Counting Down

Well, my friends, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to the holiday, and will be spending it with good friends.

However, Thanksgiving has come a little too quickly for us this year. We know that once Thanksgiving is over, the final countdown of our last days in New York must begin. The twelve days between Thanksgiving and our NYC departure date are going to be incredibly busy ones, filled with both the tedious tasks of packing, cleaning and tying up loose ends before our move as well as the fun times of taking Ellie around town to see as much of a New York Christmas as we can possibly cram into twelve days. (It will be The Twelve Days of Our New York Christmas, if you will.)

All this will keep us very busy, so I will not be sharing any of that with you until we have arrived in Florida. In the meantime, however, I want to say goodbye to my beloved New York by spending the remaining days (with just a couple of exceptions for special occasions) reminiscing and counting down our top ten most favorite New York memories. These are the moments that, above all others, made our time here so incredibly fantastic. I have a list all queued up, and hope you won't mind taking a walk down memory lane with me as we say our goodbyes.

Before we get into my Official Favorite New York Memories Countdown, there are a couple of things that didn't quite make the cut, largely because they aren't discrete events and so did not fit my plan for this Top Ten. But, they are parts of the city that I just love so I simply can't leave them out. (Hey, do you have any idea how hard it is to narrow down four years' worth of out-of-this-world experiences to just ten favorites, anyway? It's HARD.)

And so, my New York Favorite Memories: Honorable Mentions are as follows:

Honorable Mention #1: Bryant Park

I have said countless times that Bryant Park is my favorite park in the city, but I think it actually be my favorite place overall. In the spring, it's a beautiful place to have lunch (which was Ellie's first NYC outing, actually!). In the summer, they have so many fun events (many that we took advantage of): movies on the lawn, free knitting lessons, Broadway in Bryant Park concerts weekly. In the winter, the lawn is transformed into a skating rink and the perimeter of the park is lined with great holiday shops. The Southwest Air porch is a fun little place to grab a drink, a snack and a Snuggie while you cuddle up by the fire pit. And, in addition to all these regular things, we have enjoyed other special events there, too, including the Madden NFL 12 Pigskin Pro-Am, their beautiful 9/11 tribute, and the sheep on the lawn.

Fun times in Bryant Park

Top row: Ellie's first lunch in Bryant Park; Snuggies and boozy hot beverages on the Southwest Porch with my friend Amanda; Broadway in Bryant Park with my friend Megan; Bryant Park's 9/11 Tribute; Citi Pond skating rink; the holiday shops

Bottom row: Crowds gathered for Movies on the Lawn; Madden NFL 12 Pigskin Pro-Am; Ellie checking out the sheep on the lawn; and people (including me!) gathered to learn how to knit

Honorable Mention #2: Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center is another one of my most favorite places in New York City, probably second only to Bryant Park. First of all, it's just beautiful.

Lincoln Center at night

Avery Fisher Hall

And then, of course, there are the events. We saw so many incredible events at Lincoln Center. Aside from events you can see in many cities (such as The Nutcracker, Idina Menzel in concert, etc.), there were so many events that we could not have seen anywhere else. From J.K. Rowling's only U.S. appearance to promote a novel, to John Williams conducting the New York Philharmonic, to the NY Philharmonic playing the music of West Side Story along with the film, to the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 premiere - almost every event just left me with that very overwhelmed is-this-really-my-life?! feeling.

Clockwise from top left: Me enjoying the fountain at Lincoln Center; feeling inspired after seeing The Nutcracker; Daniel Radcliffe at the Harry Potter premiere; and meeting J.K. Rowling

My Lincoln Center love runs very, very deep, and I will miss it so.

Eric and me after a wonderful show at Lincoln Center

Honorable Mention #3: The Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge was one of my most favorite activities to take our visitors to do, because on a nice day it is just such a pleasant outing. However, Eric and I first walked across (well, halfway across) the Bridge on a very cold, snowy, windy December day. The positive side was that the bridge was virtually empty (a rare sight, indeed), but I have no idea why we thought that was a good idea.

We're having fun here, sure, but this was still a pretty stupid idea.

Since then, we have perfected the Brooklyn Bridge outing: we take the subway just into Brooklyn, then walk down to Brooklyn Bridge Park to enjoy the view. In the past, if we were feeling hungry, we would generally stop at the Ice Cream Factory to grab a cone while we wait in line for Grimaldi's pizza (at the very least, we always get ice cream, even if we're in the middle of a 42-mile bike ride!). Then, we walk back to Manhattan across the bridge. The views are beautiful and it's just a wonderful afternoon. Actually, the views are so great that I even used one of our pictures of the view from the Brooklyn Bridge for the header of this here blog!

Top row: Eric and me below the Brooklyn Bridge; the view of the Empire State Building from the bridge

Bottom row: The Ice Cream Factory sitting below the bridge; on the bridge with Molly and Heather; taking a break/ice cream stop during the Five Boro Bike Tour; Ellie's first time on the bridge

Honorable Mention #4: Christmas in New York

Christmas in New York is just magical. Everything is so beautifully decorated, you can't help but get into the holiday spirit. (Although I will admit that the increased number of tourists does its very best to suck the joy right back out of you - last year I worked right by Radio City Music Hall and tended to feel very Grinch-y during my evening commute thanks to crowds so thick I could barely get to my train.)

Bah-humbug to the crowds aside, Christmas in New York is such an experience. Although many signs of the season show up before Thanksgiving, the festivities officially begin with the arrival of Santa at the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (we plan to take Ellie to Macy's to meet him this weekend!). Of course, the Rockefeller Center tree is spectacular. The store windows are sights to behold. The huge ornaments and light bulbs on Sixth Avenue are lots of fun. The Rockettes show should not be missed. There are ice skating rinks, holiday markets, twinkling lights and decked-out trees around every corner. There's nothing like it.

Christmas in New York

Top row: The Rockefeller Center tree; ornaments on Sixth Avenue; Radio City Christmas Spectacular; light bulbs on Sixth Avenue; Macy's decked out for the holiday

Bottom row: Window display from a past year at Bergdorf Goodman; the Wall Street Bull sporting a festive wreath; Cartier wrapped up in lights on Fifth Avenue; holiday market at Columbus Circle; the Empire State Building lit for the holidays

Our original favorite Christmas in NYC sight was the Stock Exchange. Our first year here, they replaced the flag that usually stretches across the columns on the front of the building with a flag made out of Christmas lights. To our disappointment, that light flag has not been back since our first Christmas. Our other favorite thing was the dancing snowflakes on the facade of Saks, which has now been replaced by some sort of laser bubble and snowflake show. Because they keep doing away with our favorites, I hesitate to even say what my current favorite thing is, but here goes: the musical stars in the Time Warner Center. They are huge, suspended from the ceiling, and their lights dance to the music that plays throughout the building. It's beautiful and I could watch them for hours.

Our Christmas favorites

Top row: Us in front of the snowflakes at Saks; Stars in the Time Warner Center

Bottom row: The old Stock Exchange lights; more of the stars at Saks

I know we will manage, but I have a hard time picturing getting so into the Christmas spirit in any other city. In New York, it's simply infectious.

Honorable Mention #5: The Skyline View

Oh, the skyline view. Every time I get a good look at it, it takes my breath away. I don't know how I am going to live my life without this view at my disposal. It just...I can't even describe how it makes me feel to look at those gorgeous lights.

The view has been a big thing for us since we moved here. As you may recall, our original NYC home was on a low floor and looked out on a courtyard enclosed by other buildings. However, a few months later when the economy sent rental prices downwards, another unit opened up in our building which included a near wall-to-wall view of the midtown skyline. As much as I hated to pack up and move again after just getting settled, I knew we could not pass up the view that the new apartment offered. When we moved in, we left our blinds open almost constantly so we could admire it at all times. From the comfort of our living room, we were able to watch the Empire State Building don many different colors for many occasions and causes. We were able to see the Tribute in Light downtown on September 11th. We were even able to watch the New Year's Eve ball drop from our bedroom. That view is permanently burned in my mind and I will never forget it.

All of the above pictures were taken from our old NYC apartment!

Top row: General favorite shots of the view

Bottom row: The Empire State Building lit for Thanksgiving; a full moon over the city; the Empire State Building lit for Christmas in the background, with our tree in the foreground; view at dusk; fireworks going off above the ball (between the buildings) at midnight on New Year's Eve; Achilles soaking in as much of the view as he could before we moved out

Then, we moved to Hoboken. It broke my heart to leave that view behind, but even though we couldn't see the skyline from our new living room, the view was spectacular just a few steps outside our building.

The view from Hoboken

Left side: The view from Pier C; Holiday Empire State Building; rainbow over Manhattan; Ellie enjoying the view of downtown on a snowy afternoon

Right side: Empire State Building lit purple for Prematurity Awareness last weekend

And of course, the view from Top of the Rock can't be beat. There is a reason Top of the Rock has become one of my favorite places to take our visitors. It's just stunning. The trick is to go just before sunset, so you can take in the view in both daylight and at sunset, and then watch the city light up as the sky turns dark. Time your visit for a night when the Empire State Building is lit in festive colors, and there's just nothing like it.

View from Top of the Rock

Top: The view on Election Night this year

Bottom: Ellie's first time at Top of the Rock; Eric and me enjoying a Gator-colored Empire State Building in 2009

Now, with these five Honorable Mentions officially honored here, we can move forward into the holiday (our last in the city, WAAAAH) and then on to saying our good-byes. Stay tuned for my Official Favorite New York Memories Countdown, starting Friday!

J.K. Rowling at Lincoln Center

Last week, I had the fantastic opportunity to see J.K. Rowling at Lincoln Center, her only public appearance in the U.S. to promote her new book, The Casual Vacancy. What a great night it was!

J.K. Rowling at Lincoln Center

(source)

This event was originally to be held at the Rose Theater, a rather intimate venue. However, the night before tickets were set to go on sale back in September, a breach in the Lincoln Center ticketing system allowed many to go up for online sale hours before the box office actually opened. People bought up the tickets through this false link, but when the box office opened the next morning, they went ahead and sold their tickets as planned. Ultimately, Lincoln Center decided to honor all tickets and moved the venue to the Koch Theater to accommodate the oversell.

Eric wandered over to the box office after tickets went on sale (in person) and was lucky enough to snag two tickets. We weren't sure if we would find a babysitter so we could both go, if just one of us would go with a friend, or if we would resell our tickets on Craigslist or something, but we figured this is a great event that we should definitely have tickets to. In the end, Eric insisted that I take the tickets and have a night out, not only because that is a rarity for me, but also because he thought my interest in/love of writing made me well-suited for this event. I took him up on his offer and invited my friend Jess (who you may remember as my extraordinary doula from Ellie's birth saga), resulting in a great Mamas' Night Out! How fun!

We were concerned about the change in venue, because the seats Eric got for the Rose Theater would have been great and we weren't sure how they were going to reassign seating after the venue changed. We did not have to worry, however, as we ended up with seats in the sixth row of the orchestra level! Six rows back from J.K. herself, people. That was not too shabby. We found our seats and anxiously awaited the start of the program.

I didn't bring the good camera, something I am majorly kicking myself for. But, here is an iPhone photo to show you how close we were!

The program

The event began with Ann Patchett interviewing J.K. Rowling, which was fascinating. They talked a lot about the new novel, of course, and the differences between writing this book (a single volume for "grown-ups") as opposed to writing Harry Potter (a long series for adolescents). She talked about the characters, about writing villains, about being a ruthless writer and cutting what needs to be cut, and about writing those scenes that you just dread writing, but that simply must be written. She talked a lot about her writing process, including who she lets read her work (nobody except her editors for Harry Potter, and only her husband for The Casual Vacancy); how she takes notes upon notes upon notes, all illegibly written and with arrows pointing in every direction; how for this book she wrote freely for weeks at first just to get to know the characters before getting to the meat of the book. She also talked about what may be next for her (possibly a book for younger children!). It shouldn't surprise you that she was fascinating, witty, pleasant, funny, and delightful. What an impressive woman.

Here she comes!

The interview portion

(source)

After the interview, J.K. Rowling did a reading from her new book.

Reading from The Casual Vacancy

After her reading, she answered a few pre-selected audience questions, all of which were quite insightful. The main event ended at about 9:00, and then they moved on the the next portion of the evening: the autograph signing!

They called us out row by row (yet another reason our orchestra seats were super awesome) and took us to the lobby, where we were each handed a copy of The Casual Vacancy for J.K. Rowling to sign. That line ran like a machine - no pictures allowed until you were done at the table (and then only one was allowed from a distance), no dedications, nothing else signed. They moved us along very quickly, so in no time, Jess and I had our books in hand and were meeting Ms. Rowling face to face.

Stacks of books for the fans

My copy!

Jess snapped this shot of me meeting J.K.! Awesome!

And that was it! It was such an honor to meet such a gifted writer and lovely person. And, to leave with an autographed book to boot!

My signed title page!

As we left, I took a moment to soak in every last bit of Lincoln Center that I could. It hit me that this will most certainly be the last event I attend there, and may very well have been my last visit there at all before we leave. I couldn't help but think back to our very first days in NYC, when I sat on the steps of Lincoln Center with my laptop to use their Internet so I could post this "We Have Arrived" blog post. As I have mentioned many times before, Lincoln Center is one of my most favorite places in New York City and I felt such a twinge of sadness to say good-bye.

I love this place.

The night was still young (thanks again, orchestra seats!) so Jess and I stopped for some tapas and wine back in my old neighborhood (oh, more pangs of sadness - I miss it so much!). We had a wonderful time! Good food, good wine, good conversation. Thanks so much, Jess!

It was a perfect New York night out!

John Williams & the NY Philharmonic

Last night Eric and I had another nice "date night." What is with us and the outings on weeknights these days? We're party animals!

This event was actually one that we have been looking forward to a for a very long time: John Williams was conducting the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center in a concert entitled "A Night at the Movies." You all know John Williams, right? Even if you're not a music person, I guarantee you that you are familiar with the work of John Williams. He's known for composing a few little film scores for movies such as Star Wars, Jaws, the Indiana Jones movies, Schindler's List and Harry Potter. He has won a mere 21 Grammy awards, four Golden Globes and three Emmys. He has been nominated for 59 Academy Awards (holding the record for most Oscar nominations for a living person), and won five. I'd say he's kind of a big deal.

Needless to say, John Williams conducting the NY Philharmonic in a night of movie music sounded amazing, and Eric and I snapped up tickets as soon as they went on sale. Last night was the big show, and we met up after work to head over to Lincoln Center together. And you know my feelings on Lincoln Center - that's right, love. Any night at Lincoln Center is a good night.

Eric before the show

Inside Avery Fisher Hall

The program included some pieces from "classic Hollywood," including "Hooray for Hollywood," the March from The Adventures of Robin Hood, "Scene d'Amour" from Vertigo and the Love Theme and March from Spartacus. During the Spartacus piece, I am 99% certain I felt the baby kick me! I think we have a future musician on the way here, folks!

Before intermission, the orchestra performed a couple of John Williams' own pieces: excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and "Adventures on Earth" from E.T. Superb!

After intermission, they started off with a very fun medley entitled "Tribute to the Film Composer" which featured snippets from movies ranging from Jaws to The Pink Panther to Gone With the Wind, and included video clips. For the next several pieces, violinist Gil Shaham joined the orchestra, and he was fantastic. Together they played "Por Una Cabeza" (Tango from Scent of a Woman), three pieces from Schindler's List, and excerpts from Fiddler on the Roof. They also added in a piece that was not in the program and featured an Audrey Hepburn film montage - wasn't she just lovely? They then "closed the show" (pre-encore, obviously) with the Main Title from Star Wars, again with film clips playing at the same time. That got the crowd pretty psyched!

They then returned for three encore numbers! The first was one I recognized but could not place, followed by the theme from Indiana Jones (I played that in middle school band - memories!). Then they wrapped it all up with the Darth Vader theme from Star Wars. All in all, an excellent show!

It's this sort of thing that still gets me about this city. How cool is it to live here, and spend a random Tuesday night watching John Williams conduct the New York Philharmonic as they perform great hits from the movies? I mean, awesome. I love this city.

Fun Times with Heather

As you know, my sister came to visit me last week. I am pretty sure she has been our most frequent visitor since we moved to New York (and in D.C., too, perhaps), and I am so grateful that she continues to regularly make the effort to come visit us! She rocks, and we had a great time during this visit, as we always do.

Heather got in around 11:00 a.m. last Wednesday. She took the bus into the city from Newark, where I met her at Port Authority (as she passed time talking to a crazy guy) and brought her to Hoboken. Wednesday was a rather drizzly, dreary day, so we spent the afternoon just hanging out at my apartment.

Wednesday night we had tickets to a great show at Lincoln Center: in honor of the 50th anniversary of the West Side Story movie release, the New York Philharmonic showed the movie on a large screen as they played the musical accompaniment live. It was awesome. But first, before the show, we met up with Eric at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle, where he had occupied himself by watching celebrities arrive for the Contagion premiere.

Marion Cotillard

Michael Douglas

Regis!

From there, we all walked over to Lincoln Center together.

With Heather at Lincoln Center before the show

The show itself was fantastic. The New York Philharmonic was right on with their accompaniment, and it was so cool to watch. I was seriously amazed with their precise timing. I mean, how do they do that?! But I guess it is the New York Philharmonic, after all. After intermission they also introduced a few members of the movie cast and crew who were in attendance, including Russ Tamblyn ("Riff"), George Chakiris ("Bernardo") and Marni Nixon (the singing voice of "Maria"). The crowd went nuts! Really, it was a fabulous show.

On Thursday, we once again spent the day relaxing around the apartment before heading out at night. Thursday night was Fashions Night Out, and after having so much fun at FNO last year, we were excited to try it again this year. We started off at Saks on Fifth Avenue, where it was rumored Lea Michele and Darren Criss of Glee would be signing autographs. Well, we were about five minutes too late, because they cut off the autograph line about three people in front of us. Rude! Although, it seems Darren didn't end up being there. We didn't get to see Lea, but we did see creator Ryan Murphy pass by, and walked past Anna Wintour on our way out (though we didn't get a picture).

Ryan Murphy

We then walked over to Manolo Blahnik, where Sarah Jessica Parker was hanging out. The line to get in was crazy long, so we decided to skip it and go off in search of free drinks. We had our first round of success at Gap, although it was just sparkling grape juice. Whatevs, it's free! Cheers!

Ready for some fashion and fun!

At Juicy Couture, they did have the real stuff - free champagne! They also gave out free perfume samples, and if you made a purchase, you could get a fashion sketch done of yourself.

People being sketched

After Juicy we made a stop at Rockefeller Center to walk the red carpet.

Sisters

Ah, there's that handsome guy!

Then, it was more champagne and hors d'oeuvres in Tommy Hilfiger, where we just missed Tommy himself. Was our celebrity timing terrible or what? We must have really been off our game.

Two of my most favorite people

We also stopped in Fendi for a quick photo-op:

Yay for free photos!

From there, we mostly just wandered and checked out the outside displays and windows. Lots to see!

Edgy brides outside one store

One of the live window displays at Bergdorf Goodman

By that time, the streets were getting crazy crowded and things were starting to close down. We had heard Pauly D of Jersey Shore fame was going to be DJing at Dash in SoHo, so we decided to hop on the subway and go see if we could end our night with some Pauly. However, they weren't even letting people into Dash, and this was the scene outside:

Madness.

MESS. So, no waiting there. We found the train and made our way back to Hoboken, where we stopped for a late night dinner at Johnny Rockets before calling it a night.

On Friday, I took Heather out to show her our new hometown. We walked south along the waterfront, then north along Washington Street, past some of the gorgeous homes between 8th and 10th Streets, up to Castle Point for a scenic view then back down to the train station. Heather said she really liked Hoboken, so my tour was a success!

Heather enjoying the view at Pier C Park

Terrible picture I took of us at Castle Point - please pardon the fact that my head is blocking all of downtown Manhattan.

From there we went into the city to check out the Bryant Park 9/11 Memorial and see the Broadway performance in Times Square, but I already told you about those! So then it was back to Hoboken to relax and wait for Eric to get home from work.

That night we went out for some more Hoboken fun: The Italian Festival. Apparently, this is a huge annual festival that draws big crowds and lots o' fun. It started on Thursday and went on through Sunday, with a big procession through town and fireworks on Saturday. The main street fair part of the festival (and the live music) was happening right outside our apartment, so we were quite close to the action. The four of us (that's Heather, Eric, me and Achilles, of course) went out that evening to partake in some of the fun. We checked out the live music (and saw Hoboken Batman dancing to it), played some games, Eric climbed the rock wall, and Achilles and I ate some cannolis (mine was from the Cake Boss booth, and Achilles' was a special doggy cannoli). Of course, Achilles ate lots of other stuff, too - that dog sure does love a good street festival, thanks to food droppings. Good times for everyone!

Ready for some Italian fun!

That dog is sooooo busted.

Hoboken Batman's Bat Bike parked at Sinatra Park while he boogeyed down to the live music

Cannolis!

Heather, Eric and I all did the speed pitch (how does Eric keep getting me to do these things?)

Heather and Eric did the "test your strength" game

Go, Eric!

Way to go, kids!

Eric climbing the rock wall

Achilles loves it.

After the festival we went home and ordered dinner, and spent the rest of the night hanging out and having a great time at home.

Saturday we pretty much slept in and then hung out until it was time for me to take Heather to the airport. I was so bummed to see her go! I always miss her quite a bit after she leaves. I wish we lived in the same place!

It was a great visit - thanks for coming, Heather! Come back soon! Maybe for your birthday? I say yes!