Just Because

I wanted to post this picture from my attendance at the So You Think You Can Dance concert in September because my friends Em & Dancing Queen look beautiful and I have a slight tan from my hours watching tennis at the US Open. Generally I'm a pasty white girl so this is proof that my skin can obtain that coveted glow.

New York Fun Day 2007

The Sixth Annual New York Fun Day commenced with Brunch at Corner Cafe. After filling ourselves with yummy goodness we headed out into the wilds of tourist mecca New York to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells that make Christmas in New York such a destination location.

Our first stop was the Macy's windows. They were so cute with each window depicting a point of time for Santa's journey. It was shocking about how thin the crowds were. We were able to see all the windows with considerably less jostling, poking or pushing. It was great!

Netter & her sister "Floridian" in front of a Macy's window

The next stop on our NYFD adventure was to walk up towards Bryant Park where we take a moment to R&R and watch the ice skaters on the "Pond". Netter, Doc and Floridian spied a carousel and bee-lined it to the ticket booth to partake of its rotating goodness. The glee on their faces was a thing to behold.

After the carouseling was completed we made our way up Avenue of the Americas to snap some photos in front of the giant ornaments and Radio City. It is habitual that Doc, Netter and I pose in front of the red ornaments...so of course that had to happen again. Don't we look gorgeous? ;)


After taking a break for some sugar at Au Bon Pain we continued towards the Christmas mecca that is the Rockefeller Tree. It is always pandemonium and pain to make your way to the tree to snap a few photos; however, the good tourists remained away so that we could enjoy some space to immortalize ourselves with the tree from CT.

New York City Public Schools have been collecting pennies throughout the year for the charitable "Penny Harvest". This year all the pennies were displayed at Rock Center so of course we needed to get in on the fun but supporting the over $1 million dollars worth of pennies collected.
We ventured to the front of Rockefeller to enjoy the Saks Fifth Avenue Snowflake Light Show. It really is fun to watch the lights on the building going "blinkety, blink" in tune to Carol of the Bells. This location is also prime for taking pictures amonst the Rock Center Angels.

We grabbed some pizza at Bella Napoli and stopped for Doc's new addiction, Pinkberry prior to our final NYFD destination...Christmas Karaoke! Generally we attend the Pops concert at Carnegie but because of scheduling we needed an alternate ending and Netter in her infinite wisdom came up with Christmas Karaoke. It was awesome. We sang some holiday staples, 80s rock and new tunes. The time together in the little room with loud music and vocal stylings was the perfect ending to our 6th Annual New York Fun Day. I know that 2008's event will come before I know it.

Love of Live Music

I am fully addicted to the live music. The month of December has fed the madness. I was able to attend not one, not two, but three live musical events. The first of course was Jimmy Eat World in Florida. Great show and fun to be in warmth again.

The second was a spur of the moment ticket to Z100's Jingle Ball with Netter. She got some free tickets and there were some decent performers so I decided to tag along. By far my favorites were Avril Lavigne, Alicia Keys & One Republic. It was fun to let loose after a long week at work.


The third musical event has become my holiday tradition of attending the NY Pops Holiday Concert at Carnegie Hall. This year we even splurged for the $40 seats in the Dress Circle. Oh yeah! Netter & Dancing Queen came with me to enjoy the stylings of the Pops. Unlike past years there was some drama when a woman in the choir FAINTED during a song. Luckily she recovered and continued on. They did some fun arrangements led by conductor Doc Severinsen, in all of his red leather glory.


Living in New York has given me the chance to truly feed my musical cravings whether at a large venue (Madison Square Garden) or a small gathering at a bar downtown. I will continue to enjoy musical stylings throughout 2008 starting with Matchbox Twenty. Woo hoo!

An Adult Perspective

As a kid I looked forward to Christmas with immense anticipation and glee. As an adult the level of my excitement about Christmas hasn't changed but the motivation has. Instead of looking forward to the gifts I would find under the tree, as a 29 year old I now look forward to sleeping in until noon rather than opening presents. The shopping crowds at the mall used to be so fascinating, now the milling tourists just get on my nerves.

Thankfully the purpose for Christmas will remain eternally the same. I still love to read the Nativity Story and sing songs around the piano with the Moocher, Joani and the Hoodlums (collectively known as my brothers). Christmas will always be eagerly anticipated regardless of my favorite parts.

First Time in Florida

I have reached my goal of Silver Medallion status with Delta all because of a quick sojourn to Orlando, Florida the first weekend in December. I took the super early departure out of La Guardia to land in O-town before 11am. First stop off of the plane was to pick up my smokin' hot convertible from Dollar. Next stop was to get lost coming out of the airport parking lot and again trying to get out of the airport itself. Note to the Orlando government...better directions for out-of-towners would be greatly appreciated.

Being me, I had located the closest Target, Cheesecake Factory ("T.C.F.") and shopping mall. Lucky for me all three were within about a block of each other. Good planning Floridian government/retail people. :) After eating my scrumptious meal of salad, coke and bread at T.C.F. I headed into the mall and was completely bored within about 30 minutes. Luckily I was able to pick up Joani's Christmas gift.



Leaving the mall was surprisingly simple and my hotel was a short drive of about 10 miles. The shopping gods must have been on my side because there were outlets across the street from my Hilton. Of course I had to stop and enjoy their bounteous goodness. After shopping I headed to the hotel to clean myself up and get ready for the rock 'n roll stylings of Jimmy Eat World.

The House of Blues was located a short walk across the street and through Downtown Disney. I arrived at the venue at about 6:30pm which is quite early for me to arrive at a concert. The line was VERY long to get in so I decided to take advantage of the HOB "Pass the Line". So I headed into the restaurant bar to order a coke and some food which would allow me to skip ahead of the masses. This was a good idea but didn't allow me any time to actually eat the food I had purchased. Thankfully I made friends with the security guards so I had someone to shoot the breeze.


Once inside I pushed my way to the front of the stage where I became surrounded by Silverchair fanatics...not just fans...fanatics! Silverchair started promotely at 8pm and ended around 9pm. During this hour of noise three fights broke out where the band had to stop playing and security had to dive into the crowd. One fight was between two women. Come on! After waiting about 25 minutes my boys Jimmy hit the stage. By this time I had pushed my way even closer to the stage.

The band played a very similar set to the New York show. A few notable exemptions were Kill, For Me This is Heaven and the ENTIRE encore. The band played for an hour then the curtains closed and that was it. NO ENCORE! I was a very annoyed person as I walked back through Downtown Disney to my hotel. Luckily I was able to find a nice churro vendor to put my head and heart back at ease after the loss of an encore.

Overall the Florida experience was good. I wished the concert was longer and the food was better. The only way to determine if it was all worth it is if I am able to upgrade to first class at least once when flying next year.

Stay tuned...

A Spare Moment...

Work is kicking my trash lately not too mention the countless activities that occur during the Holiday Season aren't allowing for much time to sit back and review my life. I truly don't feel like I have a spare moment to post my deep thoughts and insights about life on this here blog. Okay, so I'm not that deep and when I get a chance the next posts on this blog will include my Florida trip review, calendar events of the Holiday Season, and the review of The Little Mermaid on Broadway!

'Tis the time to exercise patience my friends.