IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

all the holbrook news that's fit to type, coming right up! 

it's full-blown christmas time over at our house and we could not be giddier about it. the city's turned cold and festive, the crowds at rockefeller are intense, we've already watched elf twice. and i already feel like it's over, is the weird thing. it's going so fast. emotionally i'm already in january. i'm trying really hard to stay in the moment and soak it all up, this time of year is so precious. i've taken the full month off from writing so i can sit and cross stitch homemade ornaments into the night or spend two full hours throwing tinsel on a tree without guilt, and i've been buying up used vinyl of my favorite christmas albums on the street like a loon. the original carpenters christmas album last week, score! it feels like food for the soul, this christmas. so, here's some junk and things, photo essay style.

the christmas markets are up! huck and i make it a point to get lunch at the christmas markets at least twice a week while they're up. this year sigmund's pretzels are missing from the line up and look, sig. i've been looking forward to you all year and that is not cool. 

we enjoyed the heck out of the remaining bits of fall last week. the leaves really hung on this year, and walking through central park has been such a treat. huck and his best buddies spent a warm thursday afternoon playing in this enormous pile of leaves on a play school field trip last week, and i tried really hard not to think about how many park dwellers of various species have peed in there.

karen carpenter told me she wanted some tinsel. i told her she was a genius. brandon found probably the only three boxes of tinsel in the entire city and then i stayed up later than i will admit to get it all on there just right. tinsel! tinsel is an art and it was hard. i'm so happy with her. she twinkles at me so magically now, i can tell she's grateful. (bee tee dubs, keep on tagging your trees on instagram with #heynataliejeanxmastrees so i can do a big old post on the blog! tag EVERY TREE  ON YA FEEDS for me while your'e at it! ;)

on sunday night the city up and snowed on us. the three of us threw on as many layers as we could find in thirty seconds and raced over to the lincoln center to watch it fall. should you ever find yourself in the city during a freak snow fall, get yourself to lincoln center. holy magic! huck made his very first snow angel on the rim of the lincoln center fountain like a boss. we played until we were freezing, then came home and plopped the kid in a warm bath. (i posted an instagram video of the snow falling HERE. not my most solid camera work, but you know. i tried not to shiver too hard.)

on a tip from a friend, huck and i walked over to fifth avenue last week to check out the santa at the plaza. it was such a good tip! no lines, and the most gorgeous santa i've ever seen. at first huck wasn't too into it. he had his beanie pulled down over his face and was clinging to me like a sloth on a tree, it was pretty dramatic. but once i explained to him that he could ask santa for anything he wanted for christmas, and that santa would bring it on christmas morning, a look of brilliant mischief crossed his face and he sat up straight, pulled up his hat, squirreled down my leg and marched himself right over to the big guy. he asked for a narwhal. what am i supposed to do with that?

i'm off to solve a massive bridesmaid dress dilemma, and i have about six felt ornaments to whip up before we fly to utah, so i gotta run! i'm on a deadline! but i can't wipe this stupid grin off my face. so far this holiday season is making up for the bum of a year 2013 has been for us holbrooks, and i can't thank it enough. we hope you're feeling all the kwanzmaskahsolstice cheer in the world this year too, where ever you happen to be.

xo!