It's Christmas Time in the City

Christmas in New York is such a spectacular sight. Everything is dazzled in lights
and the window displays are out of this world. We have a long list of things to do and
see during the holiday season and slowly, but surely, we're checking things off.
 

 First up was the lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Center. Since there were thousands of people waiting to see the tree lighting, we opted to watch it from home where it was a bit warmer.
(I did manage to snap the shot of the tree, pre-lighting, before we were whisked away by NYPD)

Park Avenue also has a tree lighting where many trees along the street are lit in honor of
the men and women of the military. Families gathered in front of an old church to sing
Christmas carols and watch as one after another the trees began to twinkle in the night.
This was much more intimate compared to Rockefeller Center and definitely more our style.

 

 

There are also several holiday markets where you can buy handmade crafts and freshly

baked goods all while sipping on hot cocoa. It's like walking through Santa's workshop!

We have more to do and see, but we've gotten a good start.



Food Tour

A food tour of NYC is not only genious it's right up my alley. One of my biggest complaints about living here is so many restaurants, so little time (oh, and not that much money)

 

The tour allows you to taste generous samples of 5 or 6 restaurants in a neighborhood while learning about the cultural history of the area. It's really the perfect combo. Not to mention, if you like your little sample, you can go back for the whole thing, or more, another time. Time and money unwasted!

 

Our particular tour was of NoLIta (north of Little Italy) and NoHo (north of Houston).

I had no idea this area was so full of boutiques, Mafia history, quaint streets, and a fabulous mix of totally affordable, yet gourmet, cuisine. I love new discoveries!

 

Brooklyn Blackout cupcakes from Little Cupcake Bakeshop

 

Prosciutto & Arugula Pizza from Emporio.

 

Ratatouille Tartine with bread overnighted from Paris! Tartinery

 

Homemade graham crackers from Peels. So simple, but completely divine.

 

At this rustic cafe, The Smile, we had homemade ricotta cheese on whole grain bread

with cherry tomatoes. I licked my fingers clean and I don't even like ricotta!!!

Mexican roasted corn with chipotle mayo and cheese at Tacombi. I was too excited to try a bite before I took the picture. Hence, the post-stirred and half-devoured cup of corn in the photo :)

 

Although all the food was out of this world...

the best part of the tour was walking around the streets of NYC with all of these people.

 

 

Parade

One thing all our visitors were really looking forward to was the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Talk about a Turkey Day tradition!! Seeing it live was pretty spectacular.

 

Early Thursday morning Kyle and I made our way through Central Park to find a good

viewing spot along Central Park West. The park was in perfect form for a morning stroll.

 

 

Soon the balloons, floats, marching bands, and performers made their way down to us.

Here are a few of my favorites, floating many stories high.

 

Other than the parade itself, a big highlight was running into Jimmy Fallon

as he made his way to his float along with the band from his show, The Roots.

(on a side note...he was the nicest guy to everyone)

 



Thankful

This Thanksgiving we were showered with visitors and we did everything possible to create a traditional Thanksgiving meal together. After all was said and done, it turned out great! A total group effort, I signed up for turkey and pie. Here's a little peak at the bird, start to finish.

Brining the bird on the fire escape of our apartment. Refrigerator temps provided by nature.

 

After being massaged with butter and being baked for hours, it was time to take it to the apartment my in-laws had rented in Hell's Kitchen. So...Kyle and Jared built a box for the bird.

We nuzzled the turkey in the box and squeezed into a cab, with a whole slew of other essentials, and headed across town. It was certainly the best smelling cab I've ever been in!

 

We all, including the bird, arrived in once piece and soon it was time for the turkey to be sliced for our enjoyment. The honors were done by Grandpa Hickman and I think he did a pretty fine job!

 

 

It involved a little more planning and maneuvering of ingredients, but Thanksgiving dinner

turned out fabulously. Just look at all the happy eaters and drinkers!!

 

Thank you, thank you to everyone who traveled near and far to spend Thanksgiving together with us. We loved seeing your smiling faces and truly enjoyed your company.We are certainly thankful.



Halloween

Halloween this year was pretty different for us. First, I think we're in that in between stage of enjoying the costumes and candy. We have no kids to parade around and certainly are too old to

dress up ourselves. Also, trick-or-treating in the city consists of going from one apartment building to the next where you have a gathering of families and candy in the lobby. It's quite different from the door to door and neighborhood strolling we're used to. Most of all, Hurricane Sandy halted the festivities  with many areas cancelling their events and others simply without power.

 

The only enjoyment we had out of Halloween this year was this little video from Jimmy Kimmel. He asked parents to tell their kids they at all their candy. I just love their reactions...priceless!