Tag Archives: nyc

2011 radio city christmas spectacular

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

DSC_0646

When I was a little girl, I’d watch the Rockettes in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and wish I could dance like they do. Alas, I am terribly uncoordinated and can’t really dance at all. So I simply hoped to see them live at Radio City Music Hall someday.

Back in 2008 we had the opportunity to take Jake (who was then in 1st grade) to see the show and I think I was more excited than he was! It was everything I hoped it would be. So this year I wondered if it would still be magical for me, having seen it so recently. Well let me tell you, it was even better and totally blew me away!

Before I get to the photos of the show, I just have to share this pic of the chandelier in the lobby. I asked Drew if we could get one like it for our dining room.

DSC_0641

How beautiful! The entire theatre is gorgeous and makes me think of old-timey New York. Love it! The show itself is just bigger than life. At the risk of sounding super cheesy, it took my breath away. And being the sap that I am, I found myself getting teary randomly during the numbers. I don’t really know why, but yeah — I was one using her sleeve like a tissue because I forgot to take actual tissues.

DSC_0647

DSC_0648

DSC_0650

The grand finale is the living nativity and it gave me chills and — yes — made me cry again. You don’t have to be Christian or even believe in God to get emotional during this last act. (At least in my opinion.) With the live animals (including camels!), the slow movement, the music, the lighting… it’s just breathtaking.

DSC_0653

It’s not a cheap day out, I’ll be honest, but it is worth every penny. They boys loved it and to hear their ooohs and ahhs and see them riveted during certain scenes… well, you just can’t put a price on that. I’m already looking forward to Laura’s turn 🙂

rockefeller center tree and sak’s window display

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

DSC_0618

Sorry I didn’t get this up yesterday! (Though I doubt anyone was really waiting for it, LOL!) It was just one of those days and we’ll leave it at that. Anyway, the next leg of our NYC trip was taking the boys to Rockefeller Center.

We were there on Tuesday and the tree wasn’t going to be lit until the next day, but since you can barely see the lights during the day it didn’t matter much. The tree this year is really fat. I have to say it looked prettier in some of the night time photos I’ve seen than it did when we were there. Nevertheless, it was very impressive!

DSC_0603

The area was bustling with television techs getting the area ready for the lighting. I pretty much just tried to stay out of their way. Across the street we saw Radio City Music Hall. I love the neon any time of year, but it’s extra pretty with the lights and trees.

DSC_0599

Sak’s Fifth Avenue is right there, too. Their window displays are always so inventive and, well, gorgeous! This year’s display tells the story of a little girl named Holly and a magical discovery of the Bubblemakers.

DSC_0620

DSC_0621

DSC_0622

DSC_0623

DSC_0625

DSC_0627
DSC_0626
DSC_0628

I was rushed through by some little old ladies, so my photos aren’t the greatest, but hopefully you get a hint of how beautiful it is this year!

I’ll conclude tomorrow (really I will) with the absolute highlight of the day: the Radio City Christmas Spectacular!

i ♥ new york (especially during the holidays)

Posted on by — No Comments ↓

DSC_0618

Last week, the kids had two half-days of school to allow for parent-teacher conferences in the afternoon. We decided to keep them out of school on one of those days (I know, I know…) in order to take them into New York City for the day. This would be Noah’s first visit there! When Jake was in 1st grade we took him to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, so of course we had to do the same for Noah.

We kept it a secret from them, as we are known to do. Poor Jake was stressing out because normally I’d be rushing him out the door to get to morning Math Club on time and he couldn’t understand why we weren’t in the car. So Drew just told them we had something else in mind.

First they thought they were spending the day with Grandma because we pulled into her driveway. But when we simply dropped off Laura and headed to the train station, they began to seriously wonder what was up! Both guys were so super excited when they found out what our plans were! Noah has been wanting to go on a train ride for such a long time 🙂

DSC_0582

When we got into Grand Central, the first thing we did was show them the ceiling and Drew explained how when he was in high school, it was so black he never even knew the constellations were painted on it. Then, when we were engaged and he was working in the city, they were doing the restoration and he said how unbelievable it was to watch the transformation. Next up was the Whispering Wall — always so cool, no matter how many times you’ve done it!

DSC_0584

Normally we would have walked up to Times Square, but it was pouring rain, so we took the subway. The boys had a blast at Toys R Us and couldn’t believe that there was a ferris wheel inside. I think this was the first time I’ve ever been on an indoor ferris wheel!

DSC_0596

DSC_0594

We looked at the Lego section at least 25 times.

DSC_0587

And Noah was in “Hot Wheels Heaven” as he put it!

DSC_0592

We let the boys pick out a small Lego set and also got them one of these Myachi things someone was demo’ing (think: Hacky Sack for your hands). When we left the rain had let up so we grabbed a hot dog on the street and started walking up to Rockefeller Center. (I only wish I’d had the common sense to wear some sensible womens wide shoes instead of my heeled boots, but that’s the price we pay for beauty, LOL!).

I’ll continue tomorrow with Part 2 of our day in the city!