MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here are some highlights of my first five months in the city!

Making new friends.

Eating beet and goat cheese salads.

Reading The New Yorker.

Running on the Hudson River, in Central Park, and Riverside Park.

Yelling (cheering wildly) at the “Straight No Chaser” concert with Claire.

Cooking dinner for friends in my tiny kitchen.

Hearing my 1st graders speak French everyday.

Riding the subway everyday and experiencing the good & bad of that.

Introducing some of my favorite spots to visitors.

Sitting on Carly’s rooftop overlooking the Hudson drinking champagne.

Taking a trip outside the city to go apple picking.

Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving.

Attending the Glamour Women’s Awards and seeing all those celebs.

Seeing fall and the Christmas season in New York.

I am a very lucky girl! Thank you for taking this journey with me. Looking forward to a quick winter and good days ahead. Merry Christmas sweet readers!

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

Ever since I was negative three years old, my mom and her friend Kathy Vegh have frosted sugar cookies at Christmas. Add it up folks, that’s 28 years! Twenty-eight years of rolling out the dough, making frosting, shaking sprinkles, and adding red hot buttons.

The tradition goes like this: Kathy comes over around four and we mix the frosting, eat snacks, and drink margaritas. I am known as the super froster, speedy but not very attentive to detail. Kathy’s cookies are perfect, always cute and sprinkled to a T. My mom’s are in the middle but she is also the shuttler. She takes the frosted cookies to the trays to dry. Then around 7, Kathy’s husband, Attila, comes over for lasagna dinner. We eat, catch up, and then drink tea and have more cookies. By the time it’s over, you are sugared up for life.

The cookies are made with sour cream which makes them fluffy and gives them a bit of an edge. The frosting is butter, milk, and powdered sugar. My mom has this theory, that as time goes on, the butter in the frosting soaks down into the cookie making them all the more delicious.

As she took a bite Sunday night, she said, “We wouldn’t appreciate these if we had them everyday, right?” I am not sure about that, but I am always glad to see them sitting on a dainty plate during the holiday season. They are so accessible that way. :)

It wouldn't feel like Christmas without this beloved tradition. I hope you’re enjoying your own family’s traditions this holiday season!

The Twins Take Manhattan!

My Mom and Aunt Lisa arrived last weekend for a fun filled adventure in NYC. We had the itinerary down to the second and those gals came rested and raring to go. As I headed off to school on Friday, the girls dragged themselves out of bed after a 1:30 am arrival and headed to the Today Show! (the Afflerbach women's fav morning show) They took a bus tour and came up to my school to meet the French munchkies. From there we headed to Grand Central, Bryant Park, and the Top of the Rock. It was snowing little flakes that night, perfect!
We started with a pot of tea on Saturday at Alice's Tea Cup and then hopped down to Chelsea Market and Soho for shopping. "Promises, Promises" entertained us that evening with Sean Hays and Kristen Chenoweth. Sean stole the show, and if you were a "Will & Grace" fan, it was classic.
We awoke Sunday to rain and Absolute Bagels. Then we went down to Radio City Music Hall to see those famous Rockettes. They were incredible, and we had some excellent commentary from the 3 year olds behind us. Pretty much got Santa's location play by play from those kiddos. The afternoon was spent in Times Square and more shopping in Union Square, and we ate at Prime House for dinner. We dined on luscious steaks, crispy beer battered onion rings, brussel sprouts with apples and bacon, chocolate souffle and banana fosters and then waddled home.
A few family favorite memories were my Aunt Lisa getting slammed by a blind man's cane (he was moving very fast), me having a small meltdown in the masses @ 34th street, and my mom carrying her 53 lb pound bag up the 5 flights of stairs to my apt. Lots of laughter and a great weekend! I am so blessed by these two crazy sisters!

Food Celeb!

I met a food legend this week. You all know and love her, or you should at least. She lives in the Hamptons, uses only the best vanilla, and makes some of the best apple pie in the world. Yes, its Ina Garten or the "Barefoot Contessa."

I have loved Ina since I was 16. I bought her first book my junior year of high school and spent a summer cooking lots of her dishes. I have had lots of favs but the apple pie sticks with me. It's a double crusted, apple filled, hints of orange and lemon, sweet but tart, impressive pie. I made it on several 4th of July holidays.

So, my friend Nick, text me last week and told me she was signing her new book @ Crate and Barrel on Monday. I had to go-life goal! We went in, purchased our books, and waited with baited breath. As the line snaked through the massive Madison Avenue store, Nick and I became more and more nervous. You have to understand that Ina has had big influences in my life. I have her to thank for my love of All Clad, Madagascar vanilla, my periwinkle blue Kitchenaid mixer, and Rugela cookies @ Christmas. I have spent hours gazing at her beautiful cookbooks filled with glossy pictures.

As I stepped up to the table, my heart was pounding. She reached for my book, and here is what came out of my always calm under pressure mouth, "I have loved you for 10 years and you are my most favorite!" Yep. Way to keep your cool Katie. She smiled and half laughed, and although I was a bit embarrassed, I wad glad I told her that!

Great experience, awesome friend to experience it with, and favorite food celebrity met and appreciated. Just another bonus of living in this marvelous city!

getting my book signed!

Nick getting Ina face time. Love her!!

Straight No Chaser

Christmas is starting to heat up in the city. The tree is lit, lights are up, menoras are lit as of yesterday, and the Rockette's are doing the kick line. I am very excited to experience all of these things in the coming few days. I have 15 days left in the city and only 2 nights free from Christmas cheer. My friends from Texas are coming this weekend, then my mom and her twin are hitting the town next weekend, and then its home to the Lone Star State for me.

I had a great kickoff to the holidays this week at The Beacon Theatre seeing "Straight No Chaser" with my friend Claire. They are an acapella group of 10 guys from Indiana University. Their sound is so incredible! I think anytime you can imitate instruments with voices, it is just shocking. Plus, they were just funny guys. They were silly, had great "dance moves," and sang some awesome mash ups. I haven't screamed at a concert like that in a long while! It was a great time and a beautiful venue.

I hope you'll get to experience them both someday!

Here is their website. http://www.sncmusic.com/ Check out some Christmas tunes. I really like the Grinch song and their "12 Days of Christmas."

Hope the month of December is going well for all of you. Remember to take time to stop and enjoy it, get enough rest, and don't forget to hydrate. :)

Joeyeux Noel!!

the ceiling @ the Beacon