Ringing in the New Year, The Bakery, New York and Back Again

1. Steve, Tess and I drove up to New York for a long overdue visit. We celebrated the New Year with our siblings and parents. Granted, we celebrated earlier in the evening and were mostly all in bed by midnight, but we're good with that.
2. As we drove across the Leatherstocking region of western New York state, we found ourselves in snow squalls both driving in and again, driving out. It was beautiful scenery with majestic pines covered in snow dust, frozen ponds perfect for ice skating, escarpments and valleys worthy of film. Unfortunately, my hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel so there would be no stopping for photos.
3. Steve and two of his brothers came to my mom's house to do some repairs. At one point the three men were standing together in the kitchen and it made my childhood home look very, very small.
4. While we were driving the six hundred miles home, headed south on Interstate 81, we found out that Daughter #2 was driving north to Canada, also on Interstate 81. A few texts later (and some math calculations on Steve's part) we figured we would be passing each other in Pennsylvania at lunch time. How funny it was to spot their car at a red light off the exit and wave! We all had lunch at a nice bakery that served delicious salads, soups and sandwiches.
 5. I ordered a Rum Cake from Bella Napoli for New Year's Eve. I asked Tess to bring her camera when we went to pick it up. The bakery was bustling but, we stayed long enough for the bubble of crowd to leave and Tess humored me and my request for photos. They also have a counter where you can sit and order a coffee and pastry. The back wall, not pictured, is filled with Italian breads and rolls.

Cookies are sold by the pound.

This will forever be my favorite case with the Cannoli and Rum Ba Ba

A case for cakes

She is tying up my cake box. Some New York Black and Whites are in the case at the bottom. I regret not buying those along with dozens of other stuff. Next time...