Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas in New York City

We have a tradition in our family that when each child graduates from high school either hubby or myself takes them to New York City for a few days.  It is a wonderful bonding time and the trip is tailored to the interests of the individual child.  

I took our eldest to NYC almost five years ago now and we had a blast.  We did the usual sites like the Statue of Liberty and the museums, but we also went to see one of the locations where they filmed the Godfather movie.  The raunchy bar is still there and I made my son go in with me to have a quick look around.  We still talk fondly about our adventures together.

Kate finished high school in June so she and hubby went to New York City the week before Christmas - and thankfully missed the big snowstorm.  They had an amazing time and, of course, she took tons of photos.   Being the good girl that she is, Kate has let me share them with you.  What really impressed her (and me) were the Christmas windows, especially the ones at Tiffany and Anthropologie.

Come on a NYC Christmas tour with me. 

The fabulous Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center

Giant lights at the Rockefeller Center

Outside Fox News

Fifth Avenue

Hanging snowflake at the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street
A Christmas tree covered in bows at the Seaport Museum near the Brooklyn Bridge

Wreath on a lighthouse at the Seaport Museum
The Christmas tree inside the New York Public Library
The Christmas store windows were truly spectacular. 

Window at Mont Blanc

Silvery Dior window

 Chanel's window.  I love the Christmas trees and may have to make something like that next year

Giant snowflakes in the Burberry window
Large illuminated boxes in the Louis Vuitton window

I love the tree trunks and fake snow used in the La Mer window

TIFFANY - The whole experience was amazing, according to Kate.  The windows were gorgeous and they had the interior decorated in flocked trees and wreaths with Tiffany blue and silver decorations.  On one of the upper floors they were giving out hot chocolate in Tiffany paper cups, with Tiffany blue serviettes, and macaroons in Tiffany blue, and Tiffany blue candy canes.  Could a girl be any happier?









 Displays on the first floor of Tiffany


Does it get any better than this?


Even the typewriter is in Tiffany blue




ANTHROPOLOGIE - the visit to Anthropologie was another highlight of the trip.  The store's decorations were innovative and creative and, as always, inspiring.

Anthropologie's store window with crazy clocks and garlands and chains



Another Anthro window with a miniature snow covered hill dotted with trees and little mushrooms

I adore the knit snowballs flying into the mitten sun

Another Anthro window with a tree covered in colourful birdhouses

 
Mason jars filled with pine cones and other bits of nature hanging from a ladder

A giant pinecone made out of coffee sacks


Felt icicles hung from wooden stick antlers

A stairway made from books that works its way up to the ceiling and across to the chandelier that is made from coiled printed paper

The market canopy covered in snow

And finally, Kate went skating at Bryant Park with the Empire State building in the background.   How Christmassy is that?


Kate and hubby also did a bit of shopping at Tiffany so there were a couple of blue boxes under the tree at Christmas.  I'll show you those in another post.

9 comments:

  1. What a lovely tradition! Looks like they had a fabulous time.

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  2. What an amazing trip filled with wonderful memories! And Kate did a great job with the camera!!!

    Kat :)

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  3. I loved seeing these windows. I would never eat that candy cane. Love the coffee bag pinecone.

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  4. Grace, you lucky duck. I just *love* those little blue Tiffany boxes (and what's inside, of course). What a super cool tradition in your family. Thanks so much for sharing the pictures. I liked the pics from Tiffany and Anthropologie best. I might need to refer back to this post next year for my holiday decorating inspiration ;D

    xoxoxo
    Ricki Jill

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  5. Thank you for posting these pictures. I have always wanted to go to New York and these show it is a fabulous as I imagined.
    sigh, it looks so wonderful.

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  6. Thank you for sharing..your daughter took some amazing pictures. I have never been to NY before but after reading your blog I am definately adding visiting NY in the winter to my bucket list...
    Congratulations to your daughter on her graduation..

    Julie from Washington State

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  7. I love new york during the holiday season...................its wonderful and brings back fond memories. thx for sharing!

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  8. Thank you for sharing your blog, I just discoverd it today. Re the color in the kitchen, paint the back of the cabinet the same color as the lower cabinets. Paint the baskets yellow and leave the liners white or dye them a darker blue. Hang some of your blue plates on the soffit over the upper cabinets to pull the blue through the space. Pop in some orange or red with flowers or towels as accents, re the bathroom - Paint the frame around the bathroom mirror dark and get an antique nickel light fixture with opaque glass globes. It is so easy to know what to do when it isn't your house! Anyway, thanks for sharing, I look forward to stopping by again. Oh, and I really want a bite of that Yule Log!

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  9. Hi Sylvia,

    Sylvia,, Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving your comment so I could follow back to this post. I thoroughly enjoyed your story with your familys Christmas tradition! Fabulous idea!!! The windows: stunning, creative, thoughtful, inspiring. Tiffanys certainly does it up in style, and in all my favorite colours. Whats not to love? Curious about your gift? Last year my bf gave me a beautiful blue and silver reversible Tiffanys handbag, which I adore. Just getting the box with the pretty white ribbon and dust cover made me shiver :)
    Great to hear from you. Hoping to continue to have more time to blog and connect. Take care. Hugs

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