NYC!

***THIS IS A LONG POST. I AM SORRY IN ADVANCE.***

Brian surprised me with an early Christmas gift - a trip to Manhatten!!! I've been wanting to see NYC at Christmas for forever and am so glad Brian took us!

Now, I took my point and shoot camera, that is 5 years old - and that's it. The casing is coming apart on it. So don't expect any groundbreaking pictures. I took these in AUTO (or in any other preset that it was accidentally on when I yanked it out of my bag) and just took them willy nilly. But with the cold weather, crowds, and Michael-wrastling - I was not going to add a fancy camera on top of that mix.

Plus, sometimes - I just want to enjoy the moment. And when I'm trying to get a "good" shot - I'm "working" and sometimes - it distracts me! :)

On Friday night, we drove to Princeton, NJ. It only took 1.5 hours! We checked into our hotel, ate a bad meal at Chilis (I complained and got 50% off), watched the end of Elf and went to BED.

The next day, we woke up early and took the train into Penn Station. Walked 8-10 blocks to Times Square and took pictures as soon as we saw the big billboards:

Michael was quick to remind us to keep our eye on the prize:
The Toys R Us Flagship store. With a ferris wheel INSIDE the store. That's right:
We rode it. You bet we did. AND we got the Mystery Machine car!!!!! With Shaggy and Scooby Doo overseeing our ride. Addt'l pictures are on our smugmug gallery (link to the right). I like this picture of me, so I'm posting it. Michael looks not his best.

*SIDE NOTE - when I bring my point and shoot - I actually get pictures of me!!!! So they are in the smugmug album if you are interested. END SIDE NOTE*

Inside Toys R US, it was mayhem. I am sure you can imagine what that store would be like, during Christmas, in the middle of Manhatten.

Brian introduced Michael to what a "battle axe" is:
After this, we walked to the M&M store - bought some of the guys, and used the bathroom. Michael saw Elmo outside and Brian and I bought Maroon and White peanut M&Ms. WHOOP!!

Then, we walked some more in the cold and found the Radio City Music Hall! I love my guys:
Walked across the street after the cops let us - and bought Michael a hotdog from a stand - which he ate at the Rockefeller Center Christmas train:
Sweet! Some more walking later and I found myself at the NBC Studios. I am a HUGE (HUGE HUGE HUGE) fan of 30 Rock so I had to get a picture. Even with that gorilla Police Car in the back. Goes to show you that if you get a picture 30 seconds later, it makes a difference because those fun NYC cabs in the background would have been in the foreground covering up that stupid police car.
We did some very quick Christmas shopping and navigated through some crowds to see the tree at Rockefeller center:

Michael and Brian fought the crowds at Lego and then begged to leave. I didn't blame them!

We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral where Michael lit a candle for Aunt Tina's father who passed away. And then headed off to Bryant Park for some ice skating. Michael fell asleep while riding on Dad's shoulders though - that's a pretty tired little guy. It's the 2nd time he's done that! (First was while riding Grandpa's shoulders at Mont. St. Michel).

Bryant Park had a really cute Christmas market going on. When Michael woke up, we introduced him to warm Apple Cider in the Big Apple:
He was a fan.

We did not ice skate because Brian and I were too cold - it was too crowded - we'll have to do it another year when we're not trying to see a lot of NYC in 2 days.

Then, I dragged my family to FAO Schwartz because I am a huge HUGE huge fan of BIG and wanted to see the piano there that was in the movie. It did not disappoint!!!

And guess what? My 5 year old point and shoot, with the casing coming off the top, can record video:

Then Michael and I waited in line for our turn!
Those are some Aussies in our picture!!!

I found out that BIG was made 22 years ago. And sadly, to attest to how old I am - there were many people at that piano that had never heard of Big.

Michael demanded the camera so I let him take some pictures. HE REALLY wanted a picture of Brian and I at this Lego guy. He directed us about where to stand. Yelled at us that it wasn't right. Then couldn't get it together. So we had to tell him we had to move because other people had been waiting for us to take our picture which means we have to hurry when it's our turn.

So it came our turn and he got his picture:

I did NOT shop lift that red cardinal peeking out of my bag. I put it back. ANd then felt badly because Michael asked me later where it went and I had to lie and tell him it flew away. My bad parent moment - but I did take him to 2 toy stores and a candy store too today so I am getting over it and you will too.

One thing I love about NYC???? THE FOOD!!! We had dinner at this great chinese place called Lan Sheng. We walked by, I looked in the window and said, "THERE ARE CHINESE PEOPLE IN THERE!" So we walked in, tried it, and Michael and I were in H-E-A-V-E-N. Michael and I LOVE Asian food. He ate the most I have ever seen him eat his whole life. He ordered chow fun, I ordered beef with snow peas, and Brian got some shrimp with vegetables. YUUUMMMM...all down with a hot pot of Jasmine tea. Perfect food for cold weather.

We rode the train an hour home and passed out.

The next morning, we woke up early to see Lady Liberty:
This was the only family picture we got so it goes on the blog.

Then, we walked a bit North and found the Wall Street Bull:
And then we got tired of being in the cold and caught the subway up to Greenwich Village to this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G cheese shop at the corner of Bleecker and Cornelia street:
Brian got some GREAT stuff - smells delicious and tastes delicious. Michael LOVES stinky cheese too so these guys were in heaven.

We had lunch at this great little Italian cafe where we got a whole roasted fish (head/tail on and everything). Found a great French restaurant we'll try next time (Michelin rated AND had CASSOULET!!!).

After this, we walked 30 minutes back to the train station, caught the train back to NJ to our car, and drove 1 hour and a half home.

It was a whirlwind trip and totally disorganized. We decided to go on like MOnday or something - and went! We didn't get to see a lot of things! A show on Broadway, Central Park, etc...but we'll be back another day!

Some random thoughts:

• Michael hopped on all the white stripes in the crosswalks - just like Will Ferrell did on Elf. Got lots of laughs from us and passerbys as well!
• Glad I brought my skinny jeans and boots - on Saturday, I was the only person under 50 not wearing skinny jeans or tights with boots on.
• I need a cooler black long coat. Mine is a bit marm-ish.
• SO happy to be walking everywhere. I really miss that.
• ThE FOOD WAS AWESOME. I REALLY MISS Good Food in the Country.
• SO glad I don't live in the city because we'd be broke eating out and doing fun things.
• Felt great to be "uncomfortable" temperature wise. In suburbia/country, we are running from one comfortable place to another. It was nice to feel "COLD" for an extended period of time.
• Michael is a foodie. SO proud of that. He is a picky eater. My father in law told me that he read somewhere that picky eaters are that way because they don't think what they are eating tastes good. I think that's the case with Michael. When the food is amazing - he ALWAYS chows down. But then again, he likes McDonalds chicken nuggets and Easy Mac too.

THANK YOU BRIAN for such an extravagant gift!!! We really should have waited until next year, but I am glad you took us and fought the crowds with us. I love you more than I can ever put on a blog - Phuong