It's The Most Wonderful Time...

This year I'm just not in the mood for Christmas.  I want to be in the mood.  I want to be excited about Christmas.  I want to think about things that are pretty, shiny, sparkly, and whimsical.  I want to enjoy the prospect of being able to start again with a new year, and, maybe, unlike year's past, a new me.

Last week, my company had one of the many holiday parties scheduled for this year.  This one was department-specific, and happened to be in good ole' New York City.  In my mind, New York is quintessentially Christmas, and visiting the "city that never sleeps" at this time of year usually gets me to feel more holiday-ey.

The stores are all decked out with unbelievable displays, bars and restaurants are filled with people gathered with friends, the Union Square holiday market is in full swing, and Times Square and Broadway are filled with tourists catching shows and having dinner before making the pilgrimage up to 48th St and 5th Avenue to catch a glimpse of the world renowned Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.  That larger than life fresh cut tree that's draped in millions of twinkling lights, looking over an ice skating rink where new loves hold hands trying not to fall down with an audience of thousands looking down upon them and parents try to teach their children how to glide across the ice with ease.  Opposite the plaza from the tree, stands Saks Fifth Avenue, whose facade is lit up with decorations that blink to a chorus of classic Christmas carols.  To get to 5th Ave from the tree, you have to walk through a canyon of lit up angels with trumpets in hand, making you feel like all this grandeur is just for you.  It really is magical.

So, since I haven't been quite up to the holiday madness this year, I decided that I'd meet up with Greg after my work holiday party on Friday, and we'd go up to Rockefeller Center to see the tree to get me into the Christmas spirit.

Well, all I can say is, it was kind of disappointing.  I don't know what happened.  It could have been the fact that I had imbibed quite a few glasses of wine and was more on the drunk side of sober, or it could be the fact that I'm getting older, or it could have just been the crowds of millions constantly bumping into me as I tried to take a peek - but the tree just didn't do it for me this year.  I took a few pictures with my phone - but as stated above - I wasn't exactly stone cold sober (and the people were bumping into me) so all my pictures came out kind of blurry - but here's the "best" of them:

Not so impressive, right?

Here's a picture taken off the official Rockefeller Center website (gives a much better illusion of the "magic" that the tree brings to life):

And here's an even better picture taken by some random person, whose picture I found doing a quick Google Image search:

In my mind, that is the tree I should have seen.  I think our first mistake was trying to see it from the side rather than from the "Angel" point of view - meaning we entered Rockefeller Center from south of that canyon rather than facing the crowds heading directly into that area.  I'm all for getting away from the crowds, but that seemed to be the fatal flaw.  We didn't even really see the angels, and we also didn't see the Sak's Fifth Avenue facade - leaving my holiday spirits in the same rut they were in to begin with.

I have a few more days to get my act together and get my Christmas spirits high.  I just found out that my Mom won't be working on Christmas Eve, so hopefully me, my sisters, my brother-in-law's, my Mom, and my nieces can all gather at my sister's house early on Christmas Eve to sing carols and drink holiday sangria together.  And if holiday sangria can't do the trick, I really will be worried.

Happy Holidays!

Oh! To be a Tween Again...

Last week, Greg and I were lucky enough to see the Broadway performance of Newsies.

Which is based on one of my favorite all-time movies EVER!

It was released in 1992, when I was just a young lass of 11 years, and still thought it possible for me to one day be rich, famous, and a pop singer/movie star.  Due to my inherent lack of experience and wisdom that can only come from aging and facing reality in life as we know it, one of the reasons I was so enthralled with the movie was the cast of young men.  Boys, really.  Boys who could act, sing, AND DANCE!  And who were absolutely, without a doubt, hands down the CUTEST boys I had ever seen in my life.  All scraggly hair, with bright eyes and shining smiles - THEY were who people LIKE ME (in the adult verion of myself as seen from my tween-y perspective) ended up falling in love with, and, naturally, one day marrying before we lived happily ever after.  Take a look at this fantastic compilation of clips from the movie.  I mean, COME ON, what on-the-brink-of-hormonal-explosion tweenage girl wouldn't think that the all-star, talented, smooth chested, wise-ass smirking, newscap wearing, boyish smiling cast  lead by a twinkly eyed Christian Bale, is OMG - TO DIE FOR???

Anyway, the play was AMAZING!  There were lots of noticeable differences from the movie, but they didn't detract from the story or make watching it annoying if you know the movie by heart, like I do.  The songs were similar, but not exactly the same as they were in the movie, and there were some new additions that made me understand why the show received a Tony Award for Best Original Score.  I was glad we went to see it and would recommend it to anyone who likes the movie, or just likes well produced, talent riddled Broadway musicals.

In case you're curious, here's a pic of the twinkly eyed not-so-smooth chested man I did marry...true, he's not the best singer in the world (thankfully, he's also not the worst!), but he'll dance up a storm for me any day...even in public places...just to make me smile.

And, yes, he'll also do dishes with my sisters and brother-in-laws after a long day of cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the masses that are my family.  I may not be rich, famous, or a movie star, but I sure am a lucky gal.