Officially Frosted: A December Engagement!

So, I guess by the title you can kind of guess where this is going.. I got engaged! And I could not be happier, This has been the most magical and perfect Christmas of my life. Now, I feel like I should give some background here. About eleven years ago I worked at a not so magical place called TGI Friday’s, and shortly after I started I met a guy named Joe. I actually sought him out because we had mutual friends and I was curious. After meeting we became friendly, hanging out from time to time, he was a food runner and I was a host/waitress, so when I would work the silverware station he would get me a brownie obsession, which I would hide and sneak during my shift.

After about a year, I had had enough and quit working at Friday’s. We started hanging out more and suddenly we were dating, three months later we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. And now here we are. Well, not really we had a 10 year rollercoaster and now here we are. I won’t say it was easy, but we don’t do things the easy way. I will also say, that the waiting process to get to this point was not an easy one for me. I found it very difficult not knowing if this was a step that we were ever going to take, but I knew that I found my person and if I had to keep waiting I would.

But, I should have just listened to my best friend. Every time I would think it was going to happen and it didn’t I would get upset and I would go to her and talk it out. And she would tell me every time, “Christmas, if Joe knows you at all it will happen at Christmas”. And she was right. It happened in Orlando after a perfect trip, on a magical night, of dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and slow dancing on a ferris wheel, followed by a perfectly me and Joe moment on a lit up bridge with a Christmas tree in the background. It wasn’t what I imagined it would be it was better, I didn’t break down crying, I was laughing and purely happy. I am a very emotional person, so crying wouldn’t have been out of the question as I broke down just thinking about this moment, but I didn’t cry I burst out laughing, which made him burst out laughing, and he gave me a little lecture about how he was trying to be serious, I forever look back on that moment and remember how it felt. No moment will compare till our wedding day, and I just can’t wait!

Christmas in New York: Where to Skate

First we’re talking Bryant Park, now this is one I will hit up multiple times! There is something almost addicting about the atmosphere, the rink, the tree, all the festive shops! Its just magical! This is the only free rink in the city you only have to pay to rent skates, so its a pretty popular spot. Another big plus is its a great one stop shop, you can go there have a meal, pick up a souvenir or Christmas gift, go skating, and have a festive drink, all in one place! The only con I would have about this rink would be that they don’t allow purses on the ice, I am a bit weird about going anywhere without it so it is a bit of a struggle personally. But, that is a small thing and the overall experience is worth it!

The tree at Rockefeller Center, is a must see I always make it a point to stop by and see the light show across the street, watch the skaters circle around the rink, take bets on which couples might get engaged (oh yea it happens that much, you will likely see at least one, I have actually seen three in one visit). I don’t actually skate at this rink, since I prefer Bryant or Central Park. But, it’s definitely a must see! And if you have never skated there before it is iconic and definitely something you must do at least once!

Skating in Central Park, now I realize this may be a touchy one for some based on the owner for political reasons, but it is a New York staple and is the most beautiful rink in the city so to leave it off the list, just doesn’t make sense. The Wollman rink is gorgeous, there is no denying it, it is surrounded by trees giving you this feeling of being away from the city while at the same time you can see the city skyline poking out above them, providing such a unique view. Now, I have said it is beautiful, but I don’t advise this rink for inexperienced skaters. Every time I have gone the skaters that work the rink have danced around the rink and caused may people to fall around them, also they gave my boyfriend skates that had never been sharpened. So, it’s beautiful but you have also been warned.

Then there is the Standard Ice Rink and the Rink at Brookfield Place, I am covering these two together because they are similar in size, both are a bit small but these are the two rinks located downtown and seem to be very popular for young kids. They both are surrounded by classic New York architecture, but I have a slight preference for the standard strictly due to its proximity to Chelsea Market.. yumm!

The last rink in Manhattan, I am going to discuss is the Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers. I have somewhat of an attachment to this one, since I went to skating camp here as a kid. This is the perfect spot to go to if you are looking for a fun activity on a rainy day. This rink is located in doors, there is a bit of a view due to it being on the water and on the top floor of the building. It is definitely not the most scenic but can still be a really fun day and is a bit cheaper then some of the others since people tend to want to the outdoor rinks. But, this can be a good choice if you are not a fan of the cold! Plus there is an amazing bowling alley in the complex, with great burgers if you want to make a whole day of it!

The final rink is in Brooklyn and it is Lakeside in Prospect Park! This one has recently been updated and is two rinks attached, one of them has an awning so if you want to do an outside skate on a rainy day this is definitely your best option! It is so beautiful and the uncovered rink is surrounded by trees and nature giving you that skating on a lake feeling without the fall through the ice fears. It’s a great spot and if you make the trip I suggest stopping in Park Slope for dinner!

Epcot International Festival Of The Holiday's!

When planning my trip to Orlando this season, one of the most difficult things was deciding on which parks we were going to go to. Deciding between Epcot and Animal Kingdom was a struggle up until the day we got the tickets, because deciding to skip Pandora was quite hard for us. But, we did it and I couldn’t be happier!

The first thing I have to say is if you are planning to go to Epcot over the next few months make sure you stay till the end of the night, the show is amazing, they have one of, if not the best fireworks display I have seen in my life, all while having a large globe spinning in the water with projections from around the world displayed across the continents. Apparently they are doing away with this to make way for a more Disney character themed show, which is a shame, all the parks are great but this one is definitely the one that is a bit more for the adults, and its a shame to get rid of something that is both, fun and educational just to add in more characters, don’t get me wrong I love them, but it can be a little much after a day at Magic Kingdom it’s kind of nice to have a bit of a break.

Now on to the festivities, they had a live band directly behind the Epcot “Globe” aka golf ball, that played Christmas music till about 6 pm, and there was Disney Christmas music that was played all throughout the park til close, once we entered the around the world section, each country had a musical performer playing holiday music from their country. They also had a stand in each section that had traditional holiday food and drinks, we didn’t try many of these due the fact that I am a very picky eater. I do have one major tip for how you navigate through the circle, based on your food sensitivities, if you are like me and are quite picky, meaning you mainly eat, Mexican, Italian, and American foods you are going to want to start the circle by going left, we made the mistake of going right and didn’t find anything we were remotely interesting in and ended up hitting American food first and were starving, so we ate American which is not what you want in a place like this, luckily by the time we hit Mexico, we had been walking so much we found room and ate again, it was so good, I recommend the margarita’s, it was one of the best I’ve ever had. But, also by doing this we ended up missing out on the pastries in France because we didn’t like the food options, and weren’t ready for dessert yet and by the time we had almost looped back around we were exhausted and gave up. If you are adventurous with your food go right, they have a lot of cool things that I was unfamiliar with so it’s definitely worth the look.

The overall atmosphere from the day the decorations, treats and watching kids run around doing some kind of holiday scavenger hunt, just gave it the most festive feel. Plus, this is where the frozen ride is, which as someone who liked Frozen, but was an adult so wasn’t obsessed, you can take my word, you don’t want to miss it, the ride is fun but the graphics are amazing. The other rides from the day were fun as well though the race car ride from Chevy was probably the best ride from the entire trip, which just shows that Universal really needs to redo that Fast and Furious ride, not good. The other rides in Epcot were a lot of fun as well though we missed Soarin’ it was the only one we didn’t make it to, which is super disappointing because had we made it, we would have actually completed one park, didn’t happen on this one, so we obviously are going to be going back.

I have to say, since we were in Orlando for Christmas I think going with Epcot over Animal Kingdom was the right choice, they had so much to offer, and it was just an amazing day! Check it out, and check it out soon before they take the end of night show away, I will never forget it, so you won’t want to miss out!

Our First Christmas!

Long term relationships gradually mean you have fewer firsts than you used to, which can be great because you have so many magical memories together, but it also means that it can be easy to fall into a routine. My boyfriend and I are definitely the routine type when we create a tradition we stick to it and it can be very hard for us to try new things. Which is what ended up making our first Christmas officially living together so magical. So, let’s go back one year! When I was probably overexcited and had piles of decorations I had picked up over the years, I couldn’t wait and it’s probably a good thing I didn’t, because I had a bit more space then I had anticipated. I knew we needed to go on a holiday trip, I knew we needed to create our own traditions that we couldn’t create before, and I had the highest of expectations.

We bought our first tree, we had a slight disagreement about the process of putting up said tree, we hung ornaments, bought new decorations, I was doing pretty well financially at the time and loaded up on as many presents as I could get my hands on, we baked cookies, and went on our first holiday trip to Stockbridge, Pennsylvania. Nothing could have made it more perfect, or so I thought. I had finally had to perfect Christmas with my guy. Christmas eve and Christmas day had their bumps as they do once you are adding everyone else into the holiday craziness, but still I will always look back on that holiday season as almost perfect.

You may ask why, I decided even though we where exceptionally happy and everything went better then I hoped why I say almost perfect. And that is because, this Christmas right now, this is perfect. Which means last year can’t be perfect too, can it? I have realized through much of my life I strove for the idea of a perfect Christmas, and now that I have achieved twice, two very different but perfect Christmases, this one slightly more exceptional then the last, I have realized there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas. The year I get married will be a perfect Christmas, the year my first child is born will be a perfect Christmas. So, none of them are perfect. But they are exactly right.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

One of the best draws to a trip to Orlando at Christmas time is going to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. So, since I was going to be there this season, I just knew I had to go. The first thing you notice as soon as you walk into the park is the decor, Disney did the best Christmas decorations and had the best snow out of every park we went to, hands down, without question. It was like standing in the middle of a magical Christmas town with big fluffy snow that didn’t stick and turn to gray mush. It was outstanding!

As soon as you walk through the park a bit and start to absorb the holiday grandeur, Cinderella’s castle will catch your eye. There must have been thousands if not millions of lights on the castle going all the way up the spindle on top which did make me very curious as to how they did that, because there’s no way a person could reach. I have never seen anything like it, it was blue and icy and pure perfection. Once the park started to fill up a bit they turned the lights off, projected a Christmasy scene in its place and started a show which ended with the characters from Frozen begging for Elsa to turn the castle into a winter wonderland and her fulfilling their wish with a magical projection of snow and ice circling the castle till it brought it back to the stunning view it had been when we first walked in.

Following this they had a few more small shows but we wanted to get the full experience of the park, getting cookies and snow cones, hitting up a few rides, and going to dinner at Be Our Guest. This being a life goal for me, well almost, having my wedding there so I could dance in the middle of the ballroom in a gown that’s the life goal, but I can settle for dinner. It was perfect the ceiling, the decor, the windows, everything about it was like a dream, with a Christmas tree as the cherry on top. The food was amazing, I have heard mixed reviews, I don’t know why. I got french onion soup, steak and potatoes, and the mini dessert platter. The soup was good, I am partial to my own which is Geoffrey Zakarian’s recipe, but the steak entree and desserts were amazing and totally worth the cost. Though I would have paid it just to be able to walk in the door. The details are spectacular, I 100% recommend especially if you’re a fan of the film, as I am!

Following dinner we headed straight to the parade, which was filled with elaborate decorations, characters, and dance and band performances. As cool as it was to see the character’s I was most impressed with the dancers and band members, they had a full band performing inside full body plastic toy solider costumes, moving their arms playing instruments and still moving around in sync. It was very impressive. The floats were absolutely beautiful and the parade ended with an appearance by Santa!

After the parade we tried to see as much of the park as we could since we hadn’t spent any time in Magic Kingdom prior to this night and weren’t going to make it back. If you go to the Christmas Party, it starts at 7, but you are able to enter the park with your tickets a few hours earlier. We should have done this but this was our first day not going to a park first thing in the morning and we needed to rest and we took full advantage, by this day I had a very sore back and was having a bit of a difficult go of it.

We saw about a third of the park before we came back to the castle and noticed the end of the night performance getting started, with guest singers and characters putting on the show! It was a lot of fun and a nice way to end the night! The whole event was a magical experience, I can’t wait to go again, maybe with my future children one day!

A Tour Of Ornaments: Our Tree Of Memories!

Over the past ten years of my relationship we have developed a few traditions, one of my favorites being that every time we go on a trip we pick up a Christmas ornament! The reason why this is a favorite of mine is that it adds even more sentimentality to our tree, but also it sparks up beautiful memories of all of our trips together! We are missing two ornaments from our first few trips together in Virginia Beach and Myrtle Beach. Which just means we will have to return there some day, something I am very much looking forward to, because we have such amazing memories there.

The first ornaments I ever bought for our tree weren’t actually from a trip, I picked them up in Bryant Park as part of a Christmas gift for Joe, one of them is a penguin and the other an orca. An ornament of each of favorite animals. Now, you may wonder why I decided to include these since they aren’t from a trip, and that is because they were the first Christmas decorations I ever bought for us, they cost me a pretty penny, and they started me on my sentimental ornament journey!

The first ornament we picked up during travel was a red Hershey’s kiss from my birthday trip to Lancaster, PA. I can remember the moment we picked it out in the store, I knew that it was the perfect ornament for our tree since Hershey’s kisses were a Christmas staple for both of us growing up! Following that I actually made an ornament of Shutterfly for our snow trip to Shawnee Mountain, PA. This is the only ornament that I made out of the bunch because I wanted to have the memory picking it out, but I thought since it was for an overnight trip it was ok to cheat this one time.

Our next trip was to San Juan, PR., now this was not an easy one to find because I didn’t want something that just had San Juan printed on it, that I could have gotten anywhere, and it was July! So, we walked around Old San Juan for days looking, its a beautiful city so trust me we didn’t mind the hunt! Then one day we walked into an art shop and found these hand made ornaments, they were different from anything I had seen or had ever owned and had the city beautifully painted on them. So, we picked one out and finished our search. We were lucky one one of our other trips we had to settle for a less unique piece.

The next trip was California, where we actually ended up with two ornaments! The first one we picked up was a pulled glass turtle on Catalina Island, this wasn’t a typical choice of ornament for me but we had such a great time there even though it was only for a few hours, I felt like I had to get something to bring out those memories. But, I needed something to reflect back on the trip as a whole, I looked up a Christmas store by the hotel, but they were seasonal and didn’t have anything in mid September. So, I thought I was going to have to go home with just my turtle. Until I walked into the Starbucks located next to the lobby and saw these hand painted baubles they were selling from a local artist and picked one up with a beautiful humming bird one it.

Then there was Stockbridge. Mass. we went last year for our Christmas trip! you can check out the vlogmas from the trip if you’d like on my channel. I wasn’t sure what to get on this one. they had many hand painted ornaments and artisanal shops, but since the town is famous for being the inspiration behind many of Norman Rockwell’s famous works, I decided to go with something that celebrated his legacy. So, we searched the town and right before we left I stumbled on a small framed print of one of his paintings of the town. It was the perfect choice, and the first time I was able to place our newest ornament on the tree as soon as we arrived home, which just added to the memories.

We are getting close to the end of the list now with this past summer’s trip to Punta Cana, DR. This one has a shorter story since we didn’t have quite as much area to explore, we stayed in an all inclusive resort, and just relaxed for days, which left us mainly with the shops they had there. So, I ended up with one of those mass produced ones, but I mad sure to get the prettiest mass produced one we could find, which was a clear glass with sand and seashells inside it and Punta Cana printed on the front.

Leading to our final and newest additions, we just went on a holiday trip to Orlando, Fl. and I just had to pick up two ornaments on this trip! One for the Harry Potter section of our trip and one for the Disney part! The Harry Potter one was easy I decided on it almost instantly, Its a red bauble that has the Wizarding World of Harry Potter printed on the front in gold and is topped by a gold lion with Gryffindor written beneath his paws. The Disney one was harder, I wanted something Beauty and The Beast but I couldn’t find one that I loved, I liked a few but I just couldn’t visualize how they would work with our tree. So, I decided I would pick something at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, because it would likely be both Christmasy and Disney, this is when I found one of Mickey and Minnie dressed in Santa outfits kissing, and I thought it was perfect, it had Christmas, Disney, and was a loving image to reflect the feeling of our perfect trip!

So, there is our beautiful magical tree of memories! I hope you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane with me! Thanks for reading and I wish you a joyous holiday!

Christmas At Hogwarts!

Ever since I heard that they had a Christmas celebration at the Wizarding World in Orlando, I knew I had to go. So last year when my boyfriend and I were sitting down trying to decide on his vacation weeks for this year I just knew he needed to take off a week in December so we could go and enjoy all the festivities! And I have been bursting with excitement ever since!

So, first thing I needed to decide on once I all of the hotels were booked was the day we were going, how many days we were going, and wether it would be park to park or one park one day and another park the next. Well, I have to say money came into play when it came to deciding on a few of these things. Deciding on park to park was actually an easy decision because I knew I had to ride the Hogwarts Express! But, going for a second day just wasn’t going to work out. We did end up going to a timeshare presentation to get the tickets for a bit cheaper. The one thing I would suggest is really make sure you know what parks you want to go to and try to manage your time well. We didn’t finish a single park while we were there, and since we did park to park at Universal Studios we missed a lot because there was just so much to do. And if you want to visit for Christmas you should aim for the first week of December, everyone kept telling us how we picked the right week and how crazy things were going to get, so if you want to avoid the crowds I’d aim for sometime after Thanksgiving until the first week of December.

Now, getting into the Wizarding World itself, if you want to read about the parks overall, I covered that topic in a previous blog! So, here it is, the decor was beautiful and classic garlands strung on every building, with wreaths and trees perfectly placed about the park. They put on magical holiday performances throughout the day, and the hot butterbeer was a must have, I wish I could have brought it home with me by the bucket! We went on a cool day which helped boost the Christmasy feel.

The rides were spectacular, I had a preference for the Escape From Gringotts Ride, but that could have been because I have been on the Hogwarts ride before at the California location. The attention to detail to make everything match the films and books, was incredible, and though it wasn’t a part of the holiday splendor it is definitely something to take note of, and definitely a reason to visit anytime of year!

Now for they main show which was the Christmas show, it was amazing with fireworks, lights, and characters and decorations projected on the castle! It was amazing, I caught the entire show and have the video below, but I definitely recommend seeing it for yourself it is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The had the ghosts floating around, Fred and George causing trouble, a quidditch game, and then the decorations strung across the grounds with a giant tree appear. finalizing the show with an amazing fireworks display! It was perfection and I can’t wait to go back!

The Christmas Pancake!

In my family we have a traditional holiday breakfast, we like to refer to as the Christmas pancake, it’s not actually a pancake at all. It’s technical term is a blintz soufflé, I’m not sure how it got the name, though I wouldn’t be surprised if my parents thought the name might make my sister and I run for the hills as kids, since we were not the type to try new things and were particularly picky at that age. The recipe came from a cook book called, Cookery For Entertaining by Marlene Sorosky, and every Christmas eve my mom would take out that book and start doing all the prep work and then just pop it in the oven Christmas morning.

Now, this is not a light meal to start the day with, but when I was young Christmas day meant a lot of traveling going to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, so having a heavier meal helped keep us full until we got to our final destination for Christmas dinner. These days since we have a huge meal consisting of soups, salad, appetizers, main course, side dishes, etc, we have made some modifications to the Christmas pancake tradition. We still have it every year, but instead of on Christmas morning we will have it more often on New Years Day.

No matter what day we take part in this tradition, it always holds a special meaning to us, and is one of my favorite days of the season!

The Christmas Pancake (Blintz Soufflé)

1/4 lb butter softened

1/3 cup sugar

6 eggs

1 1/2 sour cream

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup AP flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Blintz Filling:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese cut up

1 pint small curd cottage cheese (2 cups)

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sour cream for topping

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9 baking dish (we always end up with two of these, one of which my mom has been letting me take home with me lately!). In a large bowl mix butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, orange juice, flour and baking powder until well combined. pour half the batter into baking dish (or a fourth in each dish if you end up using two), prepare blintz filling. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl blend with hand mixer. Drop filling in heaps into you baking pan(s), then pour remaining batter over the filling. Bake for 50- 60 minutes and serve immediately with either sour cream or blueberry syrup. I personally prefer the sour cream topping.

Eat and enjoy!

Christmas In New York: What To See!!

I have to say living in New York City my whole life has most definitely spoiled my holiday spirit! There are so many things to do and every year there’s always something new! So, this is my official list of my top Christmas activities! I like to start checking them off early, because I have yet to actually check off everything on the list in one year!

My favorite activity is definitely skating, but due to the vast amount of rinks, I have a separate blog on that topic! I will delve into Bryant Park a little bit though because it’s not just a rink but the Christmas market and outdoor bar makes it a magic experience not to be missed! The shops are both adorable and unique, the things I eat there I never see the rest of the year, so it is definitely a must! And they have so many artisan shops with hand made goods, from ornaments to jewelry it is truly spectacular!

The holiday windows are another must see, I like to hit them all in one outing, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Tiffany’s, and the ultimate windows Macy’s. The best way to do this is to start uptown at Bloomingdale’s and work your way down to 34th street. You may also want to pay attention to the weather because it’s quite a bit of walking and it can be very cold. Once you hit Macy’s you might want to take a trip inside one to see the decorations around the store and their massive decoration section, but also for the next thing on my check list!

Macy’s Santaland. This was a major part of my childhood, I would go with friends, family, and even on a few school trips! This is not your typical visit with Santa, which I skip that part now that I’m older, but the decorations inside are spectacular and you do not want to miss it, whether you have kids or not.

The decorations in Dyker Heights, this has recently become a really popular destination for non Brooklynite’s, but I have been driving through this neighborhood every December for as long as I can remember. These days it gets so crazy they block off certain streets so you can only see them if you are walking around. So, what I like to do is drive around to cover as much of the neighborhood as possible then stop by a Dunkin’ Donuts or a cafe pick up some hot chocolate. Park the car and hit the streets.

Another amazing thing to do this time of year in the city is going to see It’s a Wonderful Life at the IFC center, it is such a spectacular experience. It’s not often that you are able to see classic films in the theater. When I went for the first time a few years ago, I walked out feeling so much nostalgia for that magical classic Christmas. This can sell out quickly and even if you have tickets, if you aren’t there early you can end up not being able to sit with the rest of your group. So, plan to get there 10- 15 minutes before your show starts! They play the film on select dates from Dec. 7- 24th!

Christmas Fettuccine: "The Holiday" Inspired Fettuccine Alfredo

This year I really wanted to make some fettuccine alfredo for the holiday season. This has become a craving of mine every year ever since the first time I ever watch the movie the The Holiday. I had never heard of this tradition before, nor am I actually sure this is a tradition or if it was just a cute addition to the film plot. But, alas it has created a craving in me that I had never had before and could no longer ignore. So, that meant I needed to develop a recipe, I know how to boil pasta and cook chicken, but I needed a sauce. I knew the base was cheese and cream but I figured some research needed to be done. So, I got to it. Normally when I first try out a recipe I find a few that sound good and mix them together (I will list all the recipes I used below). After I get a handle on the recipe I have decided on I start to make more and more modifications each time until it melds into exactly what I want!

I love how this recipe turned out! I am not usually a huge fan of Fettuccine Alfredo, but I absolutely loved this! I did stray a bit from the traditional recipes buy using pecorino romano instead of the standard parmesan, mainly because I prefer one over the other. I am giving my disclaimer now, this is not necessarily the classic recipe, but I am so happy with it! If you give it a try let me know how it turned out!

Christmas Fettuccine

1/2 a cup of salted butter (or 1 stick)

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 pint heavy cream

1 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese

A light sprinkle of garlic salt

Fresh ground salt & black pepper

1 lb chicken

1 Tbsp each of garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano

2 Tbsp EVOO

Fettuccine pasta

Put a pot of water on to boil. Clean chicken and cut in to strips, then coat with garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, and fresh salt and pepper. Then pour EVOO into a pan, let heat up, then add chicken and cook till no longer pink and lightly browned. Melt down the butter in a saucepan, then add in the 2 minced cloves of garlic. Once the water has boiled add some salt to the water and stir, then add in fettuccine pasta. Let the garlic cook for about a minute, then add in heavy cream and freshly grated pecorino romano, whisk together. Once its begins to combine add the light sprinkle of garlic salt and fresh salt and pepper (be sure to be light with the salt). Continue to whisk till thickens and starts to lightly bubble.

December Travels And Christmas Fun!

In the last 2 years I have started a tradition of going away for a Christmas trip, this years trip was to Orlando which was the best trip of my life! I have gone on a few trips throughout my life, even when I was a child. And many of them where such great trips, I always knew when I got older I had to travel this time of year to see how other places celebrate! I hope to one day make it to Europe for Christmas, but I think that’s more of a long term goal.

Being that I have done some traveling already I have a few tips based on things I have learned, one is to book everything early, the cheaper rooms and tickets sell out first! And if there’s a specific place or restaurant you may need reservations for do that early because some places can fill up months in advance. Another tip is for my non Christmasy people, if you want a break from the festivities, that is more then possible I have done this in the past (though unintentionally), I went somewhere warm where they didn’t have many Christmasy events happening, so you can definitely get away from it if that’s your goal. If it’s not and you want to add some holiday cheer you can be like me and try to see all the decorations that they have in the area, and belt Christmas songs at the resorts karaoke night!

One of my favorite things to do while traveling, is check out the holiday decor, taking a drive to see all the lights, and see how its different or similar to how we do things back home. Last year, we went to Stockbridge, Mass. which is the town Norman Rockwell did most of his paintings in, so it has a very classic vibe to keep it looking more authentic and looking how it did when he painted it! When I was growing up my parents had a print of his Main Street at Christmas painting over the fireplace in the living room, so seeing it look exactly the same was just amazing! One of the best things there was the Norman Rockwell museum so you got to see all of The Saturday Evening Post’s Christmas covers! This was so different from a New York City Christmas which is so bright and a mix of classic and modern decor, I would say it’s a bit of an in your face style. Which I still love, it’s just nice to experience something different!

This years trip to Orlando had that in your face flare, but that’s if you went into the parks, and it was very in your face, you couldn’t miss it and it was amazing! I saw such a mix of things, from the lights shows and fireworks to the small town flare and shops! Now you maybe wondering what I mean by small town flare and by that I mean the town of Celebration, built by Disney that had nightly snowfall, adorably classic homes, and beautiful decorations. The main attraction was definitely the shows though! I have always thought of the Universal and Disney Parks to be more about rides and characters but on this trip we watched every end of the night show at each park we went to, as well as the Christmas shows they had and it was just the most amazing thing I had ever seen. From the effects to the fireworks just hands down phenomenal. And these were the things that I hadn’t even planned for. Which to me is the most important thing plan to an extent, but at the same time enjoy where you are because you may experience something you never would have imagined!

Christmas Trees And Cookies: A Holiday Tradition!

As a child I had the Christmas tradition that we would bake Chocolate Chip cookies while we decorated our tree. We always used to go to the grocery store and pick up a roll of Nestle or Pillsbury cookie dough, which is still what we do when I do decorating at my moms house. But, I decided as a new tradition now that I have a place of my own, I would change things up just a little bit, so instead of buying pre made cookie dough, I have started making it from scratch! One of my favorite things about making the dough myself is that my batches always come out a bit bigger then the store bought which means I can just pop it in the freezer and have home made cookies whenever I want them!

So, I start the evening by getting the tree set up, then get started on my dough. I always pop the dough in the freezer for a bit before baking them to let them cool. So, right before I put the lights on the tree, the cookies go in the oven. You want to get that cookie smell wafting through the air to give the whole experience that extra touch. The cookies bake for about 15 mins, so once you are ready to put up the ornaments they should be out of the oven. And now you have a treat while you get started. grab and ornament and a cookie and get started!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup cane sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 1/2 cups of AP flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together butter, cane sugar, and brown sugar. Then add in milk, vanilla, and the egg and combine all of that together. You will end up with a very liquidy consistency, now add in your flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and mix together till well combined. Now add in your chocolate chips and stir them in until evenly distributed. Place the batter in a air tight container and pop it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Then use an ice cram scoop to place the dough balls on the the cookie tray. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping the tray half way through. Then take them out and they are ready to eat!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together butter, cane sugar, and brown sugar. Then add in milk, vanilla, and the egg and combine all of that together. You will end up with a very liquidy consistency, now add in your flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and mix together till well combined. Now add in your chocolate chips and stir them in until evenly distributed. Place the batter in a air tight container and pop it in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Then use an ice cram scoop to place the dough balls on the the cookie tray. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping the tray half way through. Then take them out and they are ready to eat!

Christmas at Universal Studios Orlando

I have a tradition of traveling in December, this year I kicked of the Christmas season with a trip to Orlando. Saying that I was looking forward to this trip is a bit of an understatement. I have to say that the thing I was most excited for was the Wizarding World, I will touch on this a bit but that deserve its own blog. I was so impressed by the decorations and just overall attention to detail.

Obviously, the most decorated area was the Wizarding World which had Christmas trees, lights, and garlands everywhere! But, they added trees into each section of the park, Marvel, Jurassic Park, etc. Each tree matching the color scheme of the section is was in, for example by the Spiderman ride (which was so much fun definitely recommend!) they had light blue trees with red decorations to match his suit! Other then Hogwarts, the most decorated part was definitely the Seuss section. They had a Grinchmas play for the kids and just had festive decor everywhere!

We got park to park tickets, which was mainly so I could ride the Hogwarts Express. But it also meant we got to see so much more. Which is both good and bad. Because we did park to park and the main park was mostly rides we had already done at Universal Studios in California, we spent a lot of time in Islands Of Adventure, which was amazing, but caused us to miss the Christmas Parade that was held at the other park. This happens once a day so if you miss it, you miss it. It is in partnership with Macy’s and has balloons, so it’s similar to the Thanksgiving parade. Which as much as I would have liked to see the Universal version I have been in the Thanksgiving parade, so I don’t feel I missed out too bad.

For the most part the rides were amazing, I got a bit creeped out and had to back out of Kong Skull Island and the Fast and Furious Ride was a bit of a disappointment, the best part was the walk through leading up to the actual ride which had the cars from the movies. The best rides were Spiderman, Jurassic Park, and Men In Black. Well, and the Harry Potter rides of course!

So, the main reason for going was definitely the Hogwarts Christmas Light show, which was amazing and I have recoded in full in the vlog below! But, I was even more impressed by the end of the night show, this is some footage of that which does not give it justice. They projected movie clips on to a fountain in the middle of the main lake in Universal Studios Florida, with the theme music from each film and fireworks which the colors matched the films as well! It was one of, if not the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life, and I definitely recommend staying until the park closes so you can see it!

Writing a Grown Up Christmas List

I know past the age of about 10 most people stop writing a list for Santa, this I understand since I stopped as well. But, I started doing it again recently because of Macy’s Believe fundraiser, where they donate $1 for every Christmas list sent in to the Make A Wish Foundation up to one million dollars. So, basically all I had to do was take a few minutes and write a list and it would provide to a good cause. I definitely suggest doing this because one its a great cause and you will feel great doing it, but also because it gives you a chance to sit down and think of the things you really want.

I like to use this as a way to sort out my goals, my dreams, and my hopes for changes I would like to see in the world. Writing these things down can be very cathartic and good for you just to get out. I don’t actually expect to receive any of what I put on the list by Christmas, but hope that maybe by this time next year or the following to have either achieved them or be on a path to achieving them.

A few things I will be putting on my list this year are, for my boyfriend to have off on Christmas day (this one os for this year, but highly unlikely), a job, a MINI Countryman, a house, to have my readmission to college be approved, for some of the political madness to calm down and people to treat each other better, for there to be more cures to all these devastating illnesses, for my friends and family healthiness and happiness.

This is just the start of the list, but I figured I’d give a few examples. I understand that many of these will take time, I hope the job comes soon, so I can get back on track for the car in a year and a house in two, cross your fingers! Some things may never change, however, our political climate my stay in this war forever, but other things can be helped with fundraising and research which I try to donate what I can now, but being unemployed it just never feels like enough and my goals of getting a job and making more money means having the ability to give more in the future. This time of year sparks the season of giving and even if you can’t give, you could take a moment out of your day to go on the Macy’s website and write up a list, it will be a definite boost to your holiday spirit!

Decorating for a Magical Christmas

Decorating for Christmas is one of my favorite parts of the holiday! If you read my apartment decor video then you know that I started buying Christmas decorations for my place before furniture even crossed my mind. I had decorations before I even had a place to put them! I have to say the key decoration is the Christmas tree, I like to have a main tree in the living room, this is a real tree, and then I have a fake pencil tree in the bedroom. I always have a color scheme, and somehow I managed to go red in both rooms! Though it leans a bit more on the wine and gold side in the bedroom whereas the living room is the classic red and white.

I also have to have garlands and wreaths literally anywhere I can put them, right now that means one medium sized wreath in each room and a garland under each TV. I cannot wait till I own a house one day and I can have garland wrapped around every stair railing! Once the key decorations are up then out come the nicknacks, dancing Santa, the nativity, sleighs, and more! I have grown my collection by scouring Amazon, ebay, Michael’s, Christmas shops, and Pottery Barn.

My ornament collection however, has had a life of its own. The bedroom tree has a set color scheme so almost all of those ornaments came from sets from Ikea, except for a gold “Merry Christmas” ornament which I picked up last year on my birthday and a year round holiday shop in Manhattan. The living room tree however is one covered in sentimentality. I have a few ornaments that were handed down to me from my mom that we used to put on our when I was growing up, a few more that I got with or from friends, as well as two I got at a little shop in Bryant park for Joe and I of our favorite animals. But the main ornaments on the tree are our travel collection. We have purchased an ornament in almost every place we have traveled together, which makes that tree so special every year. Not the most color coordinated but probably my favorite decoration in the entire apartment.

To me the key to decorating is making it feel special, it can be the most beautiful decorations in the world but adding in those personal touches just makes it magical. I love walking past my tree and spotting one decoration that brings me back to where I was when I got it and all the memories that come with it.

My Holiday Traditions!

Everyone has their traditions, whether it be for the holiday’s, an anniversary, or just any special time of year. For me Christmas traditions are my absolute favorite! In recent years some of these have altered a bit, this is because as you start to bring new more people into your life and your family begins to grow you have to find a way to include everyone, and that can mean somethings will change. For example, when I was young we had this tradition that my family and I would go out to the city to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center and out to dinner, then we would come back home add a few more decorations to the tree (my mom always had so many there were always more you could add, and we’d leave some space for the 24th), we would play holiday music, eat cookies and a little before heading to bed we would all be allowed to open one present. What ever we opened would be played with for a little, until we were rushed to our room and my sister and I would pretend to sleep and then sneak to the window to look for Santa. These traditions altered a bit once my sister and I outgrew Santa and then, more when my parents divorced. That meant, we still went skating and to dinner with my dad on Christmas eve and would open one present or all our presents depending on the agreement for that year if we were to spend the night at his house or my moms and we still had our traditional Christmas breakfast, Mass, but added in an all day feast with my mom Christmas day.

Now, that I am older my traditions have been added to and altered once again with annual gift exchanges and over eating with my friends, and including the new part of my family that has come along with my longterm boyfriend. These days my Christmas is filled with more holiday joy then I have experienced in my life. It is nothing like what I had as a child but that’s ok I now have so many people and activities throughout the month of December I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Since I have detailed my past traditions, I am sure you are just dying for the current details.. maybe. But, I’m gonna give them to you either way! These days I try to make plans with my friends leading up to the holidays but that doesn’t always work out. This part of the celebration will include ordering in WAY too much food either for delivery or at a restaurant, putting on a Christmas movie, and exchanging gifts. My extended family usually has a brunch early in the month, which I unfortunately will be missing this year. And Joe’s family extended family has a day of fun, food, and Secret Santa. And that brings us to Christmas eve which starts ridiculously early because that’s how my dad rolls. We gather at my dad’s or my sister’s and exchange gifts and have a small bite to eat just to hold us over. Then it’s off to a rink for skating Rockefeller is a bit pricy these days so we just kinda go where ever we feel like it that year. Followed by an enormous lunch in an Italian restaurant. After this we part ways, and Joe and I head to his family for Christmas eve night. This includes another large meal, followed by family time, and gifts. After this we head home. Joe and I exchange our gifts while a holiday film plays in the background and whether or not we got to sneak in a nap that day will determine if we fall asleep on the couch.

Then it’s Christmas Day! Which almost every year Joe and I have been together he has worked. So, I head off to my mom’s alone for morning mass which we usually over sleep for and end up in the Spanish mass which none of us speak and we sit there trying to figure out what is going on. After mass, we go back to my mom’s and start cooking, my sister takes on the role of bartender and usually concocts some form of holiday mimosa while my mom and I prepare appetizers. From there its a cycle of cooking, eating, napping, on repeat, until dessert when no more food can possibly be eaten. And Christmas is over…

Well not really, see Joe and I realized early on in our relationship that the holiday itself is pretty hectic and we don’t get to spend much time celebrating it just the two of us. So, we have an annual Christmas date sometime before New Years eve, once this happens Christmas comes to a close until we repeat it all next year!

Planning the Perfect Christmas Date Night

For the last ten years of my relationship Joe, my boyfriend, and I have gone on an annual Christmas date. The first few years that meant going to which ever ice skating rink in the city had the best hours on the day we were both free and then finding any restaurant near by. We have become a bit more organized since then picking the perfect restaurant making reservations weeks in advance and alternating on rinks because we can’t agree on a favorite! Mine’s Bryant Park, his is Central Park.

The first and most important part of planning your date is picking the restaurant, there are a few key things I look for when deciding are, obviously the food, decor, location, and the potential to become a special place. When narrowing down based on food I will think of places I have eaten in the past that I really enjoyed and I will go through sites such as Open Table or Yelp and sort through reviews. Once I have narrowed that list I will google them see if there are any interior shots of their holiday decor. If they have great decor someone most likely will have taken a picture of it at some point, or since I do quite a lot of wandering looking at decorations around the city I often will remember if I saw a place decorated particularly well! From there we narrow places down based on how central it is too all the skating rinks, if you live in a place where driving and parking isn’t horrendous this step might be less important, but you also might not want to have to travel too far. The final thing I take into consideration is if I go there for other traditional events such as, a girls holiday dinner, or Christmas Eve lunch with my family. These steps helped lead Joe and I to our now traditional Christmas restaurant.

After you have picked where you are going to eat we get to the activity portion of the evening! This obviously will differ based on location and personal preference, I like to go skating, but I do realize depending where you live you might not have access to this. So, other options can be finding a theater playing a classic Christmas film, going to a holiday market, or a cozy movie night at home with snuggles and hot chocolate. But deciding on this early is a good idea because you want to make sure you make dinner reservations at the right time, so you have plenty of time to do what you choose either before or after you eat!

I hope this helped you out!

Vlogmas!

So you want to do vlogmas, but you don’t know if you can because you don’t have the time to make everyday as special as the bigger youtubers, you see fancy intros and feel overwhelmed, can you actually record and edit every single day? I understand it seems to be a bit of a undertaking and can be very daunting. At least that’s how I felt last year when I did it for the first time. I am not a seasoned vet that has been on YouTube for a bunch of years and has done 5 years of vlogmas but Ido understand the stress.

First, you don’t need an intro, most people find them annoying anyway, I always skip them so if you want to do it because you like them then go right ahead but don’t stress yourself if you don’t have the time. Second, making your days interesting, I dealt with this last year, I had to work so many days I didn’t have the time to invest into holiday fun. But, what I did do was find a way to incorporate something into my days whether it be some holiday lights a quick stroll through a holiday market or stuffing my face with chocolate while watching a holiday movie. The last thing which was what I worried about the most was filming enough then editing and uploading on time each day. I will be honest I missed a few, but I just combined a few days together which actually helped a bit with the last concern. As much as I wanted things to be perfect its a learning curve and even your most experienced youtubers have trouble sometimes. So just have fun with it, some people might not like it if you miss a day but that’s ok they will forgive you when that next post goes up. As long as it’s fun for you then its worth it! Good luck and enjoy it!

Picking the Perfect Present!

I have a bit of an obsession with finding people the perfect gift. I think I have been fairly good at it when I can afford to be. Not to say that you have to have a lot of money to buy the perfect present, but sometimes I have found the right thing at the wrong time financially.

When picking a present I think about who I am buying for, and try to be very particular about things they like and don’t like. For example, I have one friend who gets very into her TV shows and we have shows that we specifically watch together or ones that she has been obsessed with since I met her in elementary school. I know that if I go out and buy her a Sunnydale school hoodie, the school from Buffy, she will love it, (and she did, I got it for her last year). But, I have other friends that get into shows, but are not into merch for those shows. So, with them I have to think well what are their interests right now, one year my friend Julie was really into nails, so I got her an at home gel nail kit, my friend Lina is obsessed with robots so I got her robot that you can build and program yourself.

The difficult people however are the ones that buy themselves whatever they need, my boyfriend can be this way. So, I will try to take note of the things that he wants so that come December anything he hasn’t remembered to buy go straight on the list. Another thing I have done is keep note of things they have been into in the past, for example Joe used to be into video games, he still has the consoles but he never plays, but I knew there were games he had that broke or he wanted but never got, so I got those for his stocking last year and he loved it. He doesn’t play them much, but the joy he had when he opened them made it worth it!

I start making my Christmas list very early this gives me a head start because sometimes I may think I have a great gift for one person and then change my mind on it, but realize it actually might be perfect for someone else, I have done this so many times!

I hope this was helpful! Good luck shopping!

Packing For A Very Merry Vacation

I have gotten into the habit of planning a Christmas trip during December, I love getting the opportunity to explore other places and see their holiday decorations. Last year Joe and I went to Stockbridge, MA, it is the town that Norman Rockwell did most of his work, and is so different from New York City, it was relaxing, beautiful, and exactly what we needed. This year we are going to Orlando for a full on Hogwarts/Disney Christmas! The one thing I have learned from traveling this time of year is that I can find myself missing some of my home decor. So, I like to pack a few little things with me to make the hotel room feel a little more festive. A few fair lights, a candle, and some small unbreakable touches that won’t get crushed in flight or on the road.

Obviously, you want to pack all your regular essentials, toothbrush, contact cases and so on. But, the most important thing it checking the weather right before you leave. I know this sounds obvious, but I have assumed it will be cold or hot just because its winter or its the Caribbean and gotten there just to find I was wrong and unprepared. It also helps to google what the weather is like during that time of year, since we are going to Florida this year I looked this up and many threads I have found on the subject have said that weather fluctuates from coats to shorts in a matter of hours, meaning I have to be prepared for everything. Since, it’s winter time in most of the world checking the weather is key!

Speaking of clothes, I always have to throw in as many Christmas themed items as possible! Christmas sweaters, t-shirts, socks, pajamas, whatever I can find and that fits in with the weather I am heading towards! But, I also always pack a dress and some dress shoes to wear out for a festive holiday dinner, I tend to stick with something red or green to keep in with the spirit!

If you are the type who either likes to be super organized or has a really hard time remembering what you need to pack you might want to check out the app PackPoint, it will definitely hep you out by giving suggestions of things to add and let’s you add in anything specific to you. I hope these tips are helpful! And I hope you have a very merry trip!