in late october, auntie shannon called to say that she was thinking about coming for a visit in early december. my response: "summer's over, stupid!".

summer was so glorious, and october was rather dreary, and at the time, early december sounded drearier still. of course, little did i know, that nyc was about to rally for a spectacular sunny, fall colored november. still, thought i, as the lovely november weather went on and on and on... auntie shannon is doomed.

i wasn't all wrong. the temperature finally dove down by a good 15F the day before auntie shannon arrived. nonetheless, it was sunny and pleasant, and perfectly fine weather for showing shannon around our new home.

while ava was in school, shannon's presence inspired me to partake in some grown-up "tourist" activities. we went to the guggenheim (weird and claustrophobic) the metropolitan museum of art (so very very over the top and quirky that you can't help but adore it) and a lovely stroll through central park.

over the weekend toured shannon around the neighborhood - the bakery, the botanical garden, the park, our favorite restaurants and cocktail spots. and, mostly importantly, shannon once again got to join us for the annual gingerbread house party. monday, we headed into manhattan for a fancy dinner and stopped by the outdoor rink at bryant st. park - we all agreed that being in manhattan in december felt like being splonked in the middle of a movie set.

all in all, shannon was forced to admin that new york city really wasn't so bad after all. ; )

more auntie shannon visit pics.