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| we stayed at the W downtown - we wanted to be away from the congestion and we also wanted to have a view of the new World Trade Center site - this is the waterfalls lit at night! |
We just got home from NYC and had such a terrific time, as always during the holidays! I know that it can be a bit frustrating with the crowds and all if you are just a visitor so I thought I would give you some ideas and tips... I hope it's not too late! And even if you LIVE in NYC we have some ideas for you! I promise we don't know it all... I am just trying to help with that holiday frustration that sometime sets in when you visit busy NYC for the Holidays!
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| get your kids on a scooter so that they don't get tired of walking around (that can happen really quick if they are not used to it) just make sure to visit some side streets so that they can wiz around a bit! |
If you can it's best to work a weekday into your trip, this way you can save the things that you KNOW are going to be mobbed with people for that day... like Rockefeller Center.. We took our trip Saturday - Monday. We stayed at the W hotel downtown, because it's where we used to live so we feel comfortable there and it's easily accessible via subway and car (they have a large municipal parking garage). We also wanted to see the Memorial site which was beautiful (we didn't get in but the photo above is the view from our room!). We walk almost everywhere so we bring scooters for the kids and it works perfectly, they NEVER seem to get tired of scootering through the city! (until they wipe out...)
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| charmaine making the shrinky dinks while the kids watch |
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| this is how tiny tiny they are! that's the pieces through a magnifying glass... TINY! |
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| trying to decide what to write on the necklaces... Marley (our dog) was the result! |
On Saturday we spent the day in SoHo and Nolita (our favorite areas) Our event for the day was to visit Charmaine at the Erica Tanov store on Elizabeth Street where she was making her tiny tiny necklaces! (it was last Saturday only.. sorry) Erica Tanov has fun things going on this week too... check in with them to see what is going on!
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| at Kid Robot |
We made it to Kid Robot which is a new fascination with our kids... it's very simple and I don't know what it is but somehow I like the concept that they only sell a few things, it's a small store and my kids are just focused on their 20 or so different figures that they collect as charms ($3-$10 each) on necklaces etc.. or just figurines. (Kid Robot is on Prince between Greene and Wooster). All along the way are holiday windows and lights and small cafe's (The National off of Bowery)... Saturday night was a special dinner for a Birthday Friend at The Fat Radish... Delicious! (sorry I keep talking about the place but it's SO good!)
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| the Fat Radish plate... steamed radishes + brown rice and delicious dipping! it's like Macrobiotic without the Macrobiotic! Yes, that's a big old glass of red wine nearby! |
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| Bergdorf Goodman and fountain of Christmas trees outside the Plaza! |
Sunday we decided to hop in the car at 7:30 am to drive all over town and look at windows! We stopped at Macy's windows, then up to Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys, then to Rockefeller Center for the tree and the Saks Fifth Avenue windows... it was all a delight to see without a single crowd or hardly anyone on the street! (yes, people were ALREADY skating at Rockefeller Center!) Delightful and then a beautiful brunch at Fred's where we ate like ANIMALS because we were so hungry!
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| Louis Vuitton Circus inspired window |
After scootering around a bit more, we made it home for a nap before The Nutcracker at BAM (by The American Ballet Theater company) - it was a gorgeous, beautiful color-filled presentation that the whole family really loved! (when the snow falls and the ladies are dancing silver... Amazing!)
Don't forget a breakfast at Balthazar! It's completely delightful... the flowers are outstanding.. and the food always makes for a fun breakfast! We really had a great time, most of it is just enjoying each thing you do and finding the joy in it all... even the joy in the chaos!
There are Pop Up Holiday sales going on all over the place.. more about them in the next blog!
