Christmas Time in the City

Christmas has now come and gone and, looking back, most of December seems a frenzy of activities which have somewhat blurred together. I will try to sort it all out...So once the Van Dorans left us, we geared up for our second round of visitors--my mom, her friend Janet, and my brother were coming. I was really excited, and happy that we were only housing one guest (my brother), while mom and Janet roughed it at The Waldorf Astoria. In all they were here 4 days, 3 nights and it truly was a whirlwind. Alvis had to work during the days so I played tour guide--a title I use very loosely (considering I still get turned around south of Houston...). Our days consisted mostly of shopping and sightseeing, and we had beautiful, albeit freezing, weather. Jamie even scored some watches for a "bargain" on Canal St. Although, next time he's in the mood for some shady business dealings, we might need to leave mom behind---when my brother accidently shorted the "shady businessman" five dollars, my mom proceeded to tell the man embarrassing childhood stories of my brother to prove his credibility. So now we have a "friend" on Canal that knows way too much personal information about my family...Otherwise, things went well. I didn't lose my mom on the subway, which was a near miracle at times...she and Janet even navigated their way to my apartment from their hotel via subway all by themselves---I was so proud. We saw a show for each night they were here and really enjoyed ourselves. But next time they come I relinquish my title...we will chillax...(that one is for Alvis...)



After my family left we had a few days to regain our strength for our third and final set of guests for the holidays-- Alvis' parents were coming and staying through Christmas. Luckily, they stayed on the Upper West Side near our apartment, so it was easy to get to them and vice versa. Mr. Len had a broken toe, and Ms. Diane was getting over the flu, so they wanted to keep a slower pace...I couldn't have been happier. We didn't do too much running around, but we did get into the holiday crowds--I was a little worried we might lose Mr. Len (Ms. Diane and I had to keep looking back to make sure he was still with us...) But to be perfectly honest, Alvis and I were pleasantly surprised-- we were a bit concerned about how his dad would handle the big city...he once got a nosebleed when we painted his living room (he doesn't exactly like change). But we really had a great time with both of them. We went to the NYC Ballet's The Nutcracker on Christmas Eve, and we all (yep, all of us) loved it--it was truly spectacular. Christmas was a lot of fun as well--we made a big breakfast, had mimosas, and opened presents. We spent the rest of the beautiful day in the park and finished it off with dinner at a french restaurant (which by the way was frequented by none other than THE Carrie Bradshaw...). And although the holiday season is not quite over, all my running around hopefully is for a while...except for all those returns I have to make...