Cuteness Alert!

How cute is this?!

Imagine

Oh I'm like a kid in a candy store with this City! Whether it's Dave at the Garden or the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, there's one event after another that I've been excited about since moving here. I am thrilled to add another to the list!

If you're a Beatles nut like me, you may know that Monday, December 8th marks 28 years since John Lennon was killed here in NYC. There is a memorial in Central Park - Strawberry Fields - that fans go to celebrate his amazing contributions to music (duh Carly). You may remember that I went there my first week of moving here and radomly, there was a group singing Beatles tunes. There wasn't a specific occassion or event as to why they were playing...they were just playing to honor John. And for that, I love this City.

So...as Dec. 8th drew closer, I knew something would be going on in celebration of his life and music. Well my peeps, I found it:

John Lennon tribute concert will be held in Central Park Bandshell
A free tribute gig to John Lennon will take place in New York's Central Park. For The Love Of Lennon, organised by New Arts NYC, will commemorate the life of the music legend on December 7, the eve of the 28th anniversary of his tragic assassination.
The two-hour-long concert at the Central Park Bandshell will be led by professional musicians, encouraging fans to sing along to their favourite Beatles songs and pay homage to the icon.

Yah for New York to recognize. Yah for John Lennon for being awesome. Yah for me to be able to go. Yah.

Trumped!

Spotted: Blake Lively walking past Central Park looking fab-o. Yes folks, this morning I saw the Gossip Girl herself, but instead of being excited, I really just wanted to ask her why she talks like she has a broken jaw. But she's pretty nonetheless.

There are some girls in the office who love Blake, so when I came in, I made sure to gloat as I like to do. I was quickly followed by a colleague who was still wearing what she wore yesterday because she was out all last night...oh yeah...and she had drinks with Leonardo DiCaprio while she was out. Oh yes, I've been trumped.

Yes folks, just another day in New York.

Light vs. Lit

Well as Roomie said it best last night, we didn't make it to the Rockefeller Tree Lighting, but we definitely got lit.

We met up with the one and only Megan Mc. from MS&L/Atlanta while she was in the City for some NASCAR stuff. We went to Mama Mexico which was very fun and festive - full Mariachi band and all. We had plenty of margs, we had guacamole (or I should say Roomie and Megan had it, I stuck with the salsa), and plenty of food to go around. It was an awesome night and I do love me some Mexican and Megan!

I'm sorry I missed the tree, but not sorry that I missed the crowds and had a yummy dinner...just walking to meet Megs was complete and utter nutso! We had to wait in lines just to cross the street! I'm sure we'll venture over soon enough to check it out for ourselves...and besides, there's always next year when Jordan Palmer can join in the festivities.

Parade pics

Some more pictures of the Parade balloons to enjoy...

Something to be thankful for...

So now that we have officially come out of our food comas, Roomie and I have returned to civilization. We'd like to share some photos from our little Thanksgiving dinner - yes folks...a sneak peek into our personal holiday celebration.

You will see Roomie and I cooking up a storm. To the left, we have Roomie making her Cope's Corn (family favorite I am told) and yummy salad (her own creation - spinach leaves, toasted walnuts, feta cheese, onion and mandarin oranges with a light raspberry vinaigrette!). To the right, I'm cooking the onion and celery down for the stuffing...thank you fasha.

Here I am checking on one of the many items we made, but for the blog's sake, lets say the Tofurky and Texas potatoes. I'm also holding up the Tofurky - the first time I've tried it. While it was nice to have "turkey" at Thanksgiving for the first time in three years...I did not love it. Nor did I love the gravy recipe that went with the Tofurky. Not so much. No recommendations coming from me.

The final Thanksgiving came down to this: Tofurky, stuffing, Texas potatoes, green bean casserole, Cope's corn, Heather's salad, cranberries and crescents. For dessert: Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.

After a few hours, a few phone calls to Fasha for cooking advice and many "tastings" of our food later, we finished the feast. It was time to cheers ourselves for our first Thanksgiving in NYC and for the first Thanksgiving where we were the ones in the kitchen! Well, truth be told, I usually spend every holiday in the kitchen, but usually as the "official taster" and not the cook.

We ate our meal while watching "Miracle on 34th Street," a nice NYC holiday movie if I do say so myself. I realized while watching the movie and stuffing my face that my grandma Dorthy looked a lot like Maureen O'Day. Here's to hoping that I'll look like that as I age...and have her career....hmmm....

Heather was smart enough to capture the before and after moment's of her first Thanksgiving plate. I can assure you that mine was pretty much the same. Happy Thanksgiving to us!!

We Love a Parade - HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Carly and I are in the mist of our first NYC Thanksgiving! While she is in the kitchen (where she should be, hehehe) cooking away, I thought I'd share some videos and pictures from our exciting morning where we drank peppermint mochas, ate apple fritters and had an even sweeter view of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade from our office...

Is that you Snoopy?!

The new "Horton Hears a Who" balloon makes us happy and five...

It's Miley!! And who doesn't love a marching band?!...

...we love them so much they make us want to join the fun, march and step ;)

And then it all comes to an end with Santa

--OK, we are having technical difficulties with this last file so please imagine an awesome video of Carly wrapping up the morning's events with some witty commentary and the Santa Claus float coming to town. Stay tuned.--

Now it's my turn in the kitchen (Cope's Corn, here I come) more updates on the deliciousness later.