A Holly Jolly Christmas

As my final blog entry for the year of 2011, I wanted to share with all my readers (yes, I say ALL like I have sooo many followers) a few highlights from our first ever Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. Mobley.  For the past three Christmases that Mike and I have dated, we've spent the entire week of the holiday apart.  Christmas morning was spent waking up to our little families and opening presents in pajamas just like when we were kids....but in our perspective families.  Our families mean so much to us that we decided not to actually spend Christmas together until we were married.  And even as our first married Christmas, it was impossible to choose between the Mobleys and the DuPonts to decide where we would spend the most holy day of the year.  So....we spent Christmas with BOTH!

For the first leg of what I started referring to the "Mobley's 2011 Christmas Tour" we headed out on a direct flight straight to Dallas, Texas for our DuPont Christmas celebration.  We spent 3 nights at my parent's house visiting with mom and pops, my brother, and of course those two little mugs that I haven't seen since May...Burton & Bear.  While in Dallas we had a few days of festive cocktails, delicious family cooked meals (including my mother's delicious pasta sauce), last minute errands,  opening presents, and watching
Christmas movies.  Even though our 3 short days in Dallas were jam-packed with family activities, Mike and I were still able to steal a few hours to spend time with our besties!  I'm so glad I was able to squeeze in a little ladies lunch with my Boost.  We had a wonderful 2 hour lunch with our mommies, I only wish we could to that more often.

Christmas Eve was my favorite night of the trip...and NOT just because we got to open all of our presents, and NOT just because my husband gave me the most beautiful David Yurman necklace.

It was just a wonderful night spent consumed in fun, food, and conversation.  We didn't even eat dinner until 9:30p because we forgot to eat after being so engaged in the Christmas spirit.  We snacked on home made French onion soup (made by yours truly), crabcakes, lobster tails and a "Christmas salad" made of pomegranate & spinach.  And I'm not sure what time we actually got to bed on Christmas Eve, Santa definitely would have been disappointed, but I wanted to spend every last minute with my parents as I could.  While it was my first Christmas Eve with Mike, it was also my first Christmas Eve away from my BROTHER!!!!  He was spending the holiday in California visiting with his girlfriend's family, so we missed him tons.

One of the most surreal moments of the trip was waking up next to my husband on Christmas morning.  I almost felt like it WASN'T Christmas, because we've spent the three previous Christmases apart.  Since meeting him, I couldn't wait to look at his face and give him a big kiss and tell him "Merry Christmas" in person, instead of missing him while he's spending it miles away.  It was the greatest Christmas gift I could ever receive, and I can't wait to have that moment every year for the rest of our lives.

American Airlines Christmas decorations

So for the second stop on the Mobley's 2011 Christmas Tour, we packed up for the airport on Christmas morning to head out to the beautifully festive Sun Valley, Idaho to spend Christmas Day with the Mobley family.  Christmas was a crisp, sunny day that allowed us to fly directly into Sun Valley airport without any delays or weather problems.  And for the record....Christmas is one of the best days of the year to fly.  The airports were dead, and Mike and I both enjoyed upgrades.  And I'd like to recognize American Airlines for their honest efforts at making the airports a more festive place to be during the Christmas season.  Nice job with the decorations DFW!

While Sun Valley didn't get the snow that they usually get during this time of year, it's still a beautiful Winter Wonderland, with each sight as breathtaking as the next.  I've posted pictures of Sun Valley in the summer on this blog, but it's even more amazing when the mountains are covered in luscious mounds of powdery snow.  But it was still as festive as ever without several feet of snow to delay us from reaching our Christmas destination.

Our 3 days in Sun Valley were filled with single malt scotch, wonderful Christmassy tea, delicious wine, sleeping in late, stimulating conversations, and of course Mrs. Mobley's amazing cooking.  Each meal was so wonderfully planned out and cooked with the greatest attention to detail.  Every meal was like a mini celebration. 

 Not only was it my first Christmas with Mike's parents, but it was the first time I spent the holiday with my  brand new SIL (sister-in-law) and her adorable husband Bill.  But my favorite night of our Sun Valley leg of the trip was our trip to the Lodge in Sun Valley.  The lodge is a beautiful establishment full of  Sun Valley's history that is always impeccably decorated, especially during the holidays.  And it was my first time this year to drink some hot-buttered rum, one of my favorite winter cocktails!  In all the years of visiting Sun Valley, I don't think I've ever even visited the quaint little village.  So we took a chilly family stroll through the village stopping at each ice sculpture, not missing a single photo op.  I don't care that it was 78 degrees in California, Christmas is 100% more festive when there is snow (even if it's just a little bit) on the ground.




I think Mike and I are very lucky that we got to spend Christmas with both of our families, but somehow we still feel like we didn't get to spend enough time with either them.  Our trip home was long, and exhausting, and we were both sad to end the week that we'd both been looking forward to all year.  But after 14 hours of travelling, we got home only to be greeted by the wiggliest little hiney you ever did see from our little bulldog.  While we're happy to be home and relaxing for the rest of the week, we are can't wait until the next time we get to see our families in 2012.  We are so blessed, grateful, and happy to be able to  celebrate with not only one but TWO amazing families.  Here's to a happy and successful 2011 Christmas, and to many more as the Mobleys.

All You Need is Love

This week has brought the Mobley's a bit of adversity.  The week was kicked off with some unfortunate news about the account I work on going into review in 2012, and was wrapped up with a sick bulldog in the ICU being treated for pneumonia.  I'm not going to lie when I say I spent a few hours in my office cube paralyzed by stress and anxiety and close to tears.  Not only this week, but this MONTH, Mike and I have been inundated with with the pressures and stress that comes with closing out the year in the advertising industry.  That means countless dinners, multiple holiday parties, investing last minute incremental budgets before the end of the year, ASKING for last minute budgets to meet yearly goal projections, and late nights spent apart from each other to fulfill our corporate duties.  It takes a lot to take the wind out of the Mobley's sails.  Everyone knows we thrive on being festive and finding any reason or excuse to celebrate.  And who wants to feel crummy during such a happy time of year?   But this week left us deflated and exhausted.

Family dinner night out in Hoboken

So now that the after hours work obligations are pretty much starting to wind down, we were glad to end the week and enjoy the weekend and our last weekend in the city before Christmas with the people we love.  There is no better cure to the pre-Christmas blues than spending time with people who mean so much to you.  So our weekend was a barrage of love that has our hearts so full and happy that it's impossible to even imagine another bad day for the rest of the year.   And here is how it all all the love went down this weekend...

You're jealous you don't have these
Christmas sweaters

• Impromptu Date night at our quaint neighborhood restaurant - After a week my husband and I passing each other like two ships in the night, I couldn't get out of work fast enough to go spend some one on one time with my love.  Some of my favorite nights with Mike are the spontaneous date nights at our local spots spent splitting a bottle of wine and talking about everything BUT work...and that's precisely what we did.

• Opening Christmas Cards -  It is one of those things that I forget about every year.  Mike and I always remember to do ours, and we have a blast doing them, but there is something about getting a mailbox full of smiling babies and happy families instead of the usual bills, catalogs, and coupons that reminds you of just how many people you love in this world.  And it's one of the few times of the year where everyone sends real, old fashioned mail...without the use of technology.  

• Winston coming home from the hospital - it's no secret that Mike and I are a little bit crazy about that chunky slobbering beast.  And unfortunately, he wasn't just at any ol' vet clinic, he was in a scary ICU at the NY urgent care facilities on the upper west side.  As we waited for him (for what seemed like days) to be discharged we watched family upon family receive sad news or leave the hospital in tears.  It's the last thing you want to witness one week before Christmas, but it made me appreciate my little slimer that much more.  When that wiggly butt came out of the elevator in the hospital lobby, and I knelt down with my arms wide open, I wanted to cry happy tears at how glad I was to bring Winston home and continue to enjoy our little family at Christmas time.  I've never seen this desperately excited greeting from my dog, and my coat was covered with white fur, and Mike and I had slobber all over our jeans.  But my heart was swollen with love on that car ride back to our apartment, and I'm thrilled at how much better he is feeling. 

A fancy cocktail and One if by Land, Two if by Sea (and a photo bomber)

• Christmas with the Bucks - as you know, Mike has acquired a variety of Christmas attire over his 33 years of life.  And as my first Christmas as Mrs. Mobley, I feel a Mrs. Claus-esque obligation to stock my wardrobe with equally festive options as well.  And if there is anyone who can match the festivity of the Mobleys at Christmas (or in life)...it would be Mr. & Mrs. Charles Buck.  So naturally we went to their house to spread Christmas cheer and wear new festive attire.  Their apartment was beautifully decorated and the refreshments were delightful, and it reminded us of how thankful we are to have such wonderful friends in our lives all year.  When we moved here in 2010, Mike consoled me by telling me that we would have wonderful friends already built in when we moved to NY.  And outside of our amazing families I love our friends...I just do....all of them.

• A Brunch in Connecticut -  Since Winston was still on the mend, I left Mike behind in the city and headed out on the Metro North to Connecticut to have Christmas brunch with the DuPont/Russo family and see them all one last time before Christmas.  I think I spent a total of 5 hours actually in Connecticut (after the nightmare commute), but it makes me happy to have my grandmother and other close family only a train ride away so that I can see them whenever I want.  Since Thanksgiving, I've seen at least some of the DuPont/Russo family every weekend, for 4 weekends straight!  And I can't wait to see them again!

• Coming Home - my husband was home with a sick puppy all day, but when I walked back in that door of our apartment after 4+ hours on a train today....the apartment was immaculate and no lights were on except the sparkling lights from the Christmas decorations.  The house smelled of pine and candles were burning in every room.  And on the couch cuddling together were the two loves of my life....waiting for me to join.  Ironically enough, we ended the night with home made soup that my grandmother sent home with me, and we watched Love Actually....an impossibly happy movie that tied perfectly with the theme of my entry this week.  

This time of year reminds us that no matter how terrible we think it is,and no matter how stressful the holidays can get, we always have the love from our families and wonderful friends to make us complete.  It's a love that erases all the negativity and makes our hearts full.  And at the end of that day...isn't that love all that really matters?   

Home for the Holidays!

We don't have a real fireplace, but that doesn't
stop us from having stockings for the whole family!

Last weekend we shared with you pictures from our Mobley holiday kick off celebration.  And it occurred to me that we haven't shared with you some of our holiday enhancements!  As I mentioned earlier, it's always amazing how much we actually buy every year, but nothing beats an impeccably decorated Christmas apartment.
Last Christmas, and this year as well, I found most of my decorating necessities at our Union Square Farmer's Market.  Yes, I know I speak highly of that place quite frequently, but they have the best tools to quickly transform your apartment into whichever season or holiday you choose.  My favorite decorating accessory is holly berry leaves.  Our Farmer's Market sells HUGE branches of fresh holly leaves for $7!  I did our entire mantle (and by mantle, I mean bar!) with holly and still had tons left over to add some holly to other arrangements in the house.


Our other Christmas favorite is Poinsettia flowers.  Ours came from Mike's favorite little place in the Garden District (yes there is a garden district in New York).  Again, $7 at our guy, but you can also get great deals on huge velvety poinsettias at the Farmer's Market.  They make great hostess gifts during the holidays and look beautiful alone on a coffee table or even as a centerpiece.  Also at the Garden District, Mike bought festive mini potted trees for the patio, because the exterior illumination is just as important as the interior!

I've also become mildly obsessed with decorating with mini pine cones.  Not only are they adorable and tiny, but they are so festive and can be painted to match any Christmas decorations you have in your home.  Mine are sprinkled with gold glitter and are beautiful enough to sit alone in our hurricane vases.  I also sprinkled mini pine cones around our holly berry on the top of our bar to create a little wooded wonderland!



This weekend also brought us, drum roll please.....our new couch!  After some lucky guy got the deal of the century from buying our couch on Craigslist, we rid ourselves of the cumbersome sectional where we spent so many lazy/hungover Sundays as a family.  We spent one Friday night couchless before our special delivery came Saturday morning.

Our living room BEFORE with the old couch

Our living room AFTER with the new couch!
Look at how good Winston is....he's
not even sitting on the couch!

I can't even explain how much room we have now that we have a sofa.  We have the most beautiful Persian rug that Mike's parents gave him when he was living in LA, and we were hiding it under a giant beast of a couch.  Look at how beautiful the rug looks now!!!!  I have to give a shout out to my amazing husband who gave me the best Christmas present ever a few weeks early....a brand new Dyson Animal vacuum.  So again...I have to give credit to the vacuum for making our rug look so beautiful and vibrant.  We still have some finishing touches to make on the living room, and we had quite a productive/expensive visit to Pottery Barn on Saturday, but it's starting to transform into the cozy home that will make us happy and comfortable as we renew our lease for at least another year in the city.

When we got the new couch, I was worried that our days of lazy Sundays with the whole family on the couch were gone.  But we all actually all fit on this one too!  Winston is not permitted on the couch without laying on top of a blankie, but he has already developed a fondness for our new piece of furniture, and we have a much better view of our Christmas tree now!

Don't mind the ridiculously large, out of place coffee table...we have a new
one being delivered in 1-2 weeks (blog post to follow...DUH!)

A Holly Jolly Christmas Kick off

Last Christmas, Mike and I invited a few people over to our house to show off our decorations and enjoy eggnog out of moose mugs.  It was a very small group, but it was one of our favorite nights of the year and one that I'll always remember sharing with some of our best friends.  But this year, we opened up our Mobley holiday party to a bigger group of people, because the more the merrier, right?  And with everyone being inundated with different holiday obligations and other parties, our goal was to try to get ahead of all the madness and kick off the party season in the best way possible. But Michael and I do NOT take entertaining, OR Christmas decorating lightly.  There were so many errands to run in anticipation of our fun-filled evening that we had to divide and conquer in order to accomplish everything before people showed up for our Mobley Christmas kickoff.  There was to decorations to buy, flower arrangements to make, exterior illumination to configure, food to be cooked, floors to be swept, and candles to be lit.  But we miraculously pulled it off before our first visitor arrived at 5p on the dot.  

My little sis came!

As you know, Mike never misses an opportunity to wear a costume, but his Christmas outfits are unlike anything you've ever seen.  He has multiple Christmas patterned pants, Santa Clause ascots, not one but TWO Christmas blazers, holly embroidered turtlenecks, and more Christmas printed ties than any fully stocked Brooks Brothers store.  I'm always amazed at how he pulls together a different getup for each holiday event.  We asked everyone else to come in festive attire as well, and everyone looked great!  We had a wonderful array of cocktails that included eggnog (of course), champagne cocktails, holiday winter lager, and bottles and bottles of stinky, peaty scotch.  

We had a wonderful turnout at our Christmas kick off party, and it was so great to have all of our friends in the same little apartment.  We even had a special surprise from my Uncle Mark from Connecticut who came out to Manhattan for a "guys night" in the city.  We were both so pleasantly surprised when he walked through our door.  Luckily the weather hasn't gotten too terrible yet, and we were able to take advantage of our beautiful outdoor space which Mike so beautifully illuminated with red and green Christmas lights.  Winston loved every second of entertaining the nonstop attention from beautiful & great smelling women.  

We kind of look like the Tommy Hilfiger commercial..
"Don't you just love the holidays?"

People were blown away by the level of detail and attention Mike and I put into our Christmas decorations.  One of the best compliments that we got from the night was when someone told us that they felt like they were at a real "home" instead of a Manhattan apartment.  That's one of the nicest things you could ever say, and it meant so much to hear that because as small as our space is, I think every day about how to make this place feel like a home.  I'm glad that we could share not only our booze and treats, but our home as well.  And I've said it once, and I'll say it again, home really is where the heart is.  So while our decorations and impeccable attention to detail might make our place feel festive, our friends and the holiday cheer radiating from everyone in our 290 3rd Ave apartment really made our place a "home".  What a wonderful first holiday party of the season!

   

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!

In the Mobley household, we decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving...always.  We need to squeeze in as much holiday cheer into those 31 days following Turkey Day as humanly possible.  However, as you can tell from previous blog posts, I'm very strict about fully appreciating the joys of Thanksgiving before moving on to the next holiday.  So I've chosen to write separate entries as to not take anything away from my favorite harvest holiday.  The next month will absolutely be a barrage of holiday activities that the Mobleys will be participating in over the course of the month.  So each blog until January will no doubt have a Christmas theme. I just wanted to warn you of that, because it is....after all...the most wonderful time of the year.  

Immediately after wrapping up a festive trip to Connecticut, Mike and I headed back to Manhattan with a little extra cargo in our car.  My brother & his girlfriend Jen accompanied us to the city for a quick day trip before they headed back to Dallas.  Now, being a host/tour guide to people visiting Manhattan can often be a very daunting task as there are limitless options for things to do in the city.  But when it's Christmas time...it's even MORE stressful.  There is literally an overload of things to see/do in Manhattan around Christmas.  There is ice skating at Rockefellar, Macy's storefront windows, decorations on Fifth Avenue, Radio city Rockettes, lights on Park Ave, and decorations on every street corner you see. So to simplify it for myself, my only task was to bring Jenny and Garret as much festivity as possible in the one day we had together in the city.

We took them to the Union Square Christmas fair which reminded me of a similar fair Michael and I went to in Ireland last year.  There were booths of hand knitted hats, home made chocolates, silky scarves, and loads of quirky New York art.  One could get lost in the fair for hours.  But the major event of the evening was our dinner at Rolf's...arguably New York's best decorated establishment for Christmas.  In fact, I'm going to go as far as saying it's the most festive place in New York City.  So what better way to kick off the season than some mulled wine, eggnog and some holiday schapps????  The food is questionable....but it was still fun to sit in their Disney-like booths and order delicious drinks.  The Rolfs dinner was quickly followed by a mini pub crawl to some of the most elaborately decorated bars in all of Gramercy Park.  Yes, it was only about a 4 block radius, but I sometimes feel like our quaint little neighborhood has a lot to offer, and we don't spend much time going out around there at night.

The first Mobley Christmas Tree!

The next morning was met with a bit of sadness as Garrett & Jen headed back to Dallas.  But there is no better way to battle the "end of a vacation blues" than to bust out the Christmas decorations from storage!!!! And while New York City may not have the most festive Christmas Tree lots, we picked out one of the most beautiful trees I've ever seen and carried it 3 blocks back to our humble abode.  We never had a real tree growing up in California, and while it made our lives much easier during the clean up, there are few things as festive as the smell of a real live Noble Fir sparkling with shiny white lights.

Winston decorating his tree

Over the past 3 Christmases that we have spent together, we have collected quite a few ornaments and it's always so fun to unpack them and remember the years prior.  And every year I am surprised by how many decorations we have, and how many more we end up buying.
Mike and I try to stay in town over the month of December so that we can enjoy everything that Manhattan has to offer during the Christmas season (come Jan/Feb, I'll be taking every chance I can get to get the hell out of dodge).  So we can't wait to share with you our first Christmas together as the Mobleys.  Let the festivities begin!

Gobble Gobble Gobble!

It's the time of year where we all think about what we have to be thankful for, and this has been such a wonderful year that it's often hard to remember everything that I'm so grateful for in my life.  But I feel compelled to share what has made our lives so fulfilled this year and what we are thankful for on this joyous holiday.

• My husband!  This was the first Thanksgiving we spent as "the Mobleys", and words can't even express how thankful I am to have him in my life.  I'm so grateful for how he works his little hiney off so that we can have the fun, exciting life that we live in Manhattan.  I'm so glad that I found a man whose main focus every day is trying be the happiest and most festive person you could possibly be.  It's an infectious characteristic that makes me smile, and makes it hard not to get caught up in his happiness.  He's incredibly supportive of me and my unpredictable hours in a crazy New York ad agency, and he's patient with me when I don't wake up singing and whistling like he does every morning.  Not a day goes by that I don't thank God that our paths crossed 3.5 years ago in LA and that we get to spend the rest of our lives together.  

• Our families!  Not only do I have two amazing parents who have given me anything I could ever want in life, but I just doubled my luck this year! We're so thankful to have the strength of two loving and happy families to spend our lives with as Christmas comes closer.  We wish every day that we could be closer to both our parents and our siblings, but that just means that we cherish the time that we do spend together that much more. 

• Winston!   It may sound silly, but that little critter brings both of us more joy than you can ever imagine.  I know that one day Michael and I will be wonderful parents to a real baby, but for now, he's it!  He's made us the little family unit and I can't imagine how sad a day would be without seeing that wiggly little hiney every day when I come home from work.

• Our Friends! Mike and I have a really, really fun life, and that is because we have really, really, REALLY fun people to spend it with.  We have friends all over the country, so there is sure to be a good time regardless of which state we visit.  But you all (and you know who you are) make us so happy, and the times we spend with you are some of the most festive celebrations ever.  We love you all and look forward to many many more great times with you. 

• Our home!  They say that home is where the heart is, and I'm thankful to have the quaint little Manhattan apartment that we live in.  It's almost been two years since we dramatically downsized from our LA living, and I appreciate every day that our sweet doormen give us a happy wave.  Or when I can have my laundry delivered to my front door, or that I'm just mere steps away from the 6 train.  Our fireplace may be electric, and our closet space is pitiful, but I'm proud of the home that we've built as a couple and I'm thankful every day that we are fortunate enough to live in such a special place.

• Iron Maiden!  I asked my wonderful husband to contribute to the blog with things he's thankful for, and this was his response...sigh.  

So it goes without saying that our first newlyweds Thanksgiving  was memorable and successful.  We are lucky to have some family close by in Connecticut to minimize the nightmare that is Thanksgiving holiday travel.  This year, we got a special treat because we had family from Chicago come in to join the DuPont family in Connecticut!  It was quite a houseful.  The wine was flowing, there was a lot of laughter, and of course, there was too much food.  We definitely missed the Mobley family, but we'll get to see them in just 3.5 weeks on Christmas Day.

I'm always a little sad when Thanksgiving is over, because it's a holiday I look forward to so much every year.  As a child, I always thought that Turkey Day was a pointless holiday that got in the way of me getting presents and putting up Christmas lights.  But as an adult now, Thanksgiving has come to mean so much more to me now.  It's more than just a gluttonous day of treats.  It's about family, and surrounding yourself with the ones you love.  It's about taking time out of the daily grind and the pressures of the real world to focus on what's really important in life.  Yes, the food is delicious, and football is on all day, but there is nothing more joyful than a houseful of love & happiness.