Happy holidays, Pt. 3: It's the most wonderful time of the year.

Heading into December, I was pretty bummed not to be near friends and family for Christmas.  What this place needed was a little mistletoe and holly!  With my roommates' blessings, I went a little crazy decking the living room with some holiday cheer.

Festive, no?  Candy canes and twinkling lights and stockings, oh my!  

Christmas Eve, Cristiane, Carlos, and I went to Midnight Mass then hung out at home until the wee hours of the morning.  Unfortunately for me, there "arose such a clatter" around 630a Christmas morning -- a store I'm overseeing in Brooklyn needed me to come in and fix a problem.  Merry Christmas!  Ah, well.  I headed down there, played hero, visited my own store to wish them a merry day, and decided to take advantage of the quiet morning.  Little did I realize that I am only a ten minute walk from the Brooklyn Bridge!  It was a cold but beautiful morning and walking across the bridge into Manhattan was the perfect way to reflect on being a little lonely but not alone on my first Christmas way from home.

So now what for the holiday itself?  Roommate Kristen was heading home for Christmas so Cristiane, Oz, Carlos, and I decided to stay in and have a homemade holiday.  We cooked (egg toast, roasted veggies, blueberry bake), watched a movie, and opened gifts.  It was a simple yet lovely day, and while it wasn't easy to be away from home, it was a great way to spend Christmas in New York.

Wearing the scarves that Grammie made for me!

Merry Christmas from NYC and Kristen, Carlos, Cristiane, Oz, and Erica. :)