent collections, which feature paintings by Cezanne, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh and others.

Unfortunately, no photos are allowed, but I managed to snap this Van Gogh piece before a frowning docent sternly shooed me away.

Van Gogh's 'Mountains at St-Remy'

More nerdy touristing

 All in all, a great way to spend a Sunday!
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Christmas Came Early

It's here! It's here!

My wonderful, fantastic, loving mother bought me this Vitamix food processor as an early Christmas gift a couple weeks ago when we were all in Philadelphia. I have been waiting patiently for its arrival ever since, imagining all the delicious smoothies, spreads, sauces, and batters to concoct, and today was the day! Wasting no time at all, I pulled it right out of the box and whipped up some very Fall-appropriate pumpkin/raisin muffins right then and there. Thanks Mom!!

The Vitamix don't mess around!

Pumpkin/Raisin Muffins

Up Close & Personal

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Fall Is In The Air

Fall is my favorite time of year. Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy has put a damper on the autumnal holiday spirit around here, but the turning leaves and crisp autumn air have managed to peek through undeterred!

As a born-and-bred Seattleite, where the weather maintains a steady 40 degrees with a chance of showers virtually all year long, the idea of four distinct seasons was largely a mystery until I moved to New York. All of a sudden, white Christmases were a reality, not just a childhood fantasy dreamed up from too many repeat viewings of It's A Wonderful Life. A good, sturdy pair of rain/snow boots that could withstand the elements were an absolute must. Those cozy knits and sweaters weren't just a fashion statement, but actually practical too! There's something about this time of year that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside; despite the chill temperatures.

In honor of the official start of the holiday season (according to the Starbucks barometer of the red cups debut!), I captured a few photos of the beautiful Fall season here in New York on my walk to work this morning. Take that Sandy!

Tis The Season

Tribeca Trees

Peeking through the ivy'd gate of a hotel back patio

Spook-tacular!

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I Heart Philly

I've always loved to travel. Growing up, my family was big into visiting all the national parks of the U.S. (think Glacier National Park in Montana, Yosemite, Yellowstone, etc) as well as Europe, Mexico and South America. Thank you to my parents who made travel a priority! We dubbed our family vacations "Bob's Circle Tours" because of the fact that is was usually my Dad (Bob) who handled the majority of the planning and he liked to work out the logistics so that we started and ended a trip in the same place (with all the stops and visits in between creating the shape of a circle when looking at a map). Plus, you could always count on him to read aloud long passages of a guide book to us rascals who had not done our guide book-reading homework. Discovering new places, exploring the unknown. My kind of a vacation! I can even remember, as a kid, I would pack my suitcase several days in advance out of sheer excitement, hoping that doing so would bring D Day (departure day) that much closer that much faster. Or maybe I just wanted to be prepared. You know how I love that!

Unfortunately, as I am now a (power)suit in the corporate world, my work schedule doesn't allow for as much time off as I would like. Hence, my travel itch has fallen dormant over the last couple of years. So when my parents called to say they would be in Philadelphia for a week, I jumped at the chance to visit someplace I had never been and re-itch the travel bug in me even if it was only one state over. Plus, how could I pass up the opportunity to spend some quality time with Ma and Pa?

The City of Brotherly Love is a short two-hour bus ride from New York City -- or should be. Due to the Columbus Holiday weekend traffic out of NYC on Friday and the chaos of the teeming masses at the Port Authority Greyhound bus station, my arrival in Philadelphia was slightly delayed. But that didn't stop my parents and I from having an absolute ball over the next three days!

We visited all the major sights: the Liberty Bell, Independence Plaza and the sight of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Betsy Ross' house complete with a Betsy Ross impersonator sewing the flag and answering questions, Benjamin Franklin's printing press operations, the quaint and charming Elfreth's Alley (home to row houses built in the late 1700's still in pristine quality and occupied!), the Philadelphia Museum of Art where I re-created the famous Sylvester Stallone scene atop the stairs from Rocky, Eastern State Penitentiary where Al Capone spent a year behind bars, and many other side streets, art galleries and landmarks. We even managed to pack in a tasting of the city's infamous Philly cheesesteaks!

Sadly I didn't have my camera with me, but I did manage to snap a few pics on my trusty iPhone.

Elfreth's Alley. One of the oldest continuously inhabited residential streets in the country!

Dad & I in front of Miss Liberty Bell's good side.

The Liberty Bell in all her cracked glory!

Take that Mr. Stallone.

While it wasn't an exotic trip to a far-off destination, it was fantastic to feel like a tourist again and discover the nooks and crannies and delights of a new city. Even if it's not a foreign one!

You could say it was a Bob's Circle Tours special.

Happy Travels everyone!
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Preparing For the Apocalypse...With Chili

Alright, so the end of the world is not upon us, but what the heck, I like to be prepared.

This need to feel prepared, I believe, dates back into the far reaches of my childhood. As a youngster in elementary school, I remember wearing my school uniform to bed so that I could wake up the next morning already dressed and ready to go. Seriously. My eight-year-old self was convinced I was so clever to have come up with such an idea. Proud of all the time I was saving in the morning (which couldn't have been more than 5 minutes at most), I would secretly congratulate myself as I jumped out of bed clad in a white collared blouse and navy jumper smurking I bet no one else does this! Yes that's probably true, because all the other 4th graders were busy being normal kids and waking up for school in normal pajamas. Looking back, #1 I can't believe my mom let me go to sleep dressed like that. It's nearly impossible that I woke up with anything less than 1,000 wrinkles all over my uniform which she then had to iron out. And #2, did I not shower in the mornings?? If I did, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of hopping out of bed dressed and ready to go? These are just a few of the burning questions I wish I could go back and ask my eight-year-old self. Unsurprisingly, all I can seem to recall is how pleased I was with myself for coming up with the whole idea.

Veggies give their last looks.

Eventually I grew out of the habit, but revisiting the memory now it's clear, in hindsight, that my adolescent self was just trying to wrest some sort of control over the seeming chaos of the morning school-day routine. Anticipate the "unknown" in some way. That, or capture a few extra minutes of sleep. As anyone who knows me can attest, I love my Z's. Regardless, having said all of this leads me to Sunday's chili-making spree. In my adult life I'd like to think I've learned to go with the flow more and remain flexible in the face of uncertainty, but admittedly, my latent preparad-ness tendencies only manifest themselves in less crazy ways than when I was a kid. Exhibit A: batch cooking for the week. Sunday was spent slicing and dicing onions, bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes and parsnips (along with some ground turkey and black beans!) into a delicious, hearty pot of chili that's served as my lunch every day this week. With the cool, crisp days of Fall just around the corner, there's really nothing better than stick-to-your-ribs chili.

Simmer away!

In a strange way, having my lunches/food ready to go for the week beforehand makes me feel generally less-stressed and mentally ready to tackle the workweek along with whatever else crops up. The way I see it, already knowing what I'm going to eat for lunch is one less "decision" to think about during the day. Don't get me wrong, I love a splashy Chipotle lunch as much as the next gal. As they say, variety is the spice of life. But for the most part I find it works for me. Plus, it helps at the end of the day too, when work goes late and I'm about to eat my arm off in sheer starvation--to have healthy food options already prepared and ready to pop in the microwave. Literally, life- and arm-saving. 

What little tricks and tips do you do to prepare for the day/week ahead? Hopefully it's not sleeping in your next day's clothes!
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Bobbing For Baubles

I have a confession to make.

I am clueless when it comes to jewelry and accessories. This is shocking news, I know. For whatever reason, I can't seem to get myself to learn the meaning of the word accessory. You know... the "wow, that statement necklace really completes your whole outfit" sort of accessory. Not in the whole aiding and abetting a criminal sense.

Despite living in one of the most fashionable cities in the world, and having quite the chic sense of style (if I do say so myself), I have never been that big into jewelry. And I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe I was born without that gene? Or maybe it's a skill you learn as a little girl that I somehow missed along the road to womanhood (am I there yet?). Who knows. What I do know is that my fashion sense is sorely lacking in the accessories department and I won't stand for it anymore!

With a few exceptions here and there, these days I rotate through the same few pieces of jewelry that were either given to me as gifts and hold sentimental value (which I adore), or are fairly generic in the sense that they go with most styles and colors. I find myself falling victim to the repeat-offender rookie mistake of over-wearing one necklace or pair of earrings until the poor things lose their luster, after which I inevitably consign them to some dusty drawer/shelf never to be seen again. I am deeply envious of girls with the skill to sniff out the perfect string of pearls to pair with a pencil skirt; the innate ability to pluck the just-vintage-looking-enough heirloom ring out of the dusty depths of a local flea market to perfectly compliment their boho chic ensemble, etc. You know, the pieces that really give an outfit that pop. I want to be one of those girls!

So I am putting it out there in writing (which means business). One of my goals this year is to cultivate my sense of style in the accessories department and learn to invest in a good statement necklace or two. As a self-respecting twenty-something who claims to have somewhat of a sense of style, it's only right that I at least try to be "on trend." I know, verrry loft goals I set for myself. Would I like to discover the cure for cancer? Figure out world peace? Sure. But for now, learning how to accessorize is good enough for me.

As inspiration, I've included a few baubles below that caught my eye on Pinterest. Here's to bringing more things that shine & sparkle into your life!

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A Bread-tastic Weekend

I recently turned 28 and have been feeling all of my twenty-eight years lately. I realize the ridiculousness of this statement within the larger scheme of life and how relatively young 28 truly is, but what can I say, I am not feeling very spring chicken-y! All jokes aside, I am enjoying entering my late twenties, but have been noticing lately the domestic itch creeping in. Not in a bad way! Just interestingly so. Case in point: cooking. Up until recently, I have never been that keen on learning to cook despite both my parents being very talented in the kitchen and big proponents of the nightly home-made dinner while growing up. However, over the last couple of months or so, I've gotten into cooking and baking and it has become a fun journey of discovery and a real source of joy for me. I'm certainly no Julia Child (yet!), and don't have a ton of practice, but am loving the experience of finding new recipes to try and the sense of accomplishment that comes with the success (and sometimes failure!) of the finished product.

Ingredient line-up 

Today, I baked bread from scratch. And not just any old bread -- gluten-free/sugar-free bread. Pretty advanced stuff! I followed a recipe that called for coconut flour in place of regular all-purpose white flour from the blog Against All Grain, which you can find here.

I must say, the loaf came out looking and tasting darn good! No hint of coconut flavor either, which I was a little worried about.

All in all, a wonderful way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Fresh out of the oven!

P.S. a big shout out to the bf who fully supports my culinary adventures even though, as he puts it, "there is no sous chef in baking." I insist there has got to be. We are working on it!

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The First (and hopefully not last) Post!

This is a pretty big moment for me. My first blog post ever in the history of blogs. While this is momentous for me, let's get real here -- my foray into the world of blogging is a game changer for bloggers everywhere. Amiright?! Ha. Just kidding. As per usual, I am late to the blogging party (about a decade late!), but am happy to be joining nonetheless!

As a born and bred Seattle-ite, transplanted to New York City after college, I am not sure how long it takes before you are considered a "true" New Yorker. Some say only five years. But that seems like a short time to me. Especially considering I have in fact been living in Manhattan for exactly five years now, but still get that feeling on some days like I just moved here.

While life in NYC is certainly much less glamorous than what you might find in a "Sex and The City" episode (at least for me!); it can be rewarding, exciting, challenging, exhausting, and amazing all at the same time. I hope to cover some of my experiences here!

I can't promise that this blog will be witty or fascinating or even at all interesting, but I will certainly do my best. You never know, my life could all of a sudden become the basis for the next James Bond movie (I'm Bond Girl, obviously) and you'd never know it unless you were keeping up with my posts. Hey, it could happen.

Happy blogging!

xo
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