Christmas Celebrations: 1 of 2

What can I say...the first two weeks in the states have been an absolute blessing.  Good weather, good friends, good food...and most importantly our wonderful family all together.

On December 8th we woke in celebration...Joey's 31st birthday!

The birthday boy!!

Then after picking up my whole TN family (my Mum, Traci, Tyson, Mieka, my best friend Veronica and her boyfriend Jared) from the Philly Airport we ended the day in even more celebrations!!  So much magic filled in one solid day.
All of our favorite people together in one place...magical!

Catching up before dinner.

Here's a few highlights from our long weekend together:

Papito Sherif treated us to a NYC fav!

Lunch at Serafina, 79th & Madison

Strolling together in Central Park 

Nap time for Mieka!

Picking out our wedding bands at Tiffany's!! (missing Danny though :( )

Playtime  at Celcius, Bryant Park

Rockefeller Center Surprise!

Family Celebration in New Hope Saturday Night

Breakfast Sunday Morning

Love kitchen parties!!

We had TOO much fun together!!

Last photo before the airport ;(

New York City 12.5.11

After a few days home in Princeton, Joey and I decided to take a little day trip to NYC on Monday while the rest of the family was off at work.

Well rested from a combination of getting to bed early and a couple pre planned tylenol pm's, we got up and off to the Princeton town train station (the "dinky" as it's referred to.  hehe) then to the Princeton Junction headed for NYC Penn Station by 1pm.
After arriving in the city we caught the metro, always a fun adventure, for Madison and 79th.  Lunch at Serafina was the perfect first stop for these hungry bellies!  I ordered an ice coffee (had to keep the energy level up!) and Joey a coke with lemon, then we split the burrata tomato basil appetizer, a spinach salad for me and a napolenatana (anchovy) pizza for Joey.  Yum!

After making reservations for our return on Friday, but this time with our entire family, we were off for a nice leisurely stroll through central park.  The weather was just perfect!
A visit to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree, window browsing on 5th, chocolates, and then meeting up with Pammy (since she works for Loreal, she was able to work from the city on Monday, lucky girl!) at Bryant Park...there we sat for a little bit and watched the families ice skate.  The holiday energy in the city is one of the best in the world....so magical and warm :)

From there we hopped in a cab to BLT Burger (6th ave btwn 11th and 12th) to meet up with all of our nyc friends.

In my opinion, one of the best life gifts...is the gift of friendship.  Looking around the table at these wonderfully beautiful faces, inspires so much kindness in love in my heart.  We love you all more than you can imagine...and are grateful every day for your amazing friendships.

1st Trip back to the States

Abu Dhabi to London = 7 hrs

London layover = 2 hrs

London to New York = 7.5 hrs

1st objective...getting to the Abu Dhabi airport on time.  Sounds like an easy task...but of all days to travel, Joey and I picked the Abu Dhabi National Day.  What's this you ask?  Well on Dec 2nd 40 years ago, the 7 different sheikhdoms (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain), came together to form an alliance to protect their arabian peninsula.  Every year since the emirates come together to celebrate their country.  July 4th has nothing on the Arabs!  This year to commemorate 40 years of unity, they started celebrations 40 days before Dec 2nd...concerts on the corniche, air shows, races, science fairs, etc...then on Dec 2nd the grande finale!!  Fireworks on the corniche, cars filled with celebrating Emiratis line the streets spraying silly string, playing loud music, shouting with joy.  Utter celebratory chaos!  Now imagine us trying to catch a cab in the midst of it all, haha.  Luckily our apartment is right next to the Jumeirah hotel, so we were able to stumble upon the option (our last hopeful option at this point!) of renting the hotel car.  For a necessary small fee (320 dirhams or 85 dollars) we got the smoothest stylish ride to the airport!  Just in the nick of time!!

7 hrs can go by pretty fast.  With smart planning, you can really learn to enjoy your air time.  I had previously downloaded some much missed "Vampire Diaries" episodes to ensure I stayed away most of the flight to London.  (plus a little nap around 5pm and a cappuccino at 1am can really help to :)  

Once we arrived in London, it was morning and a good opportunity to beat a little jet lag with some easy yoga flow!  We found a lovely little corner of the airport, overlooking the planes and the sunrise and settled in to our favorite morning moments....me in my postures and joey in a good book.

7.5 hours to JFK...gotta stay awake the first half, then sleep the second half!  Joey and I ended up watching (in sync of course) "Horrible Bosses" and then "Crazy Stupid Love" after a little light airplane meal of steak and eggs for Joey and fruit and yogurt for me...great way to mix up the flight!  Then with 5 hours til arrival, we cozied up and tried our best to sleep.  Perfect planning!

Then after making our way through immigration we were welcomed home with white roses, balloons and lots of kisses and hugs...mom's are the BEST!  Thanks Nadia!!!  

ps...there's no place like home :)