Tag Archives: Friends

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas Part 2

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Less than an hour to go until Christmas, and I’m looking back on this amazing month celebrating with family and friends.

Maxine’s dance performance
Some Christmas goodies
Gingerbread house making at school
X-mas party with friends
Christmas Eve dinner

New Orleans this past February

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We got to spend some quality time in New Orleans before and after our cruise in February. Most of the time was spent walking around and/or eating (which is not a bad thing 😜). This was also not my first time in New Orleans; it will not be the last. Next time, I want to take a Ghost or Voodoo tour and enjoy more nighttime stuff.

My little artist
yummy seafood
king cake fun
Cafe du Monde
hotel balcony fun
Felix’s
Brennan’s to celebrate his actual birthday

Holly and Ivy at the NYJL

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Last week, I attended Holly and Ivy at the NYJL. This annual event includes a festive lunch and a shopping experience. It’s so popular at the League that tickets are hard to get, and I’m glad I got to snag one.

I had a great time with friends and got some cute things for Christmas.

Yum!
Table 10!
Cute headbands
Christmas crackers

Visiting The Freakin Rican in Astoria

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I’ve always wanted to check out this restaurant. I finally got the opportunity earlier this month having lunch with a good friend.

Mofongo with chicharron
Bistec with onions

My friend had the mofongo with chicharron and loved it. I had the bistec with onions and rice and I brought home the pernil and rice. My bistec was okay but the pernil was amazing.

The restaurant has a very cozy vibe, and I look forward to coming back with my family.

Visiting Pearl & The Beast

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Early last month, I had a pretty awesome ladies’ night out at Pearl & The Beast.

You pick a muscle, open it up, collect the pearls, clean them, and decide what to do with them. I got a good haul of pearls, so I got two rings and two earrings done. They had someone onsite who put together the jewelry. Bonus; I actually got the earrings for free because they were doing a promotion at the time.

It was hands-on, informative, and fun! I highly recommend checking it out.

Pick your muscle
shuck it
take out all the pearls
clean them
let them dry
The two rings I had made.
The two earrings I got.

Eclipse Fun

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We headed over to the Poconos to watch the eclipse. Although we knew we wouldn’t be able to see the full eclipse, it was fun to visit our friend’s house, have some space, and enjoy nature.

It was a bit cloudy, but we still got to see some cool eclipse stuff with and without the glasses.

We ready!
A bit cloudy but still pretty cool.
She ready!
Now it’s basketball time!

Visiting Watermark at Pier 15

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Last week, I had a Mom’s night out and celebrated my good friend Louanna’s 42nd, I mean 24th😉, birthday at Watermark at Pier 15.

It’s an outdoor restaurant right by the water with a killer view.

I chose the messiest foods on the menu 🤣, but it was all yummy. I had corn, steak tacos, and a seafood platter with oysters and lobster.

The restaurant was a vibe, with a DJ and a lively crowd. The best part of the night was randomly catching a drone show celebrating Hip Hop. Second best, some drinks came in pouches!

I will say the only downside is the bathroom situation. There are no restrooms in the restaurant area; you have to leave and use public bathrooms with only a few stalls, or you can use the public porta potties.

Overall, a fun night and I would recommend it for a good time.

Taking a look back at 2022

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As the clock turns 12, I wanted to celebrate and look back at 2022.

I started the new year with a challenge, the January Pantry Challenge. The idea was to cook things I already had at home to save money. I ate a lot of soup and finally ate stuff in my freezer. Some of my favs were the shrimp stir fry, red beans, sausage and rice, and dumplings.
In February, I did some fun activities with my parents. We took part in a virtual chocolate tasting and a chocolate-making class.
In March, I did a bit of a staycation and enjoyed the TWA hotel at JFK. It was a lot of fun. It had a fantastic 60s vibe with great food and ambiance. One of the best features is that they remade one of the planes into a cocktail bar/lounge.
For Easter this year, I decorated eggs and did a few egg hunts with Maxine and my family. It was fun to make the eggs with mom, and even better to see Maxine’s face while she was looking for eggs.
I don’t see my friends as often as I would like these days, but it’s always a blast when we do get to see each other. In May, we had brunch at Lucky Chengs and enjoyed a fun drag show.
In June, I was a panelist for a new membership event at the New York Junior League. I have been volunteering for the league for about eight years now and I was honored to be asked to speak.
Dad turned 80 in July! I wanted to throw him a huge party, but that is not my dad’s style. We had an amazing dinner at a Greek restaurant in Astoria instead.
We rented out a beautiful house in the Poconos in August and had a kickass family trip. The place was amazing; it had an indoor pool, a game room, and a movie theater. We also did some hiking and saw some beautiful waterfalls, and did some canoeing as well.
September was all about soaking up the last bit of beautiful weather and enjoying the parks and water sprinklers.
I turned 41 this year and spent my birthday with my family in Atlantic City. We stayed at Caesar’s Palace. I haven’t been to AC in years! I gambled with my parents, and Andrew won big at the roulette table. I ate excellent food and enjoyed the beach, as the weather was nice. Andrew and I even got to have a little date night on my birthday and explored AC at night.
I kicked off the holiday season by attending the New York Junior League’s Golden Tree event. It’s a holiday market where a percentage of the proceeds go to the league. The event also had a great auction where you could bid on various items, including holiday wreaths. I participated in the auction for the first time and won these two beauties.
Maxine turned two in December! Last year, we kept it simple and celebrated at a buffet so this year, I wanted to go all out. I rented a small venue and we had a bouncy house, face painter and balloon artist. Of course it had to be CoComelon themed.

2022, thanks for the memories!

Enjoying the holidays

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Recapping my year is a must, but first I want to share how I spent my holidays. This year looked and felt different, but I was determined to make the most of it.

Tree watching:

I kept it local and virtual. I watched the tree lightings virtually for Athens Square Park and Astoria Park.

Astoria decorations:

I honestly didn’t venture around the neighborhood as much as I wanted, but I still got to see some beautiful decorations.

Home decorations:

I didn’t do much this year. I confess I didn’t even open up my Christmas boxes. I went with simple and familiar. Each year, I do a tree of Christmas cards, and for a tree, I got a tiny one this year so that we could enjoy the stuffed toys from my daughter’s advent calendar.

Christmas parties:

I’m fortunate that I could celebrate with my groups of girls. Both parties weren’t fancy, but I had a great time, and most importantly, everyone got to meet my daughter, Maxine.

Family activities:

A big hit this year was the gingerbread houses! Two were made with my husband’s niece and nephew, and one was made with my parents.

The advent calendars were also an obvious favorite. We all enjoyed our own. Andrew had a whiskey one, Maxine had a stuffed toy one, PJ and BB shared a fancy feast one, and my parents and I had a chocolate one.

I had low-key family parties with great food, but I’m pretty proud of my Christmas Eve dishes. I went all out with a seven-fishes-themed spread. We had raw oysters, crab, salmon slices, mussels and clams in a white wine, fried shrimp, and baked fish. We also had steak, brussel sprouts, and mashed potatoes. For dessert, I made brownies.

Christmas outfits:

I was so excited to dress Maxine up this year for parties and PJs. I couldn’t help myself.

Christmas cards and gifts:

I went with both personal cards and virtual cards. I sent many of my older family members cards with personal notes and sent a virtual card with pictures to all my online family members.

I gave many food-related gifts and personal touch gifts this year. Below are some of my favorites.

Overall I had a great holiday, and I hope you did as well.