Saturday, December 31, 2016

Sending Off 2016


2016 has been filled with memories - good, bad, exciting - a little bit of everything!  I shared our year in review yesterday and today, a look at Instagram's top photos of the year.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year - be safe & enjoy celebrating! xx 

Friday, December 30, 2016

2016 in Review

I can't believe another year has come to a close - it's flown by and we've had the best time enjoying it. Today I'm taking little peek back, month by month, at 2016... 

January: (month review)
We started the year of course with celebrating the new year!  We hosted both families for a holiday party as well as taking a trip up to State College for a hockey weekend.  We had a group of friends stop in to visit us, celebrated one year of having Stella and enjoyed our biggest blizzard yet!


February: (month review)
We enjoyed date nights, a few birthdays - my mom's and some friends, as well as hosting a fun Super Bowl bash.  We celebrated Valentine's Day with a weekend with friends and got away from the cold by taking a trip down to sunny Florida.


March: (month review)

Sunsets, happy hours and the usual nights were part of the mix in March.  I took an additional trip to Florida with my parents and celebrating Easter was a highlight - especially hosting Easter Eve.  We finally got our first taste of spring and hoped that it was here to stay!


April: (month review)

wine tasting and some warm weather to start the month, a Penn State Gala as well as a trip up to State College for the Blue/White game to round out the month and hosting some friends for the weekend and our first BBQ of the season to finish things out.  We finished out the month with a trip to AZ which carried into May.


May: (month review)

We started off the month enjoying our Arizona trip.  May was filled with lots of wedding events - a bachelor part for Derek, a bridal shower for me, a wedding for both of us.  We celebrated Mother's Day, Memorial Day (with a trip to Hershey) and enjoyed the first Phillies game of the year.


June: (month review)

We got our deck setup and took full advantage of the summer weather.  We enjoyed the dining al fresco season and started off with Dining Under the Stars.  We setup our lower patio and redid our landscaping.  We enjoyed a night out at "Tyler at Twilight" and enjoyed a full family weekend at the lake.


July: (month review)
We spend the start of the month enjoying our annual trip to California.  We enjoyed a great weekend at the lake, celebrating the Fourth of July and a belated Father's Day 


August:
We kicked off the month with a fun visit to see family & friend in New Jersey.  Shopping days with Mom, Dining Under the Stars and girls pool days were all part of life lately.  We had great friends visit and celebrated one of our close friends weddings in the city.  It was a thrill to share that we bought a new lake house right down the street from our old one and celebrate our first weekend there.    Date nights were part of the month like always.  A fun weekend down the shore with friends as well as a final trip to the lake finished out the month. 


September: (month review)
Fall kicked off with the start of football season and our first tailgate of the year.  Derek and I went away right at the start of the month to celebrate our two year anniversary in Charleston & Kiawah.  We celebrated the wedding of two close friends as well as purchasing a new office


October: 
(month review)

We had a fun, yet rainy to start, tailgate to start the month and a win over Minnesota.  Derek and I made our annual trip to Dallas complete with a stop at Magnolia Market and the Cowboys Game.  We enjoyed some simple days and celebrating Halloween.  A big thrill came when we beat Ohio State and broke back into the top 25 for the first time since the scandal. 


November: (month review)

The month started with Penn State vs. Iowa as well as Derek's birthday.  We announced that we'll be moving in the spring and shared our first house update.  We got things ready to host our first holiday - Thanksgiving and Mom & I had our annual Christmas shopping trip as well as Derek and I getting a start on some shopping too.  Thanksgiving was a success and in the midst of Christmas decorating we made an overnight trip to State College to see Penn State win the Big Ten East.


December:

The busiest month of the year - always.  I shared our Christmas decorations - for the last time in this house! We loved our Christmas cards and other goodies from tiny prints and had a great time sharing and sending them.  After seeing The Nutcracker we went to a Christmas Pajamas party and watched all of the Christmas movies.  Stella met Santa, we had our Family Christmas Dinner, hosted a holiday happy hour and much more.  Things started progressing on the house building and we loved watching all the steps.  We celebrated my birthday and got in all the Christmas wrapping, cookie baking, light viewing and things like that.  We had a whirlwind trip to New York right before Christmas which we enjoyed celebrating, of course! 


Thursday, December 29, 2016

New York City


I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We did indeed and we've been enjoying Christmas break - hence the silence around here.  We've been making the most of our week - each working a few hours per day but also sleeping in, relaxing, spending time with friends/family and just enjoying some much needed downtime. 

I'll look forward to sharing about our Christmas next week, but first a peek at our quick trip to New York City just before the holiday.

We headed up to the big city on the 22nd just in time to meet one or our good friends for lunch - at the Sugar Factory.  None of us had ever been but the drinks were delicious, the food was fun and the company was great.


After a leisurely lunch we headed over to the hotel for a bit and Sarah & I enjoyed champagne in the new lobby while Derek caught up with friends.


We set out for some of the typical Christmas events and made a stop at Bryant Park as well as the main tree before peeking at the holiday window displays, looking at the outfits from the Victoria Secret Fashion Show and stopping at Trump Tower for a cocktail.


After a little bit of shopping we quickly got ready to meet some friends for dinner at our favorite - Mastro's.


We finished off the night by checking out the Christmas displays all lit up - passing by Radio City and stopping at Rockefeller Center to see the tree and light display.


The next morning we took advantage of the nice view from the terrace before heading down for some breakfast including my favorite part - a pitcher of hot chocolate.  A quick round of shopping and it was time to head for home to celebrate Christmas Eve Eve - it's always nice to be back at The Lowell.


Friday, December 23, 2016

Merry, Merry


Merry! I hope everyone has the merriest Christmas this year.  Christmas Eve Eve is always my favorite day of the year and we have plenty to do on this best day.  We're wrapping up our visit to New York, have a happy hour to enjoy, hosting Christmas Eve Eve dinner and then have friends visiting for the night.

Enjoy your weekend celebrating this wonderful holiday!  



Merriest Christmas to you! xx