apologies in advance for the amount of photos in this post! christmas season always makes me photo-happy, even more than the other days of the year if you can believe it. i keep feeling like december flew by and we didn’t do anything, and then i look at all of these pictures, and i’m like, oh yeah. we did! haha! it’s just hard to fit everything on my bucket list for christmas in new york into just a few weeks with school schedules and work and naps and sickness and you know, life.
a few photos from both our iPhones and also our camera….
eleanor and samson hosted the sweetest little ginger bread house decorating party one afternoon after school. witnessing the amount of sugar they and their friends consumed in just a few hours was kind of terrifying to watch. haha! i tried to monitor as best i could, but one of their friends grabbed a tube of frosting at one point and just started squirting it in their mouth while everyone cheered and i truly gasped out loud. they had a great time though, and i’m so glad they love hosting little parties (they asked to do it!). they both stood by the door as everyone left and said things like, “thank you for coming! merry christmas!” while hugging everyone and i just love that they are having these fun holiday experiences. next year, i’m buying pre-made houses instead of making them so i enjoy the experience as well. ;)
samson did his decorating with no help from me! he kept saying, “i got it!” when i asked if he wanted any help or needed anything. i love everything about it!
eleanor was the same way. they both knew exactly what they wanted to do with the decorating and didn’t need any guidance or help!
visiting santa at the plaza hotel! their individual pictures with him crack me up because they all have the biggest fake smiles on their faces. haha! eleanor asked for “oil pastels” for christmas and samson asked for a “real jet pack with 100 real boosters in the back!” and one for his sister as well. conrad didn’t say anything when he sat on his lap but he didn’t stop smirking because he was very excited. he has talked about santa’s “boots” almost every day since. he loved pointing to his boots and then santa’s and saying “boots!” it was like, “we match, santa! we are buds!”
date night with this handsome man of mine. dinner and the holiday jazz show at lincoln center. it was incredible.
i love him so much.
if you ever see anything at the rose theater at lincoln center, we loved the box seats right above the stage (literally ON the stage, facing the audience.) they are half the price of the orchestra seats and honestly, i think so much better. the sound is a little off when they talk in the mic, but the acoustics still give you an incredible experience hearing the music. and you’re so close to them! it’s amazing.
since we will be putting three babes to sleep on new years eve and then just hanging out at home in pj’s, i wore to the concert what i would wear if i had some fabulous party to go to on new years eve (lol). sometimes you just gotta dress up. (for those curious, the necktie blouse is HERE, tucked into the skirt (sold out) and shoes HERE). after he saw what inwas wearing, josh changed his outfit so we could match.
one of our FAVORITE traditions around the holidays (it was our 4th year going!) is going to see the live performance of peter and the wolf at the guggenheim. it only runs about a half hour long, is full of incredible live performers and musicians and isaac mizrahi narrates it. they also stage it so the story is set in central park, which is pretty hysterical. papa came with us this year, and we can’t wait until conrad is old enough next year to come as well! (our babysitter met us at the theatre and took conrad out on a little date to the book store during the show.) my kids remember everything about it so vividly during the year and talk about it often. we listen to the music a lot, which probably helps. josh snuck a little video of samson’s face during part of the show, because he was laughing so hard he was almost crying in his seat at one point! i love how much little things like this just make his day. it’s a good show for sure.
so happy to have his nutella and strawberry crepe!
this photo josh snuck of me sneaking some of conrad’s crepe made me laugh pretty hard. sorry, conrad.
josh and i had a work meeting near bryant park one morning last week so walked through the little holiday market over there afterwards on our way home. can you believe this photo was taken on my iPhone? i was needing a new phone anyhow and anxious to try out the new portrait lens on the 7+! it’s kind of incredible!!! (PS. my faux fur sweater coat HERE).
making homemade snow globes at home one evening! (for those who asked on my insta stories, the kits are by seedling, but i don’t know if i’d recommend them because they didn’t really work properly and that was a little frustrating for our kids. the glitter kind of just clumps at the top of the water and doesn’t fall. fun to put together though!)
while our sitter had the boys one afternoon and josh and i were working, we ended early so we both could pick up eleanor from school and take her out for crepes. it was nice to have one on one time with her and both of us. she was so excited about it. (our kids and crepes are definitely a THING. lol.)
a few of my girlfriends and i went caroling near columbus circle one night a few weeks ago! we did it on our way to serendipity where we celebrated amanda’s birthday! i actually was surprised how much fun it was to sing such incredible christmas songs and also see people stop on the street to listen and smile, even if we sounded absolutely terrible. it brought the christmas spirit for sure and i want to do it every year.
i actually saw these darling angel halos at flying tiger when i was buying wrapping paper and knew we had to have them for caroling! love when everyone is a good sport and willing to go along with my silliness. these ladies are the best. (PS. my polka dot faux fur coat HERE, a gift from kate spade.)
frozen hot chocolate at serendipity after caroling! also, stole this photo from amanda!
the little children in our church put on the most beautiful nativity pageant a few weeks ago! eleanor was an angel and samson was a shepherd (he did the dress rehearsal the day before but the day of the show he decided “the whole thing was kind of boring” and wanted to just sit with us and not go up on stage. haha. maybe next year.)
during a lunch one weekend before some holiday activities when both our boys napped in the stroller beside the table!
tea at the plaza with two of my very favorites, mary martha and lizzie. we sat at our table for over two and a half hours talking with no idea it’d been that long. i love these girls so much. we need another nashville girls trip reunion stat.
when we both had on our sparkle shoes one day for church, we had to document it. (eleanor’s sparkle shoes, my sparkle shoes. also her pink ice cream cone sweater HERE and my pink sweater HERE.)
this will probably be one of my favorite family memories forever. after we saw the tree at rockefeller center last saturday, we thought we’d try to grab dinner at the burger joint, but the line was crazy long and waiting an hour for a table with kids is never relaxing. we walked over to brooklyn diner close by instead (because we had never been and josh has been wanting our family to go to a diner for a while) where we sat in a cozy little booth together, with gorgeous holiday wreaths in the windows and christmas music full blast. conrad slept in his stroller seat right under the table during our meal, and maybe it’s because i ordered chicken pot pie and was surprised with how delicious it was, but that meal was so much fun. our kids are able to carry such exciting and interesting conversations these days, and i love our chats so much. will never forget it.
i shared a little back story on my instagram about this photo, but sometimes you just have to stick two kids inside the stroller sleeping bag because we’d been walking miles around new york in the cold already and everyone was getting cold. we only lasted 3 minutes at the tree, but we made silly memories in the making and avoided tears, so you know, it’s a win win in my book. also, how we didn’t break our stroller is also a miracle. good times, people. good times.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! so thankful for this beautiful season to reflect on the birth of our savior and for the cheer and joy the holidays bring into our lives. i hope all of you have a very merry christmas this weekend with loved ones.