Despite the crappy weather today (cold, gray, windy, snow, wet snow, and even hail while we were out!) we decided to go ahead with our plans of seeing the train show at the Citigroup building and walking over to the Saks windows and Rockefeller Center. The good news was that the train show was blissfully free of crazy crowds so the girls got to leisurely watch the elaborate train scenes at every point. I have to admit that this is our first visit here…and our last because this is the end of the line for the annual Citigroup sponsored train show as they won’t be funding it anymore.

On our walk towards Rock Center, we came across these mysterious giant Hello Kitty, My Melody and Miffy sculptures in the courtyard. We had no idea what they were doing there or how long they’ve been up and it’s especially curious because Miffy is Dutch and not Japanese like the other characters, but no matter. It was a fun and surprising encounter, especially for the kids.

So here we are at the end of 2008. Mark will be spending the evening as he has been for many years - at a restaurant, helping the chefs at Bussaco, where he bakes, serve their prix fix new year’s eve dinner. I will be with the girls. I can’t remember the last time I went out for a new year’s eve party - it’s just not my favorite holiday to be out and about. I far and away prefer new year’s day so I think I’ll be taking the kids out for pizza and letting them stay up as late as they want to watch a movie. Celebrate well.

It has been quite a while since I’ve had a Christmas away from work. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but from what I’m told it was much like the previous years: open presents early, then try to find ways to entertain ourselves for the rest of the day. I fiddled with my new iPhone for a while, then decided to give my thumbs a rest. I wondered what other families did on Christmas. Cooking, of course! Having been so busy for the past few weeks I haven’t really cooked anything nice for the family in a while (note my lack of blog posts during that time period), and I actually felt like spending some time in the kitchen. After some discussion we decided I should make a bread pudding. We bundled up the kids, drove to the supermarket and…it was closed, just like everything else on Christmas. We turned around and drove back empty handed. The bread pudding would have to wait. I made it two days later and it didn’t disappoint. It could be one of the most satisfying holiday desserts there is. If you are not planning to serve this to children you could try soaking the dried cherries in brandy for an hour before you bake it for a little extra something to warm you up on a cold winter evening.

Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding (Serves 8-10)

Bread, crusts removed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (see below)
6 eggs
2 cups light cream
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cherries
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

For the bread, I strongly suggest using either challah or brioche, but almost any neutral flavored bread will do - the moister, the better. Some people also swear by croissants, so try that as well. Cut just as much as you need to almost fill your baking dish. This time I used a deep 1-1/2 quart casserole dish. I cut up six challah rolls (each about the size of a hamburger bun) and it filled it up perfectly.

After preparing the bread, preheat the oven to 350. Mix the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the bread and let it soak while the oven preheats. If the bread is fairly dry it would benefit from some extra soaking time. Mix in the dried cherries and chopped chocolate. When the oven is hot, spray your baking dish with a non-stick spray, pour in the soaked bread, and bake for about 30 minutes until fully cooked. If your pan is not so deep it will require less cooking time. It should rise in the center and feel firm to the touch, not unlike a loaf of banana bread. Remove from the oven and let rest for a few minutes before serving. This is best served warm, with or without ice cream (we had it without and there were no complaints).

We’re just about wrapping up our long Christmas weekend in the ‘burbs and heading back to Brooklyn in the morning. All of our shops have now re-opened, fully stocked, and we already have lots of orders to fulfill tomorrow. I’ve completed a little bit of work for a Monday deliverable, but the rest of the week will be spent getting together with some friends and family. I like to organize and file all my papers and receipts in preparation for tax time, as well as clean the house before the new year starts - almost like starting with a fresh, clean slate. I have to say that I am not motivated this year to tackle this project and it always surprises me how you can get so used to doing nothing when you’ve been at it for a few days. Makes you wonder how you ever survived those crazy sleepless nights of work. We’ve been going to sleep at 10pm the last few nights! I guess given the chance, I can sleep 8 hours after all.

oh, and I found the video series and article in today’s NY Times that we were supposed to be in - remember I was telling you about that and we declined after much consideration? It confirms that we were not right for the story after all, but it’s also pretty depressing. While shopping this weekend, the emptiness of the stores was noticeable and a bit eerie. Even at Christmas, there was a dour moment when the conversation turned to tales of struggles of some of our friends and relatives. I hope all will be well for us all in the months to come.

Before we knew it, the day was over. We opened sweaters, books, a leapster, crafts, magnatiles, other toys, more clothes, and 2 iphones, given to us by my mom. Today was spent at our usual suburban shopping rounds - Target, Ikea, Costco, and a trip to Anthropologie to buy my 75% off Christmas ornament to save for the following year, a tradition that I’ve started a few years ago. It’s sort of amazing what bargains can be had on Christmas stuff if you’re in the market for it after it’s over and this year I was because Christmas isn’t over at our house yet. Asako, the Japanese journalist, came by right before we left Brooklyn to check out our place and we agreed to do the photoshoot for the New York Christmas issue of this magazine next year - a multi-page spread with photos of the apt decked out for Christmas and pictures of the family (much to our dismay as neither Mark nor I really like to be photographed). So upon our return to Brooklyn on Monday, we’ll be putting up wreaths, ornaments, hunting for more Christmas bargains and doing Christmas crafts in preparation for the shoot after New Years. I have to admit, it’s a bit weird, after the fact.

Mia and I cut paper snowflakes every year before the holidays and these are this year’s additions to the ones we made last year. In a few years we might have enough to paper the entire apartment with snowflakes! Hope everyone is having a happy holiday. It’s fairly mellow and quiet at my parents’ house. I think the day is even bordering on “boring”!

We made our last holiday delivery on what felt like the coldest day of the year yesterday, dropping off 4 gift boxes and 8 packages of lavender cookies that will be carried on as gifts to Asia. The recipients were Celia and Cynthia, founders of the food site, Cravings, who had such lovely things to say about our company here and here. Afterwards, we took the girls for a celebratory lunch at Ippudo, a Japanese ramen noodle restaurant in the East Village. Claudine has been ever so picky lately, more so than usual, and has been avoiding sitting with us at mealtimes altogether, but I know how much she likes noodles so it seemed like a place where we’d all enjoy a meal. The pork buns were outstanding, pillowy soft buns with savory pork and bits of lettuce, folded like a taco, and even though it was slightly spicy, Mia devoured it with such enthusiasm that I ended up giving her much of my share. And our noodles? Mark got a spicy soup, while the girls and I had a stock that was flavored with shiso. Even though I got them both forks, they both insisted on using regular chopsticks and much to our surprise, Claudine was able to handle herself quite well and somehow managed to feed herself 2 bowls full of noodles. Despite the cold, it was good to get out and walk around the old hood a bit. I have so many memories of the East Village, having lived here at 2 different times, once when I was going to art school at the Cooper Union, and again 8 years later when I was at grad school at NYU. It still strikes me whenever I am back in the neighborhood with the kids - a different life, a different phase.

Mark is back at the Boathouse today helping the staff prepare for Christmas service in 2 days. I’m still in cleaning and organizing mode. I delivered a HUGE design deadline for my project last night and so I’m laying low today, ignoring some other work I should be doing. Now that I have a bit of time to think, the events of the past 3 weeks just seem like a huge blur, like it never even happened. It feels surreal and I can’t actually recall what it was like to pack all those cookies anymore. Weird, right? For 3 weeks everyday, both of us worked from 9am-6pm (him baking, me designing) and then from 8pm-3am, packed thousands and thousands of cookies every night, sending out 200+ gift boxes of all sizes. Through various clients, we sent cookies to companies like the Gap, American Express, Calvin Klein, MetLife, NBC, Balenciaga, Gucci, Ikea, Yahoo, Amazon, Target, Nike, JCrew, Macys and HBO. Sorry to name drop but I am still in slight disbelief, and the incoming feedback so far has been excellent with clients saying that they are actually getting thank you emails this year and getting rave reviews.

So we made it through our first holiday season. This is the first evening that Mark and I have little to do. We’re a bit anxious about re-opening all our shops again, and now that I’ve had time to read what is going on in the world, wondering what the new year will bring. But for now, after the kids are in bed, we shall just sit on the couch and do nothing.

This was the first weekend in a month where I had the girls to myself both days. I couldn’t work with them jumping all around me, so we cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, organized the house since all the cookies and boxes had shipped (it’s so nice to have the house back!!) and hung up more Christmas decorations. We mostly stayed indoors since it was snowy and cold. I admit to being a weather wimp when there are extreme temperatures outside - I do not fare well in frigid cold or the oppressive heat. And despite what everyone tells me - that it’s crazy to be holed up inside for more than 2 consecutive days - I’m perfectly content to hibernate, but when you have kids, you’re pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be outside and at the playground in all kinds of weather.

Not surprisingly, Claudine doesn’t like being out in the snow (remember her fear of grass and sand over the summer?). She preferred to stay bundled up under her stroller footmuff, peering out occasionally from under her hood at all the ice and snow. Mia, on the other hand, ran around like a wild animal letting loose after being holed up for too long. She only fell once. As cold as it was and as much as I didn’t want to go outside, I have to admit it was nice, especially during my favorite time of day when the light transitions from sunset to twilight.

It finally snowed in Brooklyn yesterday, for real. Mia was so excited she was bouncing off the walls, but we only managed to step outside for a moment to play in the snow because we were waiting for a postal pickup which never came. So that meant Mark had to struggle through the snow with 17 large packages before the post office closed at 5. Never again. We paid for a postal pickup within a 2 hour window every day this week and it went fine, but I guess if you don’t pay the $14.95, the post office doesn’t take the pickup seriously?

As of today we are done with shipping packages, but it’s too close to really process it all. I also delivered a huge deadline for my project yesterday, so I feel doubly relieved, but I won’t really get a break till wednesday since I have a a few more work deliverables. Today I organize the house a bit and spend time with the kids. Mark’s back in the kitchen baking, this time for neglected wholesale orders and the Flea. He’ll be at “Gifted” tomorrow, which is also the last Brooklyn Flea for the year. It feels very appropriate that we end the holiday season with the Flea, the venue that started it all. I’ve been emailing with Eric Demby (Flea organizer) a bit, reflecting on this past year, remembering when he stopped by to sample our goods 2 weeks before opening weekend. I don’t know if either of us knew where the Flea or our business would end up after year’s end. I think we are both pleasantly surprised.

Update: Everything sold at the Flea! Thank god for last minute shoppers (speaking of which, we are planning on ditching the kids with the grandparents Wednesday and doing our shopping). Mark had to set aside some things that he was banking on saving for some wholesale orders since we didn’t think there would be such a crowd due to the weather, and now has to bake some more for some last minute requests. He thought he was done, bwahaha.