A Toast: to Small Pleasures

4 07 2011

With all of the things in this world that can cause stress and anxiety, it’s comforting to think of all of the things that can cause simple happiness and a feeling of contentment.

The jolt of joy that you get when you hear your friends have gotten engaged.  The instant image of a little baby face that forms when you hear that a new baby has decided to arrive.  The feeling of anticipation that you get when you have your feet dangling above the water and you’re waiting for a wave that will come up and splash you with cold water.  The feel of walking through cool grass with your bare feet.  The sound of a cat purring in your ear and re-reading a book you love because you like the way it makes you feel when you read it.

Hope everyone had a happy long weekend.





Better Late Than Never…

9 01 2011

Merry Christmas!

This year the Christmas celebrations started in NYC and we bounced around like ping pong balls between all of the tourists taking photos of themselves in the Forever 21 interactive billboard in Times Square (us included) and staring in awe of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Plaza.  But, amidst all of the holiday craziness we found a corner of peaceful holiday cheer…set up under the Manhattan Bridge.

And with 20 mile/hour winds the Brooklyn Bridge Park was deserted, which gave us a great opportunity to take in the skyline sights.

The “Christmas Day” holiday cheer found us in Stamford, Connecticut.  One brightly lit Christmas tree, two Canadian cats on a catnip high, three rounds of Christmas mimosas (for some), 4 hours of turkey baking, 5 (slightly burnt) decorated gingerbread men…..6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 (and beyond) colourfully wrapped christmas presents.

It was a full house of Christmas family cheer.  And of course Christmas isn’t complete without a little friendly competition and trash talking, which we took every opportunity to partake in during our first ever Christmas BAKE OFF and JUST DANCE 2 DANCE OFF. Let the record show that I wowed the judges with my chocolate chip cookies but we all got our butts kicked by an 11 year old at Just Dance 2 – although what the girls lost in points, we made up for in style!