big apple christmas tour

Yesterday I spent a few hours touring the city just to see all the Christmas displays. It was definitely worth the time! Enjoy the pictures. And Merry Christmas!

Window Displays at Macy's
The windows on 34th Street held scenes from the movie Miracle on 34th Street. The windows on the Avenue of the Americas had some original, creative depictions of Christmas. All the scenes were animated.

Inside Macy's

Santa Land at Macy's

Lord & Taylor - Inside, Outside, & Window Displays

Bryant Park, Rockefeller Center, Cathedrals, Trump Towers, and Shops on Fifth Avenue

Window Displays at Bergdorf Goodman
Really detailed. I'm impressed with the artists who designed these!

Museum of Natural History Oragami Tree

On Monday I visited the museum just to see the oragami tree. The oragami tree is an annual tradition at the museum, and all of the paper folding is done by the oragami society. This year's theme was "Animal Safari."

santa and the girls

Tanya e-mailed the pictures she took the other night when we went to the South Street Seaport. (My camera battery died.) Here you go!

singing tree

Last night Tanya and I met at the South Street Seaport to see the Chorus Tree, an annual New York tradition. There is a 50-foot tall lighted tree on display in the square at the seaport, and the Big Apple Chorus, a men's acapella group, sings carols on tiered risers in front of the tree. The performance was set to begin at 6:00, but we met at 5:20 and walked over to see the Brooklyn Bridge from the pier. Then we waited with the rest of the crowd for the singing to begin. We even got our pictures taken with a very real Santa! (They're on Tanya's camera, though.) At about 6:30, they finally announced that the sound engineer had gotten a flat tire and they couldn't start without him. We talked to the director, and he told us they'd probably begin at about 7:00 (which is when the second show usually starts), take a break, and then do their second performance at about 8:00. So... we went to dinner! I had a bowl of delicious clam chowder. When the show finally started, we were able to see the singing tree from inside the restaurant, but we couldn't hear them. Unfortunately, they must have decided not to do a second performance, so we didn't get to hear them at all! Such a bummer. We decided to spend the rest of the evening browsing the shops at the South Street Seaport mall.

I was quite disappointed about not hearing the chorus, so I went back today for their 3:00 performance. It was such fun! And the men looked like they were having a good time, too. Almost all of the singers were elderly men with big bellies and gray hair, so they fit right in with Santa! The music was really good, too. I wished I would have had some cash so I could get the CD! After the show, I went to Prince Street to do some more Christmas window shopping. I didn't buy anything, but I had fun!

The men sang on the east side of the tree. This is the view of the west side.

train trip

This weekend I took a little vacation out of the Big City to see Jerad and Liza in Connecticut. Jerad has been working on a graduate degree in scenic design at U-Conn, and this weekend was the performance of Cabaret for which he's been working on the sets for several months. I saw his original plans last spring, and when he asked me to go to see the show, I jumped at the chance. I took the train from Grand Central Station at 9:00 on Saturday morning, and, about two hours later, I arrived in New Haven, CT. The train ride was enjoyable; I had a great chat with the girl across the aisle from me, I did a little work on a research paper, and I watched the scenery go by. I couldn't help wishing I'd taken Jerad up on his invitation sooner so that I could have seen the fall foliage.

Jerad met me at the train station in New Haven and we spent the afternoon wandering around the Yale University campus. The weather was perfect for a stroll on the town green. We visited an exhibit on modern modular housing on display at the school of architecture, and we toured the campus library. The library actually looks like it used to be a cathedral, but it has always been the library. The architecture is incredible! We had lunch at a little vegetarian cafe, and then we drove about an hour to where Liza works. It was so nice to catch up during the drive! Liza works for a nonprofit organization call Aid to Artisans that helps crafts people in developing nations become entrepreneurs. The organization was having a holiday warehouse sale, so we browsed the racks for awhile, and Liza told me where each of the pieces had come from. I found plenty of gifts that would be perfect for all my friends, but between the tight budget this year and having to take everything home in a suitcase, I restrained myself from buying anything. But you should check out the website and see if you can find anything for yourself! From Liza's office, we went to their apartment and the three of us chatted over tea. Then it was time for dinner at a local diner, where Liza and I shared an enormous sandwich!

Before the show started on Saturday night, we stopped at Jerad's studio so I could see his portfolio, including drawings paintings, photographs, and models of set designs for several shows. I was intrigued by the process of set design, and I was amazed at how much he's grown and changed. He is truly talented! Cabaret started at 8:00. I always enjoy the music in the show, and the actors did a good job, but Jerad's set design was incredible! What a treat to see the fruit of Jerad's labors.

On Sunday morning, we slept in, which was oh-so-nice, and had a leisurely breakfast. Then we drove back to Jerad's school, which is in Storrs, about thirty minutes away from their apartment, so Jerad could drop off some work. We took a driving tour of the campus, even stopping by the old insane asylum! We stopped for lunch at a little burger joint sorta like Winsteads, and then we drove to some small New England coastal towns. We were a little bit chilly, but the views of the water were beautiful, and the white clapboard houses with fresh evergreen Christmas decorations were picturesque. All of the pictures in this post are from that part of the visit.

Jerad and Liza dropped me off at the train station in New Haven at 5:00, and I took the 5:57 train back to Grand Central. I spent the train ride writing a second paper and chatting with the man across from me. The trip was quick, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't wait until Jerad and Liza move to New York!

celebrate

I'm celebrating... friends, birthdays, desserts, decorations, shows, shopping, Christmas, the birth of my Savior!

Last night, I joined a group of girls from school in celebrating Jenn's birthday. Jenn chose Cafe Lalo as our dessert destination, because she was craving some chocolate cake. The Cafe is also the site of one of the scenes from the movie You've Got Mail. The dessert menu is huge! We each chose something different so we could taste a big selection. Carol, Jenn, and I also splurged on champagne! As we were finishing, the waitress brought Jenn a little cookie with a candle in it, and they played "Happy, happy birthday, baby!" On our way back to school, we walked through the main Columbia campus to see the Christmas lights. What a wonderful night!L to R: Jenny, Jenny's friend from CA, Alison, Me, Carol, Jenn

This morning, Drew, Alison, and I went to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. And spectacular it was! My favorite part of the show was when the Rockettes did their thing, but there was a lot more to the show than that! There was a movie of Santa flying over and landing in New York... a 3D movie, no less! At one point, a section of the stage rose up from below the main stage, and it held a full symphony orchestra! Then the platform they were on moved around on the main stage. At another time, an ice skating rink rose up, and a couple did some ice dancing. There was singing, lighting effects, live animals (a horse & carriage for the NY scene and sheep and camels for the nativity scene), moving sets, little people who played Santa's elves, dancers in teddy bear costumes, and so much more. And the Radio City Music Hall itself was nothing short of spectacular! It was far bigger than I imagined, and it was quite full considering we were there at 10:00 am on a school day! After the show, we went for a warm lunch (because it was soooo coooold outside today), and then I did some Christmas shopping. I also stopped by Bloomingdales to see their Christmas window displays. I'm definitely feeling the Christmas spirit, and I'm looking forward to heading home for the holiday! L to R: Me, Drew, Alison

eeewww!

This morning I saw my first subway rat. Yuck! But I couldn't keep myself from watching it scurry around on the tracks....

snow, cheesecake, and the grinch

It snowed on Monday morning!


Just a tiny little bit around 10:30 this morning, but the 3rd graders freaked out! And I'll admit I was excited, too!

On Friday night, I went with Cody and one of her college friends to Junior's, a restaurant which supposedly has the best cheesecake in New York. The original restaurant is in Brooklyn, but we went to the one in Times Square. We had to wait about 45 minutes for a table, but even the dinner was worth it. I had meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Cody ate part of her sandwich, and then she helped me with the meatloaf. After dinner, we ordered two slices of cheesecake to share, and we couldn't even eat half of them! They turned out not to be very much like cheesecake, but were good nonetheless. The strawberry shortcake cheesecake had a layer of white cake, a layer of strawberry sauce, a layer of strawberry cheesecake, another layer of sauce, another layer of cake, and a layer of frosting. The devil's food cake cheese cake was like a layer of chocolate fudge, a layer of cheesecake, and another layer of fudge, all topped with frosting and shavings of chocolate. Really, two bites of that was enough. Good, but rich. We decided they should have let us seen pictures before we ordered. Then we would have only gotten one piece.

After dinner, I met Seana, Alison, Agnes, and Drew at a theater on 42nd to see The Grinch on Broadway. What fun! The costumes and sets were adorable, and the songs were upbeat. There were lots of kids in the audience, and it was fun to hear their reactions to that nasty grinch! We were all surprised when it started "snowing" in the theater and again when red and white confetti shot out of the walls over our heads at the end of the show! It wasn't the most spectacular Broadway singing and dancing of seen, but it was definitely a fun Christmasey experience, and one I could see myself repeating as an annual Christmas tradition!

L to R: Seana, Drew, Me, Agnes, Alison

CHRISTmas

T'was the night before Christmas,and all through the town
Not a sign of Baby Jesus was anywhere to be found.
The people were all busy with Christmas time chores
Like decorating, and baking,and shopping in stores.
No one sang "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed."
Instead, they sang of Santa dressed-up in bright red.
Mama watched Martha Stewart; Papa drank beer from a tap.
As hour after hour, the presents they'd wrap.
When what from the TV did they suddenly hear?
But an ad.. which told of a big sale at Sears!
So away to the mall they all flew like a flash,
Buying some things on credit and others with cash!
And, as they made their way home from their trip to the mall,
Did they think about Jesus? Oh, no... not at all.
Their lives were so busy with their Christmas time things;
No time to remember Christ Jesus, the King.
There were presents to wrap and cookies to bake.
How could they stop and remember who died for their sake?
To pray to the Savior? They had no time to stop.
Because they needed more time to "Shop 'til they dropped!"
On Wal-mart! On K-mart!On Target! On Penney's!
On Hallmark! On Zales! A quick lunch at Denny's.
From the big stores downtown to the stores at the mall,
They would dash away, dash away,and visit them all!
And up on the roof, there arose such a clatter
As grandpa hung icicle lights up on his brand new step ladder.
He hung lights that could flash. He hung lights that could twirl.
Yet, he never once prayed to Jesus...Light of the World.
Christ's eyes... how they twinkle! Christ's Spirit... how merry!
Christ's love... how enormous! All our burdens... He'll carry!
So instead of being busy,overworked, and uptight
Let's put Christ back in Christmas and enjoy some good nights!

Merry Christmas, my friends!
Author Unknown