Old Inside and Auld Lang Syne...Rememberances and Resolutions 2013

OK...So, I'm late with this, but better late than never...right? I won't go too deep into all of the things that typically make me feel warm and fuzzy come the winter holiday celebrations, but I will share a couple brief things...with some pics.

I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post that my favorite part of the holidays is getting together with family, and in my family that means our Christmas Lights tour. My mother is one of five kids, and aside from her brother Jay and his family the rest of them live on the West Coast...but aside from us they're all tied to the East Coast as they've all produced children with people who are or have family here. This means we get to sit back each year and let them come to us! And about 8 years ago, my mother booked a van and took some clients on her first Christmas Lights Tour that she decided to share with her loved ones and it's now become our family tradition.

We start at my parents' home where the mini coach meets us, and then we make our way down to the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center, which is across the street from Ground Zero. The atrium features 50,000 lights, which makes it a perfect place to start our tour. Also...there are two decent spots for some coffee or hot chocolate; Starbucks of course...or Financier Patisserie, which is my preference of the two.

After about 10 minutes of wandering the Winter Garden and gathering any of our crew that's decided to meet us there we get back on the van and head to Brooklyn! This year, we marveled as we took the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which was flooded to the top during Sandy. Next destination is Dyker Heights, where the residents show their Christmas Spirit with as many lights and figurines and blow up characters as they can fit in their yard. We ooooo and aaaah at the creativity, decadence and dedication displayed for our viewing pleasure.

After taking a few blocks of the lights in we get back on our mini-bus and head over to Mona Lisa's for dinner...to consist of pizza, salad, bruschetta, and WINE! Once the food was devoured and wine finished off, we made our way into the pastry section of the shop for some sweet treats before heading back on the bus to return to the isle of Man...hattan.

Back on the island means time for Wall Street. We lucked out this year and got some time at Trinity Church before they shut it up for the evening.

And then off the Wall Street itself...which has lost some of it's luster over the years...I guess we can't be so ostentatious when we're still coming out of a recession. But after the last of the lights are taken in it's time to pack it up and head home.

So that's my favorite holiday tradition. Feel free to share yours!

Lastly, I mentioned resolutions, so I will say this is mine:

Independence or at least a good deal more of it for this next year...that and of course happiness and peace for my family and friends.

Also I hope to be better at writing more regularly.

What are you trying to tackle this year?