Can I Leave Our Christmas Tree Up Until Easter?

Our Christmas Tree is a BEAUTY this year my friends!

First, I would like to say to all you real tree enthusiasts that I am sorry! When we get a real tree, Dilly eats it, it sheds needles all over my home and then you have to throw it out in the street and it literally feels like you are murdering Christmas. And so, this year I got us a fake tree that we will have for years and years and years (I hope? How long do these lights last?).

I like to think that I can leave our tree up until Valentine's day because it kind of gives off a pink light and also I don't want to put it back in its box.

Dilly and Mim especially love to sit on our ottoman and stare up at the lights. I think I might want two trees next year, but is that excessive? Can I put one in my kitchen? I need advice now you guys, because I think Christmas trees are on sale NOW. Advice please and GO!

Two Year Blogoversary!

Today marks two years since I've been writing in this space!

Time is such a crazy thing, isn't it? In October I realized that the anniversary was approaching and it felt like December was never going to get here...and now, here it is!

Writing this blog is one of the greatest lights in my life and its made even brighter when I hear from you! I love seeing people I haven't seen in a while and having them say to me "I read your blog every day!". I love it even more when I get emails or comments from those of you who I have never met!

If you're new to this Ummm Now What, welcome! If you've been here a while, thank you from the bottom of my heart and the ends of my blog typing fingers!

To commemorate this exciting day (hehe), here's some of my favorite posts from this year!

That time John and I swung on giant swings on the Upper East Side
Mim's Adoption Day
When John proved he knows me better than anyone in the world
When Holly and Alyssa moved to a Brooklyn for a week
A post on being grateful 
When I remembered Pop
When I cut of all my hair

See you on the flip side! 
xx,
Kate 

Sidesgiving Prep & Giving Your Cat a Bath

The weekend of November 9th is usually when John and I host Sidesgiving. This year though, we were getting married and so since last Sidesgiving everyone has been talking about when we would be hosting it this year. Maybe our reception should be Sidesgiving themed, people suggested! Perhaps we could do it the next day! Could we have it the weekend before?

No, friends. Our reception will not have cranberry sauce, I was exhausted the day after the wedding and the weekend before we were celebrating Aunt Lau's birthday. SO this weekend, John and I are hosting a revised version of Sidesgiving, Sidesmas!

Sidesmas prep has been fairly extensive this week with cleaning and list making and tonight, Stephanie is coming over to do some crafts with glitter paper (my favorite!). In addition to cleaning the house, on Tuesday night John and I gave Mim a bath in the bathroom sink (to make sure she is ready to see guests!). We usually do it in the bathtub, but she gets so upset when the water hits her, so instead we tried the sink. It was a h-u-g-e success. John held her, I sudsed her up with some Johnson's baby shampoo and in less than ten minutes, she was like a new kitty cat girl. We typically go as fast as possible when giving Mim a bath, but I had to take a picture of this face! Oh Mim!

Also for those of you who have been asking, Mim's diagnosis is not as terrible as we thought it might be. For now, she is on steroids and antibiotics for a little longer and John and I do physical therapy with her every day. She says thank you so much for all your thoughts, she loves you for loving her!

Photo Booths are My Favorite!

Let's talk about how much I love homemade photo booths, shall we? My house was expertly decorated for my Bachelorette Party, but perhaps my very, very favorite part of the decorations was the photo booth that the girls made on the sliding doors to our deck.

Apparently, Michael's sells entire rolls of sparkle paper in dozens of colors. Obviously they chose pink for the event an they hung streamers and it was just perfect!

And so I present to you: very many pictures from my Bachelorette photo booth!

Please note that props are essential!

And also there is some sort of iPhone App that takes four pictures at once. It is essential that whoever is taking the pictures yells when they are changing!

I have total drunk eyes in the second picture and am not sure why as this was taken on Sunday morning pre-Mimosas.

Photobooth post OVER!

Family Trip to Atlantic City

For my Aunt Lau's 50th Birthday, our entire family (minus Nanny) went to Atlantic City to celebrate. Before I continue with this incredible picture heavy post, a few words about my Aunt Lau (but brief words because she's going to not even like that this is being posted on the internet).

My Aunt Lau is the greatest. Like the greatest, greatest. When I was little, she took me to Disney world like three times AND took me to see the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center in the middle of the NIGHT and took me to see the balloons get blown up before the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Basically things no one wants to do with children, she did with me numerous times! Now that I am no longer little, we Facetime...sometimes when she is cooking, sometimes when I am holding Mim or when Dilly climbs on me, sometimes after I come home from Happy Hour on Fridays and I lay in bed. Sometimes we go out to dinner and sometimes we sit at her kitchen table in Connecticut and drink Shocktop and color. She is the best and I love her.

NOW her birthday weekend started out by me needing to retrieve these balloons from the lobby. This is what they looked like before I carried them.

This is what they looked like while I was carrying them. I would like to tell you that they got to the hotel room totally untangled but that would be a big fat lie.

We had drinks and snacks in Aunt Lau and Aunt Lyd's hotel room and I took this adorable picture of John and Jonathan. Seriously, I think my husband is the cutest man on the planet when it comes to babies (side note this is the first time I've said "my husband" on the blog and I think I'm totally freaked out about it).

We also took a million pictures in front of the photo booth that me and Alyssa put up! We are photo booth pros since my Bachelorette (don't worry those pictures are coming soon).

Then we went out to dinner where we were met by our crazy waitress. I think she maybe wanted to be part of our family? Or she was hitting on the men as she rubbed John, my Uncle Zinny AND my Dad's shoulders. TOO MUCH, Crystal the waitress, please walk away!

Guys, I don't even usually like cake. Aunt Lau's Birthday cake was literally the most delicious cake in the history of cakes. We all looked at each other and basically screamed "QUICK MORE CAKE!"

After dinner, John and I told the grown ups that we would take the kids back to the hotel room so that they could gamble. "I am great with babies and my cousins love John AND we brought board games," I thought to myself. Mickey and Jack wanted to change in their hotel rooms, so obviously John and Alexander waited for them to come out and fart on them. I wish I could say this was Alexander's idea, but it was definitely John's.

Jonathan was sleeping in the stroller when we got in the elevator, but then these two loud drunk women got on with us and started screaming and woke him up. I literally gave them the middle finger when they got off, I was so annoyed. John took the big boys into the room to play games and I wandered around the floor with Jonathan praying he would fall asleep. He would not and he was less than thrilled. Moral of this story: I am not ready to have a baby.

The grown ups finally arrived back and gave Jonathan the bunch of balloons which I assumed that babies shouldn't play with? But he loved them and ran around forever!

And then the next morning we ate breakfast and sat at our table for three hours. It was the loveliest weekend ever. Happy Birthday, Aunt Lau!