Christmas in NYC

My DH, the world's biggest lover of all things Christmas, planned a surprise weekend into the Big Apple for me to see the lights and the windows. From my last posting, you know it was just what the doctor ordered.

For my international friends and those of you who are not familiar with New York City traditions, the big department stores, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman ( to name the heavy hitters) decorate their windows for Christmas every year.

So we took the train early Friday morning and arrived in Grand Central about 10 am. From there, we checked into our hotel and then hit the bricks. We started at the windows of Bergdorf Goodman, which are always quite artsy and high fashion. This year was an Alice in Wonderland Theme.

Here's Alice!

and part of her journey through wonderland. BTW, Bergdorf Goodman loves to put monkeys, squirrels and weird little animals in their Christmas windows. They are really spectacular and the details are just amazing.

From there, we walked down Fifth Avenue enjoying all the sights. To say it was cold is an understatement. But we dressed for the weather. Although some of the gals in NYC would rather freeze to death than commit a fashion faux pas.!! I saw more women without stockings in little short skirts and black flats, no hats, no gloves. They looked fabulous but I'd rather be warm!!

These pictures are from Saks Fifth Avenue. It is the story of Twinkle, a snowflake and her journey. All of the windows had music and animation for the kids and all those young at heart. I like Twinkle's take on life. How about you?

Of course, we stopped at Rockefeller Center to see the big Christmas tree!

While we were there, a young man proposed to his lady on the ice of the skating rink which is down below under the Christmas tree.

Then we hit our favorite Irish pub for lunch. After that, we finished up at Macy's for a look at their windows and then some shopping. By the time we got back to our hotel, we were pretty tired. But after a little nap and we headed out for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. The next morning we were up bright and early for.....

THE ROCKETTES CHRISTMAS SHOW!~

Neither one of us had ever been to see the show. It was absolutely fabulous. We had seats right up front and were surrounded by lots of families with their little ones which made it even more magical. To see the faces of the little kids just added to our enjoyment of the show.

Here's a picture of the lobby.

And here's our souvenir ornament to add to the tree.

After the show, my DH parked me in the nearest Starbucks and headed out to do a "secret errand". I guess you and I will have to wait til Christmas to see what that was all about.

On our way back to the train, we walked through Bryant Park where they had little booths set up with handmade crafts and local artisans. This is the fountain with icicles hanging off of it.
We had hoped to stay later but with the impending snowstorm barreling up the East Coast,we headed reluctantly home. But it was really great trip! I have the one of the best hubbys in the world.