When I started this blog on Jan. 1, I didn't quite think through the fact that it would mean my last day would be New Year's Eve. Once I realized it, I figured I needed to do something big as a grand finale both for me and for all of my "readers." So with a little bit of spontaneity and a lot of stupidity, I booked a ticket to NYC to be in Times Square for New Year's.
So I arrived today in NYC for a less than 24 hour visit and was graciously greeted by my super supportive and sweet co-worker, Leah, who took me around for the earlier part of day. By later in the afternoon, I made my way to, through and around Times Square. Turns out I arrived a little bit late and ended up about 15 blocks away from the illustrious ball. Thankfully, as the night wore on, I was able to work myself up a few more blocks, but I still couldn't quite see the ball drop. I guess I'll have to come back another year (or maybe not...)
Most importantly, I survived the adventure... and I survived a year of photo-blogging. But more on that later... Epilogue coming soon.
As the blog winds down, I would be remiss if I didn't feature my most favorite person in the world - my Mom. Sometimes I've complained about being the youngest child and feeling like my sisters moved on without me, but if it was any other way, I wouldn't have had so much special time with this amazing woman all to myself. It's always worth it to stay a few days extra home after the holidays just to get some quality time with her. Love you, Mom! Thanks for being so supportive and just plain wonderful!
Spent the day roaming around New Orleans with my dear friend Emi today. After a yummy lunch at Mother's, we traipsed all over the city so that I could capture the city in action. Surprisingly, I found that I actually didn't take that many pics because I was just enjoying the company too much. Thanks for a great day, Emi!
After all of my nuggets left today, I was very sad, but was so glad to have an exciting outing to look forward to in the afternoon. After lunch, I met up with my dear friend Laurie, her mom and some friends to shop for our bridesmaid dresses for her wedding next year. Although the shopping trip was a blast (thanks, ladies!), the real highlight of my day came when my mom called to say that Cat and Malloy's flight home had been cancelled and that Maxwell and Murphy were coming back to Baton Rouge for another night stay! Yay! I get so sad when they leave and I was so happy to get some extra time with my sweet little ones.
A whole lot of excitement going on on the Nuggets' last day in town. We took Maxwell to ride the carousel at the Mall of Louisiana, which she LOVED! Murphy just had to watch from the sidelines, and Elizabeth (or Bizzy Bit as Maxwell calls her) was home taking a nap. But after dinner, the girls went to town with Maxwell's new costume box that I gave her for Christmas. The box was full of fun accessories, like hula skirts, white gloves, lots of sunglasses, tiny high heels, headbands and more. But probably the two best things in the box were from my friend Kaitlin's mom (Ms. Trina, I hope you're reading!). Ms. Trina contributed a few of her leftover costumes from her dance classes and the girls LOVED them! So much fun to play dress up with such sweet little ones. Even Murphy got in on the action. Thanks so much, Ms. Trina!
The final week of the blog wouldn't be complete without some appearances by some of my dearest friends. With our 8th annual Chimes Night Christmas Reunion tonight, I figured I would give the nuggets a break from the camera and save today's photos for my friends. Hard to believe that it has been 8 Christmases since my college friends and I graduated; and every year, when we gather together at The Chimes on the 26th, it's one of my most favorite holiday moments. So great to spend time catching up on each other's lives. It's amazing how much a difference a year can make. Thanks for a wonderful evening, sweet friends!
Woke up this morning to see that Santa had stopped by to leave presents for Maxwell, Elizabeth and Murphy. It was so, so much fun to see them light up on Christmas morning and is a memory that I will truly cherish. Then, it was off to Mama Jean and Papa Roger's house to see the whole Reed clan. We ate plenty of delicious food and played a rousing game of Dirty Santa. The nuggets got to spend some very special time with their great-grandparents and the rest of the family. Then after some long naps on the car ride home, they were ready to hit the toys hard again when we got home. Poor sweet Murphy gets double-teamed a little bit by the girls, but we're pretty sure this hoss is going to be tackling them soon enough. Love them! (And there were adults there too! Great to spend the day with parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody! So lucky we can all get together every year!)
There were a few little reindeers around the Maxwell house today as the cousins spent the day making sugar cookies and just playing together. Little did they know what was in store for them as the night wore on. After we got back from Mass, some of Santa's little elves had dropped by with matching pajamas for Maxwell, Elizabeth and Murphy. And then the real fun began... opening all of the exciting presents! We had some tired out and happy little people at the end of the night, and tomorrow we get to do it all over again! Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!
First day of the holidays with all of the family under one roof. While my heart certainly soared to have all three of my precious nuggets all together at one time, it was a tad bit chaotic with a little bit of biting, a full-speed crash into the Christmas tree, too many bonked heads and lots of time just spent on the floor. As one of Maxwell's favorite Christmas book says, "Llama, Llama Holiday Drama" or for short "Holi-Drama." Needless to say, I was a little bit too busy playing the role of loving, watchful aunt to be a full-on photographer for the day. And it didn't help that sweet little Murphy was really the only one that cooperated with the camera. Here's crossing my fingers for more outstanding photos over the days to come.
... Like home for the holidays. There's something so comforting about coming home for Christmas. All of the friendly Santas are out in full force... and you know you are at home when your photo is on the Christmas tree. Spent the day with Mom getting ready for the rest of the fam to come in later tonight and tomorrow... and we even managed to squeeze in the first batch of sugar cookies. Okay, Mom really did all the work on the cookies. I just watched and took photos. She's a good model. :) Thank you, Mom, for always making Christmas happen.
Over the past year of this blog, Memphis has definitely been good to me in terms of all of the great places and people to photograph. Seeing as I'm leaving town tomorrow for the holidays and won't be back until after the New Year (and the last official day of my blog), I felt the need to get one more quintessential Memphis photograph before I leave. So the bright lights of Beale Street called me back...
As my blog for the year is winding down, I'm so glad to have the chance to feature my lovely co-workers. Today was our department Christmas party, and the holiday decor, delicious pot luck and rousing game of Christmas charades definitely did not disappoint. (Sarah was extra excited!) I really am so lucky to work with such an amazing team, who are always supportive both in and out of the office - especially when it comes to being such avid blog readers! Thanks, gang! Merry Christmas!
