I have been to NYC many of times throughout my life but for the first time I will be going there on this coming New Year’s Eve. I’ll be going with my very large and very Italian family who were originally from NYC, along with my girlfriend of 3 years. We plan on arriving in the city at 10 a.m. and making a day out of it. Starting with a horse and buggy ride throughout central park with no other than New York’s famous “nuts 4 nuts” bag in hand. After a few hours of some old fashioned fun in the park we’ll head over to the notorious Carnegie deli for lunch where I’ll scarf down my 1 foot high corned beef sandwich. From there we plan on going to the ice skating rink where I’ll be able to romantically skate around a few times with my girlfriend, but then be forced off because of the other 10 thousand people waiting in line! After we take pictures with each and every person from our family in front of the tree for a nice memorabilia, we’ll head to Little Italy for dinner. We haven’t fully discussed which restaurant we’re going to yet, but my guess (and hopes) is Dominick’s, where I’ll enjoy one of the worlds best meatballs! After a few drinks and a full stomach we’ll head over to time square to see the ball where I will be anxiously waiting, because when that ball drops is when I’ll drop to my knee and ask for my girlfriend’s hand in marriage. A perfect day with a perfect ending!
Posts Tagged ‘family’
My First NYC Christmas (3 Days Before My Wedding!)
I’ve lived in NYC for a few years, but had typically left for the holidays and spent it with family elsewhere. However, for Christmas 2009, I was engaged! As it was, our wedding date was to be the 28th of December, so my parents just decided to come a few days early so they could spend Christmas Day with my soon-to-be husband and me. My other roommates left the City for the holidays, so everything worked out to be a perfect family Christmas morning.
My favorite part of Christmas is wrapping presents, so it was great fun being crammed into my small apartment and trying to wrap and hide gifts from each other. My parents brought me my childhood stocking and also brought theirs for this Christmas away from home. They also brought me a few of my favorite childhood ornaments. As is typical, NYC apartments are tiny little things and so it was hard to fit a Christmas tree. Instead, we put some red roses in a vase, placed this on a small coffee/end table, and hung some ornaments the best we could! Christmas morning was wonderful. We were all in our pajamas and having my fiance there was an amazing feeling. Not only that, but it was my first Christmas in New York City! The gifts were extra special because my parents purchased gifts for my fiance and I as a couple which was new for all of us. Also because the gifts from my guy had more thought than usual put into them. We spent the rest of the day cuddled up, drinking hot cocoa, and watching a movie that I received that morning. Although it wasn’t a typical NYC-movie Christmas, it was a perfect first NYC Christmas for me.
Christmas with My Sister
My older sister and I have not lived in the same state for over a decade, and even though we’re close, we rarely get to see each other. A few years, out of the blue, she said that she was going to come visit me in New York for Christmas. At the time she lived in Washington D.C., so she took a train from there to come see me.
She and I had the best time while she visited. We spent a week in the city visiting everything from the giant Toys R Us to Macy’s. Knowing I was completely broke at the time, she paid for me to go see the Lion King and Handle’s Messiah. I never get to see shows, so it was a real treat. We also went to the Gotham comedy club where I got to see some of my favorite comedians.
That Christmas meant so much to me, and since then we have continued the tradition of sharing Christmas together. Things have changed, and now she has three beautiful children, and this year I get to go visit her in Nebraska. Sure, Christmas in New York is magical, but it doesn’t matter where we are, as long as we re together for Christmas.
Thanksgiving in NYC Pt. II
When Thanksgiving morning rolled around my Mom, and my sons and I were so excited that we were awake and ready to go at 4:30 in the morning! After breakfast, and dressing the boys up in very warm clothes we headed up to meet up with my Dad and husband on the parade route. Watching that parade in person after all of my years as a child wanting to was simply stunning, but what made it truly the best was being there and sharing that moment with my own kids. It is surely a day and a memory that none of us will ever forget. After the parade we went back to the hotel, and when we arrived we had a whole Thanksgiving day feast waiting for us in our room. My Dad went all out to truly make this a family day, and a day we are all so very thankful to be a part of. I personally have been to New York and the City of New York many times since we have friends that moved there, but this Thanksgiving was the Best trip I have ever had to that beautiful city and state!
Thanksgiving in NYC Pt. I
All my life I grew up watching the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Day parade on TV with my Mom and Dad. Every year I told my parents how badly I wanted to go to that parade someday. I begged and pleaded but I always heard about how crowded it would be, how much money it would cost, where would we eat turkey dinner, and so on. So, after a few years in a row of hearing the same thing, I gave up on asking for this wonderful Thanksgiving tradition. A few years back, now that I have children of my own, my parents surprised my husband, myself and my kids with a trip to none other than the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Day parade! We left two days before Thanksgiving and drove to New York City. Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel and then headed right out to lock down our spot for the big Thanksgiving day parade. Of course it was too cold out to keep our young sons out in the cold over night waiting on the parade, so my husband and my dad took turns out on the street keeping our amazingly awesome spot for the parade.
Don’t Rain on My Parade
It was a few years ago and I was really excited to wake up and attend the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The previous night I got together my camera as well as some food and drink and went to sleep early so I would not miss any of the fun. I was anticipating taking the train to the city early in the morning and getting a great spot so I would enjoy the whole experience. I woke up around 2 am and it was raining. It was raining so hard, I did not think it would be a good idea to go. I got dressed anyway in hope that the rain would slow down and I would be able to attend . After I got dressed and bundled up, I went outside and waited hoping that the rain would slow down just enough that I could go. By now it was after 3 am and still raining hard, I realized that there was no hope and it was just going to be any other rainy day. I took all of my belongings and went back inside. I was really sad I missed the parade; I had planned for this and now there was nothing I could do. Since it was Thanksgiving, I decided to just go home and try not to be gloomy. I got inside to my nice cozy place, sat down and just fell asleep still bundled up. When I woke up the parade just started so I got to watch it from inside. It was still slightly raining so in a way it was good I did not go. Instead of ruining my Thanksgiving, I got to sit home with the people I love and we sat down and had family time. Had I have gone to the parade alone, we would not have been together to enjoy the peaceful day dry and indoors all together.
Statue of Liberty in the Summer
My favorite sightseeing spot in New York is the Statue of Liberty. The best part about it was learning about our country’s history of immigration with Ellis island, which is where the statue is located. The highlight of the statue itself was climbing up towards the top and looking out over the harbor. Don’t worry, there aren’t that many steps so even if you aren’t real mobile you can definitely get up. Be prepared for some security screening, nothing that takes long at all. I bought my tickets to New York online but I bought my ferry tickets in person. I would recommend spending at least a day viewing all that the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island has to offer. There are several other really neat attractions. There is a history museum built on the island, which is really interesting for visitors of all ages. My kids liked some of the historical documents and artifacts that they had. I first wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty ever since my friend told me he had a great time with his family there. My family had a great time too and the kids never got bored. There were some staff on the island and all of them were informative and friendly. There was a gift shop that I enjoyed, which had reasonable prices, too. There isn’t much in the way of food or anything else like that on Ellis island, so if you are going to go just be advised. Overall the whole experience is enjoyable, you will appreciate the ferry ride, the immigration museum and of course the shining beacon of liberty her self, the Statue of Liberty. I will visit the Statue of Liberty again as it is a reminder to me of our countries proud historical legacy of immigration and openness.
Family Connections!
I can remember that day like it was yesterday. I was on my way back to the city with my whole family and couldn’t wait until we all got there. It was winter, so it was really cold and it was snowing non-stop. During the whole flight, I could only think about how great it would be to see all my family.
My immediate family and I arrived at noon and we were picked up from the airport by my uncle Mario. He is always really fun to hang out with. He picked us all up in his new family van and was so proud of the new stereo system that he’d won in a bingo contest the week before. It was so loud! I thought he was going to give my mom and my dad a heart attack. They were so glad they had their ear muffs so they could drown out some of the “noise.” Right as my dad was telling my uncle to turn the radio down, we got pulled over by the police. My uncle was so nervous because he had just gotten a speeding ticket the day before and was afraid he was going to lose his license. As the policeman walked up to the car, we were all expecting my uncle to get a ticket. But he didn’t get a ticket at all! In fact he didn’t even get a warning. Turns out it was my other uncle, uncle Tony. That’s my uncle Mario’s little brother…so of course he couldn’t give him a ticket. He couldn’t even try to lecture his older brother because they had been through so much together living in New York. After a few minutes we said goodbye to uncle Tony and rode on through to my favorite aunt’s house. Aunt Shirley.
We stayed there for the next two weeks and had a blast. I can’t wait until the next time I go back.
My Cousin Chinnah
Like Vinny from the movie, my cousin Chinnah is quite a character. A very affectionate person, he surely leads an eccentric life. He and his charming wife, Isabel, live in a small apartment on West 51st right near Broadway and all sorts of fun stuff to do in New York City. Chinnah and Isabel would take us on walking tours. They took us to Macy’s—I remember being scared of getting lost in it. I stuck to Isabel, much to her amusement. A true New Yorker, she couldn’t understand my fears. But I had never been in such a huge, crowded shopping center before. Later that day we went to an artist’s fair that was set up just near Lincoln Center. Isabel bought me a lovely hand-tooled hand bag to make up for having laughed at my fears of getting lost in Macy’s!
I’ll always remember my first taste of a live Broadway show. Chinnah took me see Cats. I had always loved that poem and was intrigued about how a full length musical could be made out of it. I guess I must have had my mouth hanging open all the time! Some of the cats ran through the audience, much to our delight. After the show we went to a Thai restaurant and to my surprise I found that I liked the jellyfish curry after all. I shall never forget my first experience of seeing a live Broadway show, and eating jellyfish.