Category Archives: Food

Unwinding for the Holidays

Greetings from New Jersey!

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Before I left yesterday morning, I got a quick sightseeing run in, inspired by seeing on Instagram yesterday morning that Kelly had done the same.

The stops: past the Solow building, where I worked for Chanel last summer; the Plaza; and the Rockefeller Center tree!

I wore that adorable jacket you see above. It’s a New Balance Windblocker jacket I got through work. (That link isn’t the exact one I got, but pretty close–AND ON SALE RIGHT NOW.) Its outer layer is wind and water-resistant, and it’s fleece-and-awesome lined. It was really chilly and windy yesterday and I wore this and the New Balance Minimus long-sleeved top and felt perfectly comfortable. I’ll post a picture of it soon, but I’m in serious love with that Minimus top. It’s fairly similar to the Lululemon Run Swiftly top, but at half the price and a more flattering fit for those of us who carry extra weight in their midsection. Win.

I’d been trying so hard to make my Christmas spirit happen (or fetch, whatever) but it was hard not to smile running past all of these sights.

I came home, packed and was picked up by my buddy Shannon and her husband to head out to NJ.

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We did some errands during the day, and then my mom made a feast last night, starting with steak. I don’t remember the last time I ate steak, and I devoured every single bite.

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And some salad to balance things out.

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And potatoes au gratin to unbalance things out.

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And stringbeans to balance things back out again.

Today, I started and finished all of my Christmas shopping.

NOW I can finally unwind. I may start with a nap.

When did you start/finish your holiday shopping? How do you unwind over the holidays?

It’s Cookie Time in the City

Hey, remember when I used to blog every day? That was fun.

I’ve been busy working and getting into the holiday spirit.

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And getting into the holiday spirit with coworkers. We had our holiday party on Friday night at Toy in the Gaansevort, formerly known as Tanuki Tavern.

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And yesterday I hosted my third annual cookie swap! (2010, 2011 )

Thursday night I texted my friend Shannon ready to cancel. I hadn’t had time to prep beyond making this cookie swap board on Pinterest and thought it would be more stressful than it was worth to do it all Saturday morning. She offered to help and convinced me it would be worth it, and the party went on.

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COOKIES. And yes, my Stick is just part of my decor.

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My apartment is not the best for food photography. I demand a refund on my rent.

We had hummus, veggies, cheese and chips and salsa to munch on. I’ve learned from cookie swaps past that you don’t need much food because people are eating the cookies.

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And a special shoutout to this beautiful hunk of cheese. There is one cheese they serve at Junior League that I’m obsessed with and I never knew what it was. I finally asked last week, and it is spicy Monterey Jack. I picked up a hunk for the party yesterday…and proceeded to destroy most of it myself.

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Ashley came matching my walls, so I made her hand out champagne.

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I am obsessed with Meghan’s sock bun. I think my hair might be too short now though.

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Look who was in from Boston!

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Awesome runner friends. (Leticia, Emily, Jocelyn and Christine.)

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There is nowhere on the Internets I can link to how awesome these two are, but Shannon and Jen are two of my favorite people ever.

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I thought I took a picture with Emily, but it appears to have disappeared from my camera or my phone, but she showed up basically matching me.

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You know you live in a NYC studio when you serve your snacks on your dresser and pretend it’s a buffet.

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SO MANY COOKIES.

What kind of cookies did I make?

Well…by the time I got around to making cookies, it was as everyone was showing up, and they ended up burning. BUT! The recipe I was using was for peppermint chocolate chip cookies and I’m giving it another try today.

Last year, someone asked how a cookie swap works. I’m sure everyone does it differently, but what I do is ask people to bring about two dozen cookies. Then, I go around and have everyone introduce themselves and tell everyone about their cookie, so everyone can meet and so nobody with allergies (myself included) dies from eating someone’s cookie.

It was a fun time, and that I somehow managed to fit more than 20 people into my studio must be some sort of Christmas miracle.

What’s your favorite kind of Christmas cookie??