New York New York

Our trip got off to a bit of a rocky start. Getting up at 3:30 a.m. is not the girls favorite thing to do, but we had a 6 a.m. flight. Why not get there early and have the whole day---to which they basically agree. Our flight was delayed about a half hour getting out of Nashville. When we arrived at LaGuardia, we had to circle for another hour until they diverted us to JFK---due to fog---but not a bit at JFK. Of course that completely screws up all the plans---meeting up with Sandy and then meeting our car and driver.

Once we landed, we called Sandy to find that she was sitting on the runway in Chicago. Turns out she sat there for 3 hours. I called the Exeucar company and got them to pick us up at JFK. It took us another hour to get in to the city. By now its noon. We checked in and headed out for lunch. While we were there, Sandy called that she had arrived. I told her to get a cab to the hotel. All was not lost. It was about 1:30 when she got there, so we had the rest of the afternoon to walk around and shop. It was cold---low 40's---and windy.

Now our trip in a "nutshell":

 The big surprise for the girls was a trip to my favorite diamond dealer for their Christmas present. They each got to pick out a little something. Christmas---done!

 Next stop Macy's---we spent several hours and got lots of Christmas shopping done.

 I picked up a few baubles in the garment district for "A Year of Memory" kits.

You can't go to New York without picking up a few more pashmina's from the street vendors. We all love them---the perfect thing to throw in your purse to take the chill off. And you can't beat the price---buy 4 @ $5.00 each and get the 5th free.

 Souvenir ornaments of our trip.

Here was my "big" splurge (except for replacing my diamond necklace that I lost a couple of weeks ago). Remember I said I was going to use my poker winnings to really buy something? Well, when I added it all up, I had $192.50 to spend---that was just the bills and quarters---so my poker money isn't completely gone---I have enough for my next "stake." I got myself another travel purse. I love carrying something smaller and more compact that can go over my whole body for handsfree convenience. Thanks to all the Zimmermann's, friends and grandkids that contributed to make this splurge possible!

 The price was just right there! I just need to win a few bucks to cover the tax.

 We couldn't resist the Macy's shopping bags. Each one was cuter than the next. We each got one. Mine is the black and white striped. One mistake---my handles aren't long enough to put on your shoulder.

The girls loved Avenue Q---I knew they would. It's just a fun show. 

 The reason we went to NewYork in the first place.

This was the most fabulous Italian place. It will be on my list of places we HAVE to go to from now on. Steph had been here a few years ago with friends. We had to wait for about 45 minutes at 5:15 p.m. It was totally worth it.

The only problem is that all the food is served family style---humongous portions. This is the tiramasu AFTER we finished. It easily could have served 10 people. This is Steph's favorite dessert anywhere, but according to her, it's the best here. I don't like coffee, so have never liked tiramasu. I tried it here and have to admit, it was really good---didn't really taste like coffee.

Okay, so the Garrett's popcorn is a Chicago tradition. We always stand in the block long popcorn line when there. But when Sandy saw a Garrett's in New York they had to stop. There wasn't a line, but when she asked for the Chicago mix, the people there asked her how she knew to order that.

The Chicago mix is a combination of the cheese and caramel mixed together---you have that sweet and salty thing going on. It is so completely unhealthy, but soooo delish.

We had a great time, great food and lots of laughs. Mindy was even a good sport about the "Dead Sea Scrolls" exhibit that we went to. Aside from the slow start, everything was great---except, why is it---there are 13,237 cabs in NYC and when we needed one, we couldn't find one? From now on, I told the girls that they needed to sacrifice "cute" for comfort when it comes to shoes. We ended up walking 10 short blocks and 2.5 long blocks to dinner---which "did in" a few feet (not mine---I learned that lesson in London).

Now it's off to Kalamazoo this week for Butch and I. But before I go, it's going to start looking a lot like Christmas around here!