THE BIG APPLE

Now that Christmas is almost over, I thought I would post some pics from our trip to New York. We had a blast! We stayed 4 days, which of course was not nearly enough time, and came home Thanksgiving Day.Nate had never been, and it's been a long time since my mom and I have been back...So we did all the touristy things back to back. Needless to say, it was a jam-packed vacation. Damon has turned out to be quit the traveler, and the grandparents are always eager to play and hold Damon, so life was good.

Day 1
Our first real day there, no traveling involved, we decided to hit the Statue of Liberty, or Lady Liberty as Nick calls it, and Ellis Island first. Not a good decision on our part, I think it was the coldest and wettest day of our whole trip. Ellis Island was really interesting, and we could have spent half a day there, but not on this trip...on to the next. We survived the bitter cold and hopped on the subway to go see Ground Zero. It was such an amazing site, it really blows you away how huge those towers really were and the event that took place there.

Day 2
We went to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectular at Rockefeller Center. We ate at Carneige Deli, where we all ate sandwiches that were as thick as us, played at FAO Schwartz, and strolled through Central Park.

Day 3
Nate and I woke up early and went over to the Today's show. We saw Elaine's boss(Seinfield), Al and the gang, but most importantly we saw Natalie up close and personal. I think she gave a wink in Nate's direction or maybe it was the other way around? We had some front row spots, and I was all ready to get my 5 seconds of TV fame, and then some ladies pull out the signs and I couldn't see anything but white posterboard. Brian was back at the hotel and said he could see Nate though-Lucky. Afterwards, we took a taxi to the Museum of Natural History, which was amazing and needed a week per floor to see everything. Off to The Garden we went to see Wintuk by Cirque de Sole. We headed to the Empire State building afterwards, and then walked around forever and ever and ever.

Day 4

Thanksgiving Day! My mom and I are the die-hard parade goers of the family, as for our husbands, not so much. So my mom and I wake up early and are down on the streets by 6:30 saving a seat for the big Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! We got a great front row view of the whole thing. I don't know about my mom, but my legs were aching so bad after standing for 4-5 hours during the whole saving seat/watching the parade event, but well worth it. We were sad to leave NY and the hotel. We stayed right in times square, the hotel was great! They had chocolate and Figi waters at the front desk, which I made Nate confiscate on multiple occasions, and the king size bed was oh so comfortable...we were in no hurry to get back to our queen bed that we usually end up sharing with our two 40lb dogs. I heart NY!

NPR

YES, I do listen to NPR and I'm not ashamed anymore to admit it. I found myself listening to it on the way to work, and then end up driving to lunch, everyone would be all "What are you listening to Grandma?" As most young people probably have a little JT (Justin Timberlake) or Spice Girls bumb'in in their car...(let's hope not). Nope, not I. N8 and I went to see Ira Glass from 'This American Life,' one of our favorites on NPR last weekend at Kingsbury. The man is brilliant and the best storyteller ever! I promise you'll be addicted once you start listening. It's funny how anytime you go see someone live, you fall in love with them even more, at least I do. Any concert I've ever gone to, afterwards all I listen to is their CD for the next month and totally overload and then hide the CD for another year until I decide to bust it out yet again. After seeing Ira, I got the same high. I'm like "Dude- he rocks, This American Life rocks, NPR rocks!" Yeah Bro! HAHA