Christmas in NY, part 1

Hubs and I have been talking about visiting NYC during the holiday season for a few years now but the holidays always get so crazy that we end up swamped and pushing back the trip to the following year. We were quite determined to go this year so several months back I purchased Broadway tickets for us to see Radio Christmas music Spectacular featuring the Rockettes.

When my grandmother heard we were going and what show we were going to see, she swooned as she and my grandfather have been all over the world many times but she has never seen the Rockettes. The show has always been canceled from crazy blizzards when they've had tickets. With that piece of news, we invited her to join us. This grew into an invitation to my mom to join us as a chance for her to get away & squeeze in some mother/daughter time with her mom right before eye surgery. Annnnnd when my grandfather heard the news, he was not about to be left out.

So what started as a trip for two, turned into a trip for five. We all had an incredible time together seeing the sights and I would even venture to say that both Brent and I felt that there wasn't a smidgen of romance lost even though it was no longer a trip for two.

We originally planned to stay pretty close to Time's Square but when my grandparents got us all the hookup with free military housing, we were all on board with that!

We left quite early Thursday morning (think it was around 6AM?) to drive up and get in around mid-late morning. We promptly dropped our bags, grabbed the cameras and spent the day touring the city, experiencing the lights and ohhhing and ahhing over the window displays. We had incredibly gorgeous weather the first day, sunny and warm with no wind, practically balmy! It felt like we were heading into Spring, not preparing to hunker down for winter! It was so warm that the ice was all nasty and slushy at Rockefellor center and we opted out of paying a premium for that experience. Perhaps next year if it's colder!







We toured through the fashion district and I just had to snap a shot of the needle and button all decked out for the holidays.




I loved the "believe" decor all over the Macy's building, very beautifully done.






Funny how much bigger the ball looks on TV when it's reaching the final minutes of dropping! :)



A few of our random shots along the way:



5th avenue was gorgeous the full way, such pretty lights and decorations! We really enjoyed shopping at American Girl and FAO Schwartz






Trump tower was heavily decorated inside & out, we had to stop in and take a peak around. :)



Tiffany's was a personal favorite, each window bow had a gorgeous winter scene completely decked out in jewels!









The incredible window displays at Henri Bendel.









Our show was at 5PM and it was absolutely incredible. Radio City Hall was beautifully decorated and show was perfection. I think the Living Nativity Scene may be my favorite part. :)













Afterwards we heading over to the Stardust Diner to enjoy amazing diner food and more singing and entertainment. :)



We finished up the evening touring around a bit more, picked up some NY Christmas ornaments and enjoyed the views of the city at night from the Staten Island Ferry.











Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow.