Dec 11th-Dec 31st - Christmas Celebrations & New Year's!

The next couple of days I hung out in Manhattan, went for a run and went shopping. Wednesday was 12/12/12 which was interesting because that was the last repetitive date we will see in our lifetime! Thursday night my roommates and I had a Christmas party at our apartment and it was so much fun! There were decorations, snacks, and some of us decorated ice cream cones like Christmas trees!

(Me, Sarah and Julie!)

It was so nice to celebrate the holiday season with friends. After everyone left my roomies Sarah and I exchanged gifts with Dennise since I wouldn't see her again before Christmas. 

(Love my roomies!)

The next morning Sarah and I flew back home to Rochester for me to stay and her to visit for the holidays. As soon as I got home we went to go look for a Christmas tree since it was a couple of weeks away. We found one and started decorating right away! Later, Sarah and I celebrated Christmas together at my house with dinner and presents and it was a really nice night! 

December 14th was the day that Sandy Hook Elementary School experienced such a shocking tragedy. It makes me so sad to even bring it up but it was one of the most devastating events and I continue to pray for the loved one who were affected. 

On Saturday we had a holiday party at Mike's house with some friends from the salon where we baked cookies and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" which was fun!

(Alex, Olivia and Angela baking cookies with morsels haha)

The 19th was Mike's parents 30 year anniversary! They took a trip to Manhattan and Alex, Jon, Mike and I bought them champagne to be delivered to their room :) <3 That night was the Miss Universe 2012 pageant which was a great show like always! USA's very own Olivia Culpo won! She achieved my dream and I am so happy for her! 

(photo credit: cbsnews.com)

That weekend was Tuba Christmas which is a concert where people who play brass instruments perform Christmas songs while the audience sings along. It is cute to see the instruments decorated and people playing of all ages.

At night we had a holiday party at Mike's house with some friends that was really fun!

The next day was my Grandma's birthday and my Dad brought her to our house from Connecticut to spend the holidays with us! On Christmas Eve my Mom made little candy Christmas mice that we saw on Pinterest! At night I went to Amanda's house to celebrate like we do every Christmas Eve! It's always nice to hang out and catch up. <3

Then my baby Cookie Dough and I went to bed so that Santa could come! :)

I woke up and put a little Christmas sweater on Cookie Dough (that didn't last long) and then to apologize we gave her presents and she loved them! 

(Action shot!)

It was such a great day relaxing, celebrating Christmas with my Grandma, my Parents and Mike's family! 

A couple of days later I started training at Scott Miller Salon & Spa so that I could help out while I am home. I trained the next few days and I enjoyed it so much! That Saturday there was a concert at Water Street Music Hall and Mike was mixing the music for the band Pretty in Pink which went well! 

The other bands Young Blood and Kopps put on a good show too and then the main act The Hoodies was awesome to see because it was a reunion show for them. We are friends with the band but not being biased they are so talented and it was such a cool feeling to be in the crowd with everyone singing the songs together!

The next day I went on some errands with my family for my Grandma and relaxed at home. On New Years Eve I worked during the day and then went to Red Booth Recording studio afterwards because Mike was working with our friend Brian who owns the studio. We left there and headed to downtown Rochester to eat with friends at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que on the water.

We were all eating and then the fireworks started so a few of us ran outside and watched the show! It is impressive how many fireworks Rochester lights off! 

At the end we all cheered and then went inside to finish eating while a bluesy jazz band played and it was fun! Then we went to Mike's house where his family was watching all the artists perform for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. 

Then 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1