The Gypsy Wagon

Oh Holy Night

And now after all of the hustle and bustle, the rushing around and the fighting for the parking spaces; after the shopping and the wrapping, the cooking and the cleaning - the real reason for all of the celebration.

 

 

Christmas blessings to all of you.

 

And to all a good night.

An Annapolis Christmas Eve

Downtown for last minute shopping, we saw this flexible flyer and the snow shovel in the window.  Definitely wishful thinking on the 50 degree day.

Wanted to go to McGarvey's for lunch, but the wait was more than an hour.

 

Decorations were abundant.  Some in traditional colors. . .

Others were a little more creative.

Annapolis was full of people bustling about - carrying packages, walking dogs and pushing strollers.

It was a beautiful day!

This is almost too easy . . .

Carey has requested a pair of Navy blue Converse Chuck Taylor sneaks for Christmas, and I have duly plodded up and down the mall, in and out of every single shoe store, and the department store shoe departments - all to no avail.  I don't know why I didn't think of it first, but I went online to zappos to order them. I figured at the very least, I could wrap up a picture of the sneaks and let Carey know that they were on the way.  Imagine my delight to find out that by ordering by 4 pm est. today, I'll have them tomorrow.  With free shipping.  Sheesh.  If I had known how easy that was, everyone on my list would have gotten shoes from zappos. 

Now I'm off to finish watching "Elf". . . . ."SANTA!!!!  I KNOW HIM !!!!! 

Then it's off to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and then tamale-making tonight.  Life is so good.

Edit to add:  Apparently golden retrievers love hand-iced and decorated Christmas cookies.  ARRGH!

A Post from She Who is Easily Amused

Today was the best day yet in the pre-Christmas season.  All boxes were shipped out yesterday, a lot (not all - never, ever all) of laundry was washed, folded and put away - and I had a whole day to putter with my 10 year old.  We drew knights, we made lunch, we made granola and tonight we made ginger people dough from The Pastry Queen cookbook which my parents were nice enough to send me - thanks mom and dad!  I don't have a evaluation of the ginger cookies yet - we'll make those tomorrow, but I am crazy for the granola in this book.  It was so much fun to make and it's delicious.  Each recipe makes about 14 cups, so I found my cellophane bags and designed tags on photoshop elements, and tied them on with the brown and white baker's twine that I love so much.  The photograph on the tag is a box of vintage ornaments that were at the antique show in Round Top last April.  It was a treat to find that one in the archives.  I desaturated the color a little so that the photograph would allow the text to show up, and I sent my kids out to deliver these to the neighbors.  It was a fun, easy project and allowed me to exhale and enjoy the moment.  I think it was the first day in weeks that I didn't feel like I was behind.  I have to acknowledge those moments because they don't come around all that often.  Oh - and tonight while making the cookie dough, we watched the original black and white "It's a Wonderful Life".  I don't care how sappy it is, that's one of my favorite movies.  In fact, I bought Jimmy Stewart postage stamps yesterday at the post office because I love it so much.   I hope that these last few days before Christmas are slowing down enough for everyone to enjoy this magical season.

Edited to add:  It's fifteen minutes til game time.  Go Navy!  Beat Utah!

Santa Mugs

I hestitate to categorize this as "decorating on the cheap", because I don't want Lara to think that I think she's cheap.  She really isn't, but boy she can spot something cute a mile away!  I took this in November when we were in Texas for the Navy/North Texas game.  Her kitchen  is this warm yummy yellow and up near the ceiling she has installed this great shelf and molding.  She painted the area above it a great torquoise, and has some of her treasures and eye candy up on the shelf.  These Santa mugs stay out all year - and they look great all massed together.  I think most of these came from thrift shops and garage sales, but if I'm wrong I bet she'll correct me on that.  This display makes me think of the quote from A Christmas Carol "I will keep Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year".  Nice - don'tcha think?

A Big Red Christmas Apple - Day Two

When we awakened Sunday morning, there was a powdered sugar dusting  of snow on the surrounding rooftops and the sky was thick and gray.  The snow turned to stinging cold rain and high winds, but that only slowed us down a little bit. 

We had tickets to the 9 am showing of the RAdio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, so we were able to squeeze in a quick trip to the Starbucks in the concourse of Rockefeller Center, and got into the Music Hall just moments before the orchestra began. 

I had seen the Christmas Spectacular when I was in college in (ahem) 1983, and I remember thinking that it was pretty cool.  I also remember sitting high and way in the back in the balcony.  This time, we had great orchestra level seats and with the exception of the pumpkin-headed man in front of me (see yesterday's post), we could see beautifully.

  The Rockettes were amazing - the precision, the enthusiasm and the talent that they brought to the stage reflected countless hours of practice.  As a former high school drill team member, I was blown away by their talent.  And in the mark of true professionals, they made it look so easy.  The Music Hall itself contributed to the performance.  It felt like we were inside a jewel box - the lighting, the draped fabric, the sound - all made it a magical experience.    It was so strange to leave the Music Hall and to find out that it was only 11:00.  We headed south to ABC Carpet and Home to view the eye candy there.  Like Anthropology, ABC spends much effort on the displays and merchandising, and there's something to see everywhere that you look.

The girls were still excited about the Rockettes and were sure that with just a little practice, they could join the famous kick line.  Unfortunately, the bathroom at ABC probably wasn't the best place to practice, but I guess when the mood strikes, you've got to kick.  

The chandeliers on the first floor are everywhere - hung at different heights, and with a variety of light bulbs.  The total effect is beautiful.    Joann and I probably could have spent several hours browsing through the seven floors of home furnishings at ABC Carpet and Home, but we started to get the impression that the girls weren't enjoying this part of the trip quite as much as we were.  And they mentioned once or twice or twenty times that they were getting hungry.

After looking at this expression on Carey's face, we decided we couldn't or shouldn't torture them anymore, so we went to one of the cafes on the lower level of ABC for brunch.  The food was quite good, but the service was almost non-existent.   

After some sustenance, we were ready to again brave the nasty weather, and headed uptown toward Times Square. We saw lots of interesting windows along the way - including this one at Fish's Eddy.                                                                                                                 When I was in NYC in 1983, Times Square was still seedy, dirty and more than a little scary.  Now it's definitely a destination hub for travelers and tourists of all kinds.  Families are welcome here now - and the giant Toys 'R Us situated there in the middle of the hubub confirmed it.  I did manage to avoid Toys 'R Us on this Sunday afternoon 9 days before Christmas - Yahoo! - but we did visit M&M World.  Have I been living under a rock?  How did I not know that M&M World existed?  And furthermore how on earth could I have imagined that you can fill three floors of a Times Square building with M&Ms and M&M paraphernalia?  Just for the record, I have to say that the American economy is alive, well and thriving in Manhattan.  People were buying M&Ms and M&M stuff - hand-over-fist!  It was crazy.  I will say that I did contribute a little bit to that buying madness.  I made a custom mix of maroon and white M&Ms for my favorite Aggie, and have a few other custom mixes for other folks.  Carey created a couple of mixes for friends for Christmas and I gawked at the 22 colors that M&M offers.  Who knew?   That fuzzy shape in the back is the M&M World employee who was trying valiantly and ultimately succeeded - in gettting into the shot.  It was a wild place - that M&M World - and on reflection, I'm not sure that it was any easier than Toys 'R Us would have been.    As we left Times Square, I looked one more time at the ABC studios where Good Morning America and ABC World News Tonight are filmed.  I felt sure that I would have seen Charlie Gibson.  But - it was not to be.  Not only did I not see Charlie Gibson, but I didn't see a single celebrity all weekend long!  I offered a $5.00 reward to the daughter who saw the first celebrity, and came home with that same $5.00 still in my pocket.  Disappointing, but that was the only disappointment of the trip.   The biggest mark of success of the trip was the fact that the girls asked if we could take a mother daughter trip annually.  Joann and I are thinking a trip to Amish Country is in order for our teenagers, but they think Los Angeles is a better idea.  I think we'll have to meet somewhere in the middle on that one. 

We left Penn Station on the 5:05pm and headed south to Maryland, where I was reminded again that no matter how much I love to go away and do new things, the best part is coming home.

New York City showed us a great time and we loved our time with our girls.  Now it's time to return to the reality of frantically boxing up gifts, finishing Christmas cards and getting to the post office. 

Happy Tuesday!                  

A Big Red Christmas Apple

Nothing like overstating the obvious, but Christmas in New York City is the most magically busy, sparkling, hectic, twinkling, bustling place on earth.

My girlfriend and I took our daughters to NYC for a 36 hour whirlwind tour of the city in her Christmas finery.  We managed to shop, walk, eat, drink coffee and hot chocolate (lots and lots of hot chocolate), eat, walk, shop and see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

We left Maryland on the 5:50 train to Penn Station, and were out of the station and in Starbucks before 9 am. 

We dropped off our bags and set out to explore.  One of our first stops was the Time Warner building which has the stars in the photo above.  They continuously change color - so slowly that you don't even realize that it's happening - they're mesmerizing.  Here's a second photo taken just seconds after the one above, and you can see the color change:

While we were at the Time Warner building, we had a light lunch from Bouchon Bakery.  Finding a place to sit was not easy, and we finally found a spot on the floor and were just about to eat when the security guard told us that we weren't allowed to sit there.  Fortunately, some nice folks finished up their lunch and gave us their table.  The sandwiches were so yummy, but the best part by far, was the s'more cookie for dessert.  Beautiful and delicious!  I wish I could show you a picture, but it was gone far too quickly for me to capture it.

We walked along Fifth Avenue and did most of our shopping as window shopping.  Very Important Designers plus Fifth Avenue Location equals Very Expensive.  It was lots of fun to look, and the people watching was almost as satisfying as the window shopping was.  The sparkling decorations were all in place - in fact, I remember this snowflake on Fifth when I visited NYC in December of 1983.  Ok - it may not be the exact same one, but it's darn close.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

St Patrick's drew us in - along with many, many other visitors.  The spires are majestic against the New York skyline, but entering the sanctuary is a humbling experience.  All walks of life, all faiths are represented in the people who visit St Patricks.  Many are congregants who regularly worship there; others are passersby amazed at the architecture.         Still others are wanderers searching for answers.  All are humbled by the vastness of the sacred space. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                 Along the nave are smaller chapel altars - including one honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I love the imagery and the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and was so excited to see that her feast day last week had been honored - in abundance.  Beneath the icon bearing her image was an enormous rose arrangement.  But on the floor in the chapel were hundreds of vases filled with countless flower bouquets.  The smell of the fresh flowers seemed to cling to us and travel with us as we continued around the cathedral.                                                                                                          

                   

Sorry for the back view of that man's big head.  I had a problem with big heads on this trip.  I was seated behind a man with the biggest head I've ever seen during the Radio City Spectacular.  When I wasn't leaning to the right or the left to get a glimpse of the production, I was feeling very bad for his mother.  But again, I digress.

Ok - back to St. Patrick's.  We stopped by their beautiful handcarved Nativity before we left.  There were so many people admiring it and taking pictures that we had to wait for a moment before we were able to see it. 

When the crowds moved away, it really was worth the wait.  So beautiful -  and it seemed to inspire reverence in the most jaded of visitors. 

It was odd to reenter the hustle and bustle of Fifth Avenue after the quiet magnitude of St. Patrick's, but we were there just a limited time.  And a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

We found ourselves near Rockefeller Center and got an evening view of the Christmas tree.  Now, even though I've seen it on tv, and have seen the tree on two other occasions during Christmas visits to NYC, the sight never fails to delight me.  Even now, it elicits a gasp of delight.  And it's fun to see the people from all over the States, and all over the world clamoring to get a glimpse of and a photograph with - the famous tree.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   We gawked for a while with the other onlookers, but the cold soon took its toll, and we needed a warm store to visit.

The Anthropology store at Rockefeller Center is fantastic.  Like other Anthropology stores that I've visited, the designs and displays are really jaw-dropping.  It's always fun to see the innovative use of ordinary items to create eye-catching and effective displays.  Their window displays took ordinary things (milk jugs, shredded paper, etc) and turned them into art.  One of my favorites was this window with the snowflakes cut from recycled paper and the bike wrapped in nubby yarn that looked as though it had very recently been a sweater.

Inside the store were plenty of other noteworthy displays - one used paper cone-shaped drinking cups,  while another had clear plastic straws over the ends of grapevine and twigs.  That one evoked an ice storm with ice coatings on the branches of the trees.  I wish that I'd taken more pictures, but I was a little chicken and was concerned that the store policy police might not appreciate my unauthorized photography! 

                           

  One thing that I absolutely could not resist photographing was the chandelier in the next photo.  It's a one of a kind piece - and I'm so sorry that I can't credit the artist - because it's spectacular!  I don't know if you can tell from the photo or not, but the brightly colored circles are plastic lids from milk cartons, orange juice cartons and other containers.  There was a barbie leg strung in the mix, various beads and lots of other interesting items that surely would have been trash had this artist not saved them for this piece.  Somebody else clearly appreciated this piece  - there was a sold sign on it. 

This chandelier was so large that it would make a great centerpiece for a restaurant or boutique.  I hope it will be placed where lots of people can enjoy it. 

After the excitement of the day - and the miles and miles of walking, we headed back to the Upper West Side for dinner and to crash for the night.  We had a recommendation to go to Carmine's which was fantastic.  It features Southern Italian food served family style - and the food was exceptional.  Portions were more than generous, and the food has clearly generated a fan base.  We arrived just after 5 pm and had to wait almost an hour for a table.  When we left, the wait must have been at least 2 hours - there were people Everywhere!

The second day of our trip will have to be continued in the next post. Stay tuned. . .

Christmas Gate

Every year the Naval Academy Garden Club takes on the task of decorating the Yard for the holidays. 

This year there's a nod to the nautical with the anchor wrapped with line, and the oyster shells.  It was a gray, misty day today so the color isn't terrific, but the greens were lovely just the same.

It wouldn't be too difficult to create a similar wreath at home - either using a purchased evergreen wreath or making one yourself.  Juniper berries are inserted near the bow, and the oyster shells have small holes drilled near the op and then they're wired.  The anchor looks like luan or very thin plywood, wrapped with cotton rope.  There is a pair of these wreaths at each pair of gates entering the Yard.  Beautiful!

December Moon

This is a December Moon - just not this December.  I took this two years ago when we still lived in Maine.  I walked down the street to look over the Piscataqua River and found the full moon rising over the snow. When I saw the weather reports of the anticipated snowstorm that Maine is slated to get, I remembered this shot and wanted to share it.  Maine is one of those places that I appreciate more in retrospect than I did while there.  I have a habit of getting so caught up in the day-to-day that sometimes I forget to just BE.  There were a lot of struggles while we were in Maine - some personal, some geographical and some were kid-related; and I think that if you'd asked me in the middle of our time there if I liked it, I would have hesitated a moment and then said yes.  But I don't know if it would have been a yes with an exclamation point.  Sometimes as a Navy spouse when you move into a community, you're welcomed as a part of the community with open arms.  And in this sense, I mean the civilian community - not the military community inherent with every base.  In other places, people can be more guarded and introverted, and perhaps unsure where these military spouses will fit in.  This can make it difficult as you try to assimilate yourself and your family into the church, school, scout, sports and civic groups that make up a town.  Because of our frequent moves and short term stays in some duty stations, spouses don't always find employment and therefore many choose to volunteer - in their schools, churches, scout groups, sports teams etc.  I did all of those things, but found it hard to break through from being a volunteer to becoming a valued community member. I missed girlfriends. 

In my second year there, I became close friends with a group of 5 other military spouses and that changed things.  We called each other often, celebrated each other's birthdays and shared wine on many occasions. We formed a book group, and began to host holiday parties, but that never really extended to the greater world around us.  John and I found a bistro that we loved and haunted often, but we always knew that we were on the periphery.  There were several couples that we'd have dinner with occasionally, and John's coworkers were wonderful and welcomed us as family - but outside of that, we felt a little isolated on our island. 

We've been away from Maine for more than a year and a half, and I find that I miss the rocky shoreline, the lighthouses, the quiet blanket of a new snowfall, the tidal pools, the sky and the signs for snowmobile crossing.  I miss our church, and the lacrosse team that our son played for and the elementary school that our younger son attended.  I miss the lobster boats bobbing along Kittery Point, and I miss the funny house we lived in that the remnants of a 1920's speakeasy in the basement.

It's actually a good feeling to miss Maine - to have come to terms with some of the things that were difficult there, and to acknowledge my part in them. To recognize that some communities may need more time to figure out where newcomers fit in than others do.  Perhaps I will remember that, and think about what I'll do differently when we next move - or when someone new moves into my world.  There aren't any real do-overs in life, not really.  There's just the knowledge that you take with you and apply to your next adventure.  And there's the hope that you'll do better.