Week in Review

Oh what a week it’s been! December is always a blur, but this one might take the cake! 😉 With Ash graduating, a work trip to New York and Christmas festivities…whoa. I’m trying to pack it ALL in before I’m officially an empty nester here in just two more weeks. I can’t believe I’m even saying that! Insert crying face emoji!!!!

With our annual passes at Disneyland coming to end, we have debated renewing them and decided that with both kids in school we’ll most likely be able to visit a lot less often, so we’re going to put renewing them off for a bit…which really feels weird. For the last 20+ years we have been Disney annual pass holder die hards, I feel like this is the end of an era. So we’ve been hitting it hard to visit as much as possible before that dreadful day. 😉

When you match with Mickey in crazy Christmas outfits, how can you not take a picture?!

This is John’s excited face that he doesn’t have to come to Disneyland again for awhile. 😉

John was able to secure us some reservations to take this girl to Club 33 for her special graduation gift. That crazy Disney lover was in hog heaven! We sure love her and are so proud of her.

I’ve been baking up a storm, trying new recipes and enjoying being in the kitchen. These cowboy cookies with sea salt are definitely coming to the blog soon! YUM!

I always look forward to one of my absolute favorite nights of the season in December…the Christmas Devotional. It’s a 90 minute special full of beautiful talks about Christ and gorgeous musical numbers from The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. I always make peppermint hot chocolate, turn on the Christmas lights and watch snuggled up on the couch with my family. Definitely a highlight of the season. 

New York! John had work meetings there this past week and so Ash and I decided to tag along. It was my first time back in the city since before Covid. Things felt pretty normal to me. A little dirtier, a lot more crime (everything in the drug stores is either off the shelves or locked up…not joking…even things like peanut M&Ms. CRAZY!) and fewer people. I’ve been there at Christmas on a few occasions and it was still crowded, but much less so this time. 

Here are a few highlights…

Time Square is so gross…but I always need to visit once. 😉

Levain…iykyk. 😉 I like to visit the original on the UWS.

A walk through Central Park. I love big urban parks. 

I love all the decorations in the city. 

My cute people. <3

The iconic Christmas ornaments on 6th Ave.

A little stop at a street vendor is always a must.

These bagels may be my new favorite in the city Liberty Bagels. There are a few locations and the fact that they make rainbow and other assorted colors is a bonus. They taste amazing. 

Dancing Santa and snow at Nordstrom were definitely a fun treat. 

If you are ever in NYC around Christmas, you HAVE to see the Rockettes. It is seriously one of my favorite Christmas things and the most Christmassy thing in the city!

The food in NYC is yummy, but there is nothing like tacos at home. Mexican food is always our first stop from the airport whenever we return from anywhere. 

We flew into LAX this time since Jet Blue no longer flies into Long Beach, so we made a quick trip to the LA Temple to see the Christmas lights on the grounds. It was beautiful.

After a few cold and rainy days in NYC, it was glorious to spend the next morning walking in my favorite spot. How cute is the Christmas tree at the end of the pier?

This guy was excited to have his picture taken.

The most stunning day. 75 at the beach and clear and sunny as can be in December!

Saturday night we visited with some friends who have the most amazing view of the Newport Beach Boat Parade from their house.

The views were even better from the bow of their boat. 😉 It was such a fun night!

These cute girls came with us. Ash has been friends with Josie since they were born and I can’t believe these beauties are headed off to college now! Love these girls so much!

I can’t believe it is the last few days until Christmas. I always get a bit sad to see all the festivities start to wind down. There’s lots on the agenda this week to make sure we get it all in. Andy will join us on Friday after finals and I can’t wait to be together. I love this special time with my family. I hope you have lots of fun in store to finish off this Christmas season! I’ll see you after the holidays! Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Tammy

xoxo