Rock Shic

#882 A look-back at Christmas 2018

Christmas is over and it is now time to start packing away our ornaments and tossing out the tree! (Which always makes me quite sad to be honest).  This year we ended up having a live tree in our apartment in downtown Manhattan (munchkin picked it out himself right down the street!) and a prosthetic tree in Naples, Florida – as we always do.  We typically celebrate Christmas in Florida – as you can see from our treasured visit to Old Saint Nick on the beach.

This year marked my oldest munchkin’s SIXTH Christmas celebration (gasp!), and let me tell you, he gets more and more into it every year!!!  Even my little guy is getting into the groove, and I must admit, it rather puts the pressure on mamma to make sure that everything is perfect… with every single detail just so! (Note that one of my big guy's present this Christmas was tickets to see the Lion King on Broadway, covered here). 

In reality, anything has got to be better than what happened in 2017, where we closed on our apartment on December 22, 2017 (the day that shall forever remain imprinted in my memory).  The next night, I think I flew to Florida… and come Christmas eve – my little guy even had to go to the ER!! Eeks.  

Suffice to say, I felt a bit “rushed” with getting everything ready for the holidays that year, so anything was gravy compared to that!  This year, hubby was immersed in work for the most part, so it was really up to me to get everything ready (I think I must have wrapped about thirty odd presents compared to his give?).

Speaking of presents, there is something quite fascinating about them, isn’t there?  Nobody what you do, you can wrap a piece of coal (quite literally), and the trimmings and packaging will still make it seem glistening and beautiful!  That is life for you, isn’t it… and growing up with little ones.  No wonder the Sound of Music had the lyrics: “Brown Paper Packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things!” 

So here are a few of my favorite moments from Christmas Day.  I must admit that after the day, there was this sort of “anti-climatic” unease that immediately set in – whereby I asked myself, was that it?  All that I just did, was that everything?!  It’s hard to believe that weeks and weeks of work just dissipates in a matter of minutes, but perhaps that is just Christmas for you, and it is something that I must come to accept over time.

Thank goodness that writing about Christmas (and the general anticipation of it, in addition to the passing of Christmas afterwards), still remains.  No matter that the reality, the feeling of something never escapes you!

Related:

Christmas Eve -- Saw Old Saint Nick on the Sandy Beach

The Magic of Christmas in New York City

All I want for Christmas -- 2017

Holiday Spirits in the Hamptons

 

#881 A Big Mooncake for Little Star 🌟💫🌕

 

A Big Moon for Little Star

 

by Grace Lin

School is officially back in session and we have fully embraced the joys of reading in this household (not that this passion ever truly goes away but there’s a new sparkle in our lives!)

Munchkin is doing a reading challenge at work (he crushed the last Harry Potter one at his school).  Needless to say, each challenge becomes more demanding as the day goes by (as well it should be!! Same goes for life right).

One of our first books was called “A Big Mooncake for Little Star,” written by Grace Lin.  We’ve enjoyed many books in this household by Lin, including a favorite called “Dim Sum for Everyone!”that we love sharing with his multi-cultural classroom.

"A Big Mooncake for Little Star" is somewhat different from Lin’s other work, as it is more focused on a single, imaginative narrative (more keeping with the typical children’s story tradition), rather than adopting an overarching educational tone as so many of her other books focus on doing. The storyline takes us on a journey with Little Star (no doubt modeled after Lin herself when she was a little girl) as she “eats” her way through a mooncake (aka the moon).  The process of reading this with your little one is super fun… as it really helps them visualize the ever changing shape of the moon!

For more info, you can see one of my previous posts on how we celebrated the Autumn Equinox by devouring Mooncakes and making paper lanterns (we didn’t quite light them, haha – fire hazard – but you can find yourself an LED light, which would certainly do the trick! Must safer too!!).

 

Related Features:

Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival

Jackson Pollock 

Life doesn't frighten me

#880 The Lion King 🦁

 

The Lion King

 

Minskoff Theatre

200 W. 45^th Street

New York, NY

I have long wanted to take my little buy to see the Lion King on Broadway.  As a matter fact, I’ve even wanted to see it myself when the show first came out! Can you believe that the Lion King has been playing on Broadway for twenty odd years!  It really is incredible.

When munchkin turned four, we treated him to a special show of Aladdin… he may have been a bit young at that stage (though he did sit through the whole thing), but he didn’t have a lot of feedback at the time for us.

What truly sealed the deal, for me at least, was when he performed “I just can’t wait to be King” for camp last summer.  What a delight!  We were so proud of him as he roared and soared on stage, and that was when I knew that it was not a question of “if” but “when” he was going to see the real thing on stage! 

We went with his fellow buddy/summer camper, and I loved every moment of it.  The classics were as familiar to me as they were to him (perhaps much more so to me, who am I kidding!) – though I did try to familiarize him to the songs and plot summary prior to the musical, with both books and film.  My favorite part was when they stitched together Mufasa’s image with stars – all done via seamless choreography (you have to see it to fully comprehend what I mean).  It was simply gorgeous! 

The Minskoff theater itself was breath-taking, with so many lovely details paying tribute to “the King.”  We also loved that there were live exhibits of the gorgeous, Tony-award winning costumes on display.  So much to take in!  Munchkin went home with a little snowglobe that played “the Circle of Life,” which was the best treat!

Related: 

A Neverland Puppet Show

The Hamptons Film Festival

The Lion King at Minskoff Theatre, Broadway

 

#879 Magical Winter Wonderland – St. Regis in Salt Lake City

I believe OM is in order! #saltlakecity

Those oh-so-sweet snowflake stories I was telling you about!

The great thing about entering New Year and re-living those highlights from 2018 is that you also get to revisit some of those perfect memories – like mamma’s Spa Retreat to the St. Regis, Deer Valley in Salt Lake City.  I was there just for the long weekend for a good friend’s Bachelor party.  We had been skiing (well yours truly was mostly falling down but who’s counting).  In any case… what better reprieve than a day at the spa?  It was precisely what I needed.  You know mamma loves a good spa!!! For more Rockshic Spa excursions, see here.

The grounds at the St. Regis, Deer Valley was absolutely gorgeous, just want you would expect… with grandiose luxury coupled with a cozy, cabin feel.  I loved the juxtaposition of the snow as well as the hot pool (is there anything more picturesque than those mountains?).  Oh, and the DIY hot chocolate? Say yes to that!!!

Mamma got their hot stone massage (mmmmm), I literally melted into the massage chair… followed by some retail therapy for the kiddos (Salt Lake City has so much cute stuff for the little ones!! Think yetis, snowflakes, skiing moose, the list goes on and on).

At the end of the day, I was sad to leave this little winter wonderland.  Would you blame me?  That said, we had more festivities, brunching, bellinis, and apres-skiing (my favorite part of skiing) to tend to.  So off I went! To new, greater adventures.  For more on our Salt Lake excursions see here.

Of course... it all began with a walk down memory lane -- a la highlights from January of 2018!!!

Related:

Wedding at the St. Regis -- New York

Escape to the Adironacks -- Mirror Lake Inn and Spa

A Luxury Afternoon at Thann Sanctuary Spa

A look back at 2018 -- Best of January -- the start of a New Year!

 

#878 Reflections continued – February 2018 – Foundations for a great year

Children's Museum of the Arts -- Munchkin's work!

Love the "Clay Studio" at the Children's Museum of the Arts

My darling second child!  Your smile simply light up my days.

The Ruffians up to no good again on the balcony.  This is their constant state these days, but it's hard to imagine that just a month ago (see January 2018), my little guy was not quite walking!!!

Meanwhile back in New York, we are scooting with our school buddy!  #scooterracing

Enjoying some ice cream at "Gong Gong's" art show -- he's been coming to these since he was a baby!!!  Check out a vintage post from Bonita Springs (same location!), circa 2015.

Our Chinese New Year Dinner!  Munchkin leaves no coconut unused... he learned from the best, he learned from his mama :)  For more on our New Year Feast, see here.

Valentine's Dinner in Brooklyn.  Sadly -- this fantastic little restaurant has since then shut down... but our fond memories remain!

Oh, just a random photo shoot at Essex Market in my hood... damn it feels good to be back!  #LES #foreverlove

Great shot of skyline during one of our returns from Sunny Florida

I did loads of more fine dining that month... largely because I had a lot of folks to thank for landing my new gig!

New toy for munchkin for being so brave at his dentist appointment!  His second ever -- his first one was here... when his little brother was still in Mamma's belly!  See my "elegant expecting series -- part deux."

A little fine dining at the Musket Room in Soho -- so many great memories here!  See prior posts.

The unimaginable continues, which is recounting the year of 2018, which has admittedly passed.  That’s right, today is officially THE FIRST DAY OF 2019, and mamma’s still lingering in the past.  I don’t regret it however.  2018 was a great year, and I’m ready to pay it the tribute it deserves.  Plus I have a bit of cushion to catch up to 2019, so why not?!

So here goes!

Highlights from February:

• Munchkin and I went to the Children’s Museum of the Arts in Tribeca. This is a great spot that we’ve been visiting every since he was a wee little one (maybe no more than 2 years old?), and we’ve loved it ever since.  Munchkin’s school even took them on a field trip when he was two years old, and it was just as fun as I remembered.  At four years old, I would say that he’s the ideal age for this museum.  He was extremely prolific!  Just check out some of the fine arts that he’s created.  One of which was even exhibited at his school!  In fact, this Museum hosts some cute birthday parties (one of his school buddies had one here back in the day... I should perhaps look into doing one myself, hmmmm).
• Mamma finished her interviews at her Alma Mater… this is something I take great pride in and it’s the third year that I’ve been conducting interviews for Harvard. I find this particular Wall Street Journal quite intriguing.  Moreover – I distinctly remember writing “Thank you” notes to my (now) employers, in a bout of inspiration, after interviewing those future undergraduates (Class of 2023!!!!).  I distinctly remember that moment as I believe my future (now present) employers rapidly wrote back and told me that they are putting together an offer for me.  There is nothing quite like that exuberant feeling of knowing that someone is giving you an offer.  The rest of the month (and indeed year) was uphill from there.
• It was Chinese New Year!!! The Year of the Dog. You remember my post last year when we celebrated the year of the Rooster (my year!!!).  Back then I was just a (second-time) new mum, and was quite overwhelmed with it all.  I was also celebrating it in Southwest Florida, which is not quite the same as celebrating it in the great city of Manhattan.  Let’s face it, in America – there’s no better place to celebrate Chinese New Year than in NYC’s Chinatown (perhaps with the exception of the great cities of San Francisco and LA on the West Coast).  So okay, we have monopoly over the East Coast.  Mamma even went over to my munchkin’s school and did some book-reading on the Chinese Zodiac… along with little dog New Years trinkets for his classmates (you’re welcome).  For more on the celebration of Chinese New Year in 2018, see here.
  
• As if that wasn’t enough – I distinctly remember that the day of Chinese New Year (Friday, February 16, 2018) was the exact day that I signed my contract. A real watershed moment!!!
• We even went to the “Lunar New Year Celebration” by the New York Philharmonic, celebrating the “Year of the Dog,” complete with an on-stage performance of Ricochet, featuring ping pong champions, violin, and percussion. Ping Pong at the Philharmonic!!! How awesome is that.  More on this later.  I certainly would love to make this an annual family tradition!
• Oh yes, of course there was my father’s birthday – which we celebrated in Florida. Did I mention that we made two separate trips to Florida in February (the second time our trip coincided with some good NYC friends so that was fortuitous!).  That alone sounds like quite the trip.  On top of that, both hubs and my dad share the same birthday, so we celebrated hubs’ birthday separately (and back on Long Island no less! As we had another birthday party to celebrate). See related post on "Back to Sunny Florida."
  
• Then of course… there is Valentine’s day, Rockshic Style. As I said, February is always so full-on.  This was no less true last year, but somehow this particular February was simply on fire.
• On top of that, we continued to our journey of reconnecting with old friends, as we simply did not get to see many of them circa 2017 due to various circumstances. It was nice, very very nice.  We even got to meet a newborn! Plus -- we hosted one of our dear friends from Summer Camp (circa 2017), had a blast, and even ventured over to the Intrepid for the day.  Suffice to say that's where mamma got her inspiration to host munchkin's 5th birthday at the Intrepid!!! (See "Birthday Celebrations"). 
  
• Oh yes, we also continued this journey that is “your first day in a new apartment,” there were leaks, elevator stalls, unfinished walls, all the kinks and discomfort that you would expect to come with a brand new apartment (new construction no less). Someone once said that the first year you let your worst enemies live there… that’s a bold statement to make but I can certainly appreciate it looking back.

Related:

The Year of the Rooster

Celebrating Chinese New Year! (The Year of the Dog)

Back in Sunny Florida -- 2018

Happy February! (2017)

One of our (many) excursions to the beach in Feb!

Say hello to my little friend! Meeting new bubs for the very first time.

Hubby's birthday brunch at Salt and Barrel in Bay Shore!

Dualing birthdays!  Hubby's birthday coincided with that of little man's Summer Camp Bud.

Connecting with an old friend in Naples!  You'll recall that this time last year she also came by!

With her oldest!  Hard to imagine that now she has a second little girl... my oh my how time flies!

Back being the discernible NYC shopper!!

I'm kind of obsessed with this photo... as I stare into the not-so-distant future... just how exactly did we end up here?? #brothers #myboys

 

Learning to sleep in and slow down... we needed the rest!

 

Reconnecting with our Summer Camp pals, circa 2017

Where it all began!!! #theroomwhereithappens

 

 

#877 A look back at 2018 – Best of January – the start of a New Year!

My boys kicking off the New Year at the Ritz Carlton in Naples -- for more see here!

This little man was still not fully walking at this stage... imagine that!!

At last, at last we MOVED INTO OUR NEW DIGS!!!! #homesweethome #newdigs #boxesboxeseverywhere

New Keys!  Proud homeowners we were.

My big guy rejoining his classmates back at his old school -- so proud of how well he handled all of the transitions.

Snow day! Far cry from sunny Florida

It’s New Years Eve!!! Mamma’s been doing some reflections, relaxing, and it’s nice to rewind and relive those special moment.

My initial objective was to simply capture a few shots from every month.  However, as I scrolled down memory lane, I realized that was simply impossible and so I’m endeavoring to do the impossible – one summary for every month!  I did that for 2017 as you may recall… when I was on maternity leave with my second little man.  Even that didn’t quite last and mama quickly lost steam after she returned to work.

Nevertheless, I am going for it!!! Here are some highlights:

• We started January 2018 much in the same way we ended the month (and year for that matter)… in sunny Florida. Hubs and I continued our annual tradition by splurging on a few nights at the Ritz with our littles.  It was worth every penny.  We ended the trip with a nice visit to the Naples Botanical Garden, where many happy memories were made, including this one -- a night at the light show!!
  
• There was the epic move into our new place… new keys, boxes everywhere – looking back it seems like a completely surreal experience. I can’t even.
• Mamma flew to Salt Lake City and went skiing!! All for a good cause (my good friends’ bachelor party). That said, yes – it was nuts.
• I started seriously interviewing for new gigs (after we closed on the apartment I knew it was time to make a clean break for real, it was time). To be perfectly honest I would have switched jobs sooner, had it not been pregnancy with my second plus the apartment, sometimes… what can I say, life just gets in the way. 
• Our little man returns to his school! The same one he’s been attending since he was two… after a year of forced nomadic life. It felt surreal, and I must say, he was a real champion – completely slipped back and fitted in seamlessly. 
• My Rockshic Baby 2 started walking!!! He wasn’t quite able to during Christmas and BOOM! Straight into it in January. If that’s not a milestone, then I don’t know what is.
• Mamma let her hair down and went to a girls’ night dinner at Chumley’s. January was quite a stressful month, so was nice to have some reprieve.
• Munchkin and I flew BACK to Florida (whoa!). For more on our whirlwind weekend trip, see here.  Honestly just January alone has me mucho, MUCHO exhausted. 

 

Related:

NYE -- Naples Ritz Carlton Style

Magical Lights at the Naples Botanical Garden

Back in Sunny Florida -- 2018

Return to the Beach - his happy place

A Family of Four!

He's baaaaaack!!! Back on the social scene #birthdaypartygalore

Brunch with some dear friends in January and then showing them our new roof-deck, where we spent many happy sunny BBQ days.  Also see "Roofdeck Bunnies."  P.S. I can't believe it was tee-shirt weather in January!! Guess we brought the Florida weather back to NYC.

#876 Winter Camp at the Zoo 🦓🌿🦁

Good morning! Today is our first day winter camp at the Naples Zoo, and a new adventure awaits us!!! (Somehow it feels like Mamma is more excited than my munchkin about all of this 🦁🐾🐆). 

For the next four sessions... Every day is going to have its own separate, dynamic theme with a focus on conserving and caring for nature and wild life.  I really cannot wait to hear from my little man about today’s encounters and activities!!! 🦓🌱🐯 Of course, this also means more family excursions to the zoo, which mamma certainly CANNOT complain about!!

 

Related:

A trip to the zoo -- post Christmas

#875 Christmas Eve – Saw Old Saint Nick on the Sandy Beach

Well well well folks, here we are back in sunny Naples!  Can you believe that this is our FIFTH year celebrating Christmas here in beautiful Florida? I can hardly believe it myself.  (There was that one year, 2016, where we unwrapped our presents back in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, largely because I had just given birth to Rockshic Baby 2… but that was all!).

Following true family tradition, we spent our Christmas Eve morning on the beach with Santa… after seeing some dolphins swim beside our boats.  It was one of those experiences where you only appreciate it moments later, when you realize how rare and few such moments are in life.

To be perfectly honest, I’m really not quite sure just how little man feels about Santa. Does he truly believe in Santa or is he simply going along with the ride because it’s too good to pass?  We’ll find out in due time, but for now I’ll take his lovely youthful innocence over anything else. 

#874 The Magic of Christmas in New York City 🎄🎄✨✨

We are officially approaching that time folks!  If you follow RockShic on Instagram you know that we are ALL ABOUT CHRISTMAS in Manhattan at the moment (though soon we’ll be leaving for our annual winter trip to Sunny Florida). 

This weekend my munchkin and I went to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.  We drank hot cocoa (and ate savory macaroons!) from Bouchon Bakery, then popped over to see Santa skate.  The weather was a bit drizzly but it certainly did not dampen our spirits!  There’s so much to do at Rockefeller Center right now – between the return of the iconic toy store FAO Schwarz at Rockefeller, to our favorite Lego store, to some fun holiday vendors and retail therapy for mummy (we picked up a lovely “Top of the Rock” Christmas Tree ornament for our Christmas tree!).

Our “class puppy” Ruff Ruff happened to stay with us over the weekend, so we had a chance to take him with us and let him enjoy all of the adventures as well.  What fun!!!  Later we went to the Time Warner Building for a snack (again at Bouchon! Which was pure coincidence), and took in the Gazillion Bubble Show at New Stage Theater.  It was a magical time, something that my munchkin has been reading in his night-time stores, and something which mamma will always treasure because these kiddos are growing up way too fast!

#873 Thanksgiving Blessings and Turkey Odes

Yes yes I know!!! It is almost mid-December and yours truly is only *just* playing catch-up with her annual Thanksgiving post.  Better late than never I say.

In all fairness, this Thanksgiving was particularly challenging — hubs was away and I was working hard to juggle both munchkins (with the aid of my family of course, let’s not kid ourselves)... on top of that, I was also working my little butt off, as we’re thick in multiple transactions in the office, which I’ve been leading.  All to say... gobble gobble came and went, and a few times I was this close to putting pen to paper (or is it more accurate to say to the computer screen?) but always something somehow would elude me and prevent me from actually executing anything.

That is life isn’t it... they don’t say carpe form for nothing.  Increasingly, as I get older, I find that you have really have to seize the moment or you lose it.  That’s just the way it is.  I have to face reality — Mamma is getting older, and balancing life with two small munchkins,  a demanding job, hubby, life, friends, mental balance — it’s all no small feat and one little false move will cause the whole house of cards to come crumbling down.  At the moment, however, things are seemingly looking up.

Why? Well you see... we have officially launched our annual snowbird season — where we fly back and forth between New York and Florida from December until... well until effectively April.  I really do relish the Florida moments, as much as I bemoan the logistics (not to mention cost) behind it all.  This is our fifth year coming to our second home — and for better or worse, it’s really become a part of our family tradition.  My oldest looks forward to it like you wouldn’t believe (this morning he came bouncing into our bedroom saying, “today is the day I go to Florida!!”).

I suppose more and more, I see Thanksgiving as the inevitable gateway to Christmas (and Halloween the harbinger of Thanksgiving).  It all feels terribly rushed, if you ask me, especially the segue from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but that is life for you — in particular #momlife. 

One thing I will say.... going back to Long Island for Thanksgiving did have its perks, as it makes for a very grounding experience.  There’s just something very intimate about seeing all of my childhood friends, some of whom I’ve known since grade school.  We’ll never return to that age of innocence again, where you feel like life is a blank canvas and you can paint it any way you wish.  There is something particularly pure about that moment, and those people who knew you from way back when shall always remain dear — no matter how much our lives have changed. 

Here’s to Thanksgiving 2018 — which we spent with friends both old and new, and here’s to the entrance of a new period, the holidays and all of its ensuing bliss and nuttiness.  A toast to stolen moments of reflection and calm while flying on planes with WiFi!  Call it a modern mummy’s reprieve.