Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmastime is Here

Christmas has now come and gone! I hope that everyone had a fantastic Christmas. Rich and I had a hectic few days trying to squeeze as many Christmas traditions in as possible. I arrived in New York on Saturday night and we spent some time enjoying the season here in the city. On Monday we headed to New Jersey to celebrate with Rich and his family and now we're back in New York for a few days to get some work done before the new year!

 Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to take 
pictures around Toronto because I was so busy 
marking exams, but I got this one shot. Toronto 
loves to get dressed up for the holidays just as 
much as New York! 

 Traditionally, each year Rich and I take a walk down
5th Ave. to look at all the lights and decorations.
Although the windows as Macy's are the most famous...

 Rich and I prefer the opulence of 
the windows at... 

Bergdorf Goodman's on 5th Ave. They do a wonderful
job of highlighting both the artistry of window dressing
and the clothing and accessories they sell. 

Busy 5th Ave. is an amazing sight during the holidays--


The streets are full of sparkling light shows, 
people from all over the world, and vendors 
selling savory and sweet treats to the passersby;


And of course the famous 
Rockefeller tree!

Even the Empire State Building gets decked out 
for the holidays. 

Against our better judgement, Rich and I stopped 
in Macy's. Fortunately, it was not as 
crowded as we expected (most likely 
because we visited at 10:30 pm).

Back in New Jersey, Christmas 
trimmings and tidings were 
a little more tranquil.

This year Rich gave me one of the most thoughtful
gifts I've ever received: an original fixture from 
the Swarovski crystal chandeliers at the Metropolitian
Opera, one of my favorite places in the city.

To top off a great Christmas day, we had a 
wonderful Christmas dinner full of 
good food and laughter (and 
tasty meatballs!). 

That is all for now. Rich and I will be busy for a few days, getting in some work before we head off to spend New Years with some college friends. I wish everyone a peaceful and happy end to this year and a wonderful beginning to the new year!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

This past month has been quite hectic with the end of the semester! I still have a week left, which will be full of grading exams. I hope to make some time for baking cookies and watching Christmas movies, though.

Tea Advent Calendar: A local Toronto tea shop makes these
wonderful tea-filled Advent calendars that have a new
tea for each day of December leading up to Christmas! 

I've now put up my (few) Christmas 
decorations including this teddy bear 
stocking, which I believe was my first 
stocking as a child (right, mom and dad?) 

Unfortunately only half of this string of lights worked.
It looks like I'll be investing in some new Christmas 
lights for next year! 
 
 Not even a kitchen with miniscule counter space
can deter me from making the traditional
Christmas sugar cookies! 

It doesn't feel like Christmas with out this 
Syvarth family tradition! 

I hope everyone's preparations for Christmas are going smoothly. I can't wait to celebrate the holidays with Rich in New York and New Jersey this year. I'm counting the days!