It's Christmas-time in the City!

We woke up at 4 am on December 11 after getting only a few hours of sleep.We quickly finished packing our snacks and itinerary and headed to the parking lot location where we would grab the bus to NYC. We had booked this trip months before finding out that we were expecting, and I kept praying that I wouldn't feel sick and that the weather would be nice. God answered both prayers! The temperature was in the low 40s, which was amazing for NY in December! Even with getting to the bus shortly after 5 am, we grabbed one of the last seats that were together - literally! We sat the entire way in the back of the bus next to the bathrooms, but to me, other than the very front seats, these were perfect. We didn't have anyone on either side or behind us. We settled in and tried to nap with no success for the first leg of the trip. Thereafter, Dan & Julie (our friends who coordinated the trip) came around with our tickets to the show and to grab cell phone numbers just in case they were needed at the end of the night (leaving anyone behind would NOT be a good thing!). They also handed out Christmas trivia. I had all the Christmas carols correct, but missed a few questions on the random trivia answers, scoring just one less than the winners from our bus. But, it was a fun way to pass the time. I will also say that if you've never experienced a bathroom on a moving bus, you're not missing anything! I went into this tiny closet and almost didn't make it out! You literally get thrown around as the bus is moving and it's difficult to even get your pants back up. Thankfully, I survived.

We literally got into the city as the sun was rising, which was gorgeous over the NY skyline. The bus dropped us off one block from the Radio City Music Hall, which was our first stop of the day. We had bought tickets to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, which I would recommend. Our seats were in the second mezzanine (not all that great) but the show was still good. My favorite parts were the Nutcracker scene, the toy soldiers, and of course, the real story of Christmas being told to this live audience where the wise men came to worship Jesus. And while the Rockettes were impressive, I was excited to see them when they were reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh and tired of them by the end of the show. Here's a picture of me outside the building as we were about to enter.

After the show was over, we headed to Rockafeller Center since we were basically right there. The tree was huge, but it didn't look as impressive as I was expecting... until night time. When we saw it later, it was WOW! I did enjoy seeing the ice skaters. Some of them were good - others not so hot. You'll notice Santa skating on the ice below - I had to grab a quick picture of him.

It's always been a dream of mine to ice skate here some day. But, we both agreed that it would NOT be a day that I was pregnant or expected to care for small children (just in case I would fall and get hurt). I also couldn't believe the line to get on the ice! I think if we do choose to go back in the winter sometime with this in mind, we'll have to get there early enough to make it worth our while. Here's my handsome hubby watching the skaters. Unfortunately, we never got a picture of us together that day. :(

There were a few things that annoyed me about people in NY that day, one of which were the picture takers. I agreed with Shawn that at times some of the best pictures you take are with your heart. The city was literally toe-to-toe, shoulder-to-shoulder, cheek-to-cheek everywhere you went! All these masses moved in swarms, and there was nothing more annoying that the flow of the crowds being disrupted by someone wanting to stop to get a perfect picture. I liken it almost to that Visa commercial where someone tries to pay cash. Only, in the city at this time of year, it was WAY worse! So, we got all of three pictures that day (one of me in front of Radio City, one of Shawn where we were already out of the way, and one of Santa skating because again, we weren't stopping anyone to take it). The rest of the pictures were taken from other websites.

The other thing that annoyed me (since we're on the subject) was being smoked on. Literally, the crowds were so close that I inhaled more smoke from cigarettes to cigars to everything in between. Being pregnant and nauseated by smells as it is, this was overwhelming to me. There has to be a better system for letting people smoke and not having people who don't want to feel like they're part of the cigarette (or worse).

But, most of the rest of everything was so wonderful that those two minor annoyances weren't the end of the world. The third was the lack of public restrooms, which caused a line at the ones that were open. But again, no one was killed or injured from it.

Now on to things I loved! I absolutely adored the Christmas decorations that the buildings had. These Christmas balls were in front of the Chase building, and they were gi-normous! They also had Elmo, Grover & Big Bird, Pooh Bear & Tigger, Mickey & Minnie, Shrek and many other such characters dressed up outside greeting folks. Buildings had things like wreaths, Christmas snowflakes, and even wrapped up like a big present. The entire city was decked out! I also loved that the Salvation Army didn't just stand there ringing their bells. Many had live performances by musicians while others just sang to pre-recorded Christmas music playing and many danced away as they asked for donations. It was extremely unique, and I heard many folks comment on how neat they all were!

Our next stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was on Shawn's must-see list. The architecture of the building was extremely impressive. As with many Catholic churches, there were donation pots at every step almost. We went just before a mass, and as Shawn walked up to see the nativity scene, he was offered a holy wafer, which he declined. Then as we rounded the back of the building, he almost got in the processional of priests, who all just smiled at him. But, as we were leaving, the organ began to play and the music was amazing! The church was beautiful, and I thought it was sad how no one stopped any of these tourists to tell them the true meaning of the season. While I don't agree with all of Catholicism, here was their chance to witness to unbelievers and they didn't even so much as say hi to any of them! They did ask a $2 donation to light a rosary candle, and I couldn't even remember what that means to Catholics. We left later than I would have liked and earlier than Shawn would have, but again, the building itself was highly impressive.

Our next stop was the worst one of the day. I was starving by that point (the apples we had eaten on the bus were long since gone) so we decided to head to lunch. We had written down a couple options but after walking around for awhile, we decided to try Trump Cafe in the Trump Towers. We went downstairs and the food there looked amazing - fresh salads, pizza, sandwiches, homemade hot food to go, etc. BUT, there wasn't a chair to be had in the entire place. Since we both were ready to rest for a bit, we decided to eat at the Trump Grille instead. The food was expensive (typical for NYC), including $5 for a small glass of soda or iced tea. We both ordered steaks since they were only a couple dollars more than a burger and felt like you were getting something for the money. But, our main problem was... it was HOT! I mean really HOT! Like Donald Trump had already died and we were in Hades with him. We stripped off all the layers that we could, but I was extremely nauseous from the 100+ degrees that we were sitting in. We were both sweating. The food was delicious, but I was glad when it was time to go, even though we had wanted to sit and rest for a little bit. We went to explore the building more (which had cool outdoor gardens) only to discover that the ONLY bathrooms in the entire place were... you guessed it, on that bottom level where the restaurant was. We went back down to the sauna and I waited in line for what felt like an eternity. And, I had the pleasure of getting the stall next to someone who was less fortunate than me and did lose her lunch... over and over and over again as I was forced to listen. I quickly washed my hands and raced out of there! If we never go to that building again, it won't hurt my feelings! We were glad to be back out in the "fresh" air.

When we left there, we wandered over to Central Park to see what everyone was watching. Here there was an amazing street performance going on. The guys were not only talented acrobats, they were also comedians. Shawn & I laughed and laughed as they performed. This was one of the highlights of the day for me.

Next we walked around the city and decided to head over to FAO Schwarz, which was on my to-do list. The last time I was there, I was 12 and had met Richard Simmons. But, I didn't remember much else about it, and I hear it's a must-see at Christmas time. When we got there, there was a line to get in. (We saw lots of lines to get in places like Saks 5th Avenue and other such stores). We didn't think much about it until we walked a full city block and still hadn't seen the end of the line. I told Shawn if it was past the next one, we could skip it. But, it ended just before my 'skip it' mark, and I was thankful we got in line. We walked back as quickly as we had walked up. The store wasn't all that busy either, and it didn't take long at all to get in. Once again, people were holding up the line to get their picture with the toy soldier who told people they got ONE shot at a picture. Ugh!

We decided to check out the upstairs first. It was also HOT up there, and we walked around until I told Shawn that I couldn't stand the heat anymore. We did see some very cool toys, though, and we'd say "oh, wouldn't Caleb love that" or "wouldn't that be perfect for Joshua." One such thing was a Toy Story puzzle where you can give them a picture of your child and they custom make it, putting your child's face as the "Andy" in the story. They were really neat. But, alas, we didn't have any pictures on us (and it was probably a good thing seeing their prices! We went back to the first floor where it was much cooler and saw the stuffed animals as well as the impressive candy shop (a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup was $25!) and then headed downstairs to check out the lower level as well. Eventually we made it out of the store, never seeing the piano display that everyone raves about (but not really looking for it, either).

The next part of our agenda had a longer walk involved (if I'm remembering our day correctly) so we stopped for some Starbucks to sip along the way. Then Shawn took me to 47th Street. Here is where I must stop and praise my husband once again. He is AMAZING with direction. I don't think I even truly appreciated it that day, but as I look back, I think WOW! I made a short list of things I'd like to see while we were there. Beyond that, I simply trusted Shawn to lead us. I didn't think about where we were, how we got there or where we were going. I simply took his hand as he guided me to the next place. He has a fantastic sense of direction (and I'm... well, the opposite!), and I'm so thankful that he's willing to take the lead in these situations. Anyway, we had our drinks and we walked and walked and came to this street where he told me to make sure to watch the windows. And again, WOW! Only in NYC can you 'window shop' and see things like gorgeous 5 carat diamonds on display. Most of the store personnel tried to beckon us inside, and I realized that they couldn't see our rings with our gloves on. We just had fun looking - after all, go big or go home, right? I loved all the jewelry on this street, and it's so neat that all the vendors are in one area. Fun! And not at all on my list but something Shawn knew I would enjoy.

Our next stop was the New York Public Library, which was on Shawn's must-see list. He said it was his favorite part of the day, and it was probably second for me. Once again, the architecture was impressive! The first stop for us was a unique display only there this month or so on religion. It was FASCINATING! For example, I didn't realize that all the religions trace their roots back to Abraham, and even Muslims believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. However, they don't believe He was the Messiah but merely a prophet. I also didn't realize that Catholics and different sects of Protestants use different Bibles. After all, to me the Word is God and the Word became flesh (John 1:1) so how can mortal man change it? Who would dare? It was a really unique display and we spent quite some time in that room reading the various facts they had long with the items on display.

Next we checked out some of the actual library and its architecture. It was a REALLY cool building. I also decided to use the restroom once again, thinking there wouldn't be many women on the third floor of the library. Boy, was I wrong! I waited another year or so in line there (it felt like) while my poor hubby waited for me. There were never lines for the men's room (and I'm wondering why they don't change some of the men's restrooms into women's?).

When we were done at the library, both in awe of everything we saw, we went behind the building to Bryant Park, which is transformed at Christmas time into an outdoor market, basically. All these neat little shops are in what I liken to greenhouses, which are heated. Vendors sold things like crafts, Christmas ornaments, chocolates, handmade soaps, handbags, and everything in between. Unfortunately, it was a ZOO there! We could barely move let alone go into any of these places, and we weren't really in the mood to buy anyway, so we walked over to the ice skating area.

Bryant Park also features ice skating in the winter, and we thought the various tables around the ice skating rink were cool, as each one had its own little heater. There were also glass rooms that overlooked the pond with big couches in them that looked inviting. But, we were there to see as much of the city as possible!

When we left there, it was starting to get dark. We walked to Time Square, which is always impressive, no matter what time of day. The larger-than-life advertising is incredible, and while you see it on TV, you don't realize how small you feel until you go to a place like this and look up to see these massive buildings and billboards. We walked into various different shops along our stroll back through, including DeBeers jewelry store, a couple clothing stores, and the NBA store. Eventually, we wandered into a little Irish Pub to eat dinner. We were told the waiting time would be roughly 15 minutes, and I saw her write our name at the end of a long list. But, with no where to go and no interest in the bar, we stood basically right at the hostess station while other folks went to get drinks. I think the woman had pity on us feeling extraordinarily tired by that time in the evening because she took us back within five minutes to a tiny little table for two. It was a jam-packed restaurant, and our service was terrible (although gratuity is automatically tacked onto your bill so there's no incentive for the workers to check back on you). But, we were thankful to be sitting and to eat some dinner. Our bill for some sandwiches and a drink with no refills came to around $70 - gotta love NY! This was the ONLY place the entire day that I didn't have to wait in a long line for the bathroom, though, praise God!

When we finished with dinner, we walked around some more, both of us commenting by this point on how old and lame we were getting with both of our feet swelling and our backs aching. We continued to window shop and stop in some stores as we headed back to where the buses were to pick us up. When we arrived, we didn't see our bus anywhere, and I've never seen anything like the crowd that was there behind the Winter Garden Theatre. It was literally chaos with people everywhere! I saw Julie's sister standing in the back row, and we made our way back to her. Other folks saw us, and we became a group. Then we saw Dan & Julie who told us our bus couldn't make its way up to where we were, so we walked another couple blocks down to where she was. They did the fastest head count I've ever seen and we were off! Thankfully, everyone made it to the correct bus on time and we were able to leave, even though we were stuck in traffic for about an hour. God love the bus driver - I wouldn't want to drive a small pinto in NYC let alone a big bus! (I loved the drivers, though, throughout the day - it's customary that everyone honks their horn at all times - it made me smile.) Even with the late start, we were still home just before midnight. On the last leg of the trip, they played the Muppet Christmas Carol movie, which was a nice way to pass the time. Shawn & I took advil and tylenol, respectively, and did our best to get comfy for the ride home. When we got back to the house, I was overly tired and sore, so I took half a unisom to help me sleep (approved by the baby doctor!). We slept in the next day, thankful that our boys were being cared for by Shawn's parents. We missed them like crazy, but we had a fun day/date in NY.