Karyl & Katie take NYC 2011

The weekend before Christmas, Mom came down for the long weekend to experience Christmas in New York City.  There is nothing like Christmas in the city- just like everything New York, it's over the top and over-decorated, but thankfully, seeing as Christmas is my favorite time of the year, it really gets you in the mood.  We went a different route this year trying out new things and seeing New York in a non-touristy sense.  I mean you can only take crowds of people for so long- I think we actually only spent about 10 minutes total in Rockefeller Center, we just had bigger and better things to do!  Here is a recap in pictures of our weekend!

On Friday, Mom arrived early afternoon and we decided to get all of the really touristy things over that day seeing as it wasn't the weekend.  We started off at Columbus Circle and checked out the Christmas Market, trekked over to the Plaza Hotel and down 5th Avenue to get a glimpse of all the decorated stores.  After that we went to go see the tree and then headed down to Bryant Park and the NY Public Library.  From there we went through Times Square, got dinner in Hell's Kitchen at Southern Hospitality and then on a whim we ended up going to see Mamma Mia! It was an action packed and fun day!

The hanging stars in the Shops at Columbus Circle.  They are actually really big and change colors- at night they do a light show.  They are really pretty!

Tiffany's giant wreath on 5th Avenue!  This year the Tiffany windows had  a carousel theme to them! It was gorgeous!

Us with our giant shopping bags at Rockefeller Center!

In front of the Tree!

Gigantic Lights on 6th Ave

Us with the lights!!!

Hanging out at Bryant Park.  They have the Christmas shops here and the skating rink and the tree, but this year, there was an outdoor lounge with fireplace and heat lamps.  I pretended like I was far from the city in an exotic location like Aspen.  If you tried really hard you could almost not hear the sirens and the honking of horns!

Enjoying a brew at the lounge in Bryant Park!

Had to take a break from the walking and the shopping and sitting under the heat lamps gave us a chance to warm up! Cheers!

The tree in Bryant Park- in my opinion, this one is way prettier than the Rockefeller Center tree.  The blue lights are really pretty, in my opinion.

Time Square at night!

On Saturday, we woke up early and headed down to Union Square.  Before that we walked down 5th Ave and got some Christmas Shopping done.  We ate a quick lunch and then went to check out the Farmer's Market, Christmas shops outdoors and The Strand (a huge bookstore known for it's "miles and miles" of books!"  After that, we hopped on the L train, rode a few stops and "POOF," we were in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  We went to check out the Brooklyn Brewery- went on a quick tour of their new huge facility and had a beer!  After that we went back to Manhattan, trekked down to the West Village and I took Mom for dessert at Rocco's.  We had chocolate peppermint lattes- Mom had a fruit tart and I had a sfogliatella (a traditional Italian pastry stuffed with ricotta cheese.) On the way home we picked up a bottle of wine, ordered a pizza, changed into our pajamas and watched Christmas Movies all night!

Fresh Cranberries in Union Square

Brand New Mural outside of the new Brooklyn Brewery space

Enjoying my Winter Ale! Brooklyn Brewery is my absolute favorite!

Inside the Brewery

Outside of Rocco's Bakery!

Mom left on Sunday afternoon after we relaxed all morning and had lunch.  We had a great weekend- it's always a ton of fun when Mom comes to visit!

The Lion King

If there is something, anything I could tell you that I would hope you would take as advice, or a suggestion, or a command, I would tell you this: GO SEE THE LION KING!!!  You can see it on Broadway, off Broadway, in Providence from the first balcony, dead center with an immaculate view of the screen, or sitting in the last row... but I will tell you this; you will laugh, you will cry, you will sit there with your mouth wide open in awe at the sheer creativity and brilliance of it all.  The voices and the talent that the actors possess as well as their ability to become one with their character managed to just blow me away completely!

The Lion King tickets were my Christmas present so Saturday night, we got all dressed up, went to an amazing dinner at Nick's on Broadway and went to see the show.  Lucky for me, I had the seats in Providence that were dead center with the immaculate view :).  And for the entire 2 hour show, I sat there in my seat feeling much like a little kid witnessing the equivalent of heaven on Earth.  They could have started the show from the very beginning as soon as it ended and I would have sat there and watched it over and over again.

Check out this video; I'm sure the opening scene will completely sell you because after I witnessed it, I was hooked and completely spell bound.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLvD4DeeE5I

And watch for the giraffes- those are people on stilts, double stilts... don't ask me how they do it, they just do and it will just blow your mind that people can really do that!  So really, go see it- I don't care where, I don't care how, or who you go with... take me if you want because I'm ready to go see it again!

Karyl & Katie take NYC

This past weekend, my mom came to visit me in the big city!  In my opinion, this is the best time of year to visit, even with the cold, the city comes to life with the arrival of Christmas.  She got in on Thursday night, so we had a full weekend to spend traveling all over the city!  Thursday night we relaxed and went out to eat at a little italian restaurant around the corner from my house; Bar Toto.  It was delicious!  We had to get to bed early because the next morning we were on our way to Radio City Musical Hall to see the Rockette's perform their annual Christmas Spectacular!!

Radio City Music Hall; home of the Rockettes!!

Mom and I before it started!!

the kick-line!  They were amazing!

toy soldiers- easily the coolest part of the whole thing!!

the rockettes!

After we saw the spectacular, which really put us in the mood for Christmas we went off to Rockefeller center to see the tree!!!  I love the tree; I love bringing people who have never seen it and walking down the street, asking them if they're ready and turning the corner.  Picture it; walking down 49th St., only seeing random shops and cafes, no idea where you're going, and then BAM, you turn the corner and see this: 

The tree!!

We even took our pictures with it; and believe it or not, we made it back that night to see it all lit up!  It makes a world of difference when it's lit!

After checking out Rockefeller Center we decided to take a stroll down 5th Ave or Fashion Ave, and loop around through Midtown!!  5th Ave is known for it's amazing Christmas decorations and their window displays!! It's fun to just window shop because of course these stores are for the rich and famous!

 The NBA Store and Tommy Hilfiger

Tiffany's!

Fendi!

The Plaza Hotel

Even the NHL store was ready for Christmas!

After 5th Ave we took a short stroll through Central Park and then headed South towards Bryant Park and the NY Public Library!!

views from central park

Bryant Park; the rink, the tree and the library behind it!  Bryant Park had tons of outdoor shops all encased in glass!  It was a really cool way to shop, especially since they kept it mostly outside!

The New York Public library!! I fell in love with this place and even got a library card!

For all you Sex & the City fans; this is the library where Carrie attempted to get married!  It's even more beautiful in person!! Loved it here!

After we hung out at the library and Bryant Park we trekked down to Herald Square to visit Santa at Macy's!! The picture windows were all decorated for Christmas and even the 9th floor of Macy's looked like we had reached the North Pole!

Macy's!

the entrance at Macy's!

Believe Bears!

we even made it all the way to the North Pole to see Santa!!!

After Macy's we headed uptown to check out Times Square at night and headed back to Rockefeller Center to see the tree!!  The lights look even better at night!!

Times Square

All lit up at night!

The tree all lit up at night; beautiful!!!

Believe it or not, we were absolutely exhausted after that day!  We walked a lot!! After dinner in Times Square we headed back to my apartment and watched Christmas movies and drank wine!  The next morning, we were headed a little farther downtown!

On Saturday, we started off the day in Union Square to check out the farmer's market and holiday craft show!  It's amazing what they can do with a small park! 

Pretty flowers in Union Square

Christmas tree sale in Union Square

After Union Square we went to check out the Flatiron District and Eataly!  Eataly is a huge indoor market that contains Italian food.  From pasta, to espresso, to gelato to wine, it has everything!!

Desserts!

Directions to all the different parts of Eataly!

pasta lovers paradise!

After Eataly we strolled back downtown towards Soho!  On the way, we discovered a market called Limelight Market.  It was really awesome because it was a marketplace inside an old church!  It was decorated for Christmas and had small boutiques and food shops!  You never know what you'll find in NYC!

We then made our way to Soho and Little Italy to eat lunch!!  

Little Italy!

Peroni with lunch!

Antipasto Misto at Il Piccolo Buffalo!

After lunch we made our way back to Brooklyn to get ready for our big night out on the town!!  My mom surprised me with Broadway tickets to see the Million Dollar Quartet!!! It was amazing; featured Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and my two favorites... Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash!!  It was based on the gathering of the 4 of them in Sun Records when they all got together and had a big jam session!  It was seriously the best thing I have ever been to.  We left dancing!  Mimi all I can say is that you would have loved it!!!!

me and my two favorites!!

mom and the guys!! 

We had so much fun all weekend!! From the tree to 5th ave to Little Italy to Broadway, I don't think we really missed anything!  We fit it all in!!! Now I'm exhausted and can't wait to take a nap!!  If you ever get the chance to visit NYC near Christmastime, I would highly suggest it; and if you can, do it with someone you love :)