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Gift guide: Eat it, read it, or deplete it
I've been inspired lately by Jane Fonda’s rebuke of consumerism (is this just a Fonda fan blog now? maybe!!) and feeling increasingly overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I’ve managed to accumulate in my 34 years on Earth. I decided that this Christmas I’m going to do things a bit differently (being my friend as I try to figure out my place in this world is still fun I promise! maybe!!). I’m pledging to only give gifts that fall into one of the following categories: something you can eat, something you can read, or something you can deplete (aka an experience, soap in minimal packaging or things that are biodegradable or compostable).
In return, I’m asking my friends and family to do the same (or bet yet, to donate to a cause that’s meaningful to them and/or me). But I still love giving gifts and making gift guides, so here are a few ideas that are lightly eco-conscious, useful, and still-fun-to-give-or-receive if you should feel moved to do the same.
THINGS TO EAT
1. Levain Bakery Cookies // 2. Milk Bar Birthday Truffles // 3. Chocolate human heart // 4. Zapp’s Voodoo Kettle Chips // 5. Milk Bar cookie tin // 6. Chocolate Natterjack Toad // 7. Jeni’s Ice Cream
THINGS TO READ
1. Shut it Down: Stories From a Fierce, Loving Resistance // 2. The Truth Will Set You Free, But First it Will Piss You Off // 3. The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe // 4. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine // 5. The Dreamers // 6. The Great Alone // 7. Where the Crawdads Sing // 8. My Life So Far
THINGS TO DEPLETE
1. Do Good Soap // 2. Beeswax baby head candle // 3. Spine candle // 4. Trader Joe’s lotion set // 5. Burt’s Bees lip balm // 6. Swedish dish cloths // 7. Lemon print Swedish dish cloths
I’ve tried to include small businesses when I can, but this post does include some Amazon affiliate links. Seriously fuck Jeff Bezos, but any money I make off links goes to buying cat litter on Prime because that shit is heavy.
Holiday Windows 2018: Bergdorf Goodman
Bergdorf Goodman remains the undefeated champion of the New York Holiday Window scene for the sixth year in a row, according to me (and my mom). Although not as good as some previous years’ windows, BG’s displays are always leaps and bounds above their competitors’.
This year’s theme is “Bergdorf Goodies,” and I always appreciate a good name pun. Their Fifth Avenue windows all feature sweet holiday treats: neon cakes, chocolates, macarons, licorice, and gingerbread. Because Bergdorf is still a store trying to sell its designer fashions, each window features a mannequin wearing a coordinating fashion confection. As always, the craftsmanship and attention to detail is out of this world and I wish you could walk around inside of, and view the windows from all angles to take in every little piece.
I made the mistake of only viewing these windows once, during the day on a weekend. Although the sidewalk in front of BG is unusually wide, it still gets clogged with tourists all jockeying to get a photo of the windows. In past years I’ve tried to see the windows at night as well, but the best time to go is before Thanksgiving—the windows are usually unveiled a week before Black Friday, but aren’t as popular on the weeknights prior.
Last year I actually went inside of Bergdorf Goodman for the first time and it was definitely an experience. It’s a large store but somehow feels claustrophobic and their prices are insanely high—I’m obviously not the target customer, but it was fun to pretend I could have been while I scrambled to find the half-priced Christmas ornaments.
Bergdorf Goodman
Fifth Avenue btwn 57th and 59th Streets
New York, NY
Holiday Windows 2018: Bloomingdale's
This was my sixth year viewing (and photographing) the holiday windows at several of the major department stores in midtown. It’s become an after-Thanksgiving tradition for my mom and I to grab breakfast at Neil’s Coffee Shop (Gene’s Coffee Shop was closer, but unfortunately it has closed) and go see the windows at Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany & Co. and Saks.
This year, we both agreed that the windows at all four stores weren’t as good as they have been in past years. Bloomingdale’s has never had my favorite windows, but this year their Grinch-themed displays were a bit better than some of their previous installations. I’m not intrinsically against corporate partnerships, and I think that while sometimes they can feel forced, they can also be done thoughtfully and artfully. The Grinch is an appropriate muse not only for its holiday themes, but for its well-established, rich visual language.
The grand New York City department store unfortunately feels endangered—Henri Bendel will close in January after 123 years in business, and Lord and Taylor will also be leaving its flagship Fifth Avenue store after spending just under 105 years in that location. Fewer department stores means fewer window displays, so I’m trying to cherish this holiday tradition while it still exists.
What I don’t love so much about this year’s Bloomingdale’s windows (and as a trend in general), is their interactive element. I always feel like a total grandma complaining about new-fangled technologies and complicated whiz-bang, but I don’t need selfie stations or karaoke machines to get me into the holiday spirit.
Bloomingdale’s
59th Street and Lexington Avenue
New York, NY
Holidays in New York
New York is crowded year round, but it feels especially packed during the holidays. I can’t be too mad about the hordes of tourists though, because I get it—New York during late November and the month of December is downright magical. So much so that in the five years that I’ve lived here, I’ve only traveled back home to my family in Ohio once over Christmas, and it was such a travel nightmare that I vowed to never do it again. Luckily, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of all of the holiday delights available in the city—here are some of my favorites:
I try to avoid this area of the city as much as I can during the holidays because it’s just so packed with tourists, but for good reason: it’s the epicenter of Christmas in New York. In addition to the famous tree (always slightly smaller than I imagine it to be), the entire complex is decked out with nutcrackers, toy soldiers, angels and thousands of lights. If you don’t want to wait to skate on the famous ice rink, you can make a reservation to watch other people exercise while you eat lunch or dinner in the Rock Center Café.
Christmas Trees
Pretty much every New York cultural institution and park puts up a decorated tree during the holidays. The American Museum of Natural History has an origami tree every year with a different theme (this year’s is “Oceans of Origami”) and the World’s Largest Menorah is lit in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza during Hanukkah.
My mom and I finally saw the Christmas Spectacular last year on Christmas Eve, and it was every bit as magical as I wanted it to be. I could have done without the modern digital elements and the outdated gender roles, but the famous Rockettes kick line (and the Toy Soldier scene) is something everyone should see in person at least once in their life. Bonus: the Art Deco bathrooms at Radio City Music Hall are worth the price of admission on their own.
You can find discount Broadway tickets, including for the Christmas Spectacular, with TodayTix, a great place to find deals and an easy way to enter ticket lotteries.
Radio City Music Hall, between W. 51st and W. 50th Streets at 6th Avenue.
I’ve never seen the New York City’s production of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, but it’s a Christmas classic. Preformed at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, The Nutcracker premiered on February 2, 1954 at the New York City Ballet, and is on stage now through December 30th.
Ice Skating
There are several ice skating rinks outside of Rockefeller Center, including two in Central Park, one in Bryant Park and one in Prospect Park. There are smaller rinks located at Brookfield Place downtown, at the Standard Hotel and indoors at Chelsea Piers.
Every year for a few hours, peasants without keys are allowed into Gramercy Park for caroling on Christmas Eve. It’s dark by 6pm, so you can’t see much of the park, but it’s still a thrill to step inside of the usually off-limits space. My mom and I have plans to go this year with reservations nearby at the festive (and historic) Pete’s Tavern afterward.
Save yourself some grief and skip Rolf’s, a German restaurant nearby known for its Christmas decorations. It’s notoriously crowded around the holidays, the food is overpriced and reservations aren’t easy to come by.
December 24th, 6pm, between E. 20th and E. 21st Streets, Park and 3rd Avenues.
Holiday Windows
It’s become an annual tradition that my mom and I—after breakfast at Neil’s Coffee Shop—see the holiday windows at Bloomingdale’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. There are additional window displays around the city (the Macy’s windows are usually a little childish for me), but these are the big ones and they’re all pretty close to one another. Bergdorf Goodman is always the clear winner, but it’s fun to see what each store comes up with from year to year.
Bloomingdale’s: E 59th Street and Lexington Avenue
Bergdorf Goodman: E 58th Street and Fifth Avenue
Tiffany & Co.: E. 57th and Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue: E. 548th and Fifth Avenue
Dyker Heights Lights
Dyker Heights, a neighborhood in south Brooklyn, first became famous for its elaborate Christmas lights displays about 30 years ago and has only grown since then—the displays now attract 100,000 people a year. If you go on a weekend night close to Christmas, it can feel like all 100,000 people are there in one night, but some of the streets are closed to car traffic, which helps a little with the crowding. I’ve been all five years that I’ve lived in New York and the displays don’t change much from year to year but that’s part of the fun of traditions.
Most of the biggest displays are between 11th and 13th Avenues from 83rd to 86th streets.
Sure, Home Alone is one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made, but I’ll argue that its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is even better. Why? It’s the exact same plot as the first movie (sometimes they just changed one letter of line of dialogue) but it takes place in New York. One of the most popular posts I ever did was this list of the movie’s filming locations, most of which are still around so you too can get Lost in New York.
Every Sunday between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the New York Transit Museum puts one of their vintage trains back into service. This year the Nostalgia Train, a vintage 1930s R1-9, will depart from the Second Avenue F train station at 10 am, 12 pm, 2 pm and 4 pm and from the 125th Street A/C/D station at 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm. This seems to get more and more popular each year, so expect rush hour-level crowds (and watch out for those overhead fans).
The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden contains more than 175 New York landmarks made entirely with bark, leaves and other natural materials. Trains zip around the Conservatory and everything is cuter in miniature. If crowds of screaming children aren’t your thing, they have special bar car nights on select Fridays and Saturdays exclusively for adults 21 and over.
Now through January 21st, Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm.
There is also a free holiday train show in the New York Transit Museum Gallery and Store located in the Shuttle Passage of Grand Central Terminal, on display until February 24, 2019.
A special thanks to TodayTix for sponsoring this post—the app is super easy to use and it’s how I win Shakespeare in the Park tickets while sitting at my desk nearly every summer. Of course all opinions and commentary on holiday delights is my own.
World's Tallest Uncle Sam
I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to write a post about the World's Tallest Uncle Sam, but I first met this 4,500-pound, American icon in 2014. We drove to the Magic Forest in Lake George, only to find that it had already closed for the season. I was devastated, but I could see quite a bit of the park from the parking lot, and the parking lot itself has attractions—including a huge Santa and what they claim to be the World's Tallest Uncle Sam.
I went back to the Magic Forest the following year during the open season, and got to revisit the Uncle Sam along with their vast collection of other fiberglass animals, figures, fairytale structures and rickety rides. As tends to be the case amongst objects with "World's -est" titles, the "tallest" claim is a bit dubious—the Lake George Uncle Sam is 38 feet tall (David included in the photo above for scale), while there is one in Michigan that tops out at 42 feet.
The Magic Forest is a mecca for large statues—they have four Muffler Men variations, including a Bunyan, a clown, Pecos Bill and an Amish (?) happy halfwit. The Uncle Sam originally stood at the Danbury Fair in Connecticut (along with Chief Running Fair). He was purchased in 1981, and has stood at the entrance to the Magic Forest since the following year. According to the sign, he was "repainted with acme base coat clear coat system in 1992," and he seems to holding up very well.
Magic Forest
1912 U.S. 9,
Lake George, NY 12845
The park is open Memorial Day-Labor Day, but the Uncle Sam is visible year-round
Easter Parade 2018
The Easter Parade began in the early 1870s as a stroll in Central Park—dressed in their Easter best, people gathered to show off their bonnets and hats. By 1879 the event moved to Fifth Avenue and inspired the Judy Garland and Fred Astaire musical, Easter Parade.
The "parade" is not a parade in the traditional sense—participants and onlookers gather along Fifth Avenue outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral and it's a bit chaotic. This lack of structure allows you to view the creations (and most importantly, dogs!) up close, but people can get a bit pushy. There are usually more people taking photos than people dressed in elaborate bonnets, but I'm wowed every year by the creativity on display.
This is my third Easter Parade (see photos from past parades here, here, here and here), and it's one of my very favorite New York events (second only to the Mermaid Parade). I'm not religious and Easter was never a huge holiday in my family (last year we went to the Cathedral Buffet just for their bizarre dioramas). I do love Easter candy and creative costumes, however, so I've come to look forward to Easter Sunday much more since I discovered this parade.
The best part of recurring events is recognizing people (and chihuahuas) year after year. Of course there are also the New York City parade regulars—people dressed in costumes that don't have anything to do with the specific event, like the wizard with a dragon puppet that I think I have seen at every single New York event I have ever attended.
The best part of the Easter Parade is, of course, the dogs—with bonnets and sunglasses and bunny ears—and it's hard not to smile when you see a dog dressed up in its Easter best. Some of the dogs seem frightened by the crowds, but others clearly relish the attention. I don't think I saw as many dogs this year as I have in past parades (and I didn't see a single pug) but any day where I see a dog wearing sunglasses is a good day.
Chinese Lunar New Year Parade 2018
Maybe because I post about a majority of the things that I do, but I often get asked, "how do you do so much?" I'm generally at a loss on how to answer this because I don't have any secrets besides doing what I like and often doing those things alone—but here's a fact that might not be too evident if you only know me through this blog or Instagram: sometimes I just don't want to do anything at all.
The most recent example of hermit mood came on Sunday, when I had planned to go to the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade. I had been hyped about this parade for literally years—the last time we went was in 2014, and every year since I've wanted to go but never made it for reasons I've since forgotten.
This year I was determined to go and put it on my calendar months in advance. I was closely monitoring the weather and knew Sunday looked rainy, but I hoped it would clear in time for the parade. After obsessively checking the radar every few minutes on Sunday morning, I texted my mom "it looks crappy out, we probably shouldn't go," but she didn't get my text and showed up at my door anyway (not a big deal, she lives upstairs). After a few more minutes of me listing reasons why we shouldn't go, I finally rallied and decided to put on my waterproof hiking shoes and hope for the best.
We missed the beginning of the parade, but we were able to catch most of it and the rain mostly held off. After the parade, we had soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai, almond cookie ice cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory and walked around Chinatown marveling at the parade aftermath, having mini-heart attacks every time someone pulled a party popper.
The Chinese Lunar New Year parade is such a joyful event, with tons of confetti, lion, fan and umbrella dances, music and colorful costumes. It's more chill than the Thanksgiving Day Parade, less corporate than the Pride Parade and just as joyous as the Mermaid Parade. My only complaint is that I didn't see nearly as many dogs as I would've thought appropriate to welcome the Year of the Dog.
"Don't tell me not to live
Just sit and putter
Life's candy and the sun's
A ball of butter
Don't bring around a cloud
To rain on my parade
Don't tell me not to fly
I've simply got to..."
Holiday Windows 2017: Bergdorf Goodman
It's should surprise no one that my favorite holiday windows this year were—for the fifth year in a row—Bergdorf Goodman's. The Bergdorf windows are always so stunning that I can't imagine another store besting them—they're essentially just in competition with their own past window designs at this point. I wouldn't declare this year's the best ones I've ever seen (I still give that honor to my very first Bergdorf windows, although you never forget your first), but they're an improvement on last year's and at least as good as 2014's and 2015's.
This year's theme is "To New York with Love" and each window features a different beloved New York City cultural institution: The American Museum of Natural History, the Museum of the Moving Image, the New York Botanical Garden, the New York Philharmonic and the New York Historical Society. The windows take all year to create, and are constructed with a wide range of materials including papier-mâché, neon, video, resin casting, fiber arts, digital displays and rhinestones.
Each window was designed in a different style to reflect the architecture and mission of its respective institution. They're all wonderful, but the one that really wowed me was the American Museum of Natural History window and its bedazzled dinosaur skeletons. Of course I'd pick the one filled with (fake) bones, but if you covered anything in that many rhinestones it would be hard not to take notice.
It's not difficult to be charmed by such an expensive, flashy love letter to some of my favorite places in my favorite city, but I doubt there is another store that could ever match the Bergdorf window displays in scope, vision or execution. I actually went into Bergdorfs for the first time last week—their bathroom is very clean!—and although I quickly discovered that I can't afford anything, it's nice that anyone walking by can enjoy the quality and glamour of Bergdorfs for at least a few weeks every year.
✨ Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! ✨
Holiday Windows 2017: Tiffany // Bloomingdale's // Saks
Dyker Heights Lights 2017
This was my fifth year in a row seeing the over-the-top Christmas lights displays in the Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. When I was new to the city, my first boss suggested that I go see the lights, and also recommended that we eat at the classic '60s-era Italian restaurant, Tommaso. A group of friends and I did both, and I loved it so much it became an annual tradition (some years with pizza slices and cannoli when we had less time).
This year was a little bittersweet since my friend Jim moved away, but I was honored to serve as a seasoned guide for three of my friends who had never seen the lights, or this specific part of Brooklyn before. We met on a Saturday so we had time for a leisurely dinner at Tommaso (seriously, our dinner lasted nearly three hours), where the food is delicious and affordable, and they serenade you with opera and Christmas carols while you eat.
The neighborhood first became famous for its elaborate Christmas lights displays about 30 years ago and has only grown since then—the displays now attract 100,000 people a year. If you go on a weekend night close to Christmas, it can feel like all 100,000 people are there in one night, but some of the streets are closed to car traffic, which helps a little with the crowding.
A lot of the houses are actually decorated by companies, and they display signs out front advertising their services. I haven't noticed much change in the displays from year to year, but there's something comforting in seeking out my favorite houses and finding them unchanged. Speaking of the houses, even without the help of decorations it's worth the long subway ride just to marvel at the bizarre, grandiose architecture. Each house is more elaborate and ostentatious than the next, with grand entrances, water features and menageries of stone animals.
I have very specific ideas when it comes to how Christmas decorations should look, and even if nearly all of the Dyker Heights houses break my arbitrary rules, I still love and appreciate the spectacle and joy of it all. If I had my way I'd have a yard full of vintage, weathered, illuminated blow molds, but luckily there are still plenty of those on display each year for me to envy.
Not all of the houses participate—one of my favorites was a ramshackle, completely dark house that just had a few faded and weathered red bows scattered haphazardly around—but the main displays fall between 11th and 13th Avenues from 83rd to 86th streets. Trash cans overflow with coffee and hot chocolate cups, a Mister Softee truck is there no matter how low the temperature drops and if you don't end the night full of Christmas spirit, you weren't in the right place.
Holiday Windows 2017: Tiffany
Next up on the 2017 Holiday Window Tour is my second favorite of the four I visited, Tiffany & Co. Usually the Tiffany windows don't really register with me—they're smaller and usually less elaborate than Bergdorfs, Bloomingdale's or Saks—but this year I loved them so much I went back for a repeat viewing.
This year's theme for the Tiffany windows is "A Tiffany New York Christmas" which doesn't really tell you much, but the displays are intricate, whimsical and very shiny. They feature silver articulated artist mannequins—making jewelry, carrying stacks of the iconic blue Tiffany boxes and fishing for engagement rings.
Jewelry must be a hard thing to exhibit in a window display—it's small by nature, and would be dwarfed by full-sized mannequins. As a result, everything in the Tiffany windows is created in miniature and it's a nice contrast to the life-sized spectacle of its neighbor across the street, Bergdorfs.
I've always been fascinated with miniatures—as a kid I made a bunch of miniature furniture and props for a dollhouse I never had—and I love all of the tiny tools, hats, scarves and other accessories presumably made exclusively for these windows. My favorite, however, was the miniature color wheel (it actually turns!) and hopefully one day I'll have a full-sized one to go with the aluminum tree I also desperately need.
This year, Tiffany introduced a groan-inducing line of "Everyday Objects" including this very unreasonably-priced $1,000 "tin" can. According to the listing, "Tiffany artisans transform utilitarian items into handcrafted works of art. Sterling silver and shining vermeil upgrade this classic tin can." Despite my lack of interest in jewelry and inability to afford anything inside of Tiffany, I do appreciate the way they incorporated their jewelry into sparkly, silver-plated, magical little worlds that I can enjoy for free.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
**I originally published this post in 2014, but I've updated some of the information since**
I refuse to make a Sophie's Choice and choose which of the Home Alone movies I like more (I only acknowledge the existence of the first two), but as far as sequels go, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, is pretty much perfect.
A few of the scenes were filmed in Chicago—the McCallister house, obviously, plus the interiors of the Plaza as well as the exteriors of Duncan's Toy Chest—and Rob McCallister's Upper West Side brownstone was actually a Hollywood set. But a majority of the movie was filmed on location in New York and a surprising amount of locations are still nearly the same today as they were 25 years ago—if you're willing to forgive the movie a bit on its geographical leaps, you too can spend a day Lost in New York.
LaGuardia Airport / Queens:
Kevin arrives in New York via LaGuardia, which is technically in Queens, so the view looking west toward Manhattan sort of makes sense, until you realize that it's actually the view from Long Island City. I wish the real view from LaGuardia was even half this nice.
Queensboro Bridge / Spans the East River btwn Queens and Manhattan at E 59th Street:
Kevin takes a taxi across the Queensboro Bridge, which again isn't terribly accurate. All of the cabs I've ever taken from LaGuardia take the Triborough Bridge, but the Queensboro is much more photogenic. I walked over it once, but I wish I could still ride over it hanging out of the window of an iconic Checkered Cab.
Radio City Music Hall / 6th Avenue btwn W 51st and 50th Streets:
Thankfully the classic Radio City neon signs haven't changed in the 22 years since Home Alone 2 was filmed. The huge Christmas tree is a nice addition, and it's the home of the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Have you ever wondered what Kevin takes a photo of across from Radio City? I wonder what happened to the rest of the Polaroids he takes during the course of the movie?
Empire Diner / 10th Avenue btwn W 23rd and 22nd Streets:
The Empire Diner has closed and reopened several times since 1992, but thankfully it is open today. Unfortunately the large Empire State Building replica is no longer on top of the diner, and I've never seen a Santa walk by on stilts, but they do make a delicious french onion soup.
Battery Park / Southern tip of Manhattan:
I went all the way down to Battery Park, only to discover that they no longer have the viewers (binoculars? what are these thing called?) that Kevin looks through to see the Statue of Liberty. Of course you can still see the famous Lady, you just have to bring your own binoculars (or ride the Staten Island Ferry, or go to Liberty Island) to get a closer look.
World Trade Center / West Street btwn Vesey and Fulton Streets:
I couldn't visit the Twin Towers for obvious reasons, and every time I watch Kevin on the observation deck (eerily alone) it makes me sad and a little uncomfortable. The observation deck of 1WTC is open now, but it's pricey so I still haven't been. You can, however, still see the sculpture that once sat outside of the Twin Towers—it survived the collapse, but is quite damaged. The unrestored sculpture had a temporary home in Battery Park, but it was re-dedicated in August of 2017 and now sits at a permanent location in Liberty Park, near the 9/11 memorial.
West 57th Street and 6th Ave:
The Sticky Bandits exit the subway at W. 57th Street, which apparently served the B and Q lines back in '92, but is now only for the F. I don't know if this was changed for the movie, since the Q is a yellow line (not orange), but it's interesting to note that the sides of the station have since been painted green, while the handrails are no longer painted at all.
Gapstow Bridge / Southeast Central Park, at the Pond near E 62nd Street:
When Kevin first meets the Pigeon Lady, aka the most terrifying of all New York personalities, he very correctly exclaims "SICK!" He spots her near one of my favorite parts in the park, the Gapstow Bridge, which is also the spot that always makes me think of Holden Caulfield asking "where do the ducks go in the winter?" (answer: they stay right here).
The Plaza Hotel / 5th Avenue btwn W 59th and 58th Streets:
Although it is no longer just a hotel, the Plaza still might be "New York's most exciting hotel experience." I am dying to stay there, but until I happen upon a pile of money (or become a guest of the New Celebrity Ding-Dang-Dong), I'll have to settle for ogling its beautiful exterior, which recently underwent a restoration and is as gorgeous as ever.
Wollman Rink / Southeast Central Park, near the Pond:
I refuse to acknowledge that the worst President in history (who actually has a tiny cameo in the movie—an excellent time for a short bathroom/snack break) renamed the Wollman Rink in Central Park after himself, or that he slapped that name on everything from the edges of the rink to the Zamboni machines, but if you go today, that's what you'll get. This is where Marv and Harry hatch their plan to rob Duncan's, and where Marv inexplicably steals gloves, hats and mittens from multiple skaters without anyone noticing.
Bethesda Terrace + Fountain / Central Central Park near 72nd Street and Terrace Drive:
Bethesda Fountain is my favorite fountain in the entire city, especially in the snow. While it's not very plausible that Kevin was chased all the way here from the Plaza, it's a beautiful filming location. I also think it's odd that there are horse carriages on the terrace—I don't think this was ever allowed, but I'd take horses over hordes of clueless tourists any day. Speaking of horses, there was some talk of them being banned, but as of now you can still catch one on Central Park South.
51 West 95th Street / Btwn Central Park West and Columbus Avenue:
Although I knew that Rob McCallister's under-construction brownstone was actually a set, I still wanted to see what was at that address. To my delight, I found a real brownstone, albeit one that doesn't look anything like the one in the movie. How fun would it be to have that as your real address?
West 96th Street and Central Park West:
When Kevin runs into the park and catches the scariest cab ever, he does so at 96th Street. One of the most interesting things about watching Home Alone 2 now, is that you almost forget that New York was a completely different place 25 years ago. I've frequented this part of the park and it's nowhere near as terrifying today (at least during the day).
Carnegie Hall / 7th Avenue at W 57th Street:
I've been inside of Carnegie Hall once, but I'll always wish that I could listen to a concert like Kevin and the Pigeon Lady, from high up in the attic. Some people write that the P.L. actually lives at Carnegie Hall, but I just got the impression that she breaks in from time to time to listen to some of the greatest music in the world, because why not?
St. Anne's Hospital for Children / Broadway at W 120th Street:
Columbia University's Teacher's College (at Broadway and West 120th Street) stands in for St. Anne's, and is an incredibly beautiful building. I got there after the sun had already gone down, but so did Kevin so I guess I timed my tour perfectly (I could have used some of that nice movie lighting though). Even though I know it's not really a children's hospital, I do wish they still put a star at the top of the massive entrance, or at least had trees flanking the doorway.
Inscope Arch / Southeast Central Park near E 62nd Street:
The second time Kevin sees the Pigeon Lady, she is by another Central Park arch, which in reality is right next to the Gapstow Bridge. It's unlikely that he would have ran all the way here after fleeing the cab on 96th street or that he would have led Harry and Marv here in the end, but it is a lovely spot—in the daylight at least. The city may have become a lot safer in recent years, but when Marv says "kids are a-scared of the dark," and "kids are a-scared of the park," I can't help but thinking that maybe so am I.
Rockefeller Center / Btwn 5th and 6th Avenues and W 51st and 49th Streets:
No Christmas movie set in New York would be complete without a trip to see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Of course the first thing I always notice about this scene is that Kevin and his mom are completely alone. Yes, I'm sure the city was slightly less crowded back then, but I still find this hard to believe (and I'm totally envious). I do appreciate that the trumpeting angels do not appear to have changed at all, although I do like the lighting of the tree better in the movie than what it is today. I definitely understand Kevin's affinity for Christmas trees—and desire to spend Christmas in a non-tropical climate.
This city is completely magical during the holidays and my only wish would be for the ability to experience all of it without the soul-crushing crowds. I would take a milky-eyed cab driver or Central Park West hooker any day over a slow-moving crowd of peace-sign-throwing, selfie-taking tourists.
Holiday Windows 2017: Saks
Over the past five years, Saks Fifth Avenue's holiday windows have been either hit or miss for me. They have a lot of prime real estate to work with and usually the Fifth Avenue windows are holiday focused, while the 50th and 49th Street windows feature more traditional fashion themes. What Saks does best (and something that no other store in New York seems to care much about) is crowd control. Maybe it's because they're located right across the street from the always-hectic Rockefeller Center, but the sidewalks outside of Saks are a nightmare during the holidays.
Luckily, Saks has railings installed (I think they're only up for the holiday windows), which help to funnel window-watchers into a single-file line. I'm not a huge fan of crowds, so I appreciate their attempt to create order and a sense of fairness. This is the first year that Saks didn't have a bouncer (for lack of a better word) directing the line, but it was still more orderly than the chaos that lingers outside of Bergdorf's.
The line to see the windows at Saks wrapped around the side of the store, but it moved quickly and this year's windows are definitely worth the wait. Saks collaborated with Disney to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Each of the 14 windows depicts a different scene from the iconic movie and feature Snow White herself, all seven dwarfs, the evil queen, the witch, the prince and tons of little woodland creatures including chipmunks, bunnies, birds and deer.
Saks has done fairytale-themed windows in the past, but this year's were definitely a step above previous years' designs in terms of scope, cohesiveness and old fashioned holiday magic. I've said it before, but as much as I dislike children, I often find myself drawn to child-like things, and these windows delighted the 12 year old lurking beneath my 32-year-old resting bitch face.
I'm not a rabid Disney fan, but the Saks windows remind me of vintage window displays and they'd be right at home at Main Street of Yesteryear. The figures animate in charming little ways, and they're so cute that there's no need for digital displays or too much technological whizz-bang (Hi, maybe I'm actually 80 years old). Of course they also reminded me of another animated Snow White display—the one of questionable provenance currently at the Magic Forest—and that only made me love these Saks windows even more.
Holiday Windows 2017: Bloomingdale's
Holiday window display season is upon us, and this is my fifth time seeing the windows from Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany. There are other window displays, of course, but these are the big ones that I specifically seek out every year. There is usually a clear standout, but this year I thought all four were as good or even better than previous years' displays. I'll start with my "least" favorite and end with the best—which doesn't really mean much because I enjoyed them all—but up first is Bloomingdale's.
My mom and I usually reserve a weekend day during December or late November to go look at the new windows, and we always start with Bloomingdale's. I've been disappointed in their window displays in the past, and they're usually my least favorite of the bunch. They were a little cartoonish in 2013, all over the place stylistically in 2016 and not impressive or memorable enough for me to photograph in 2014 and 2015. But this year's "Greatest Showman" theme, based on the upcoming P.T. Barnum movie musical is leaps and bounds above anything they've shown in the past five years.
I love anything that has a carnival, sideshow or old-timey Coney Island feel, and the windows feature scenes from the movie embellished with more than 7,600,000 Swarovski crystals. The windows are full of acrobats, ringmasters and performers of all types. There's even a bearded lady, a tattooed couple, a wolf man and a pair of conjoined twins (made out of what are obviously women mannequins turned into men).
When my mom got to one window in particular, she called me over and said "you're going to like this one!" I had no idea when I decided to be a Grandmother's Predictions fortune-telling machine for Halloween this year that I would see a variation of my costume show up in a holiday window display (it's not the first time there's been overlap). At the risk of sounding full of myself, I do think mine was better (if only because how do you top a classic like Grandma?), but the fortune I received from the Bloomingdale's version was very apropos.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Balloon Inflation 2017
I'm not going to the Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, but I did want to go see the balloon inflation again. I went for the first time last year and it was so much better than I had expected. There were a lot of repeats from last year, but it was still fun and although it's a very popular event, we got through the line and saw every balloon in just over an hour.
We got off work early, so we got to the start of the line around 4pm and you can see in my photos as the sky gets progressively darker. The time of the event shifted two hours earlier (beginning at 1pm instead of 3pm), so they were almost all entirely inflated by the time we arrived. The crowd can seem overwhelming when you first enter the line, but once you get to the actual balloons, you have plenty of room to move around.
There are always a few balloons that make me feel old and out of touch with children's entertainment, but I can mostly identify them even if I'm not very familiar with their shows or movies. New balloons this year include: Super Wings' Jett, Paw Patrol's Chase, The Grinch and Frozen's Olaf. There is also a new Harold balloon, a black-and-white baseball player that was featured in the Miracle on 34th Street. The classics are my favorite—the elves and Macy's stars especially—and I am sad to be missing Tom the Turkey (and his eyelashes!) this year.
I've heard that the balloon inflation used to be a super chill event—almost a neighborhood secret—and I wonder why that's changed so much over the years (the Internet? Instagram?). It's still a very good alternative to the madness of the parade—no offense to all of the marching bands and clowns, but everyone knows the balloons are the best part.
🦃Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃
The most fantastic thing about the New York Botanical Garden’s annual Orchid Show is the orchids themselves