Its been a While... here's Thanksgiving 2009

This is the first thing I think of when I think of Thanksgiving... pies. Yes there were only six of us, but I made 5 pies. Here's pumpkin!






Mixed Berry!
One of my favorites, coconut cream!
The other 2 I made were pecan and tollhouse! This was the icing on the cake after a delicious meal with my parents and Tage's.
She loved herself some pie!
My labor of love... the first Turkey dinner in NYC! The only thing I didn't make was Turkey. It looked better than it tasted unfortunately. We ordered it from a place in Brooklyn that specializes in deep fried Turkeys. It was honey pecan... tasted dry, almost brittle! I think we were all a bit disappointed, especially after it cost nearly $100. Luckily the show went on and we ate green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, olives, stuffing, tamales (thanks to Sis. Pabon who gave me a personal cooking lesson!), mango jalapeno relish, cranberry pear tart, Pa Tom's famous cranberry relish, olives and homemade bread with honey butter.
The flowers came from Katrina Paris, a local florist I love! 119th and Lenox.
Quite a feast, with reminders of what was to come as shown above!
You have to do this at least once in your lifetime... Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. A dream of my mothers to check of her list was finally accomplished this year. My parents got there about 5:30 to stake out a front row seat at 64th and CPW. We came later with Kajsia and 8 1/2 months pregnant. Here's the end of the parade with us all...
Do you Believe? A significant and inspiring ending to the parade to kickoff the Christmas season .
If this doesn't make you feel like a kid again.... our first glimpse of Santa and Mrs. Claus. The crowd erupted into loud cheers and adult and child alike started their wishlists in their heads. I know Tage has a wish list year round on Cabela's should you ever wonder what to get him!
Andre Boticelli.... wish his Christmas Album was better than it was.
Instead of a red-hat club, this granny group rides trikes! Hilarious and ultra-motivating!


Girls just wanna have fun!!!!
The parade seen thru the eyes of Kajsia! She loved everything except for the Clowns... who kept coming over and oogling over her and throwing confetti to which she screamed in fear!
Loved the hem on this dress!
You can tell this is earlier in the parade, look how clean the street is. The energizer bunny just keeps going and going.....
I love this shot, it shows the excitement and enthusiasm felt about the parade at all ages. My mom is a HUGE parade lover and this was one of those "bucket list" items she's always wanted to do. After 10 years in the city, I was thrilled to be able to SIT, not stand, and watch the parade for the first time. It was MAGICAL!
Kermit and the might balloon staff that walks him down the street.
Each balloon had it's company of carriers dressed up to match the balloon they were manuvering. To give you some perspective, this is about 10 stories high and about 50 people helping on the ropes.
The weather was amazing, about 45 degrees. This was before the parade started and Kajsia just needed to get out and walk. Look at the crowd we had to pass thru to get to the other side with my parents. Holding Kajsia and being 8.5 months pregnant I didn't get a lot of sympathy or help. One lady wouldn't budge, so I just ran her over! First time I'd encountered such rudeness, I'm hoping she wasn't a local.
Happy Thanksgiving our sweet girl!
To pass the time she's watching Backyardigans on the ipod. My dad had to watch Twilight, such a good and patient man! Thanks mom and dad for staking out such an awesome spot! Front row is definitely the recommended way to go. Hope you all had as much fun and ate as well as we did this year. What a blessing it was to be with family, to have the resources to share such a fabulous meal and enjoy such a NYC tradition. I'd do this every year if possible!

Teething Bites!

If this look is any indication of what the past few days have been like, it's spot on!
Serenity NOW!
Coughing and Crying!
There is an actual tear here!

It's been a rough few days around these parts, Kajsia is teething (MOLARS SUCK!). Starting Friday, she got cranky and just cried with lapses into inconsolable screams. Temperatures up to 102, she just quit eating and even going to the playground didn't help. It hasn't stopped, other than a dose here and there of Infant Motrin. Sleep, what's that? I saw every hour on the clock throughout the weekend and of course it was the one weekend where we were supposed to get an extra hour of sleep! What is a mom (30 weeks pregnant) to do?

Today we started out the morning on a decent note... she was not in the best of moods, but she wasn't screaming. She got into my bow box and shrowded herself with organza while she read. I guess it's the new substitute for a blankie! Our little bookworm was content for the first time in 5 days and then she finally went down for a morning nap. I snapped these pics quickly for blackmail later on. Good thing we don't remember what teething was like. This afternoon, she was our happy, go lucky little girl... she's back and I'm so grateful!

Stella McCartney for GapKids

Stella McCartney is on sale NOW!!!! If you or anyone you know are expecting, this is wait list worthy stuff for gifts and for the holidays. From what I hear, more is in the stores... check out this darling stuff!


hi-top sneakers

skinny jeans (check out the zippers at the ankles)

duck boots

pea coat

corduroy flutter top

She is the daughter of a famous Beatle, a fabulous fashion designer, mother of 3, eco-friendly and has a collaberation with Adidas for workout wear for women.

In her new endeavor, she's teamed up with GapKids for a special line in select stores starting today! I'm a huge fan... love the hi-top sneaks, the duck boots, skinny jeans and the cashmere leopard print sweater dress. Prices are $14-$100, it's on line and in a few stores here in NYC. Sizes from infant to 8 years old, both boys and girls.

Check it out...http://www.gap.com/

Harlem Halloween

Happy Halloween from a spooky stoop in Harlem!

She is so excited for the treats... look at those eyes?

Waving Hi before the party gets started...

Fam at the ward Halloween Party... she was not a big fan and it was hot!

A giraffe is loose on Lenox!

My baby got BACK!

At the ward party... she hated all the scary painted faces and any masks wigged her out.

This was the closest we could get to Africa with the Wildlife Photographer and his subject, the Giraffe! (it's in our lobby!)

Being such a sport with a 102 temperature... teething sucks! But at least animal crackers and chocolate help ease the pain!

We talked about going to New Mexico, but we were there last year. We talked about going to CT, but I wanted to stay in the city. Today we started our own Halloween tradition... Trick-or-Treating on Lenox Avenue! All the businesses are open and hand out candy to all the little ones (and big ones too!). It was a great family event where we could ooh and ahh over each other's little creations... everything from power rangers, princesses and witches to lions and giraffes. Our favorite stop was at Grandma's Place. It's a cute mom n' pop toyshop that I highly recommend on 120th right around the corner from Settepanni's. They had a huge panda outside welcoming all the kids into the store, treats for the kids and then Tonnie's bitesize cupcakes for the adults. It was so good, Tage took me for a real size cupcake after Kajsia fell asleep. I'll blog about that shop another day, so delish!

Kajsia was a giraffe, thanks in part to Nana. She loved it and was the cutest one on the block! She had so much junk in her trunk that it almost made walking difficult and it was just a little big, so she couldn't really see when her head was on. With a temperature of 102, teething and on a 30 minute nap we went to the ward halloween party and then took her trick-or-treating. WE've been practicing saying "treat", but had yet to get it out. So, Boo was the next best thing with blowing kisses as her thank you's to each vendor.

Tage's first attempt was to be a wildlife hunter, but hindsight is 20/20. Perhaps running around in Harlem with a fake gun on his back would have caused a disturbance. Hence, the PC and gentler decision of being a wildlife photographer. Only problem is most of the pictures taken were with my camera, so he didn't have one around his neck. He was the most handsome photographer today!

I decided a few days ago to be a little irreverent. I bought a nun costume and thought my 7 1/2 month belly could be an ironic, but hilarious addition. When I brought it home, Tage was leary. However, after some encouragement from friends I donned the outfit and was pleasantly surprised by the huge fan fare. Random people stopped us to take pics all afternoon, many asked for blessings and the barbershop around the corner the guys on the stoop started saying, "In the name of the father, and the son..." while making the sign of the cross. I blessed them all with a good haircut and a Happy Halloween~ They all got a kick out of it and then as we were leaving, he said, it's a new generation of nuns, huh? I think it was my best costume yet, thanks lil' guy for helpin' mom out this Halloween!

The Changing of the Leaves

The red tree at night... a pretty amazing shot taken by Tage!

Our "growing" family in front of Grandma Wright's amazing red tree! I'm 29 weeks in this pic.

Grandma with Kajsia! This tree is such a vibrant red, it really doesn't look real! It was given to Grandma by her mom, Grandma Lusk and it has turned into a spectacular sight.

This is from the front porch of the home... the perfect blend of green, yellow and red.

Out the back window of the car, winding down the streets of Old Lyme. I'd move there in a heartbeat, but I love the city way to much!

There is nothing more beautiful than fall on the Northeast Coast. Even though last Saturday was raining, it didn't damper the drive to CT. The trees were at the end of high peak season and every color in the autumnal palette was present. Here are a few shots taken in the car, out of the car and the best is Grandma Wright's tree in the front yard.

Here's a few shots!

Tea, The Cutest Clothing Catalog

I'm always on the lookout for something different or new. I got this catalog in the mail and felt it was important enough to blog about it. It's called "tea" for little citizens of the world. As far as style, it's Anthropologie meets Japan. Ages newborn to 8 years and is for both genders.

Darling dresses, cute japanamation prints for boys and the pj's are my fav!

Check it out:

teacollection.com or phone for a catalog at 866-374-8747