New York, New York

Ah, New York for the holidays. My husband and I flew to NY on Thanksgiving morning to spend the holiday with family and friends. A forty minute layover in O'Hare was cause for concern, but in spite of pre-blizzard conditions in Chicago, we made our connection and were off the ground within 15 minutes of our scheduled departure. This would be my first time back to the city during the holiday season...my list of tourist to-do's included Rockefeller Center (tree, skating rink) and 5th Ave (shop windows)among other things because I have never gotten to see them all decked out for Christmas.

We had a lovely dinner with family and friends. There was much to celebrate as one friend recently found out she was pregnant and her brother was interviewing for grad school the next morning.

There was no shopping for us on Black Friday. We enjoyed very natural rising (no alarm clock waking aid) and then headed into the city for dinner at The View and a show. The View is on the 48th Floor of they Marriott. The seating area of the restaurant revolves, providing diners with a dazzling display of the NY skyline in panoramic views. Unfortunately, we were enjoying each other's company so much, we hardly took notice of the vista. Not to worry, we'll be back again.

We nearly lingered too long at dinner, arriving at the theater in the middle of the first song of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was a wonderful show with several laugh out loud moments.

Saturday we took a driving tour of Staten Island to show off my childhood home, my dad's childhood haunts, and the little people house, among other things. Eric had a hard time believing it took nearly three hours to circumnavigate an island 14 miles long and 7 miles wide! After the island tour it was off to M&M's house for an Italian feast. And when I say feast, it is no exaggeration! We began with olives, chips and dip, bread stuffed with chicken parmigiana, and focaccia bread. For the main course we dined on pasta ears and sauce, sausage, fragioli, meatballs, and eggplant parmigiana. And of course, no feast is complete without dessert: pound cake with powdered sugar, ice cream, apple pie, and limoncello.

Sunday was another day for natural rising. We went back into the city for the Rockette's at Radio City Music Hall. Before the show we walked along 5th Avenue to take in the window displays and made our way down to Rockefeller Center. The tree was there, but unfortunately won't be lit until tonight, so that's another item still to be checked off the to-do list another time. We had brunch at the Bryant Park Grill behind the public library. The park was ringed with boutiques selling all kinds of trinkets and doo dads for Christmas and in the middle of the park was another temporary ice skating rink with -- believe it or not -- free ice skating!

The Rockette's were fantastic. And what a treat to see them at Radio City. My all time favorite will always be the toy soldiers number. What incredibly precise choreography! After the show I had to jump in a cab to La Guardia so I could be home for work on Monday. Cruelty of all cruelty, after getting in at 1:30 Monday morning, I had to be back at the airport for a reserve shift at 6:00 a.m. However, this was hardly a price to pay for such a grand Thanksgiving weekend!