Howdy! How are you? I missed this humorous, good neighborhood, and I’m excited to catch up. We’ve got some enjoyable posts deliberate this month, and within the meantime, listed below are a number of snapshots from the break, in the event you’d wish to see…
We hosted Christmas in Brooklyn this yr — with the boys and me, in fact, plus my dad, my aunt Lulu, and our cousin Jimmy. We lit numerous candles and ate numerous yummy issues. (“I’m low-key hooked on mandarins,” Toby informed me.)
Our first journey for the vacations is all the time driving to see the lights within the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. Are you able to think about shifting there in the summertime and all of a sudden realizing what a Christmas scene it turns into? Folks promote scorching chocolate out of their garages, and Bing Crosby blasts from automotive radios.
When our family arrived from England, we had been so excited!
Jimmy and Anton had been already twinning with out planning it…
And Lulu instantly set about making carrot soup. The extra issues change, the extra they keep the identical. xoxo
We took walks to the Brooklyn Promenade…
..and stopped by Jane’s Carousel and the close by ice-skating rink…
…and admired the views from The Edge in Manhattan.
On Christmas Eve, we went to church and ate a lot of smelly cheese.
By the best way, how cool is this olive tray? It was my Christmas present to myself 🙂 I can’t keep in mind the substack design e-newsletter the place I initially found it, however I’ll let you recognize if I discover it!
On Christmas morning, the boys opened their stockings. Right here’s 12-year-old Anton’s haul. I beloved how his wishlist mirrored his in-between age — with gadgets like a scented-pen (child) and pimple patches (teenager).
Plus, in fact, a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper.
We had a gathering on Christmas Day, since, I discover, youngsters are normally jittery from all the joy by the afternoon, and it’s good to have pals over to absorb that power.
Additionally, though long-time readers might discover it laborious to imagine, I’ve really been having fun with cooking. One crowd-pleasing dinner for the group was this simple tacky beans dish. I added extra onion for crunch and extra crushed pink pepper for warmth.
The Kalanithi dad and mom; lunch at Hook Fish.
Afterward, my dad and I headed to San Francisco to see my sister, her daughter, and her in-laws.
We crashed at my buddy Lena’s stunning house, since she and her household had been out of city. (They’re going to remain at our place in the summertime, like a non-simultaneous home swap.) And that cool phrase artwork? “When my son Eli was studying handwriting, he began making giant letters on single sheets of development paper,” she explains. “I took my favorites and tiled them in an enormous plexiglass body I purchased off Craigslist.”
As all the time, on New Yr’s Eve, we visited Paul’s grave. We poured out Champagne for him, and the youngsters toasted with Martinelli’s.
Hope you had break and received some relaxation and rest! And if not, that’s okay, too. As they are saying, everybody you meet is preventing a battle. A lot of love, as all the time, and searching ahead to a beautiful 2026 collectively. xoxo
P.S. 11 readers share their glad moments, and what are you grateful for, giant or small?
