We didn't take any "Christmas photos" this year but Joe sat in this basket this morning, so.

My office doesn't technically close for the holidays until Christmas Day and I sure as sugar plum fairies wasn't going to use vacation time on a day that is mostly just free lunch, champagne chugging, and leaving at two o'clock because who cares. So here I am. And here I will stay until Baby Joe wakes up from her nap, watching everyone else who didn't bring their baby to work walk out the door.

Here are some things I want to remember about this Christmas:

Zoë loves Christmas lights almost as much as the people in our neighborhood like stringing them up. There are some houses that go nuts and have dozens - literal dozens - of blow-up Christmas characters and light-up reindeer and music playing. There's also my personal favorite house, which has a single strand of lights hung halfheartedly over the top of a shrub. There's nothing to suggest that they did this in celebration of Christmas except that it didn't appear until December. I don't know who lives there but I love them. ANYWAY, our evening walk home from daycare is so delightful because Zoë says "OooooOOOH!" and points at things and scream laughs. Her very most favorite are the projector things that make red and green dots go everywhere. I don't know, like this:

Those are a very popular choice for some reason, and she could not be more pleased. 

The St. Nicholas Project. I wanted to participate in one of those programs where you choose a child's name from a tree or something and then you get them Christmas presents, but I didn't have a lot of extra money this year. (You know, as opposed to all the other years where I've had to flush money down the toilet because I just ran out of things to do with it.) So at the very last minute I reached out to my coworkers and asked if anyone would want to do it together, and between everyone's personal contributions and my very generous bosses' donations we were able to get toys and gifts and warm winter coats for three families. The whole process reminded me of how important it is to be involved and to be informed and to help when and where you can; for the last few years I've been extraordinarily preoccupied with myself and - to make this all about me - I needed a reminder.

I want to remember more things, like the salt dough ornaments we made and the baby angel Christmas tree decoration that doodle bug runs around with screaming "BABY!" but I also really want to leave because there aren't any mimosas left. So bye, Merry Christmas, I love you probably.



Edit, after Christmas actually happened: Every time Baby Joe opened a gift she said "Woww!" or "Ooh!" and something that sounded like it could be "Let's play!" One of the gifts was a teddy bear from a couple I know through work and the tag said "To Kira, Love Great Aunt Lynn XOXO." She also got a play broom and dustpan from her Grandma that I wound up sweeping our kitchen floor with because she still just wanted to walk around with the real one. 

But what a funny thing it is to travel like that, leaving little fragments of one’s heart more or less everywhere.

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

I found a post about our trip to Maine two (three, now?) summers ago in drafts. Nothing was written yet; there were just some photos, which seems right.

That week felt like the apex of something for a lot of reasons. And wouldn't you know, it turned out to be the last real vacation we would go on as a - I know, I see you cringing, I'm going to say it anyway - as a family of two. 

We stayed in Old Port by the beach:

We took the ferry to Peaks Island:

We went kayaking at sunset in Casco Bay:

Had our anniversary dinner at Miyake: 

Discovered The Holy Donut by happy accident:

Rode around on some boats:

Spent a few hours at Old Orchard Beach because I insisted:

Ate and drank and ate and looked at stuff and ate some more:

The End.

I wonder what other gold there is to find in these here drafts. 

merry and bright

2018

Ordinarily I don't love when "Christmas" starts before Thanksgiving - I used to think it was THE MOST obnoxious when winter holiday decorations appeared before the jack-o-lanterns had rotted into puddles. "They need to be at the point where one must scrape them off the porch," I firmly believed. "That's when it's okay to start thinking about unpacking the snowflakes and Santas." 

It doesn't bother me as much anymore because now I'm busy being irate about other things that don't really matter, but I still feel the need to write this rambling disclaimer to assure you that I'm not trying to rush Christmas. What I am trying to do is plan ever so slightly in advance because there are so many Christmas Things to do and with the nap/bedtime of a small child to consider in addition to the usual guests and trips, planning is more than ever of the UTMOST importance. 

Pluuus I've been going through the pictures on my phone because I haven't printed any since Joe was born, and looking at pictures of last Christmas has me all warm and fuzzy inside. OKAY GOSH. 

Anyway here is my ChRiSTMaS BuCkET LiST, please to enjoy. 

Still 2018

❄ Make a Christmas cocktail. I've never met a mule I didn't like, and this cranberry one is calling my name. 

❄ Drink said Christmas cocktail while watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with Diego. Because it's our favorite and we may or may not sing the song all year round. 

❄ Visit Randall's Island for LuminoCity. It's the first year they're doing it and it isn't free, so this one is a bit of a risk. But like, it'd be pretty hard to make an island of Christmas lights not fun, right?

❄ Refrain from imbibing until the office Christmas party actually starts. Unless I get really thirsty. 

❄ Holiday Lights at the Bronx Zoo. Big cats AND hot cocoa AND sparkly lights? Yes, please, thank you. 

❄ Get an empanada from that Peruvian place under the train in Bensonhurst. Or is it in Bay Ridge? I can never remember, but listen, ever since Diego's brother moved we don't have a reason to go all the way down there and honestly they make a ham and cheese empanada that is just. MMM. It's every Christmas dream I ever had wrapped in dough and fried. Or are they baked? I can never remember, but listen, Dyker Heights is right next store so after the empanadas we can take a stroll through their famously extravagant light displays. 

❄ Pick a Christmas tree. Doodle was way more into trick-or-treating than I expected her to be; I wasn't sure if she'd understand what we were doing, and she probably didn't really, but she sure did understand that people were calling her cute and putting shiny things into her bucket. I'm looking forward to letting her "choose" our Christmas tree from the stand we always go to. 

❄ Enjoy the holiday window displays. I almost don't want to include this because most of the time we're able to see the traditionally decked-out ones while doing our regular things. And most of the time that happens on off hours and at random times, because if you try to "drink hot cocoa and walk down 5th Avenue to take in the holiday delights" or whatever, nine times out of ten there is a crowd of people mouth-breathing onto the glass and ANOTHER crowd of people trying to shove past those people. But even though it's not really An Activity We're Going to "Do", it is a particularly twinkly part of this season that makes me really happy. 

❄ Put out milk and cookies for Santa. GUYS I'M SO EXCITED FOR SANTA. When my brother and I were really little my dad stood outside under our window shaking jingle bells while my mom stood inside with us and pointed at the sky and said Santa was flying by in his sleigh and to this day we both remember seeing him. Santa is hands-down the best lie a parent can tell, and I am THRILLED that it's my turn to stuff stockings and write pretend letters telling Joe to help her parents fold the laundry. 

❄ Actually make an effort with the family Christmas puzzle this year. Unless I get really thirsty again.

2029

What are you all going to be up to the second Thanksgiving is over?

On Halloween we trick-or-treated for the first time as a family and the felt and pipe cleaners that I hot glued onto our hoodies were a real hit. For those of you who didn't grow up watching Mexican television shows, we all dressed up as "El Chapulín Colorado," AKA this guy:

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For Día de Muertos we went to an event at the Museum of Natural History. We arrived promptly at nap time so before the actual festival we got to browse the meteors and skeletons while Doodle snoozed in her stroller.

[In spite of the fact that it was Saturday at a crowded museum, it was the best possible activity we could have chosen. For whatever reasons, chemical or planetary or whatever, last week was a challenge. I was just blue, and honestly I'm still coming out of it, but hey! C'est la vie, I'm feeling my feelings, etc. But looking at space rocks and dead people and bugs in the semi-darkness was so, so soothing. Give it a try the next time you're feeling out of sorts.]