A New Year's 2-For-1 Special

Happy 2013! With all the last minute gift-shopping, celebrations, and traveling over the past couple of weeks, I thought why not squeeze two posts into one to cover everything. A New Year's Two-fer special! Who doesn't love a good post-holiday deal this time of year, right?

The fam and I (sans Mom & Dad due to an unwelcome stomach bug; we missed you!) spent Christmas as we've done for the past couple of years, up at the Anderson's beautiful, cozy, quintessentially-winter cabin in Babbitt, Minnesota. The cabin, which is about a four-hour drive North of the Twin Cities, is tucked away in the snowy woodlands of "North Country" perched atop the edge of a pristine lake, offering the most breathtaking winter wonderland views you can imagine. So breathtaking in fact, that I forgot to take any pictures to share with you :) I did however, capture some moments of our weekend... Thank you Kosha and Skeeter as always for being such amazing hosts and opening up your beautiful home!

Could this face be any cuter??

Walkin' in a winter wonderland....

Carly was having some trouble with her boot. Baby bump got in the way. Justin to the rescue!

Twice-baked potatoes!

Painting our nails. One of the many "inside activities" we did.

Now for Part Two...New Year's Eve! Ringing in 2013 was one of the most memorable NYE's for me because we spent it at the Coldplay/Jay-Z concert at the newly-built Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Making our way into the shiny new stadium along with 19,000 of our closest friends, we found our seats just off the left side of the stage, with amazingly no one in front of us which is a huge win for 5'3" me (we were at the very front of our section)! As a massive Coldplay fan who has never seen them live before, I loved every minute of the concert as the band played hit after hit off almost all of their albums. Following their set, Jay-Z came on just before 12:00, counting down the crowd to the New Year with a mass of confetti and balloons bursting from the rafters at the stroke of midnight. A New Year's Eve to remember, that's for sure! 

Getting excited!

Look at us! In our seats!

Coldplay on stage

Jay-Z and Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin rocking it out together!

A sea of light-up wristbands. So cool!

Wristbands unite.

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy 2013!
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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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