new puppy?

We were wandering the upper east side and found a pet shop... that had 4 bulldogs. Including one named "jiggler" because of what he does when he gets excited.

tie rack

We've been going to a lot of weddings and Doug has been collecting a lot of ties.
He decided he needed a tie rack.
So Beka made one.

ikea brooklyn

We went out to the new Brooklyn Ikea. We took the water taxi back to Manhattan... much better than the train to bus option...

the maaaaaaalllll

Doug and I ventured to New Jersey to the same mall that the Seinfeld episode about getting lost in the parking lot was shot in (Coincidentally, that episode was on TV today).

Doug bought Beka a ring out of a bubble gum machine in the food court for the full middle school effect of hanging out in a mall on a Monday off from school.

Beka got a Vera Wang coat for 60% off...

and shoes! Beka got new shoes! Between Friday and Monday, Beka collected 5 new pairs. The most expensive pair was 12.75...

Doug also found some shirts, jeans, and sandals. 

Oh, and then we found something for Beka's Mom. The man took the Brussels Griffon out after Beka started gawking and pointing. He was very affectionate and loved getting to run around the floor to see what everyone was doing in the store.  The guy also told us that the person responsible for creating Ewoks in the Star Wars movies had 15 Brussels Griffons. 15. So apparently, Brussels Griffons don't look like Ewoks; Ewoks look like Brussels Griffons. 

florida finds...

We found more of our absolutely favorite fry pans in Florida. (Thank you Butler Plaza.)

Holiday...

After dropping Eva and Pushkin off in Phillie, we made it back to NY for a 'nap' before flying to Daytona.

We stayed in Daytona until Christmas Day when we drove to South Florida. We then flew back to NY from Daytona on December 30th...
So here's some stats of this part of our "vacation" (you'll understand why we're still tired):
We ate at more than 9 resturaunts. (Including Mr. Dunderbacks, Moe's, Sonic, Ikea in Orlando, Steve's Famous Dinner, Einstein's Brothers Bagels, Bru's room, Chili's, and a Sushi place in Miami)
We played with 4 Huggy Jesus and drank 4 types of Leinenkugel.




Okay okay, so we ate at 3 different Moe's on 3 different occasions for 2 different meals...


Moe Burritos, Moe Happy!


Over the course of our time in Florida, we saw both of our families, plus a large assortment of friends — some we didn't even expect to see. (And it was great to see you all we hope to do it again soon!)





Played with 3 dogs and 1 cat.






We made 2 loaves of beer bread.


We saw 1 full moon from the beach.


Had both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Dinners.


Gave Moogie 3 of the 4 monkeys that we brought into the house.


Beka got 1 can of olives (as is tradition).


Gave each other 1 book each (we're still working on the "Miracle on 34th Street" gift for each other).





Played about 2 games of pool and Doug tried to impart his mad skills on others.







We were in 2 Targets, plus countless other stores looking for a pink lawn flamingo.

We also drove over 500 miles, and flew over 2,000.