City Sidewalks, Busy Sidewalks Dressed in Holiday Style

I think I was about five years old when I decided I needed to see it for myself.

I was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and I asked my mom where the parade was held. She told me it was New York City. I didn't exactly have a grip on geography at the time, nor did I understand the cost of such a trip but I just knew I had to go there. As the years passed, I became even more determined to see NYC at the holidays. I pictured honking cabs, mugs of steaming cocoa, and twinkling lights everywhere. I pictured oversized shopping bags, Broadway shows and Santas on every corner. I had to see to see it all for myself. That was honestly the first dream I ever had and it stuck with me.
Thursday morning, I got up at a ridiculous hour and met six of my friends to head out on a girls weekend in NYC. Four days and an OBSCENE amount of money later, I'm home and ready to give you guys the recap...

Thursday:
Landed at LaGuardia and after dropping our bags, we headed to Carmine's for a some yummy Italian. Ended up eating more than just a little "pre-show meal" but we all decided it was totally worth it because damn, that was some good food.We headed back to our rooms and got ready to go see "Chicago". Huey Lewis was starring in it. Rosie wanted to request that he perform "I Want a New Drug". After the show we walked all over the damn place as we tried to find somewhere to go for drinks. We ended up at the Marriott Marquis where we had a few cocktails and got some very exciting news. Later, we headed to Ray's for a slice of his famous pizza. I have no idea what time it was when we finally went to bed but after being up since 3am, I fell asleep in a New York minute.

Friday:
Got up and headed out to see the sights. First stop was Rockefeller Center. I was surprised at how small the ice skating rink was and we decided against skating. While watching the skaters, a guy in the middle of the rink proposed to his girlfriend. The crowd cheered and the girl looked pretty happy. We met an NYC cop who took it upon himself to take pictures with us and tell us that the proposal was nothing special because they happened every day. Who says New Yorkers are jaded? I promised Officer Sullo (Hi Sullo!) I would post the pictures on here so when the other girls download their photos, I will. The rest of the day was a blur of shopping and sightseeing. (Shopping included Bloomingdales - I swear I walked through the doors and I saw white lights and heard angels singing.) Friday night we had reservations at Azucar, a Cuban restaurant in Soho. I endorse any restaurant where they've got food that good, sangria that tasty, live bands and a guy rolling cigars near the kitchen. While trying to catch a cab, we saw a bar named McGee's and since we were traveling with three McGee girls, we had to go in and have a drink. Next, we headed to Fat Black Pussycat for some more drinking and dancing. I had made plans to meet up with one of my favorite bloggers and she'd recommended that place. We found a cozy seating section near a wall of the club and camped out there for the night. I was out on the dancing with an ice cold vodka tonic in my hands when I turned around to see Marissa standing directly behind me. We both screamed and laughed and hugged. Though I'd never met her before, it was like meeting up with an old friend. Before the night was over, we were dancing on a table together while a bunch of guys from a bachelor party surrounded us. She is as sweet, warm and genuine in person as she seems on her blog and I feel lucky to now call her a friend. The rest of my friends also had a wonderful time and for as long as I live I will remember the way we all danced and laughed and drank our asses off. It was some time after 4 a.m. when I took my too-high-to-be-dancing-and-walking-around-Manhattan-heels off and fell into bed.
Saturday:
Brunch at a deli and then headed to the Empire State Building. The line was three and a half hours long. We decided to skip it and take the subway to Canal Street to buy knock-offs of everything. The subway was an excruciating experience for a bunch of Colorado girls who don't believe in mass transportation. If I never see another Metrocard again, it will be too soon. We found this darling little store called "Chill" - it was the only place we shopped down there where we couldn't negotiate the prices. We headed back uptown to Saks 5th Avenue where we had a great time annoying the hell out of a local who thought glaring at us while telling her friend how much she "hated 5th Ave at this time of year because of all of the tourists" would make us feel bad. The only thing that made us feel bad was her collagen-engorged lips which hurt our eyes. (Sidebar: I do understand how she feels because I feel the same way when I see her kind on my mountains, wearing white ski pants and a chinchilla coat while trying to ski. But I would never be out and out rude to her because my mother raised me better than that.) We also saw the windows at Saks and the tree at Rockefeller Center. I almost had to take down this group of yappy old ladies to get the pictures so please, enjoy them. We had dinner at VaTutto that night near Little Italy to celebrate the birthdays of both Shawn and Maureen. Our reservations were at 9 p.m. and we didn't leave until after midnight. We took another scary cab ride and went to bed at almost 2 a.m.
Sunday:
Woke up, packed suitcases, threw on baseball cap and headed to the airport. As we walked outside we realized it had snowed overnight. I was secretly ecstatic because I had wanted to see snow while we were there. Not that Colorado doesn't get its fair share of snow but as a kid, I'd always imagined there would be snow on the ground. The city was quiet and everything looked beautiful as we headed out. I smiled as I looked out the window because I realized I'd done it - I had heard the honking cabs, tasted the mugs of cocoa and seen the twinkling lights. I carried the oversized shopping bags, saw the Broadway show and gave money to many of the bell-ringing Santas on the street corners. I'd made my dream come true and it was everything I'd hoped it would be.

How many times in my life will I actually get to say that?