Twas the night before Christmas...

  

and then it was the day of, filled with sweet rolls, sweet people and puppies with presents... 

Merry Christmas!

{Christmas Eve Photography, Christmas Day Photography, Raleigh Photographer, Christmas Tree, Nutcrackers, Pecan Rolls, West Highland White Terrier Photography}

A Christmas Tradition

I love homes decked out in lights for the holidays - the tackier the better. So every year, Phillip and I and our good friends Thomas and Katie, bundle up, grab some hot chocolate and scour Raleigh's neighborhoods for the best and brightest lights. 

And this year did not disappoint. We started out on Downtown on Fayetteville Street to get in the holiday spirit and then began the hunt. 

{Christmas lights, Raleigh, NC Photographer, Downtown Raleigh, Fayetteville Street, Progress Energy Memorial Auditorium, BB&T Building}

Murphy's Law

It was still dark in our room when we woke up Saturday morning - not night-dark, more like it's cold and raining outside, so you want to snuggle up and stay in bed for the rest of the day - but we had work to do. It was the day of our first large dinner party and of course we saved all the big stuff to do the day of. We had gone grocery shopping the night before, so all the food had been bought and was ready to go, but our home was another story. Phillip headed downstairs first when I hear him yell "Oh No! (or maybe some four letter word...) You have got to be kidding me."

Our lovely refrigerator, who was not yet 2 years old, but whose warranty had just expired, had decided to stop working. When Phillip opened the door to the freezer, he was greeted with a pool of water since it had decided to defrost itself. Awesome. Of all the days for it to stop working, it picked the day of our dinner party. So after a minor meltdown, we collected ourselves, called a repair man who was there in 20 minutes (thank you Mr. Appliance!). No luck though. The part that needed to be replaced was not common and would need to be ordered. Great. Once this news had sunk in, we weighed our options, but there was really only one - coolers and bags of ice. Thankfully it's winter time, so at least we had that going for us. We pulled out every cooler we owned and then sorted through the items of the refrigerator that were "must save"  - sorry old salad dressing that we never use, today's not your day either. Once this was done, we thought we were in the clear and could get back to preparing for the party. Time to run those last minute errands. To do this though, you need car keys, which of course, were no where to be found.

We searched EVERYWHERE - even the places we hadn't been, but could not find them. I then start to think back to the night before when we were cleaning out and throwing away... Is it possible? Did we throw the keys away? As I consider whether or not I can dive into a dumpster, Phillip reminds me that the garbage truck had already come that morning. Time for the second melt down of the day. I went through all the stages of grief in record time and just as I was reaching acceptance, Phillip finds the keys - in our pots... Apparently, they became wedged in the drawer above the pots and then fell into them. Really.

This was it though. No more mishaps - well, maybe one more if you count Harvey's attempt to eat the smoked salmon we had graciously put at his level on the coffee table, oh and when we completely forgot to prepare our first course, but once we remembered, we were back on track again. So, our first dinner party happened despite all the efforts for it to fail, we did it. And it was lovely.

{Holiday party photographer, winter decor, oranges, pine cones, gold ornaments}

Christmas Time in New York

I heart this city. Even when it's below freezing and the snow flurries are falling, it makes my heart melt to see the holiday spirit live and in person.

This was kinda my worst fear - I'm not a fan of birds flying in a flock above me.

Welcome to the Plaza

What's a trip to New York without a little Tiffany's?

LOVE. LOVE. LOVE Eataly, Mario Batali's new cafe. If you're in the mood for an authentic Italian meal, go here - and then do a little grocery shopping.

Cocktails at the Carlyle Hotel, surrounded by some of my favorite children's book art.

The original Christmas in New York.

{Christmas Photography, Holiday Photographer, New York City, The Plaza, Central Park, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, Eataly, Bryant Park, New York City Public Library, The Carlyle, Macy's, Tiffany & Co., Bergdorf Goodman, Fendi, Cartier, Times Square, St. Patrick's Cathedral, FAO Schwarz}