A Brooklyn Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! One word and one word only sums up my holiday this year… magical. And it was a first for my husband and I to spend it in New York, though we’ve often dreamed of how wonderful it would be.

We usually gather in Maryland where the majority of my family lives, but this year my brother and his wife invited us all up to celebrate in Brooklyn, and to say we jumped at the chance is an uderstatement. This was the first time they could accommodate so many people, and while their previous one bedroom apt was charming, their almost renovated brownstone is a bit more practical for all 11 of us to stay in!

On Christmas Eve we spent a delightful afternoon wandering the Brooklyn Botanic Garden which was within walking distance of the house. The grounds were magnificent and I can only imagine how splendid they are in the spring.

Outside in the lily pool terrace I was surprised and delighted to find the following plaque honoring a local business right here in Katy, Texas where I live:

After walking the grounds, it was a nice respite to explore the indoor Pavillions, which housed plants in different temperate environments.

We returned home to a big Christmas Eve meal consisting largely of Swedish dishes… homemade potato sausage and lutefisk with white sauce (for those of you not familiar with the latter, I don’t know what to say except google it). No herring this year, but it was sorely missed by most. My sister-in-law’s family was also in attendance, I think 18 people is a proper house-warming party!

I can see I’m obviously going to have to break this holiday post up into sections so I don’t drown you in pictures! I haven’t even gotten to our time spent in Manhattan, (including the garment District where I bought lots of fabric), the amazing view from the High Line, or wandering around the Brooklyn Library and Park Slope neighborhood.

To be continued…