the "great" of 2008

in case you missed it here are my "Great in '08" moments:

• Greatest reason to have a younger sibling: My sister Alyssa flew to New York by herself in February to take care of me when I broke my ankle. She had to cook, clean, grocery shop, do laundry at a Laundromat, find the ATM & remember my PIN number, make sure I took my meds, accompany me to the doctor, open doors for me and my crutches and overall keep me sane while I was confined to my apartment with only 100+ DVDs and books for company.
  
• Greatest “Family” vacation: HAWAII for 7 magical days…saw the sights of Honolulu, Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center, swam with a dolphin, walked the grounds of the Laie Temple, barely made it out alive from a helicopter tour, sampled the Pineapple Whip at the Dole Plantation, played lots of hands of Pinochle and swam in the ocean & pool with some of my favorite people in the world, my Mom, brothers, sister-in-law and sister.
  
• Greatest example of why I own an HDTV: Michael Phelps’ swimming events in the Beijing Olympics
  
• Greatest new item to beat the cold: Dunkin Doughnuts White Hot Chocolate…life will never be the same.
  
• Greatest “Friend” vacation: Went to London over Thanksgiving. Saw the Crown Jewels, Westminster Abbey, Changing of the Guard, Courtauld Institute Gallery, National Gallery, traveled to Stonehenge & Bath, boarded a capsule on the London Eye, grimaced through Dirty Dancing the Musical (TERRIBLE!) and ate some great Indian, Thai, Italian and American food and tried to swallow some nasty British food
  
• Greatest electronic purchase: My iPhone at the 5th Avenue Apple Store on Tuesday, September 9th at 7:00am
  
• Greatest songs in iPhone/iPod rotation: Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis), Your Guardian Angel (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus), Your House 2007 (Jimmy Eat World), Broken (Lifehouse), Let’s See How Far We’ve Come (Matchbox Twenty), Sit Back, Relax (Ryan Cabrera), Gravity (Sara Bareilles) & Crack the Shutters (Snow Patrol)
  
• Greatest New York daily moment: Exiting my Rockefeller Center office building to the sight of tour buses unloading excited tourists coming to view the Today Show or glide on the smallest ice rink in the city
  
• Greatest television shows: Brothers & Sisters, Heroes, Eli Stone, Ugly Betty, Lost, Mad Men and Grey’s Anatomy
  
• Greatest traveling moment: Was upgraded to first class when flying to Los Angeles with Missy Elliot in the seat in front of me. Was upgraded again both ways when visiting the family in Utah in October. Gotta love Medallion status.
  
• Greatest hours spent in a movie theater: 27 Dresses, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk, Twilight, The Duchess and What Happens in Vegas
  
• Greatest reason for a movie ticket return policy: Mamma Mia, The Other Boleyn Girl, Indiana Jones & Made of Honor
  
• Greatest “Get out of New York” destination: Newtown, CT (via train) to visit Megan and White Plains, NY or Hackensack, NJ (via rental car) to visit Target and the Cheesecake Factory
  
• Greatest home improvement: Painted a wall purple in my living room and purchased the final piece of furniture in the living room, an end table, at a deep discount at Crate & Barrel
  
• Greatest websites to distract me from work/life: Facebook, Bricks & Stones Gossip and AccuWeather
  
• Greatest personal achievement: Avoided temptation to purchase a puppy while still on crutches and turned 30 years old

christmas decorating

my two Nativity scenes and little tree pales in comparison to the following Christmas light displays.  surprised to find that the location of the displays is about a mile from my joani's house.  too bad i can't see it in person this year.  check out this website for details on where the display is located.  so which do you like best?

2006 - Carol of the Bells

2007 - Amazing Grace

scary resolution

start the self-analyzation.  it is almost resolution time.  i'm already afeared about my personal reflection.  

had a conversation with doc and netter during our gift exchange that started the beginning of resolution thinking.  sure that this past year's experiment of depravation and instigation will affect my self-analyzation.  should be interesting.

have you thought about possible resolutions and for how long will you keep them?

great night at Carnegie

last night went to Carnegie Hall for the New York Pops Holiday Concert.  it was fantastic! normally i get annoyed with too much singing by the guest artists because it takes away from the Pops.  not this time.  the guest artist's were the King's Singers and they were amazing!  it is just my luck that they performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at their Christmas concert last year AND it's being broadcast on PBS on Christmas Eve.  

i loved the Mack Wilberg arranged O Holy Night performance.  it made me cry.  at least i know i'm not dead inside during the holidays.  thank you Christmas music.

just so happened that the concert was held the night of the "big" snow storm.  love the beauty of a snow covered city but not as happy to try and schlep across town in it.

New York Fun Day 2008

the 7th annual new york fun day was fantastic.  we started early with our traditional brunch at Corner Cafe and made it to Macy's, Bryant Park, Avenue of the Americas, Au Bon Pain, Rockefeller Tree (with tubas), Saks Snowflake show that didn't happen, dinner at Outback Steakhouse and finally Christmas K-A-R-A-O-K-E!  

we had such a great time despite the crowds, cold weather and slight tiredness.  hard to believe another New York Fun Day has come and gone.

the unicycler

took a cab to work this morning and saw a man wearing a suit and riding a uni-cycle down park avenue. that was something i had yet to witness in the city.

any strange sights you've seen that you would like to share?

the Fun Day cometh

the story of new york fun day...

i was quite depressed after moving to new york in september of 2002. the adjustment was much harder than anticipated. it was december and i needed a serious "pick me up" otherwise i was pretty sure i was going to head back to joani's. thankfully i had forced doc to be my buddy. one saturday in december 2002 we decided to hit the town and pretend to be tourists to see new york in all of its christmas glory. we went to Rockefeller, Macy's, up 6th Avenue and through Central Park. thus new york fun day was born.

this saturday is the 7th Annual New York Fun Day! i'm so excited. for some reason i don't feel like it is Christmastime until the fun day. thank goodness doc is able to travel from the wilds of medical school to join in the festivities.

itinerary remains the same with brunch, Macy's windows, strolling up 6th Avenue to see the ornaments, hot chocolate at Au Bon Pain, Rockefeller tree, Saks Snowflake show, dinner at Dos Caminos and the finale of Christmas Karoake. i'm really excited to play with netter and doc on saturday.

pics from fun days past:

Christmas all around

i'm so ready for Christmas.  last Saturday i went to white plains to do some shopping (and ate at the Cheesecake Factory of course), saw a Christmas movie that was better than expected, and BOUGHT a tree!  amazing how a tree can lighten a room and bring the Christmas spirit.  i hope i feel the same way when i have to remove it.  :)

Rockefeller Tree Lighting

Me and my new tree

My pretty tree all lit up

London Calling

i have been sorely chastised by family and friends for my tardiness in posting content from my trip across the pond with netter.  there is no excuse that i can give.  it actually makes me feel good to know that people actually care about where i go, what i do and how i am able to capture it all photographically.  London was good, but the picture to the right captures the trip in a nut shell -- it was rainy, windy, and as Claire would say "blasted cold!"

tonight i'm tired after going to the 'burbs to shop for the cutest rug rats ever so i'm only going to post a select number of London pics -- the creme de la creme you might say.  thanks go out to netter for her stellar photographic abilities. details about the trips activities will come along shortly...just not tonight, because i'm tired.