Tuesday Andrew and I got up very early to head into New York City for the day. We packed a lot into the day there starting at Rockerfeller Center to see the tree and ice skating. Then we checked out some window displays along 5th Ave, very surrealist inspired work, really interesting.
From there we had to go into FAO Schwarz to play with toys and load up on candy, it's great to have adults in a candy shop because we act like kids we just actually get to buy it.
From there we went and got our picture taken with a very effeminate Santa Claus before trying to find a pizza place to get warm and get some food that wasn't pure sugar.
After sufficiently warming up we went back into the cold to wander through Central Park then on down to Time Square, with a brief stop into M&M World, four floors of M&M's, can't go wrong with that. Finally we headed back to Rockerfeller Center to see the tree lit up at night and then slowly dragged ourselves back to the train to head back home again.
Wednesday we went out to Best Buy so Andrew could buy a computer, a PC but we can forgive him that. And Jess arrived from Phoenix just in time for the snow to be all rained away. After the Christmas Eve service we relaxed for a bit before everyone headed to bed.
Christmas morning we awoke to coffee and the discovery that Santa had come by and he even remembered where to find Andrew.
After stockings came the traditional eggs benedict, one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Then came presents and a bit of resting.
Friday was day 2 of Christmas where my Aunt Deb (my Mom's sister) and her family came by for much food and more presents.
Saturday was day 3, off to New Hampshire for Christmas with the Swenson family, even more eating, drinking, presents with some pool and Wii thrown in for good measure.
I'd say that Sunday we rested but that didn't happen. Instead on Sunday Andrew and I headed into Boston to check out the city since Andrew had never been. We first went down near where Jess used to live to get some sushi, so yummy. Then I had to take Andrew down to Fenway, I mean, it was right there. So we walked around and got to see all the construction going on. We popped into a sports bar across the street from Fenway to have a pint and watch a bit of the Patriots game. After that it was off to Government Center to walk through Faneuil Hall and down to the waterfront to get to the New England Aquarium (Andrew had never been to one of those before). I love the New England Aquarium, especially because when you first walk in the whole ground floor is all penguins and they are my favorite.
Of course after that we were getting a bit hungry so we made our way into the North End to find Mike's Pastry for some cannolis. While chowing down we went off to the Prudential Center to go up to the very top and get a 360 view of Boston at night, then back down again for more food at a local bar called Pour House that Jess used to frequent back in her Boston days.
And finally it was home again to watch Goodfellas and get a bit of hot tub time.
Monday there was massive running around and packing and it was off to the airport again in a whirlwind. At the airport I sent Andrew off to the correct terminal and went to find my friend Kelly who went to Philly U with me and was flying back to London for New Years here with me.
We got in early early Tuesday morning and by the time we got a cab home we were so exhausted that there was a big nap session, of course I kept waking up because I was so cold and couldn't figure out why. Turns out that Ellie and James had gone back to Brighton for the week and had turned off the heat, and the stove which I discovered when I tried to make some food for us. We headed out to do a bit of shopping down on Oxford Street. And even though we were exhausted we stayed up until after 2am with Andrew playing Battle of the Sexes a new board game I got for Christmas.
Wednesday Kelly, Ellie and I went into Watford to do a bit of shopping, Ellie still needed to find an outfit for New Years Eve so we were on a mission.
We were a bit late heading out for New Years Eve but had amazing timing non-the-less. We took the tube as far as we could which was two stations shy of our destination. The others were closed due to overcrowding because the tube is free on New Years Eve. So we joined the crowds of thousands to walk down one of the main roads, The Strand. We arrived at King's College down near the Thames which is where we got tickets to a party at the colleges student bar. Once we got in James, Ellie and Andrew headed upstairs to find the bathroom while Kelly and I waited while Andrew's friend Rachel checked her coat. The plan was for us to head to the bar on the 4th floor to get drinks and meet them. Things were going well as far as we could see, we got in the elevator and then out again on the floor with everyone else, there were no markers for the floor but there were a lot of people getting off and going into the bar so we followed along. We made it to the bar, got drinks for everyone but couldn't find them. We wandered around the floor which wasn't very big and looked and looked to no avail. Finally it's 3 minutes until midnight (we got in at 11:30 or so) and we still can't find them and I go out towards the elevator until I find someone who works there and ask what floor we're on. Turns out we were on the 2nd floor, so the three of us ran up the two flights of stairs and found everyone else the moment we walked in the door, which means by the time we said hi the countdown was at 3. After that the real party began with much dancing.
We got home around 5 or 6, had a bit of an eating session as we were all starved and headed off to sleep for a few hours.
Today has been a nice relaxing day, mostly sleeping in and watching tv bumming in the front room together.
Back to more relaxing and enjoyment of having Kelly around.
Photos of Christmas holiday and New Years for all to see: here.
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