Christmas In NYC

Phil flew home from London on Tuesday night and then hopped on a train early Wed. morning for a couple of days of meetings in New York. We decided I'd take a train up on Friday morning and meet him for a fun day in NYC. (Although the phrase "fun day in NYC" does not usually come out of the mouth of Phil.) He hates NYC. Must've been the 2 hour + commuting each morning and night for a couple of years that jaded him. Go figure...

Regardless, I got on the 9:14 am express train on Friday that got me in to Penn Station around 10:30 am. And the obvious that hit me (literally, actually) as I stood in the taxi line? I picked the coldest day of the year so far to come to NYC. They said it wasn't getting over 30 degrees but the wind chill made it feel like 9. Yep...9 degrees. And I think that was even generous.

I met Phil at the hotel he was staying at near Rockefeller Plaza. After finishing up one more work call, we bundled up (and here I add that yes, I may have looked like a dork with my ski headband covering my ears, but I was willing to sacrifice my fashion-sense for non-frozen ears), and made our way to the big tree in Rockefeller Plaza. It's a big tree. Didn't spend too much time looking at it, though, 'cause as I said before, it felt like 9 degrees outside.

We went into a COSI to warm up and get something hot to drink and a little snack. Mmmm...hot mulled cider and a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. A little taste of heaven. We made it into our seats for the 1:00 pm show of Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes. What a fun show. Loved it.

After the show we went to a late lunch at Del Frisco's for some of the best filet mignon I've had in a while. So good. And the salad, the warm bread, the mashed potatoes, and the strawberry cheesecake...I think you could've rolled me out of there. Our last stop before grabbing a cab to back to Penn Station? Just across the street to Magnolia's Bakery which is well-known for their cupcakes. So with a 6-pack of cupcakes in a carry-out box we made our way back to the train station.

And I'm glad to report that a near-disaster was avoided when I nodded off somewhere before our stop in Trenton and the rustling of the plastic bag alerted me to the fact that our cupcakes were headed to a collision with the floor of the train. The cupcakes were saved and all was fine.

And tonight? We are hosting our annual Christmas party with our Sunday School class. Everyone brings their signature dish and we have the potluck to end all potlucks. Seriously...so much food. And the highlight? The "gift" exchange with a cost limit of $5...or in other words, what crap do you have laying around your house that you'd love to get rid of. Should be a fun night.