Christmas in NYC

FRIDAY (21st):
-arrive late, late evening
-take towncar to Court's

SATURDAY (22nd):
-walk downtown (Battery Park, Bowling Green) with Park
-shop in SoHo (Sephora, Zara, Forever 21, Jamba Juice, Crate, PB)
-Wicked Lottery - won FRONT & CENTER tickets! Mom and Park saw the show
-Court met up for black & white cookies at Roxy's and Times Square

SUNDAY (23rd):
-church
-grocery shopping at Whole Foods (saw Benjamin Bratt)
-ate at Pie by the Pound on UES
-quick jaunt through the Met (saw Julia Stiles)
-Radio City Music Hall 75th Annual Christmas Show

MONDAY (24th):
-explored Financial District
-Dean and Deluca extravaganza
-quick shopping in SoHo
-Christmas Eve antipasto
-watch "A Christmas Story" (twice! thanks to 24-hours of it on TBS) and "Elf"
-wrap presents


TUESDAY (25th):
-Caramel Bread Pudding (best ever!) and 'lil smokies
-presents!
-watch "Christmas Vacation"
-walk in Central Park (saxophone "O Holy Night")
-tree at Lincoln Center
-Christmas Dinner - ham and the trimmings
-Buche de Noel (yule log!)

WEDNESDAY (26th):
-saw WTC and took Path train to Jersey City for view of Manhattan
-Mom and Parker explored the Met
-Mom and Park ate at Bobby Flay's restaurant "Bar Americain"
-Courtnie worked till close
-watch "Ratatouille"

THURSDAY (27th):
-Courtnie worked till 5
-Mom explored South Street Seaport; Parker waited "on line" at TKTS booth
-"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" with Patrick Page!
-watch Pirates 3

FRIDAY (28th):
-Staten Island Ferry (our tone deaf friend and Mom & Court laughed till they cried.)
-had a Gray's Papaya hot dog (or two!)
-walked around UWS (You've Got Mail) - Zabar's (bought Chocolate Babka), H&H, Riverside Park
-went to Fifth Avenue Apple store for Park's new iPod
-braved Rockefeller for tree pictures
-home and nappy
-dinner at Liberty View chinese
-watch "The Holiday"

SATURDAY (29th):
-cranberry bread pudding
-South Street Seaport
-went to Chelsea (Bed Bath & Beyond, the Container Store)
-Parker found his "Newsie's" hat & we ate at New York Burger (serendipitous)
-walked to Union Square and saw "Enchanted"
-shoe shopping @ DSW (much to Parker's dismay)
-dinner at NoHo Star
-dessert at Rice to Riches (rice pudding!)
-walk through Little Italy

SUNDAY (30th):
-walk around Battery Park
-clean, pack, & prep to leave

Live from New York City

I would walk 500 miles....

And we have.

Day One (the 23rd):

• rode the AirTrain and A subway
• saw Mary Poppins (first glimpse of Times Square)
• experienced the subways and the Times Square McDonald's

Day Two (the 24th):

• Empire State Building
• Walked 5th Ave from 34th to 59th - and back down
• Shopped at H&M, which rocks.
• Saw --- Rockefeller Plaza, Macy's, Tiffany & Co, Saks Fifth Ave, American Girl store
• Ate at the Rock Cafe - yummy and serendipitous
• Saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3
• First glimpse of World Trade site

Day Three (the 25th):

• SoHo
• Ate at Cub Room,
• Shopped at Dean & Deluca, Crate & Barrel, Room & Board, Zara, Sephora,
• Marveled at the cheekiness of SoHo and its architecture
• Walked to Washington Square and had a LifeSaver Popsicle - also privy to local swing band in the park
• Walked by NYU
• Ate at Chipotle which is the New York Cafe Rio
• Stumbled onto Crumbs - a renowned cupcake bakery
• WICKED
• Times Square on Friday night (11:00 pm -- Fleet Week) and stopped at Roxy's deli for B&W cookies
• Met up with Don, Sara, Genevieve, Brandon, Juleen and Ellie for Rice to Riches -- hip rice pudding bar
• Walked through Little Italy

Day Four (the 26th):

• Walked Battery Park and bought a cool artist rendition of Times Square
• Took the Staten Island Ferry - had the best spots to and fro - Lady Liberty is beautiful!
• Walked past City Hall, Governor's Mansion and the Brooklyn Bridge
• CHOCOLATE TOUR~Vosages, Kee's Chocolates, MarieBella and Jacques Torres -- yummy and eclectic. The spicy frozen hot chocolate was probably the hit.
• Walked north and west to Greenwich Village, the Hudson pier (gorgeous) -- stumbled across Collette's Cakes, the Magnolia Bakery and an awesome Marc Jacobs sale.
• Walked to 14th street subway and then to Chinatown for dinner.
• Pork Dumplings at New Yeah Shanghai Restaurant -- wore it home on my shirt.
• Braved the perils of Canal Street ("Handbags, wallets, purses" - "Gucci, Prada, Louis")
• Home and chillin' on the 27th floor roof - talked to Parker.

Day Five (the 27th):

• church
• Lincoln Center/Manhattan Temple/New York Ballet Center. It was once we got to this point that Courtnie realized she'd left the camera behind. Boo.
• hit a slammin' Pottery Barn close-out sale on 67th and Broadway
• headed up to 72nd on the West Side and saw the Dakota
• walked in and thru Central Park - saw THE fountain, the main promenade, the Boat House and some little things in between. The best part - the Central Park Skate Dancers Association
• Walked thru Bloomingdale's on 59th and Lex then ate at CPK
• Stopped at Dylan's Candy Bar - they have any and every kind of candy you could ever want.....and more.
• Went for a walk with Sara and Juleen - our "new" park, Battery Park
• Went home and chatted, watched some funny YouTube videos, had our own little Osmond concert with Don and Brandon and played Text Twist (well, Courtnie played, Mom watched.)

Day Six (the 28th):

• went to the Met (Sara was our personal guide :-) and saw the Renaissance, Roman/Greek and Impressionist galleries
• ate at a little city cafe
• walked the Brooklyn Bridge to Grimaldi's and had the legendary NY pizza (with Sara and Juleen)
• walked back across the Brooklyn Bridge at dusk - very cool with the Empire State lit with red, white and blue for Memorial Day
• hopped on the subway and headed to 60th and 2nd for Serendipity - met up with Don and Brandon. The Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate is DEFINATELY all the it's cracked up to be. And more.

Day Seven (the 29th):

• breakfast at McDonald's
• quick trip to Union Square - Whole Food's and Filine's Basement - the last little taste of NY shopping
• subway and AirTrain to JFK and mom left :-( . Boo.