Holiday Photos from Employees
I always look forward to seeing photos of our staff’s holiday celebrations.
If you follow this blog regularly, you know every year I send out an email asking friends, employees, and business partners to send me their Thanksgiving photos, so I could post them on a blog to share with readers. This year, I asked colleagues for more pictures to see how everyone spent their Christmas and New Year's holidays. The response was great.
Enjoy these photos.
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- I hope all of you have lots of fond memories of the holidays. Ryan Mesina, our own VP Creative Services, shares this photo of his decorated Christmas tree at his upstate New York home.
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- This is Ryan’s living room all decked out for a holiday “ham” party. He and his fiancé Ryan hosted 50 guests at their home.
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- And here is the dining room table with a gorgeous buffet feast.
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- Fiancé Ryan cooked a 21-pound ham. (Photo by Kyle Furlong)
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- And Ryan made the desserts. The snowman made from marzipan on top of the coconut cake was inspired by one of our old “Living” magazine covers – do you recall which one? The pavlova is topped with candied citron, kumquats, pomegranate, whipped cream, and calamondin curd made from his own calamondin tree.
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- At another holiday party, the Ryans visited “our” Ryan’s sister. Pictured here are fiancé Ryan, and sisters Vivien and Lynnette.
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- My outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, shared this family photo taken Christmas Day.
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- My longtime housekeeper, Enma Sandoval, and her family went to the Dominican Republic for the holidays.
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- Enma, her husband Rolondo, and their daughters Elvira and Kaily, enjoyed many warm weather activities.
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- Here they are on horseback.
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- My gardener, Brian O’Kelly, selected a Fraser fir tree for his Christmas this year – topped with a natural woodland cone.
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- Operations manager, Matt Krack, cooked a rib roast for Christmas dinner with his sons. His recipe: dress it with herbs, salt and garlic, cook low and slow at 225-degrees Fahrenheit for 2.5 hours, let it rest for 45-minutes, turn the heat up to 550-degrees Fahrenheit, roast for 10-minutes. Here is the before…
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- … and the after. A delicious medium rare four rib roast.
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- Francisco Sanchez, Marquee Brands office manager, enjoyed the Christmas holiday with his family in New York City. Everyone had a stocking.
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- There were many gifts – under and next to the tree.
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- Here is a plate of Francisco’s mom’s Santa Claus deviled eggs.
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- And here is Francisco with his family.
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- My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, went home for the holidays – home to California. Here he is visiting the Redwood Grove at the UC Botanical Garden. These redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, towering over the lush woodland floor were planted in the 1930s.
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- My longtime publicist and friend, Susan Magrino, spent the holidays at her Florida home. Here is her festive table.
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- Special projects manager, Claudia Lieto-McKenna, sent in the next few photos. She says, “I have come to the realization that no matter how much you “think” you are on top of preparing for Christmas- it’s just never enough time! This year, I had to decide – detailed decorating or bake? I chose baking. With nut and sesame allergies in our home, the decision was to make two favorites; gingerbread (Martha’s recipe, of course!) for son Luca and rugelach for son Tristan.
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- Here’s the rugelach – both the cookies and mini pastries were devoured quickly.
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- Claudia’s son collected some fallen branches of a conifer tree to adorn the dinner table and fireplace mantel!
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- Claudia’s parents also drove down from Montréal. Here is Claudia’s dog, Cenzo, with her mom.
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- Bill McCormack from my security team took his family to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.
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- Mario Silva, Art Director for Bruno Magli at Marquee Brands, submitted photos of his holiday dinner. He says, “my friends Sabrina, Alberto, and I cooked for Christmas Eve.”
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- Among the many dishes – “pan de jamón or bread with ham, a traditional Venezuelan side and one of our staples for the holidays.”
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- “Our main course was lamb, ravioli, and a fresh salad with pomegranate, mint, and other herbs. Alberto should take full credit as we all assisted him while having wine and a great conversation.”
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- Everything was cooked to perfection. It was a delicious and memorable occasion.
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- My special projects producer, Judy Morris, celebrated the New Year at a her brother’s wedding. Here is Judy with her husband, Jim.
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- These are Judy’s three sons – Eddie, Billy, and Jimmy. I’ve known all of them since they were born – they’ve grown into handsome young men.
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- And here is Judy with her dad, Jay Morris. The event was held in the iconic Seagram Building where Mr. Morris once worked. During his time there, he often ate at The Grill, which is still running successfully – right next door to wedding venue, The Pool.
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- And here is The Pool – so beautiful and so perfect for the guests of honor, Dave and Ellie Morris. Congratulations!
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- Jenna Meistrell, VP of Global Brand Management for Body Glove and Dakine at Marquee Brands shared this photo of her holiday table.
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- And my podcast producer, Heather Kirkland, submitted this photo from New Year’s Eve. It is of her friend Diane’s longhaired Chihuahua, Piper – dressed to ring in 2024.
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- And here is a photo of my crew on Christmas morning. I made breakfast for all of us – layered omelettes, homemade yogurt with farm honey, panattone, smoked salmon, coffee and tea. I’ll share more of my holiday photos in a separate blog. Thanks to all who contributed to this gallery, and here’s to a healthy, happy, and productive New Year!
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