Road Trippin' with Katie - 2016

Summer Road Trip Highlight #1

Watching my niece Julia Haltigan and her band The Hooligans perform at 11th Street Bar, NYC.
It's a regular gig, Tuesday nights, 10pm sharp.
You should go.

-k.

p.s. my amazing big brother Emmet is back there in the shadows somewhere, a card-carrying member of the band and a real live, dyed-in-the-wool rock star.  I'd post him wailing on the harmonica on a different song, but he's shy.  I might do it anyway.

And you thought Christmas was over!

Nino asks "Isn't Christmas over? Can't I take this thing off?"

Christmas ain't over till I SAY it's over. And I say it ain't over till I blog about it. So Merry Christmas y'all!

Christmas Eve found me back at sister Maryanne's preparing for the big traditional Haltigan family celebration.

Mrynn's Cookie Sweatshop had been converted to Mrynn's Twice Baked Potato Factory so I rolled up my sleeves and set to work and before long the festivities were ready to begin.

My best Christmas present? Chris arrives fresh from his trip to Jerusalem!! L'chaim!!

Bobby carves. Maryanne assists. Chris lurks.

The tables were festive and beautifully set. I even got to sit at the grown-ups table!! Sharp knives and everything. You are probaly wondering what that thing of beauty is in the center...

...so here's a close up of the lovely antipasto platter from the pork store. Yummm. Maryanne spent most of her energy the night before keeping Bobby away from that platter.

Guests arriving, the room starts buzzing, ladies looking festive, the fellas are dapper, everyone talking at the same time - getting louder and louder, Christmas tunes jingling, tantalizing smells wafting from the kitchen, laughter erupting around the room, passing hors d'oeuvres around, tree-lights blinking, cold air gusting in with each arrival....
Sigh. I wished the night would last forever.

Ever the entertainer, Chris held sway with tales of the holy land.

And gave out Middle Eastern loot to everyone. Michael with his keffiyah.

Eileen rubbing her new magic lamp (no genies reported as yet.)

And Jake wearing his new Turkish cap, which he didn't want to take off all night, much to my Turkish delight.

Helen and Charlie looking blue-eyed and beautiful.

Visions in black & white, enjoying a post-meal chat.

Uncle Tom turns Luke into a human wheelbarrow.

Maggie did the dishes but apparently harbored some resentment and so left a dish-drain-death- trap for the rest of us. Then it was time for desert and the gift grab bag. Let the silliness begin!

Julia gets a snuggie of her very own and models it with cozy enthusiasm.

Mike showed all the ladies his bop it technique. (Not nearly as dirty as it sounds.)

There were coffee beans, board games, sweet treats, and a whole host of items both silly and useful. And of course the best parts were when someone stole a gift. It's not about what you take home, it's about the drama of the moment.

And so Feliz Navidad my friends. It was a good one. I hope everyone's Christmas was as loud, chaotic and wonderful as mine.

-k.

The Jake-meister

I needed a Jake fix and I thought y'all might need one too. Both vids were so cute I couldn't decide which to post, so here they both are.



Twinkle twinkle little devil...

-k.

New York, The Sequel

In a previous post I prattled on about the first half of my recent trip to NY but left you wondering what would happen next? Hope y'all didn't lose too much sleep pondering if I got any sleep under 47 pounds of blankets. The answer is yes, yes I did.
Such a wonderful (and toasty!) good night's sleep did I get that the next day found me throwing shapes in front of the family Christmas tree before heading over....
...to see my father-in-law and eat half his Godiva chocolates (He insisted!! I swear!!) And from there it was only a hop, skip and a jump to....
...Pattie McGee's place where giant roosters named Victor morph into...
...grinning T-Rex's named Victor.
And once, for 2.7 seconds, the creature known as Derek stood still. Photographic evidence above.

Mama Pattie is 6 months pregnant with creature number three and she is positively glowing (pardon the cliché.) For real people, she looked 10 years younger than me which pissed me off b/c we were BORN ON THE SAME DAY! But I love her so much I forgave her instantly. At which point she fed me a delicious dinner and made me drink some cabernet (I think she wanted the vicarious pleasure of a lil' wine buzz.) Next time, my dear Pattie, we will drink a glass together and marvel at your third bundle of sweetness. It was a great overnight visit and I am already eager to see you & Vic and the adorable creatures again.

I had to cut my time with the Pattie and family a lil' short due to the impending blizzard. That and the fact that Maryanne needed me to come over and bake six thousand cookies. And that brings us through days 6 and 7.

Day 8 finds us at the house of the hosts with the most, Eileen and Jack. Once again I failed to take many good photos (What can I say? I'm too busy living in the moment!!)

But I did manage to get Eileen in her Snuggie (that's not actually a Snuggie but something better, as it has a long pocket at the bottom for your feet, which Eileen kindly demonstrated)

The real fun was watching tiny Eileen get into this thing.
Only other photo? Helen lounging by the fire daintily sipping her "mini." In days of yore, my Dad would fix himself a manhattan each evening after work, always offering my mother one. She rarely took him up on it, but when she did it was always with a "make mine a mini." And thus the "mini" entered the family lexicon. Helen's all about having a mini (red wine, no bourbon for this lady) If you're ever hanging out with Helen, do yourself a favor and encourage her to pursue mini #2. Always hilarious Helen can you make you wet your pants when she is a lil' tipsy. My favorite part is watching her crack herself up.

Alas, on this night she was responsible and stuck to just the one. But we all managed to have lots of fun with good company, delicious food, a warm fire and did I mention the good company? Ya know, bosom of my family and all that jazz.

Staying at Eileen & Jack's beautiful home is so nice and comfortable. They may not give you 32 pounds of bedding but you do get a huge-ass bedroom complete with not one but TWO seating areas. In truth I would treasure my time with them even if they lived in a shack, these two are a magic, feel-good pair. Eileen and I spent hours just chatting over our tea and coffee, something I could do all day long. Oldest and youngest of the clan, solving the world's problems, one by one. Mmm, good day.

But we must move on because the worlds best bossy little boy and his birthday boy brother are waiting for us.

King-for-a-day, Luke ate his hand picked birthday menu of spaghetti and meatballs with gusto.

Luke posing with "the best present I ever got in MY LIFE." A stereo with turntable, tape deck, cd player, ipod port and THE ABILITY TO RECORD from all of these onto a cd. The kid was beside himself. Switching from one source of music to another every five minutes, having the whole workings mastered in mere minutes, rocking his little musical heart out. A delight to behold.
Jake found his fun in a different way: bossing me around. Taking a break only to boss around others on the phone. It was a pleasure being bossed.

Oh lordy - I just realized I left out a whole night of fun! Between klotching with Eileen over coffee and being bossed around by Jake, a handful of us girls went and saw Julia and Emmet play in the East Village. Casey, Eileen, Collyflower, Mrynn & myself trained it over there and met up with our favorite musicians as well as cousin Kristin & Beau George (not to be confused with Boy George.) Turkish food for dinner then an amazing (and all too brief) set by Julia & her Hooligans.
Do us both and favor and stop reading right now and check them out. http://www.juliahaltigan.com/
Go to albums and have a little listen. Even if you've been there before, go again, lots of updated versions. Nothing I write can do a better job of showing you how amazing, unique and talented they are. I burst with pride. And now I will leave you because you have some listening to do.

-k.

p.s. And the NY trip STILL isn't over! Yay!! I promise to wrap it all up in a third post sometime soon.

Back where I belong

Two weeks. Count 'em. Two whole, long, delicious weeks to spend in the proverbial bosom of my family and luxuriating in the company of friends. Someone asked me what I did in NY while I was there. What did I do? Hmmmm. Nothing, really. Yet I accomplished just about everything I set out to.

First stop on the tour? The fabulous Miss Alli Arnold. Sister-in-law, friend and the best Shirl a girl could ask for. It's impossible for me to not enjoy time spent with my Shirl. She is my sister from another mister, my soul's kissing cousin, the peas to my carrots. I was grateful for two nights there, checking our her new apartment (gorgeous) and her new 'hood (classic) and even heading back down into the old 'hood of Murray Hill for sample sales (bargains!) and diner eats (mmm, reuben sandwich.) We may or may not have gorged ourselves on three episodes of Jersey Shore in the evening, but I won't admit to that publicly and will leave it as a hypothetical scenario for you to ponder.


Somehow I took no photos of La Shirl herself. But I did snap her artwork hanging up on banners all over NYC. So proud! I also got pictures of her dog and, inexplicably, her bookcase. Thought both are lovely, for the sake of brevity, neither will be included here. (After all, it was a two week trip, and I am only on day 2) Suffice it to say, Alli always leaves me wanting more.

Next stop...Albany to see A. (sometimes known as G.) & B. & family. Roll on Megabus!

I got to meet Elena for the first time. And loved her immediately.
Old friend Dave came up to Albany for a visit and the four of us grownups nearly wet ourselves laughing after the lil' ones were in bed. This may have had something to do with the wicked chocolate martinis Ann was mixing. Or maybe not, you never know with this crowd.
Ann and I figured out why I am practically a midget by comparing our legs. Seems I am missing about 4 or 5 inches off of mine.

Also while in Albany, I crowned Miss Eva Diva a princess (merely confirming what she already knows)...
...helped Jonah compose a song, and ate Ann's home-baked bread like my life depended on it. Alas, sadly, after all that it was time to move on. Bring it, Long Island!!

My first night back on the island was a casual affair at the ol' family homestead, affectionately known as 106. So the family gathered and we had dinner and of course, lots of laughs. I never feel as comfortable as I am when around this crowd of wacky yahoos. Love 'em all to death.
Sister Maggie's patients love her so much they send her GINORMOUS gift baskets full of yummies. Hooray Maggie! We all did our very best to put a big dent in it. (You are probably wondering how a lil' thing like Magpie can hold up that massive box. Yoga. I swear, sometimes I just wanna be her.)

In an evening loaded with highlights, on a trip loaded with highlights, nothing warmed the cockles of my heart so much as seeing how much my younger nephews adore my older one. Michael and Luke above, figuring out something electronical or mechanical no doubt.

Here's Michael with the Jake-meister. Jake won't even LOOK at me when Michael is in the room. But that's okay....warm heart cockles and all that. (What exactly is a cockle anyway?)

But moving on, because it's only day 5 of 14 and we'll see more of this motley crew at a later date. Actually this might be a good time to pinch off this post and start again fresh another day. After all, a good blogger knows a cliffhanger will keep 'em coming back for more.

What wonders will days six through fourteen hold?! Only the Shadow knows!! (And also me and the 19 other people in my family, a handful of friends and a big bunch of Chris's relatives as well. Oh and some people on the Long Island Rail Road, the A and L subway trains and anyone who was at the 11th Street Bar on December 22nd and....well...you get the point. Only the Shadow knows!! )

Anyway, I'll leave you with these words of advice, if ever you are in Bellmore and need a place to lay your head, drop by 106...

...they'll give you this much bedding to sleep with.

-k.

Mrynn's Kitchen*

What's to be done on a December night in NY...

...when it's doing THIS outside...

...and THIS is accumulating at an alarming rate??

Well the first thing is to go outside and run and jump around. Make snowballs (but not snow angels b/c you are wearing your last pair of clean jeans and your sister is far too slim and trim to be lending you anything but a hat.) Take lots of pictures...

...and make the effort to at least appear as though you are helping your brother-in-law clear a path.
Then get back inside here...

...where the Christmas tunes are cheery, the borrowed slippers are snuggly, the tree is festive, the wine is full bodied (like you, not your sister) and...

...there's baking to be done!!!

(And dogs to be cuddled)

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Maryanne's Cookie Sweatshop. My very ambitious, generous and Betty Crocker-ific sister decided to make Christmas cookies for, oh, EVERYONE she knows. About eight varieties of cookie, dozens of batches each - holy Martha Stewart - that's A LOT of dough.

The poor, sweet girl thought she was going to be doing all of this on her own!! My job (according to her) was to drink wine, keep her company and occasionally taste some cookie dough. Though she had already done an awful lot of the labor and pre-prepared several batches of dough, it's a good thing her husband and I were there to lend a hand. Because making four thousand cookies is a lot of work.

I was a good little cookie elf and I mixed and melted and sprinkled as needed. We were churning out these bad boys at an astonishing rate. We rolled little one inch balls of cookie dough, we chopped nuts with surgical precision, we shaped cookies through a hand cranked press, we shuffled cookie sheets in and out of the oven, we juggled cooling racks and spatulas, we drizzled white chocolate with operatic flair. I tell you people, it was a site to behold.

It might not sound like much, but I was as happy as a clam (and I think we all know how happy clams are.) I was less than halfway through my NY trip, I had already spent time with some of my favorite people, with plans for more of the same. I was cozy, and comfortable (as I always am Chez Maryanne). We klotched over coffee, caught up with eachother and shared more than a few laughs. Spending time with my Mrynn always leaves my spirit refreshed and renewed.

And all on a snowy night in New York. It was wonderful. (And so were the cookies) So how do you follow up on such a perfect wintry evening?

Wake up and start baking more cookies with sister Laura!!

-k.

*A footnote on the name. I don't recall how it came about, but some clever sibling realized if you remove all the vowels from Maryanne's name you get Mrynn and it stuck. Infinitely nick-nameable, Maryanne will also answer to Mr. Ynn, Sunshine, Sorryanne, Mrynny-Herny, Scaryanne, Scurryanne and Sparerib. I can't promise she likes them all, but you will get her attention, and she might just make you a nice cuppa tea.

**Thanks Mrynn for always making me feel so wanted and welcome. I love you.

-k.