New York gets a thumbs up

We have had a busy week! We went ice skating at Rockefeller Center (Elyse has her thumb up in this picture, but you can't see it ...) We got an extra bonus because they were having a promotion for the Simpson's DVD release, and we got free donuts. Mmmmmmmmm. Doooonuts.


It was crowded though. (That's Chance and Elyse on the right.)


The next day Elyse and I sampled the hot chocolate at Max Brenner. Mmmmm. Choooocolate.


And we finally got a tree! After going all the way to the Home Depot in Bed-Stuy, and seeing that they only had about 10 left, and they were all waaaay too huge to carry on the subway, we got one from the flower shop on the corner.


Baum, baum baum ...


Decorations come later.


The next day Elyse and I checked out Central Park, where all the lakes and ponds are frozen! It's very beautiful.


:)


Then we came home and decorated the tree.



Today, we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. I am afraid of heights, and Elyse is afraid of bridges. We made it, though!


And we even appreciated its beauty.


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Afterwards we warmed up with a really yummy chai at a cool little cafe we found in the Village. A very New York week!

An Early Christmas Present - Par Avion!

We got to go pick up our biggest Christmas present last night at the airport ...


an Elyse! Straight from Seattle, by airmail. And she is very excited to be in New York. And we are excited that she is here!


Today I took her on a tour of NYU, where we went to the top floor of the library and courted vertigo by looking down. It really is cool looking. I have to breathe deeply in order to look down, though.


And I took her to the top floor of Kimmel, where there's a great view of Washington Square Park.



Then we headed up to midtown and wandered around the fashion district. At Macy's, we checked out the wooden escalators - so retro!


:)


... and we checked out Santa's pad. You have to take a "train" to get there!


Elyse sneaked a peek out the window. It must have been showing hard on the way to the North Pole, because you couldn't see anything ...



Once we arrived, we were whisked through Santa's toyland ...


... and eventually had our picture taken with Creepy Santa. Santa is just creepy when you're not five anymore. Plus, we were old enough to realize that there is more than one Santa at the end of the line. We didn't bother paying to get a copy of our creepy Santa picture. The poster is just as bad.



Next we walked up to Times Square for the ultimate set of tourist photos ...


New York gets a solid thumbs up so far! Woohoo! And we've got 10 days left.

snow!

Seattle got a dose of snow this weekend, and I was a bit jealous - and then I woke up to this. Unfortunately it's supposed to change to freezing rain later today and become icy. Also, snow doesn't affect much of anything. No one is off of school. There are no disasters. It's not "Winter StormWatch 2007" on the news.


It's pretty, though.

a busy weekend

Welcome to New York in the late fall, with its gorgeous sunsets (this is Lexington Avenue, and yes, that's the Chrysler Building). Unfortunately, the sun sets here at the same time it does in Seattle. 4:30. For two months. In a ROW. I'm very close to buying one of those full-spectrum lightbulbs. But anyway, it's not time to talk about Seasonal Affective Disorder! It's time for ...


... Christmas trees! I saw my very first New York Christmas tree lot last night. It was spread out along the side of a building. It was very long. I am excited for the holidays and have been playing Christmas carols already ...


Today was sunny, so we decided to get out of the house and explore. I wanted to see Battery Park, because I'd heard about some interesting memorials there. We didn't find them. It was 30 degrees, windy, and there were about 10 million tourists lined up to take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty (that small, pointy thing in the picture). So we left, and instead we went to ...


... the new Museum of Contemporary Art on the Lower East Side, which just happened to be opening today, so it just happened to be free! This is one really awesome thing about living in New York. I read about this building in the New Yorker two days ago. And today I went and I saw it in person. I can't tell you how cool that was.


Here we are in line - luckily we didn't have to stand for more than a couple of minutes to get in. Chance is sporting his new, $1.25 hat. It gives him awesome hat hair, and it keeps the wind out of his ears. A sensible purchase, I say.


The museum doesn't allow photography inside, but you can take pictures on the 7th floor balcony. Here's what the outside of the building looks like up close. It reminds me forcibly of the old Kaufhof in Berlin, which rusted and was very sadly torn down and replaced by something that looks like a cross between a Lamont's and a prison. The siding here might be a bit utilitarian, but I am a fan.


The view is nice too.


This may be the time to tell you that the museum's free opening was sponsored by Target, who also donated a huge chunk of cash to build it. While I'm philosophically opposed to Target, I am very happy they did this, as we'll probably never be able to afford to come here again. MoMA admission is $20. TWENTY DOLLARS. For a MUSEUM. That is RIDICULOUS.

Also, Target has good deals on housewares.


The seventh floor also contained a giant chest of drawers filled with red and white candy, which patrons were encouraged to take and put into little baggies. This was Chance's dream art!


Mmmmmmmm. Caaaaaandy.


Let me note that we did not make this mess. But I feel sorry for the people who have to clean up all the spilled candy from the museum. There was a little pile of it in the stairwell, too.

Ah, New York. Land of the free. Candy.

a thanksgiving tradition

Having spent last Thanksgiving on an extremely awesome Spanish vacation with the extremely awesome Megan Anshutz, we got the pleasure of an awesome repeat performance this year in New York!


Walking through Central Park is always a good starting activity.


The painted tiles in the Bethesda Terrace ceiling were recently renovated and are a real treat for a tile-obsessed girl like me ...


On Thanksgiving Day we invited a bunch of friends (all somehow former Seattleites) over for a potluck. Chance cooked a giant turkey and carved it like a complete pro. So tasty.


Al, Malinda, Al's mom Alicia, Hadley, Vinh, Brooke and Ian all joined in the merry festivities.


And we were lucky to have an Official Former College Radio DJ in our midst, who spun the tunes all night long.


The last couple of days have been absolutely perfect for afternoon walks. It's a bit chilly and windy, but a little sunshine and a hot cup of coffee help.


The fall colors are finally here!


We wandered over the bridge to Long Island City, home to PS1, a MoMA-affiliated (but much cheaper) modern art museum.


It was pretty awesome. A perfect afternoon for Megan's last day in the city. She flew back home to Chicago Friday night.


On Saturday Chance and I took another walk and discovered a little settlement of feral cats just up the road -- what an interesting neighborhood we live in!



But a nice one nonetheless.