Life Lately

So friends, December is rapidly passing us by, isn’t it? Seriously, where does the time go?

Anyway, with the holidays and, you know, our WEDDING!, coming up, things around the Connor/Lock household have been pretty insanely busy. I do love the city around the holidays, though, and Chris and I picked up our Christmas tree the other day and I’ve decorated the apartment. Despite the busyness, we’ve been trying really hard to stop and smell the Christmas tree (does that analogy work?) from time to time.

Here’s a little of what we’ve been up to lately in the city that never sleeps …

We love our little 94th St. Christmas tree!

I had these lovely ladies over for some holiday drinks. In lieu of an actual fireplace, I played the YouTube yule log over and over again on TV.

For my sister’s baby gender reveal party, I was the person who got the cupcake with the blue frosting. It’s a boy!! I’m having a nephew!

On December 7, Chris and I took a little trip to City Hall to get our marriage license. Our MARRIAGE LICENSE! Ca-razy!

And this was our ticket. I will proceed to frame it and hang it in our teeny abode.

My sister and her boyfriend came to visit last weekend and we took in the scenery at Bryant Park. I love it there during the holidays.

Friends at a beautiful Brooklyn wedding I attended this past Sunday.

Little details like the white tea lights and wine corks really brought the night to life.

You guys KNOW how I love my lights! Isn’t this chandelier from the wedding venue gorgeous?

Cute little A & B cookies for Allison and Boris.

A beautiful bride!

What? I’m not doing anything wrong?

It’s hard to wrap gifts when this cutie keeps distracting me. And sitting on my supplies.

On another note, our little Nugget had surgery recently. We’re happy to report that his cast is off, and today was the first day he climbed in and out of his cage all by himself. Go Nugget!

So that’s been December in a nutshell, basically. This Friday Chris and I will head upstate to celebrate the holidays with my mom and step-dad, then we’ll head to New Jersey to be with my dad, step-mom, sisters and brother-in-law. After that we head back into the city to get ready for our New Years Eve nuptials. That means I may not make it back here to post again before I become Mrs. Christopher Vincent Connor.

Woah.

Happy holidays friends! I hope everyone has a great time filled with family, friends and delicious foods! See ya’ll in the New Year!

Bis bald!

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Back in the Borough: The Scream at MoMA

Hi friends,

Welcome to December! So Christmas trees are back at the subway stations, and Chris and I took a jaunt to MoMA today to check out Edvard Munch’s famous painting, ‘The Scream.’

Let’s take a gander:

The tree stand outside of our 96th St. station, where we’ll probably pick up our own little piece of green heaven.

The Scream, Edvard Munch’s famous painting. It really is fantastic in person …

Van Gogh’s Starry Night

Claude Monet’s Water Lillies

A piece by Picasso

We stopped in the cafe for lunch while we were there. I had a delicious salad, Chris had the cheese tort and we shared the marinated olive platter. These were our delicious drinks.

Bis bald, friends! Hope your December is off to a great start, as well!

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Munich Subway Madness

In anticipation of my first ever solo trip to another country [yes, I know. Technically I can't really consider it solo if I will only be alone for a little over 24 hours, but still...], I’ve spent the past two hours studying my Fodor’s ‘Munich’s 25 Best’ book, its maps, the subway…everything. And seriously—I’m getting pretty excited about it all. I’ve mapped out the route from the airport to the hotel, and then from the hotel to where I will start my walking tour for the day. And in honor of my new-found independence, let’s all marvel at the subway map that I figured out all on my lonesome:

It's not so scary when you stare at it for two hours

Bis bald, my friends!

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We’re Almost There!

Let this be a lesson to you ladies and gentlemen, have your ducks in a row before you sit down to plan your trip, or else it will DRIVE YOU CRAZY!

On this Valentines day, as my boyfriend traipses around Japan with his best friend, I’m sitting at my mom’s house planning out my trip to London and Italy with my sister for her graduation. Let me tell you- this is not easy. First, there’s the timing aspect. It has to be after graduation (and possibly after a graduation party to pay for it), but before she starts grad school in the fall. All of these factors combined leaves us with only a short time period to plan the trip, which also, unfortunately, happens to coincide with the most expensive time to travel to Europe- the summer.

After a lot of back-and-forth (will we stay with a friend in London for a few days? Will it be too expensive to book two separate tickets from two separate places? Will a hostel really be that much cheaper than a hotel (that answer might surprise you)). After all of this back-and-forth, I think we have a plan we can get on board with (and, hopefully, afford). It goes a little something like this:

Fly into London, stay with friend for a few nights
Book a cheap(ish) sleeper train that will take us from London to Rome (with a short stop-over in Paris, which I see as a plus, my sister is on the fence about it)
Stay at a cheap(ish) hote that got decent reviews and apparently is in a decent area of Rome to get to sites and such (NOT a hostel, surprisingly. This hotel is actually cheaper than the decent/safe hostels we were looking at, and we get our own room. I guess we’ll have to let you know how it works out when we come back).
Book a couple of day trips around Italy
Fly out of Rome back to NYC

Overall, I think it will work. This is my sister’s first trip like this, certainly her first out of the country, and it’s our first alone together. So, I think it’s safe to say we’re still in the midst of figuring out our ‘travel relationship,’ but we’re coming along quite nicely. And soon, my friends (after we actually book this trip!), we’ll be here:

And here:

So, my friends, until we actually book the flight…bis bald…see you soon!

P.S. Does this intimidate anyone else?!

I mean, I thought the New York City subway map was scary, but this is what Chris had to deal with for his trip from the first airport to his hostel in Tokyo before he boards his second flight to where his friends live. Can’t wait for that update!

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