Christmas in the States

Yesterday morning I returned to London after a ten day trip to the States for Christmas. I managed to squeezed three cities in with lots of friends and family and had SUCH a wonderful time! I absolutely love living in London, however, after not spending Christmas with my family last year and not seeing my oldest sister since almost two years ago {eeeek!, too long, never again!} I was so looking forward to this trip! Get ready for picture overload of my fun filled trip. 

First stop, NYC. I will always love you New York! {taken on Instagram} 

I stayed with my adorably pregnant friend Mariana the first night in NYC and spent most of the time catching up, eating, talking babies and wedding planning. We stopped at Rachel Zoe's new place, Dream Dry and got a pretty blow out. What girl doesn't need fabulous hair when in the Big Apple! I completely over indulged during my trip, but why not! The very carb full lunch at Maison Kayser was delicious! I could see the staff baking 

bread the entire time and was craving every single baguette. 

 I thought that the print in Mariana's guest room was so fitting for my stay! ;) 

 The second night I was beyond excited to meet up with my maid of honor and my sorority sister! We did a little shopping {yay for American sales!} and then met up with one of our other besties Emily, for a holiday dinner. Catching up with girlfriends about life, wedding chat and everything in between is therapeutic I believe. 

 I am in LOVE with my new plaid pants I bought on sale at Banana Republic. 

 Dinner at The House was great, it is an old Town House, a cozy spot for a holiday dinner. I suggest the ridiculous truffled macaroni and cheese, we shared it for a first course. A big brunch before going to a wedding dress fitting, why not? hahahah. My girlfriends and I have been going to Sarabeth's since we were college interns in NYC, it wouldn't be a NYC trip without a stop. 

 Well everyone you would like to know, I said YES to a wedding dress! I wasn't exactly planning on buying it in the States, but with the conversion and the VAT, I couldn't say no to this beautiful dress at Kleinfeld's.

I will write more about dressing shopping in another post, however I do have to say, having three close friends there in New York City was one morning I will never forget! I can't believe I finally found my wedding dress. 

 I took the train and met Beau in DC! It was a nice two days for us, browsing around the city we met in, no plans, just roaming, eating, shopping, sigh. We started with a run on on my favorite trail, the Capital Crescent Trail, and ended with a gigantic delicious American bagel! I love you London but sorry, your bagels do not compare to Bethesda Bagels! 

 A walk around Georgetown that included lunch at Pizzeria Paradiso, cupcakes and coffee at Baked & Wired, a trip to my favorite paper heaven Paper Source and a lucky stop at the Tuckernuck Pop Up Shop. 

 The Strawberry cupcake is AMAZING. There are real pieces of strawberry in the cupcake, and yes, it has pink frosting. 

 I was thrilled to order a pink beautiful go go dress from Camilyn Beth for my bridal shower at Tuckernuck. Ladies, the dresses Camilyn Beth makes are amazing, I'm now eyeing this glittery number, hen do night out????

Beau and I had a delicious dinner date at RANGE, one of Bryan Voltaggio's restaurants. Remember him from Top Chef! 

 We picked up my sister and headed four hours away for Christmas to Blacksburg, Virginia. I love the city, but being in a smaller town for a few days and hanging out at the house drink lots of coffee, wine and bubbles is a nice change.

 Yes, would you guess, these are my Barbie ornaments on the tree from when I was little. 

 Oh wow, I am a LUCKY girl! One of my friends sent us an early wedding gift, a new camera, eeeeekkk. She wants me to use it to document all the fun planning, OK! I am still teaching myself a lot of things. Does anyone else use the Canon rebel T3i? Any tips?

 We spent a lot of time with these cute furry guys…..I was missing Sir Oliver! 

 It is a Christmas tradition, every Christmas Eve since maybe I've been 8 or so, I make homemade pasta with my Dad for dinner. Nothing beats homemade pasta, delish!

 We also not only ate a lot of cookies, but decorated a lot of cookies as well. How cute is Mr. Sugar Cookie businessman? 

My sisters and I are in our thirties now, however we are still still usually around the Christmas tree until at least Noon or 1:00pm with many cups of coffee! 

 Seriously one of my favorite gifts, from my sister, the completely necessary Alice and Olivia coffee cup with a tutu and bow tie! 

 I can't get enough of Sir Franklin, he is 13, he is like my nephew at this point. I mean really, how cute is this little furry guy. 

 Back in D.C. I was able to spend a little quality time at my friend Besse's playing with her absolutely adorable kids!!! Isn't little Jimmy adorable?!?!?! If we lived closer I would for sure have Oliver come over and play with cutie Billy!

 After ten days of an amazing trip I was ready to fly back to London however. Arriving at my flat felt like home after a long trip. I may not have an accent myself, but when I heard people at the airport, I thought…I missed the accent, her her, I missed our flat, Oliver, Beau, London. What a year ahead we have in this city!

So that is where I have been. So quiet over here I know! I was traveling and spending quality time with the family and my friends, it was amazing!  But….I'm back now! Happy Christmas!

xoxo - becca