Friday, December 15, 2006
Christmas Time in Gotham
I have to say that it lives up to the hype. Probably the first thing in my life to truly do so.
Christmas in Manhattan is the grown up version of experiencing "Disney Magic." It has to be experienced.
This holiday season I haven't quite caught the craze like I've usually done with less than two weeks to go til Christmas. Coping with change sometimes takes priority.
My tree and decorations are up. Some gifts are bought, but not wrapped. But the usual "Christmas" feel has been missing from my usual routine. Except for one day.....
I finally kicked my self out of my own apartment to go shop for a Secret Santa gift for a colleague at work. Typically I'll schlep up and down 8th Ave. in Chelsea looking for some ok gift. But this time I knew what I wanted to get for the present, and then made it a point to hike it up to my first destination of the evening. The Apple Store on 5th Ave.
For this first stop, there really wasn't too much "Christmas" to be felt, except for the red t-shirts and iPod Nanos abound. I hadn't even seen that many lights or decorations walking along Central Park South to get to the store.
Then I left with my purchase, took a left out of the store and saw IT. And boy I mean IT. 5th Avenue must be the world's #1 luxury shopping destination. And when those shops do the Holidays, they pull no punches.
From the WAY larger than life ring box at Cartier that opened and played "Carol of the Bells," to the decorated windows of Tiffany, Guess, Gap, Disney, Abercrombie and Fitch, Bvlgora, etc etc, and then to the HUGE snowflakes gracing the front of the flagship Saks that blinked to a handful of holiday songs....I finally started to feel what I had been waiting to feel. I didn't mind the crowds, or the fact that, except for the one purchase already done, I wasn't spending any money that evening.
I rounded a corner and found the icon centerpiece to it all. The tree at Rockerfeller Center. Beautiful multicolored lights and a star on top made of Swvarski (sp?) crystals. It was like seeing Fiction become Fact. That tree was actually physically in front of me; not on TV or in a picture in the paper or on the Net. I had to call my Mom....LOL
So the feeling is finally here, with nine days to spare and 9 presents still to buy. I'm already looking forward to next year.....
Christmas in Manhattan is the grown up version of experiencing "Disney Magic." It has to be experienced.
This holiday season I haven't quite caught the craze like I've usually done with less than two weeks to go til Christmas. Coping with change sometimes takes priority.
My tree and decorations are up. Some gifts are bought, but not wrapped. But the usual "Christmas" feel has been missing from my usual routine. Except for one day.....
I finally kicked my self out of my own apartment to go shop for a Secret Santa gift for a colleague at work. Typically I'll schlep up and down 8th Ave. in Chelsea looking for some ok gift. But this time I knew what I wanted to get for the present, and then made it a point to hike it up to my first destination of the evening. The Apple Store on 5th Ave.
For this first stop, there really wasn't too much "Christmas" to be felt, except for the red t-shirts and iPod Nanos abound. I hadn't even seen that many lights or decorations walking along Central Park South to get to the store.
Then I left with my purchase, took a left out of the store and saw IT. And boy I mean IT. 5th Avenue must be the world's #1 luxury shopping destination. And when those shops do the Holidays, they pull no punches.
From the WAY larger than life ring box at Cartier that opened and played "Carol of the Bells," to the decorated windows of Tiffany, Guess, Gap, Disney, Abercrombie and Fitch, Bvlgora, etc etc, and then to the HUGE snowflakes gracing the front of the flagship Saks that blinked to a handful of holiday songs....I finally started to feel what I had been waiting to feel. I didn't mind the crowds, or the fact that, except for the one purchase already done, I wasn't spending any money that evening.
I rounded a corner and found the icon centerpiece to it all. The tree at Rockerfeller Center. Beautiful multicolored lights and a star on top made of Swvarski (sp?) crystals. It was like seeing Fiction become Fact. That tree was actually physically in front of me; not on TV or in a picture in the paper or on the Net. I had to call my Mom....LOL
So the feeling is finally here, with nine days to spare and 9 presents still to buy. I'm already looking forward to next year.....
// posted by ProudJock Matt @ 11:16 PM 
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