Merry Christmas

Christmas Day is finally here...Shamus and I had our first Christmas by ourselves..and even though I must say it was very enjoyable, and we were very lucky to have such great company in Angelina and Layla, it is times like these you remember how great you're family makes Christmas.

My mum always makes the best Christmas feast - from the beginning seafood brunch where she always tries to make me help get the prawns ready and I refuse because its yucky, to here perfectly cooked vegetable, ham, turkey, stuffing and potatoes and the Christmas cake she works on for a good few days.

The bar was set very high, and even though we didn't quite make it....I think we did a good job.

Our Christmas hats were made from writing paper, a Sharpie pen Sham found on the street somewhere and a stapler....I did the names and drew snowmen, bells, christmas trees and presents on them...Definitely a budget Christmas

The menu for Christmas lunch consisted of an assortment of snacks to begin (smoked salmon, olives, camembert, crackers and cookies); followed by ham, potatoes, vegetables, stuffing...and strawberry and honey semi-fredo for dessert.....YUM

I baked these gingerbread cookies and did the icing for them too. With no rolling pin and no cookie cutters....my culinary skills were put to the test, especially when it came time to making shapes. My love hearts resembled god knows what, my cookie man looked like the elephant man and what was meant to be a present was more of a strange 1950s television set

Twas the Night Before Christmas....

One negative thing I do have to say about new York City is its lack of Christmas spirit. I have been told this is due to a number of reasons - some say it is due to the economy and others tell me it is because New York is too politically correct, and since Christmas is a religious belief and not everybody celebrates it. I was saddened to see so little tinsel, bells, lights, candy canes, greens, whites and reds...However, all is not lost...enter Bergdorf Goodman.

The Bergdorf Goodman christmas window displays are the most amazing and intricate I have ever seen. It was a delicate mixture of all things christmas and fashion, an absolute visual feast. Every inch was covered with crystal snow, paper roses, tulle, feathers, woodland creatures, squirrels on bicyles, giant cats hiding in corners, rabbits behind doors and a wolf serenading a beautiful woman dripping in diamonds...

The mens side of the Bergdorf windows were themed by The Fantastic Mr. Fox....amazing tiny details of mice, foxes, rabbits, badgers and moles drinking and dining together, and getting into a spot of mischief on the way...

The Tiffany & Co window displays, although only a two of them, were also beautiful. Entitled Once Upon a Holiday Dream, they had a Cinderella feel to them...

In a city that makes one feel Christmas is not even happening...Bergdorf's was a wonderland of fantasy and fairytales.... <3

Room Pre-Christmas

Once Upon a Dream

We went to Central Park today....I have been wanting to see what it looked like after the snow storm on Saturday, and I was not disappointed.

I have never seen anything like it...amazingly white snow covered every corner. The lake was frosted over with ice, tree branches held delicate bundles of snow and there were endless amounts of people ice skating and going for horse and carriage rides...

On our way out of Central park we came across a tree house like rotunda on top of a hill...

After Central Park we had lunch at one of our favourite diners - Parisienne Diner...

After Shamus' waffles and ice cream and my burger...we made our way through the streets of the Upper East Side all the way to Saks on Fifth...

And what is Christmas without the odd giant Candy Cane...