CHRISTMAS COMES TO THE HOLBROOK HOUSE!

picking out a tree in the city is sort of an experience. 

last year's tree was my favorite. i was able to spend what felt like hours wandering from tree lot to tree lot in the city, it was quite spiritual really, and when i finally found her it was like angels were singing and a giant heavenly arrow led the way. and then dragged her home fifteen blocks, which was sort of the best part.

this year we had my whole family with us and i felt crunched for time and the trees were fresh off the truck and their branches hadn't relaxed yet so i couldn't really tell what i was looking at and the spirituality of the deal was just all missing. once i picked one out, we up and had her delivered! where is the fun in that! 

but anyway the holbrooks have a christmas tree!

here i am haggling* with the tree person. 

huck says, "oh betty!" because betty is her name.

the gentlemen putting her up

 i like to hang my ornaments as slowly and spiritually as i can. 

*no no no, there was no haggling here. i had her show me three trees and by the third tree i felt so guilty for all my waffling that i actually gave her $5 over her asking price, because i'm the worst with stuff.

i made a pom pom garland this year instead of a marshmallow garland, but i'm not sold on it yet. i'm sure betty and i will have a few more go-rounds before she's all together finished, and then i will love her forever. right now we're at that "just-friends" stage. you know, i wouldn't let her borrow my nail polish or anything.

(do you sometimes feel like this blog is the stupidest?)

bonus huck-is-adorable shot to take you out: 

pertinent question to start the holidays: do you name your christmas trees? how many ornament adjustments before you and your tree are satisfied with each other? do i really need to have a tree skirt? because my lazy bone is telling i don't. 

THANKSGIVING WITH ALL MY LOVINS

i have more to be grateful for this year than a person should ever need in this lifetime. i'm healthy, i'm loved... brandon's beard has gotten so long it tickles his upper lip... what ever did i do to deserve such a manly beard grower in this lifetime? truly. 

this thanksgiving will go down in history as one of the best yet. we fit my ten most favorite people around my tiny dinner table in my tiny new york apartment, and then i finally forced myself to try a slice of pecan pie.

i am now obsessed with pecan pie.

here are a few photos from our little manhattan thanksgiving. i hope yours was warm and cozy, that your whipped cream was creamy, and that your sweet potatoes had aaaaaaall the mini marshmallows on top your cute little heart desired.

imma start us out with a photo of my dad snoozing, as this is the officially recognized national symbol of thanksgiving.

(olive hands, haters to the left)

and a quick photo from the night before, when we all walked through the macy's balloon blow up party.

i use the term "party" here loosely... because it was not a party. a woman tried to start a fight with me for trying to cross the street, and in the process of cooling things down i even touched her shoulder, which is new york speak for  "woman, i will THROW DOWN on you," because in new york you do not touch strangers unless you really mean business. and i really meant business. living here has made me just about fearless when it comes to arguing with total strangers. which is probably not a good thing.

where was i.

taduhhh

AND NOW IT IS CHRISTMAS!

MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE!

we braved the macy's crowds to see the parade this morning, and what will never cease to amaze me is how blasted cold it gets looking at those balloons, even when it isn't particularly cold out. 

while we stood there shivering, brandon and i talked about henry's first thanksgiving, when we lived on the corner of central park west. we'd barely woken up  and were snuggled in bed that morning when we heard a marching band from the street and thought, oh hey, are we on the parade route? brandon stuck his head out the window and yes we were! we took turns peeking our heads out the window by the bed to watch the balloons float by, wearing just our pajamas and bed heads. huck was three or four weeks old and still moved awkwardly like a slow-motion t-rex. it was heaven. 

so, while my mom's mixing up the green bean casserole and before it's my turn to throw together the sweet potatoes, i'll just toss up few photos from this morning, thanks to brandon and my little brother blake's magic clicky fingers.

(that enormous chocolate cookie would be henry holbrook's breakfast. parents of the year!)

we love the parade! but after a while ... it starts to get a little painful.

we were freeeeeeezing.

but you've gotta hold out for santa!

 we made it!

happy thanksgiving! i sincerely hope you watched the dog show after.

p.s.
bonus parade dance party with reluctant brothers!



blogger's first gif, aren't we so proud.

A CHRISTMAS ON FIFTH AVENUE PROGRESS REPORT

we took a little stroll down fifth avenue to see how the christmas decorations were coming along and i am happy to report christmas is coming along nicely! we even stopped by the tree at rockefeller to see how she was doing. turns out scaffolding on an enormous fir tree is a fascinating thing to look at.

 progress report over and out.

AND NOW FOR A SPONSORED POST

i'm working with lookmatic this month, talking about how i see the world for their #seetheworld campaign with ifb. this is the truth about it: my face is real small. my head is mostly normal sized, it's just that my face be tiny. shopping for natalie-sized glasses is sort of the silliest. also, i'm short. my whole me is undersized. the other day i tried on a pair of pants that were advertised as "cropped" and they still pooled past my feet in the dressing room. it is what it is. 

i see the world looking up. up into faces, up at the sky scrapers, up at the lights at the cross walk. up at the undersides of pigeons on the street lamps when i'm walking across central park south. it's not a bad way to look at things, really. i like to think i was given me this small body to counteract my enormous personality. or... maybe my parents are just short.

i got to pick out a pair of frames, and rather than worry over finding the right size for my tiny face i picked the biggest frames they sold. these loeffler randall kitty frames are too big to be too big, and as such are operating under the SO BIG IT'S AWESOME clause. i just decided that. i really like them. 

**this post was sponsored by lookmatic

you might notice i've taken on a few extra sponsorships in the next weeks.

holidays, you know.

and thank you to oh becca my becca for the photos!