Tag Archives: cookies

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

And all of a sudden, tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

I have to admit, this year I’ve felt a bit like Amanda. I started out the season SO EXCITED for Christmas time, and all of a sudden it’s almost Christmas and I’m just more relieved to slow down than anything. This month has been a whirlwhind of busy days at work (hi, working for a fitness company just before January. Yup.), holiday parties and other obligations. I felt like I was just going through the motions and trying to get through the season with some sanity intact.

I didn’t decorate my apartment. I didn’t send out cards (but I bought some really cute ones on Etsy…) I didn’t get to go home and do Christmas-y things with my family. But I’m so excited to go home and have a few days quality time with them at the most wonderful time of the year.

It FINALLY felt like Christmas time, and I finally felt genuinely excited on Friday night.

American Ballet Theatre - Nutcracker

Some of my friends, including my friend Jen, are members of the American Ballet Theater, and they were having a performance of the Nutcracker at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.  I usually go with my parents to Lincoln Center, but my dad couldn’t go this year because of some health issues, so I wasn’t going to cheat on them at Lincoln Center.

It was fun, and I’m glad I went, but Lincoln Center > BAM and NYC Ballet > ABT.

Saturday, I did 95% of my Christmas shopping and errands for my COOKIE SWAP!

Yesterday morning, I took advantage of the mild, mild weather and did a little sightseeing run.

Giant Ornaments - 1251 6th Ave NYC

 

Somehow this is the fourth year I’ve done this cookie swap! This year, I invited wayyyy too many people, and I couldn’t hold that many people in my apartment, so Leanne at Uplift was kind enough to let me hold my cookie swap there. (Yes, we drank wine and ate cookies at a gym. Is that not normal?)

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Uplift is like my second home, so it didn’t feel that weird.

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I’m pretty sure Lacey has helped me set up every single year. I’m pretty sure Lacey wins friend of the year award.

 

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And Steph wins Prettiest Cookie of the Year award.

 

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Former Coworker Abby wins points for the prettiest store-bought cookies.

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Leah wins for just being the cutest. I don’t know if you can tell in this pic, but her sweater has furry sleeves. NBD.

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Jen wins for co-president of the Small Eyes Club.

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Katie and Meghan win for looking like they are chair models.

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Emily hands-down, without a doubt, wins for best-dressed with her cute, cute, cute Vineyard Vines skirt.

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Former Coworker Abby wins for brightest pants.

 

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Laura wins for best coordinated with the hostess.

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And my super-cute and sweet little coworker Alex wins Saint of the Year for having to deal with me before my coffee. Caitlin wins at life for the Best Single-Girl Card ever.

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We had the entire space, but everyone ended up congregating by the bar. Shocker.

Oh, except for when Gia, Kscott and I decided to do a little photo shoot.

Leanne, please let me come back? 🙂 Also, pro tip: do not pick up a heavier kettlebell than you’ve ever picked up before (30 pounds) after several glasses of bubbly. All ended well, but…there was definite potential for it not to.

Where’s the most random place you’ve ever held a party? What makes it feel like the holidays to you?

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??