My first live Christmas Tree

I know it is probably not the most politically correct thing to do this day and age but Bryan and I decided we had to have a live Christmas tree in the apartment.

We were very fortunate in that there is a Christmas Tree street vendor right outside our apartment block. Let me just say it's not as cheap as I thought it would be. We bought a tiny one and I had to bargain the guy down to $70 including the stand. But it may be the only time that I have a live Christmas tree so it was worth it.

Bryan checking out the different types of Christmas trees.

We ended up getting a Douglas Fir. It smells wonderful.

The vendor getting the tree into its stand.

Bryan with our tree.

Bryan bringing our tree up to our apartment

We then had to go out and buy some decorations. Now that was a lot of fun. Bryan's mum (Marty) has got me addicted to Christmas ornaments. So we went to Macys and bought some fun American and New York ornaments.

Our tree

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

If I could have one wish granted, it would be for all my family and friends to celebrate Christmas in New York city at least once in their lives. The atmosphere in the city is happy and electric. The streets are adorned with festive decorations and each of the big department stores have animated Christmas windows. So with the stores pumping out Christmas music, Salvation Army Officers ringing their bells on street corners and being wrapped up in warm clothes, one unavoidably develops a happy Christmas spring in their step.

There are people darting in and out of shops, looking in windows but every one is in such good spirits that you mind the crowds.

If you are fortunate to be in New York city during the Christmas season, one place that you must visit is Rockefeller Plaza. The large Christmas tree and the ice skating rink is just like what you see in the movies. In fact there are several outdoor ice rinks around the city which also adds to the fun and excitement of the season.

Another thing that I fallen in love with are the different Holiday markets they have around the city. These markets sell jewelery, art, food etc that have been created by local artists. Union Square has a large markets and the one in Grand Central Station is also very nice. I am on my way today to check out the holiday markets at Columbus Circle.

There is so much to see and do during the holiday season that I cannot keep up. But at the end of the day I have found the simple joy of walking around the city and soaking up the wonderful atmosphere is by far the best way to spend your time.

One of the many small parks dressed up for Christmas

One of the entrances to Macys

Another entrance to Macys

An animated window

Inside Macys

Entrance to Santa's wonderland at Macys

To see Santa you have to walk through a train then through a wonderland to get to the north pole. 

Santa with a little girl

Yet another entrance to Macys

One of the many Christmas tree street vendors

Empire State Building

Inside Macys

Outside News Limited

One of the many Christmas lights and decorations around the city

Rockefeller Plaza

Rockefeller Plaza

Another little park dressed up with Christmas decorations

Saks Fifth Avenue light display

Bryan and I at Rockefeller Plaza

Thanksgiving Day

Bryan and I got up at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving Day to fly to Cincinnati for a few days with his family. It was a lovely break. Bryan is so unbelievably busy with his role that it was nice to see him relax a little. It was also great catching up with his family.

Being Thanksgiving we had lots of yummy food - turkey, green bean casarole, pumpkin pie, pecan pie (wow! i'm getting hungry just thinking back on it! :). So we kept up with the tradition and stuffed ourselves silly with food and watched football. My excuse - I had to prepare and store up energy for the next day's event - "Black Friday"!

Black Friday in the US is like Boxing Day in Australia -  Crazy Shopping Sales Day. But the Americans really know how to put on a Sale. When they say "Sale" it really is a "Sale". It's my Christmas Day!

Compared to other years Bryan and I did not go crazy this year, after all we still have the "after Christmas sales" to go.

So I bought some warm clothes, a new pair of red boots (that match beautifully with my red leather jacket) and a new Coach handbag.

Thanksgiving Day Parade......well, almost!

Every year on Thanksgiving day in New York, Macy's hosts a street parade. The parade starts at the Natural History Museum on the Upper West side and works its way down to their store on 34th street. There are famous performers and massive balloons of well loved characters such as Snoopy and ...... It is a lot of fun and it is televised around the world (my nieces watched it in Australia).

Because of the size of the balloons, the organisers need to start inflating them the night before and it has now become a New York event to wrap yourself up in warm gear and go out and see the inflation of the balloons. It's definitely a fun way to start the holiday period. But like everything else in New York, the crowds are massive so if you happen to be in NYC around this time and want to check it out, allow yourself a lot of time.

The streets open for you to view the balloons being inflated at 5pm. The only traffic that is allowed around the Natural History Museum at this time is walking traffic, cars and trucks are diverted. It is a lot of fun trying to guess what each balloon is.

Spiderman

Kermit the Frog - a popular balloon

Energizer Bunny

Snoopy - another popular balloon

This is a mobile platform that the police use to monitor the crowd. Pretty cool huh!

There were quite a few balloons I have only showed you a couple of the real famous ones.

I really enjoyed myself and best of all it is a free event!

Ice Hockey at Madison Square Garden

It's crazy, we only live a couple of blocks from Madison Square Garden but up until now we haven't seen anything inside it. Well that all changed last Friday night when Bryan and I went to see the New York Rangers vs the Carolina Hurricanes in an Ice Hockey game.

Outside Madison Square Garden

It was a lot of fun and if you are in New York when the ice hockey season is on, you gotta try to get yourself to a game. Although I must admit that when we saw the Dallas All Stars play the Anaheim Mighty Ducks the between periods entertainment was a lot of fun and laughter. At the Rangers game there wasn't any real entertainment. Mostly that was when people ran out and got them selves a hot dog, drink and snacks.

The Rangers warming up - before the start of the game

It was Veteran's Day so they had a cadet from West point sing the anthem.

Start of the game.

Rangers score their first point. You can see the puck in the net.

There is something that I need to confess.......I finally ate liquid cheese. Can you believe it! Liquid cheese!! I had it on my hot dog. It was by accident I must admit. The young lady behind the counter asked if we wanted cheese on our hot dog and I said yes, thinking it was going to be grated/shredded cheese, then when I saw this bright yellow stuff on my hot dog I had to ask Bryan what it was......Liquid Cheese.....Strangely enough it didn't taste too bad but then again, I was having a hot dog, so pretty much anything can taste good on a hot dog. But let's just say that I won't be going out of my way to have it again though.

One of the two Zamboni es resurfacing the rink.

Anyway back to the ice hockey. If you are going to see it be prepared to pay.....that is if you can get tickets. Most of the tickets are held by season pass holders and if they cannot make it to a game they sell them on various ticket websites. Our tickets were up towards the back of the rink (we still had a fantastic view) and they were $119.00 each. So it's not cheap!

Change ups

Trying to get to the puck

A bit of a biff-up!

Look, we had a good time. Will we be doing it again anytime soon? Maybe, but I don't think we are going to go out of our way to find anymore tickets.

The Rangers holding up their hockey sticks thanking the fans.

BTW the New York Rangers Won!