57th street and 6th ave
Single Cut Brewery, Astoria
Big aLIce Brewery, Long Island City
ST. Jame's Theatre
Single Cut Brewery, Astoria
Big aLIce Brewery, Long Island City
ST. Jame's Theatre
Yay I’m finally writing about some of the things I’ve been
doing while being back in New York! Although this stuff was a month ago it was
the start to my longer than expected return and I just haven’t had the chance
to write about it all yet. There really is nothing like coming back to the
motherland and seeing the New York City skyline pretty much every day. So literally
night one of Sam and I landing in New York we got to have a good catch up with
my parents and celebrate my dad’s birthday! A few days later we celebrated my
favorite holiday, Thanksgiving! This one was even more special than usual as my
dad was invited to partake in the parade as a marshal. It is my favorite
tradition to wake up at the crack of dawn on thanksgiving day, put 2-20 layers
of clothing on (weather depending) and stand in the middle of NYC braving
whatever elements mother nature has conjured up that year. But the love I have
for it is nothing compared to my dad, who started this whole tradition with us since
I was a little one. This year Mother Nature decided to make it colder than
Frosty the Snowman’s nuts as it was under 20 degrees (Fahrenheit sorry English
readers I’ve not quite mastered Celsius yet) and a wind chill that brought the
temperature into the teens! Now since I have literally gone just about every
year, I’ve seen my fair share of cold days but this one was definitely one of
the worst, and apparently one of the coldest days on record for the parade.
But talk about a kid in a candy
store, I have never seen anyone more in their element and absolutely loving
life than my dad was working that parade. It really made the day, and Sam and I
were able to stand in a VIP section which gave us the perfect view of everything.
And also some much needed coverage from the intense wind. Of course after the
parade Sam and I spent some time in Legends bar (where we first met) while we
waited for my dad to finish up his marshal duties (lol duty). Now you don’t
understand what a feast is until you have been to my parent’s house for one of
my mother’s infamous Thanksgiving Day dinners. I do mean dinners plural because
the day consists of meatballs for breakfast, a first meal (you eat your
favorite dishes), second meal (eat the things you were too stuffed to get to in
meal 1), third meal is a combo of what were the favorites of the day and
dessert. Add some naps and movies in there and you’ve summed up our day. Not to
mention there’s left overs for about a week as my mom’s meal preparations are
for a small army.
For the rest of the time that Sam
was here that week we made it a point to see our friends and visit Astoria as
much as possible since we both missed it so much. That also meant that we went
to a lot of Queens Breweries. Probably our favorite thing to do while being in
Queens. We stopped at our old local brewery Singlecut, then to my favorite Big
aLICe. And even thought it wasn’t lit yet we stopped by Rockifeller Centre
Christmas tree. Unexpectedly we stumbled upon the Candy Nations exhibit while
on our way to Bryant Park. Their annual winter festival is probably the best
holiday event going on in the city. They have a massive ice skating rink in the
middle of the park with loads of small stands to buy handmade items and
personalized gifts. And I have to say as I’ve done ice skating there a few
times the prices aren’t horrible and when you buy the ticket you are allowed to
come back the entire day and use that same ticket. Which is nice if you want to
have dinner or a drink in the little restaurant and then go back to skating.
But be advised if you want to save $15 on storage fee bring your own gym lock
for their free lockers. They also sometimes have Groupon for it, which allow
you to skip the line and get free hot coco when you’re done skating. I really
do love this place and it’s always my number one recommendation when people ask
me where to go in the city during Christmas time. This is also a place I had brought
Sam on his first visit back to New York when we were dating, so it’s somewhat
of a tradition to go.
Just after Sam left and I was
feeling a bit down, my good friend Molly invited me to go see Frozen on Broadway,
compliments of her sister Brittany. Honestly anything on Broadway that is put
on by Broadway is just sensational. The affects they have leave me as an adult
mesmerized so I can only imagine how kids must feel about it. I also saw
Aladdin in September in London and that blew me away too. I would advise that
you grab drinks beforehand because the prices were insane for their specialty
cocktails named after characters in the show. Perhaps it was the sadness in my
eyes or just the fact that the bartender over heard my sob story as I was
telling Molly, but my “Arendelle” drink had more vodka in it than expected. But
I appreciated the gesture none the less. I now feel like all other Broadway
shows won’t be able to compare to the magicalness that is the world of Disney.
That or I am just a giant child… probably just that.
