Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I love Christmas (as long as it starts after Thanksgiving Day), and there's nothing like New York City at Christmas time. The last two years here have been magical, with everything transformed into a winter wonderland by more than a foot of snow on the ground. This year, it's been unseasonably warm all month. And it's hard to get into the Christmas spirit when you're walking around without a coat on in December. (Not that I'm complaining...)

We started out the Christmas season by attending the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade with our friends, the Majors. It was a bit chilly, standing in the shade, and we were far enough back that all we could see was the balloons, but I'm glad we went. Here are a couple of pics (to see them all, visit my FB page):

(That last one is Tim Burton's contribution to this year's parade.)

Skip forward to this weekend...On Saturday afternoon, thanks to Ed's Aunt Joanne and Uncle Bob (and their friend who sings with the Metropolitan Opera), we had tickets to see La Fille du Regiment. I don't know anything about Donizetti operas, but this one was really funny. Ed balked at 3 hours of listening to a soprano, so I took my friend, Suki with me. It was wonderful. And we got to see Kiri Te Kanawa perform, which was an unexpected treat. Afterward, we went to look at Christmas windows and lights, visiting the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Saks and Bergdorf windows. Saks was a huge disappointment, I have to say, but Bergdorf's were amazing as usual:

You can't really tell from the photos how gorgeous that blue and green window was--all kinds of sea creatures created out of metallic mosaic pieces. Can you see the lobster in the bottom foreground? Incredible. I had visited Macy's a couple of weeks ago as well, and while I didn't take any pictures, their windows this year were beautiful, too.

Ed and I spent Christmas Eve feasting on stuffed sole from Omaha Steaks, compliments of my in-laws, drinking wine and opening presents. (He's like a five-year-old when it comes to gifts, starting about Dec. 20th: "Can I open them now? Why not??") He bought me Mondel's chocolates (which is now on my must-do-when-in-NYC list) and the complete Blu-Ray Harry Potter series. Bring on the blizzards!

My very dear friend, Neda, who lives in CA is coming for a visit tomorrow, which will add to the list of things for which I'm so grateful this year. Merry Christmas to all!

Helpful people on the HighLine

Larry, Maura, Ed and I walked the HighLine before Maura had to catch her train on Saturday. While I was taking these pictures...

A very nice woman asked if we wanted her to take a picture of the four of us. In theory, this was very kind. It helps, however, to either 1) know how to work an iPhone, or 2) speak English so you can understand instructions on how to work an iPhone, before you volunteer.

The first photo was taken with the camera facing the wrong way:

The second time she had it facing the right direction (you can see the Standard Hotel and Larry's feet), but:

The third time, she turned it off rather than taking the photo. So we gave up and took turns playing photographer. :)

Guess who I met yesterday?

New York in the springtime

We just got back from Italy, so I have to update on that, but it's going to take time. In the meantime, here are some photos of how lovely New York is this time of year:

This last photo includes the latest installation in Madison Square Park. It's much bigger than it looks from this angle...

California dreamin'

Eddie ran his first (last?) marathon in Huntington Beach, CA, with his friend, Chris Aikin. I have to say...California in February beats NYC hands down in the weather category. It wasn't quite beach weather, but we didn't have to wear coats, which was wonderful!

Perfect marathon weather; not perfect beach vacation weather...(Those dots are surfers.)

 3:45:56! Yay!!!

I went to Santa Monica for the day to see my wonderful friend, Neda. Isn't she gorgeous?

We spent an afternoon at the Getty Museum. The campus was built since the last time I was in CA, and it's really impressive.

Bernini is my favorite sculptor:

And how cool is this mosaic made out of marble?

 The cactus garden:

We had a great vacation. It was nice to escape the bustle of the city for awhile. But it's always nice to come home...

Twice in one week!

Well, they didn't allow pictures at King Tut. They had artifacts from the tomb, but not the actual sarcophagus. The mummy has never left the Valley of the Kings, but there was an identical model created for the exhibit. His father, Akhenaten, was a monotheist, amazingly, and changed the religious practices of Egypt. Tutankhamun (who was born Tutankhaten - Aten was the god his father worshipped) changed everything back when he took over. The name change signified the change in gods as well. Tut - image; ankh - life; amun - god = image of the living god. Their art was beautiful and incredibly well made. Shabti with prayers carved into them. Tiny feathers carved into golden images. A statue of Nefertiti carved from granite that looked alive. Everything was so colorful and even after over three millennia, the colors are still bright. Wooden images and implements are intact, due to the incredibly dry climate. I'm really glad we went.

Today, I went to the Met. I spent some time with the 5 Vermeers, and then went to the area of modern art I had missed last time. There were some dizzying sculptures on display. This one was a concave metal sculpture, made out of hundreds of mirrors. The artwork reflects whatever is around it, depending on the angle at which you look. You can see me upside down taking the picture.

These two are just giant panels of color from opposite sides of the room. I couldn't get the entire thing from one side:

Kristin Sigurdadsdottir (I think I have that right) has a couple of works on special exhibit. This one is a series of doors and mirrors that spiral the room getting smaller (or larger, depending on your viewpoint). You can see my feet in the mirror.

A recent acquisition, this bust is made of bronze and marble. I've never seen anything like it. Her head wrapping is so colorful...

A view of the Belvedere Castle in Central Park at twilight

And finally, Shepard Fairey has been in my neighborhood. (I'm becoming quite the graffiti expert, thanks to Rafe and Hero!)

Happy New Year!

We've had lots of fun visitors in the last month. Mom, Edie, Ann, Rafe/Robin/Sibyl/Hero...I'm way behind on new entries, so I'll let the photos speak:

Ann's favorite burger joint:

The world's best cupcakes (Baked by Melissa):

Best Indian food in the City:

Our favorite pub (the Westside Tavern):

A little street shop on 23rd (See me?):

Christmas decoration:

Meatpacking District graffiti/art:

The HighLine:

How's this for a garbage dump? :)

 Friends we met after the play:

Times' Square (and the billboard for the play we saw that night):

The Majors (all but Seren) came to see us a couple of weeks ago. This was Sibyl's first visit. Skating in Central Park,

The windows at Bloomingdales all made from paper (you can see the buildings across the street reflected in the glass), a dragon/lizard:

 a kitten:

 a scene from outer space (I think) with what looks like a pterodactyl:

A coffee break:

Dinner out:

And a possible Space Invader (the other one got stolen from the wall during their visit):

Last week, I went to see the Botanical Garden Train Show, NY monuments made out of plants, twigs, leaves...

Idlewild Airport:

St. Patrick's Cathedral:

The Brooklyn Bridge:

The Flatiron Building:

Tonight, we're headed to the King Tut Exhibit...More pics to come!