Christmas Fun!

With my daughter now running her shop, we had to mix two traditions together this Christmas season: Getting the tree and visiting New York City.

We started our morning yesterday with a run out to the Anne Ellen Tree Farm in Manalapan where we walked around in gorgeous weather to pick out our tree! We also pick out new ornaments to add to the tree each year. This is a picture of the ornament shop at Anne Ellen!

Then it was a rush home to get dressed and ready for our annual trip to New York City. We love seeing all the windows, visiting the NY Public Library to check out their exhibits, seeing the tree in Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s across the way before finally getting to Lincoln Center to watch the Nutcracker.

It was a day packed with walking and lots of fun and I’ve got a mess of pictures to share with you.

At the library, they had an exhibit on lunches in New York City. It was fun to see the evolution of city eateries, from the pushcarts to power lunches. The part of the exhibit on Horn & Hardart brought back memories of going to one with my mom. The last functioning automat was actually across the street from my old office! Here’s a shot of what they looked like.

Then we were off to see the tree in Rockefeller Center. It looked lovely this year!

We had a lovely time walking up Fifth Avenue and through part of Central Park before heading to our final destination – Lincoln Center!

Those are just some of the photos! To see more, you can click here.

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

Sharing Christmas in NYC with you!

Every year my family and I do our annual trip to New York City to take in all the Christmas sights and decorations. It’s always a great time and we’ve got our little routine we follow. We start off in Penn Station and then walk to Macy’s and then Lord and Taylor to see the Christmas windows. Then it’s to the Research Library on 5th and 42nd to check out the exhibits and lovely reading room as well as Bryant Park, the Pond and shops behind the library.

Sadly, we got to the library too early this year and it was closed, but that made for some extra time for something old – St. Patrick’s Cathedral – and something new – a walk through Tiffany’s and Cartier to check out some bling.

While we were near St. Pat’s, we hit Rockefeller Center to see the tree, promenade and skating rink as well as the NBC store. My daughter is totally in love with PSYCH and they have collectibles from that and a number of other shows.

Then it was walk up Fifth Avenue, including Tiffany’s and Cartier (sigh, such pretty things) and over to Grand Army Plaza and Central Park. We hurried up to Columbus Circle and then pushed on until we were in Lincoln Center where we had tickets to see THE NUTCRACKER. It was lovely as allows and after a quick dinner, it was back to Penn Station and the trip home on the train.

So much to see, but it was a lot of fun. Just a bit chilly with weather in the twenties, but at least it was sunny and pretty nice outside.

I hope you enjoy these photos! If you can’t see the slideshow, you can click here to see the album.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This Celt is in the last minute throes of prepping for the Liberty States Fiction Writers Conference on Saturday. If you’re in the Woodbridge, New Jersey area, please remember that the book fair is open to the public. The fair runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Now I’m sharing some photos with you of my Celtic nation: Galicia in the north of Spain.

Western most portion Finnesterre

Finisterre

Photo Credit: [email protected]

Celtic Castle


Photo Credit: [email protected]

Spanish bagpipers


Photo Credit: Dario [email protected]

Puentedeume – My family’s paternal hometown


Photo Credit: [email protected]

Orense – My family’s maternal hometown


Photo Credit: Victor Hermida [email protected]

Hope you enjoyed these photos! Have a great St. Patrick’s Day!