The Best Day of Santa's (and my) Life.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I know that I am loooong overdue for an update, and now seemed like a good time to say hello. Especially because I actually have pictures to share. Many, many, many pictures.

A few weeks ago, I descended upon the great city of New York for several days to see old friends, do some Christmas shopping and partake in the annual event that is Santacon, in which several thousand merry, bearded and slightly inebriated (hmmm… let's just say "very jolly") Santas take to the streets of New York and criss-cross the city in a haphazard parade of holiday joy. It is the most fun I've ever had. (For a second opinion, I suggest you check out NYT's celebrated photographer Bill Cunningham's audio/visual recap of the event, which he just happened to stumble across but which he clearly enjoyed immensely.) It's a truly fun, festive, silly time, in which I took about 400 pictures, but whittled it down to a mere 50 just for you.

There are a few unwritten rules of Santacon. 1) Wish as many people as possible a Merry Christmas! 2) Try not to get arrested. 3) Refer to both yourself and the entire group as Santa as much as possible, and only in the third person. 4) Have a very merry day!

Enjoy the pics. Happy holidays, everyone. See you next year!

Santa starts his day with a photo session on the steps of the Post Office.



Our fellow Santaconners, who we must thank for introducing us to the event:


When Santa got thirsty, Santa chants: "Santa needs a drink!"


Stripper Santa, complete with reindeer, North Pole and police presence:


A personal favorite: Phanatic Santa


This little kid was not psyched about "Sneaky Santa."


To be fair, Santa was not always on his best behavior:


Mini-Santa!


The Salvation Army band very nicely played some carols for Santa to sing along to.


Santa invades Grand Central! Much to the chagrin of Grand Central Security.


After a small ho-ho-ho protest, Santa agrees to leave Grand Central.


Santa and Menorah Man, in fine spirits:


Santa decides to recongregate outside of Grand Central and sing a few more carols with the Salvation Army band (who, it should be noted, benefited generously from their generosity):


General merriment ensues:






















Buzz kill: Santa gets busted by the po-pos for an open container violation.


Oh, but Santa will not be stopped! Santas break into a "Feliz Navidad" song and dance around a couple who just got engaged by the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree:




Santa decides to head downtown.


In case it wasn't clear: Santa takes the 6!



Some Santas prefer anonymity.


Santa (and friends) make a pit stop at McDonalds.


Obviously, not an original Santa idea.


Another impromptu "Feliz Navidad" dance party! An instant Santa favorite.


Santa descends on the South Street Seaport!






Santa is tired. And although other Santas spread Christmas joy well into the night, this Santa goes home and sleeps for approximately 16 hours.

It's been too long, hasn't it?

There has been much running around, what with finishing up a very good, beachy summer and heading into a busy fall and all. It's been great fun, if somewhat exhausting. Here are some snaps of a friend's beautiful beach wedding last weekend in Ocean City, New Jersey – full of fun times with old college friends, beautiful babies, and lots of laughter -- and also from a long NYC jaunt just before in which I got to attend my first fashion week. I'm a bit too tired for more commentary right now. But enjoy the pics; I promise to be back soon. Mwah.

The calm before the storm.

The past couple of months have been a huge blur of deadlines, bbqs, beachy moments, very summery D.C. things like happy hour in the Smithsonian sculpture garden, and a rousing bachelorette party with my best college buds in Ocean City/Atlantic City (where the above photo was taken in the wee hours of the morn, shortly before I had to go and sleep for about three days). I have a slight reprieve this week for Labor Day, and then the madness starts again: work, weddings, 10 days in New York (oh, New York, how I've missed you). Can you believe it's almost September? The mind boggles. Perhaps one of these days I'll get around to taking some good pictures again.

Ah, Indiana: Hoosier Hospitality and Very, Very Pale Feet

So last month, I journeyed to the super-friendly and fairly idyllic city of Indianapolis to spend a long weekend with my extended family. It was a nice departure from my normal running-around-town weekend activities and was full of lots of porch reading and afternoon naps, long walks and donuts for breakfast, heated croquet matches and plenty of Goodwill thrifting. {Okay, so that last one wasn't much of a change.} If I wasn't such a city girl, I could probably really get used to the laid-back lifestyle on a regular basis. Especially the donut part.


So many good fonts in Indiana!


The highly adorable Billy the dog


Getting meta with Grandma




Indy sure has crazy storms. Witness the remarkable volume of hail.


And rain!


Which, luckily, leads to superior sunsets


DC wasn't too be outdone. It was perfectly calm and cloudless when I left Indy, but back home they were having some major storms, which finally cleared out after some airport delays


…and also left us with some spectacular rainbows.


Also, don't you love flying over DC? Can you spot your friendly neighborhood Washington monument?




And finally, here we have my Uncle Carl's milky feet. So sorry, but it had to be done as retaliation for some very evil croquet moves. But let's leave on a nicer note, shall we?


Ah, yes. Much better.