Time Square, New York

Dec
30,
2011

Whether you choose to watch the ball dropping from your television or live; Times Square, NYC is synonymous with New Year's Eve. For the 104th time, the ball will drop on the night of the 31st**. Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and others are performing this year**. 
On a personal note, 2011 was good and went by too fast. Usually I host the New Year's Eve party. How ever, I was tempted to grab the very first invite I received. A friend of mine from school is hosting it and the theme is Casino Night, with evening entertainment provided by the guests. The girls (aka us) are performing the song from "Rang De Basanti". We took the steps from the flash mob performance in Mumbai CST station for the same song. Much to the ridicule of my kids and husband, we have been "practicing" for the performance. 

Lego Dragons

Dec
29,
2011

More often than not, toys for kids are highly over-rated. This post is not about whether kids need toys or not but about one kind, I have no problem buying for my kids - Legos. It's raining Legos in our household. My six year old has been churning pieces into Ninjago Dragons and the one above is supposedly the Jade Castle. At times with his dad and at times with his grandma. The one above - all by himself. 

Bake Crumbs Shop, New York City

Dec
28,
2011

Don't get fooled by the picture, these cup cakes are humungous and that's coming from person with the biggest sweet tooth ever. I tried the Blackout cupcake and could not finish it, even on an empty stomach. However I have to say, the texture was moist and gooey with chocolate fudge inside. The crumbs on the top was the best part.
I am simply on a chocolate-craving phase.

Dylan's Candy Land

Dec
27,
2011

The above is the ginger bread house in Dylan's Candy Land. Pretty impressive one.
All I saw was sugar in all shapes, sizes and color. What else can you expect from a candy store.
Did I tell you, they play really loud music inside the shop.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Dec
27,
2011

Pecans grow in Texas. There are farms where you can buy pecans and they crack open the nuts for you. This year there is a shortage of pecans due to severe drought and export to China. Yes, you heard that right. We export pecans to China. Now, enough of the general knowledge lesson. This is a post from a time when I was going through a pecan obsession. I skipped most of the ingredients from the original recipe and struck to pretty much the chocolates and pecans. I made a chocolate pecan pie for Thanksgiving.

Central Market, New York City

Dec
26,
2011

There's food all over the city and you still don't see as many overweight people as you find in the other parts of the country. Most walk a lot on a daily basis to commute, the kind of walk you do in an airport to catch a flight. Not like a scheduled walk/run on the treadmill, that comes along with a load of excuses, if you are not up to it.

Christmas Day Brunch

Dec
25,
2011

I am not a big gadget person and a very few appeal to me. Like the dishwasher that truly washes without help or a GPS/beeper that can tell me where my car is parked in a crowded lot. Its sad most of these are not in market yet. I have been eying the hand blender for a while. Santa apparently heard that and I got one. It's only obvious, I went over board with the whipping.

It's The Most Wonderful Time ...

Dec
24,
2011

With the advent of online shopping, malls and other retailers no longer invest in Christmas decor the same way they did years ago. I was glad NY has still retained the Christmas spirits. As you walk around, many corporate buildings have huge decorated trees in their atrium.
Retailers dress up their windows in wintery themes.
... a carousel on display here

Deck The Halls And Other Self-Made Traditions

Dec
23,
2011

I am home and glad I don't have to travel again until 2012. There's nothing more I want to do the last two weeks of the year than spending it with the kids and family. We started a few holiday traditions after our kids were born. We flip a few things here and there but follow a few every year meticulously. 
Our tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. There are years me and my husband do not buy gifts for each other but we always do for our kids. I take the kids with me to my husband's favorite shop so the kids can choose a gift for him and he does the same for me. We started this tradition this year. Its a good age for the  kids to pay attention to what their parent's likes and dislikes are.

Hot Chocolate in the City

Dec
22,
2011

Eating is as much a part of my travel escapades as much as walking around the city. When in New York City, you have to savor a cup cake from Magnolia, share a NY bagel with veggie cream cheese, try a black and white cookie, ice skate at either Bryant Park, Rockerfeller Center or Central Park and then have a hot chocolate. Bryant park kind of super-cedes Rockerfeller Center for me. I personally thing the later is over rated and pricy. 

Neuhaus, New York City

Dec
21,
2011

When we visited Belgium, one of the co-passengers on the plane recommended "neuhaus". For what ever reason, we were unable to go there. Not that we did not eat chocolates, just chose other places. Frankly we were overwhelmed with the number of chocolate shops in Belgium. We couldn't walk an inch with out finding a shop we did not want to eat from.
Well, not going to "nehaus" was not a missed opportunity as I saw a glimpse of this shop from the side walk as I was passing by the Grand Central. I had to stop in, tasted a few and bought some for my family. Do watch out, some of their stock is not fresh. Buy what you taste and you won't be disappointed.

Rockerfeller, NYC and Other TV Shows

Dec
19,
2011

The first time I went to NYC, I could'nt wait to take my daughter to NYC during Christmas. Presenting to you the Queen of Trees, the one in Rockerfeller. I am sure you can google up facts on the tree and the traditions around it.
This time around, the 30 Rockerfeller center also reminded me of 30 Rock. If you do not watch that show, I highly recommend it. Especially with all the travel for business, I have added a couple of TV shows during the weeknight. As I am not busy making dinner or watching the kids do home work.

Avra - New York City

Dec
18,
2011

You certainly need a reservation to get into this one. One of the best upscale places to get Greek food in mid-town East especially if you like seafood. Their wine selection is good or I should say the wine recommended by the bartender was good.
I always find Greek food salty and lemony. May be I should remember to remind the waiter to go easy on the two. Other than that, I loved my food and was good with the restaurant I choose to dine in.

NYC Style Inspirations

Dec
17,
2011

Loft and Limited are my favorite stores. I should probably look for work in one of these stores or make friends with someone working there to benefit from employee discounts. Loft was everywhere in NYC and loved their displays.
I think the above is Fendi's display but can't remember. The one below is from a local boutique and thought it was blog-worthy.

Magnolia Bakery, New York City

Dec
17,
2011

You have to try their red velvet cup cake. We waited 15 minutes to get in. At this point of my trip, I was convinced there is a good treat at the end of every long or short queue. We chose a banana, walnuts, pineapple cupcake, a flour less brownie and a red velvet cupcake.
If you are lucky you may get to see a baker or two icing the cake.

The View(s), NYC

Dec
16,
2011

 
Can't believe this shot is from my 4S iphone. It was a foggy night and the colorful building on the right is Dylan's Candy shop.
Another foggy day shot from the 46th floor close to Times Square. There was just enough sunlight to make the Liberty island look like its floating in the clouds.
 

Walk With Me

Dec
15,
2011

Based on my description, this trip may look like a sight seeing trip, but in reality, it was not. I was at work pretty much from morning to at least 6 in the evening. I am a traveler at heart. No matter where I am or how little time I have at hand, I act like a tourist. All of these places were shot on my walk to and from my hotel.

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