A Big Apple Christmas Break

Mr. Gingerbread and I got away to enjoy a little Christmas spirit in the Big Apple last weekend.

While there, we saw the beautiful Christmas windows, of course,

waved at the NYFD who were all decked out and caught up in the excitement of Christmas coming soon,

and visited some exceptional shops that were iced and decorated in 

Christmas cookie colors. We stopped in at Mackenzie Childs,

ABC Carpet and Home, 

and Tinsel Trading Company to name a few.

We enjoyed strolling through the Christmas market at Union Square,

which is the closest I got to a real German Christmas market this year.

It was the weekend of Santacon, where the annual bar hopping Santa Clauses prowl the town

looking for fun, drinks, and a portion of the proceeds go to Toys for Tots. About 30,000 Santas, elves and Mrs. Claus's were expected to participate. The city was a sea of red everywhere we went that day.

We made sure to take a moment to take in the view of Bryant Park where the skaters were enjoying the sunny, cold weather.

We caught two plays that weekend, The Heiress, with Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame, and then A Christmas Story. Both were excellent,

and if you need a last minute gift idea. I happen to know where you can buy a very attractive leg lamp from the show!

Finally, one of my favorite stops was the station for letter writing to Santa at Macy's on Herald Square. Just under the Believe meter, children were writing their requests to Santa in eager anticipation, and then dropping them in the mail box, where for every letter written to Ol' St. Nick, the Believe meter inches up and up.

So to all my readers, whom I consider friends, I take pause at this time to wish you and your families a joy-filled Christmas and a blessed new year.

Believe!