Bright lights, cold city

It's funny how you take a vacation and when it's over, you feel like you need another one. Don't get me wrong, Oren and I had a wonderful time in New York City for the week we were there. But the problem is, there was so much planned and so many people to see that by the end of it we were exhausted! Of course it was all worth it and even if I was busy...it's not "work" so that makes it better. I say it was cold in the title but it was actually warm for that time of year in Manhattan. It progressively got colder during our stay and by the day of New Years Eve, it snowed and reached a chilling 12 degrees outside!

For those of you who don't know, Oren and I took a week-long vacation to New York City from Christmas day to New Years Day. One of my best friends lives there and I was definitely owing her a visit (She came all the way to Spain to see me last year). Oren also has several friends from school and his former band that now live there so he wanted to see them as well. I won't go through all the details of what we did, but I will mention the highlights. :)

Let's start with the day we arrived: Christmas. While I just assumed this was a traveling day and we wouldn't get much accomplished, we actually did a whole lot and it was one of the best Christmas' I can remember. After we checked into our hotel and ate an awesome dinner at a Zagat-rated Vietnamese place called Laan Nan, we made our way over to Rockefeller Center to see the huge Christmas tree lit up. It was truly gorgeous. I still don't understand how they find and transport trees that big but if I have learned anything about New York...anything is possible.

After trying to get through an almost impossible, claustrophobia-inducing crowd we went to Grand Central Station. This experience has made it to the top of my list of all-time favorites because I felt like it was out of a movie and totally unexpected. I had been before but Oren never had so we went inside and while standing in the main corridor, this beautiful laser light show started up. Complete with beautiful images on the walls and ceiling and Christmas music, it was a fantastic (and not to mention free) show! Oren and I had a little moment that made my heart melt so I will always remember that place and time fondly. :)

Later we went to Byrant Park where there is a huge ice-skating rink and tons of little shops (that were closed by that time) and a neat restaurant/bar in the middle. After vetoing the idea of skating due to the monstrous line, we decided to go have a drink at Celsius (the bar). This is kind of a scary picture but that was how red the lights were inside. We had fun!



The next big event was venturing to the observation deck of the Empire State building on Friday morning. We attempted to get up early to avoid a horrible line. Although it took 45 minutes to get to the 86th floor, it moved pretty quickly and didn't seem so bad. We went on a beautiful, clear day and were able to see the entire city. We spent about an hour on top taking pictures and looking through magnified binocular machines. Here is a photo of me looking out at the amazing view.



Out of all the awesome food we ate, my favorite by far was dinner at Spice Market. It is Asian fusion cuisine located in the Meatpacking District in a huge warehouse size space (which is rare for Manhattan). When you walk in, you feel like you walked into a very luxurious Indian palace. The food was mouth-watering and the service was excellent. Oren and I tried to make it last as long we could...before we knew it, two hours had passed. If you ever go to NYC, definitely make this a priority!

Some awesome shows we attended consisted of a matinee of Phantom of the Opera (awesome), Wicked (THE BEST SHOW I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!) and an improv comedy troupe at the Upright Citizens Brigade black box theater that included several famous comedians from SNL and 30 Rock. The cool part of the comedy show is you never know who is going to show up and we were lucky enough to get to see Amy Poehler and Rachel Dracht from SNL!! That was pretty cool and very entertaining. It was only 9 bucks too! And seriously people, go see Wicked in New York...it's an experience of a lifetime. Here is a photo of us at the Gershwin Theater in our orchestra seats (thank you Langworthys for the awesome hook-up!)



Museum visits included the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met). While they were both nice experiences, none of the exhibits really wowed us this time around. There were some very interesting notions of art as well as entertaining ones. We didn't get to spend very much time in either museum due to always having somewhere to be next.

We got to see a lot of wonderful friends as well. Heartfelt thanks to Eva and Philip, who put us up for four nights in their adorable little apartment in Chelsea. We had a great time sharing amazing meals and seeing some great shows with you. Of course just being able to see you was a gift in itself. I got to see my dad's cousin and her family, which was special since I don't see them much. Thank you Langworthys for an amazing (and very amusing) dinner at Tartine in Greenwich Village. To my Jackie and Oren's Jackie, lovely to see you both! And it was very nice to meet Oren's other friends as well.

Last but not least...New Year's Eve. Well, due to my mother's life-long dream to be in Times Square on New Years Eve and watch the ball drop, I decided it was important for me to try to do it since the opportunity was there. The only thing was that it snowed for the majority of the day with gusting winds and a wind chill factor causing it to feel like 10 degrees outside! I also wanted to enjoy part of the evening with Eva and Philip since it was a special occasion and I never get to see them. So we all went to Chelsea Market (my favorite market) to buy fresh shrimp and live lobster to cook on the fire back at their apartment. The meal ended up being awesome (although a lot of work) and I was very glad I didn't venture to Times Square at sundown to sit and wait for hours in the cold like most tourists do.

Oren and I knew our potential of actually getting into Times Square was reduced significantly by not leaving Chelsea until 9:30 p.m. but we still wanted to try. So we walked (at a very brisk pace) all padded up in all the winter attire Eva and Philip could throw on us several miles to our destination. Unfortunately, the police kept blocking off the avenues we needed to turn down and we ended up with the late-comers at the last possible avenue you could turn down at the south end of Central Park. We still believed we could make it to the cross-section where you can make your way to Times Square, but not even a half-mile down the street they blocked it off. Initially I was very disappointed and on the verge of tears because I felt like if they let us through I could try with all my might to make my way to the ball. But, I had to accept that we were defeated by the law. There was no turning around either because the crowd behind us trapped us in. We had one of the many jumbo screens placed all around the Times Square vicinity right in front of us so we could still see Times Square and the ball. Although it wasn't the same, we were still out in the cold standing and waiting...doing the exact same thing about a million others were doing. Oren and I snuck in a couple Ozarka bottles half-way filled with Champagne. We slowly took some swigs of it to stay entertained and warm. Midnight came rather quickly and Oren and I shared a fabulous New Years Eve kiss...another experience at the top of my list! The one unique thing we had Times Square people didn't was the ability to watch the fireworks go off in Central Park. They were beautiful and it was nice to feel like waiting out there was worth while.



There is no better way I can think of to bring in the new year. Watching fireworks in New York City with the man of my dreams. (Sorry, I know it's corny but I really appreciate the happiness that has been brought to my life after some struggles) I hope everyone had their own wonderful celebration and I wish you and your families a very Happy New Year.