My handsome man with our champagne during intermission.
Me with the champagne (and my new nine west purse, thanks Mom!)
Us in Lincoln Center (oops, we weren't supposed to take a picture in here.)
We ate a fabulous Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings, thanks to Nan! She sure knows how to mash potatoes! That evening, we watched Elf and drank my homemade eggnog, which Micaela said tasted just like a vanilla milkshake. My eggnog is so much better than store bought (especially when you add brandy!).
On Christmas morning, after Ryan got the coffee percolating and I got started on the cinnamon buns, we woke everyone up to open presents. This year, all the siblings decided to do a secret santa instead of getting 5 gifts. Ryan got me a wii, mario kart, a Barefood Contessa cookbook, and beautiful white gold hoop earrings! I got him Guitar Hero World Tour, a book about JAGs, a bulldog bottle opener, and a Frasier DVD set! Kev (Ryan's secret santa) got us Japanese for dummies, a Japanese phrase book, and a Japanese cookbook (which I promise to put to good use!). Ryan's family got me a great gift - my first Coach purse!!
Mom and Bobby (it was early)
Micaela (future Hofstra superstar)
Nancy's excited for presents!
Kevin - "Are you kidding me?!"
Sasha and Paddy Boy
My first Coach purse!!
Bros Ryan and Kevin
"Look, honey! I'm going on a world tour now! "
After we opened presents and got ready, we went to visit Ryan's Dad and Ryan's Grandma. Ryan and I liked our Polo Ralph Lauren gifts and we hope they enjoyed their gifts as well.
We then visited Dad Gallagher in the hospital, though we wished he could have been home with us. Later that evening, Aunt Steph and Uncle Tommy came over with dinner - filet mignon, lasagna, veggies, biscuits, and my potato gratin followed by cookies, pie, and my chocolate swirl cheesecake. Delicious!! I always love seeing Aunt Steph, Uncle Tommy, Marisa, Samantha, and Andrew and they gave us a beautiful wedding album that I can't wait to fill! What a great 1st Christmas together!
Our New Year's plans were very last minute. We missed the chance to hang out with Joe at a
party in Bryant Park, so we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants in the city - Xunta's! We had our 4th date there and love going back on special occasions. What better occasion than New Year's Eve (and our last night in NYC, but that's a whole other post)!! We got lucky since there was hardly a wait and they had a flamenco performance that night. With all the yummy food, sangria, and cava, that would have been enough for a great new year's eve but then they also brought out party hats, noisemakers, streamers, and salsa dancing after midnight! It was the best New Year's ever!
Last picture of 2008
Cheers to 2009!
Boys like balloons!
I hope everyone else had a fabulous holiday season!
I hope everyone else had a fabulous holiday season!
