New Year's with Jaime 2015 --> 2016

Happy New Year! Jaime has been visiting us!

Jaime arrived Wednesday evening, and we spent the last day of the year working at a coffee shop.

For New Years Eve we did a countdown with the kids at 7 PM (midnight in London because why not!) with the help of a Netflix countdown cartoon! We also ate twelve grapes at "midnight" and drank our champagne and sparkling apple cider for the kids. Wooo!

Happy New Year! (Photo by Jaime)

Here's to a happy, healthy, 2016!

Hugh Hefner sipping bubbly in his jammies in front of the 70s fireplace.

Immediately after, Jaime and I went for a sushi dinner at Benten. We ordered the best rolls ever: Orange dragon, Oshizushi (favorite), Wrong Island (my second favorite), and Isami (not for everyone because it's mackerel). We also had Tobiko and a Ikura sushi with quail egg. You guys, AN IKURA WITH QUAIL EGG. Do it.

Jaime, saki, and happiness on a plate

Ikura with quail egg about to disappear!

We closed out the year with the Trevor Noah documentary, "You Laugh But It's True." We also began 2016 with the Trevor Noah comedy special, "African American" so we're off to a good start.

Don't feel too badly for Kevin, we brought sushi home for him and he got a nice long solo hike to start off the New Year.

Kevin dressed as Where's Waldo to go hiking

Jaime also started the year off right by going for a run on the beach near my house. I started the year right by taking a big nap while she did so.

Jaime enjoying the beach even in the winter

When she returned, we mostly spent the afternoon making rice pudding which we had planned and debated the previous day. We settled on this recipe and then added a bunch of cinnamon to it. Then we ate a lot of rice pudding! Thanks for visiting Jaime!

Little tea party with kids and doll.

Jaime Visits- August 2015

Jaime visited from Friday to Sunday and we had so much fun! On Friday she got in late in the evening so we had ice cream at a place I hadn't tried before, but kind of near our house, McNulty Ice Cream Parlor. They were cute, and Jaime loved her flavors but they were out of a lot of things we asked for. I will probably still go back because they had a rainbow of adirondack chairs that will make for some great pictures. We took our ice cream to go and ate it at the nearby beach. There were a lot of people just hanging out there with friends. I'm hoping that I'll become part of that community of evening beach bums. It seems like an awesome way to be.

Jaime gets in and says hi to Miranda. (James was already in bed.)

Beach at night

Saturday we had big plans to drive farther out to an ocean beach for nicer sand and more waves. Corey Beach was really nice. It was really small but large enough for the number of people there, and the ocean was roped off so it will be a great place to go back to with the kids as they get older. There's also a nice playground there. But it was girls' beach day so no kids this time.

Playing an early morning game of Candyland with James

Chilling at Corey Beach

Corey Beach Selfie

After the beach we were so hungry we went straight to dinner at Benten again. I was hardcore craving sushi and it was even better this time than last time. We got the "sushi & sashimi combo for two" and it was awesome (except for that one mystery chewy white thing- gross). We went home on a sushi high and got ready to go out in Port Jeff. Jaime is a big advocate of me learning to drive for real. (Insert blog post here about my lack of driving skills.) So she bravely got in the passenger seat so I could drive to Port Jeff. While the drive there was basically fine, once we got there locating a parking space was challenging for me-- I felt like I was playing Frogger while trying to get into lots. Might not repeat that drive for a little.

Once we got there we went to try the rice pudding place. We were really excited to try it but it's no NYC Rice to Riches. Rice pudding should be made of rice. This was more like gelatin pudding with a few pieces of rice thrown in. Very sad. After that we went to Wave for drinks on the waterfront. People were really friendly.

Sweet 'n' Savory of Port Jeff

We were a little wiped out already because of our beach day so we went home and finally opened the champagne our real estate agent gave us. Jaime also just bought a place last month so we celebrated all together.

Cheers to home ownership! (They are bemoaning my camera timer and silliness.)

Jaime really loves the beach. So we went to the beach again, this time the one closest to our home. We brought James with us. I drove to the beach and oh boy- it's terrifying to drive and make mistakes with my child in the car. I will likely try that drive again soon because there's nothing actually hard about it, but hopefully I can get comfortable with it before the kids come with me again.

Jaime and James playing in the Sound together

Fizzling out at the end of the beach visit. Delicious snuggles.

Come back before beach season is over Jaime!

New Year's in Floral Park 2014 --> 2015

I have finally (temporarily) given up on partying on New Years Eve. I actually gave up way after most of my friends. But I thought it would be fun to celebrate with the kids and it was!

Obviously, they can't stay up until midnight and in our sleep-deprived states Kevin and I don't even find that enjoyable. So I chromecasted Australia's fireworks countdown off YouTube and told them it was midnight.

I gave each of us a plate of 12 grapes (like in Cuba and Spain) except Miranda who had two very cut up grapes. And we filled our less fancy champagne flutes with sparkling apple cider. (Yes, despite drinking champagne maybe twice a year, we have two sets of flutes because wedding gifts!)

Miranda spies the grapes!

James was actually super excited about the grapes!

Feeding Miranda grape bits

Toasting with apple cider

Jackie and Rob's Wedding 2014

Our friends Jackie and Rob got married in Manhattan! It was super fancy! The bride was my sometimes-partner-in-crime at law school. Now she fights injustice by day and runs marathons on the weekends. Yes, that's the description of a modern-day super hero.

The event was black tie optional, so Kevin and I were feeling pretty cute when we walked into a welcome area hour with wine and champagne. So we were off to a great start already! Eventually we were ushered into the ceremony. Jackie converted to Judaism so the ceremony was Jewish. I've been to a few Jewish weddings and I never get tired of the little touches that make it awesome, such as both parents walking the bride and groom down the aisle and the glass smashing. I particularly enjoyed the excitement with which Jackie enunciated the word "husband" in "I take you to be my husband."

The new Mr. and Mrs.!

The first ceremony was pretty brief and then we moved into the most serious cocktail hour I've ever attended. I couldn't try all the appetizers because there were too many but each one I tried was a delicious culinary adventure. And also, I was the first one to find the sushi bar... I tried to save some sushi for the other guests. I did my best, you guys.

The reception was officially opened by Jackie's dad's speech. He is the cutest funniest person. He poked fun at Jackie during his speech and you could tell how much he loves her. Rob and Jackie changed into some beautiful traditional Korean clothing for the cocktail hour. This was also a good heads up that the cocktail hour would be followed by a traditional Korean ceremony.

This might be one of my favorite pictures at a wedding ever (Cocktail hour)

The Korean ceremony is called a Paebaek ceremony, and traditionally it involved the bride being presented to the groom's family but in modern-day celebrations the groom is also presented to the brides family. Obviously this involved another fabulous change of outfit. Everybody bowed to one another, Rob and Jackie shared some wine, some "elders" gave some astonishing words of wisdom. One particularly amusing part of the ceremony was that Rob's parents had to throw dates and chestnuts and Rob and Jackie were supposed to catch them on a long piece of fabric. They caught 24 in total, after which we were told this indicated the number of children they would have. I hope, for their sake, that 24 is actually the number of children and grandchildren they will have.

Rob and Jackie during the Paebaek ceremony

Catching a lot of kids!

Thanking Rob's parents for the 24 children (cute!)

I missed getting a picture of the Western ceremony kiss but this one is better!

The Paebaek ceremony ends with the groom carrying the bride out on piggy back!

Then they changed back to their black tie outfits from the Western wedding ceremony for their first dance. We dined, we danced like crazy, and then we jumped around in slow motion for Rob and Jackie's video pleasure.  The band was amazing, and at one point Kevin and I actually looked up to see if Nicki Minaj had taken a hold of the microphone. The woman singing was decidedly not Nicki Minaj but could have fooled a radio listener. Everybody was dancing! We had the possibly the biggest group dancing the Hora in all of New York. (Well, perhaps on that evening.)

First dance

Lifting Jackie and Rob up during the Hora. (This is the best view we got.)

Okay, so they had a video area set up, where anything you did in 24-second increments was made to look awesome when it was converted to slow motion. However, no one warned us that there would also be still photos of the insanity.

The law school group and spouses

Rob and Jackie kept the party going all night long and went to sing Karaoke after the reception was over, but Kevin and I had to head home because Miranda was not doing great on her first night away from me. But we had a wonderful magical night, Miranda forgives me, and I can't wait to see Jackie and Rob again and hear about how amazing it was for them. You can see how happy they are together when you're with them. And if marriage is a marathon and not a sprint, well, Jackie is supremely well-prepared! Congratulations!

Ash's "Happy Everything!" Party 2012

Barn Party III! My buddy Ash threw the most amazing party last weekend which is why it's taken me all week to sort through the photos and write this post. Her barn parties are epic anyway, and this time her theme really took it to another level. Though it wasn't a costume party, her invite encouraged us to celebrate every holiday before the end of the world.  The decorations celebrated every holiday, as did the food, drinks, and entertainment.  It was all the reasons you love holidays (all of them) and parties rolled into one. I have been to a lot of theme parties (because I attended UVA law) and this out-themed 84-days of costume parties.

Michele, Ash, and me celebrating EVERYTHING!

In order to fully document the awesome, I made it a goal to photograph each holiday. We started with a holiday drink taste test.  We were blindfolded and asked to remember 6 holiday drinks and the corresponding holidays.  We had champagne (New Years), Sex on the Beach (Valentines), Guinness (St.Patty's), tequila (Cinco de Mayo) , mulled cider (Thanksgiving), and egg nog (Christmas). Michele won the game with a perfect score of 12. I missed 2 and wasn't even in the top 3. These people are hardcore. Since the first thing we were served was champagne, and we drank too much, I'm going to call this my New Years picture.

Holiday Drink Taste-test

Putting together these shots was also a really fun way of getting to know all the party guests I hadn't met before.

The "sexy shot" for Valentines Day!

The we're wearing green and smiling impishly shot for St.Patrick's Day

Um, bunny ears and an Easter basket (see in the middle) for Easter. Um?

Okay, well obviously, by this point we'd been celebrating for a while and the structural integrity of our shots was a little weak. But that just makes it more fun right?

Our next game was breaking open the piñata for Cinco de Mayo! It was hard to choose 1 photo and it's my blog, so I didn't.

Whh-smack.

Poor little guy just lost his leg

It sort of looks like the piñata is winning in this one.

I think my favorite was the sparklers for Independence Day. I never played with sparklers as a kid, yet they make me feel like a kid.  I think the first time I ever handled a sparkler was Independence Day in 2008! I know, right? I've been so deprived.

Woo Independence Day!

Labor Day is a tricky holiday because while everyone enjoys a nice long weekend, there aren't too many symbolic representations of it. Lucky for us, Michele's birthday is Labor Day weekend, and since the party was pretty close to the actual weekend-- Ash lovingly made her a cake and surprised her with it.

Michele blowing out her birthday candles for Labor Day!

Halloween was the easiest. Being the holiday-lover that I am, I had brought a bunch of costumey headbands and Ash had a few costume props as well, so we mixed and matched holidays and we had Halloween.

Halloween with the late-night party-goers

Eak and Gonul, Halloweening it up in the dark

Thanksgiving is best known for family and food. It also happens to be Ash's favorite, which you might have deduced from all the amazing food at the party. Dinner was like someone had come in and catered Easter and Thanksgiving. Except that person was Ash. She even had pies! Plural! Plus we played Pin-the-hat-on-the-turkey!

Ash made us some yummy pecan pie for Thanksgiving!

Pin-the-hat on the turkey!

Below are my Christmas representatives- Kate and her brother Matt-- who must have had awesome Christmases growing up because they both picked it as their favorite holiday. Additionally Ash kept some egg nog in her freezer from last Christmas, and I am not ashamed to say that I had it for breakfast and in my coffee the next morning- YUM.

Christmas Kate!

Nothing says Christmas like snowflakes and feather boas.

Of course, the best part about the night was that we didn't have to wait, month after month for the next great holiday treat. Everything was happening at once! All the holiday joy multiplied in the mix-and-match. Happy Everything to you!

The Easter bunny and Uncle Same are besties 

On the one shoulder I have an evil angel, and on the other a pirate. 

New Year's at Jon and Becky's 2011 --> 2012

Thanks to Grandma Kathy, we were able to go out for New Years Eve. Thanks to James's early wake up time, the difficulty in finding babysitters, and the awful timing of the trains where we live, this is probably going to be our last New Years Eve out for a long time.  All the more reason why we were so psyched to go out this year.  Kevin and I had delicious burgers at Peter Luger's in Long Island, then we took the train to Brooklyn and met Briggs and Brady at Angry Wade's for some pre-party drinks.

New Years Eve photo at home


Angry Wade's looks so much better than usual


Heading out of Angry Wade's with Brady, Kevin, and Briggs

Then we went over to Jon and Becky's place for an evening of fancy champagnes, Asian appetizers, New Years tiaras and glasses, and silly string. Yes, silly string.

Our hosts Becky and Jon

Jolie and Gio

Group shots with all our toys

Bonding with Jon and Briggs

Woo! New Years!

This is their charming-and-tough look

Kevin pops in and surprises them