A big congratulations before I begin my trip review

Before I start to dive in to memories of the past three weeks, I need to send out a big CONGRATULATIONS to Andrea, the teacher I work with. She told us all today that over the break, on December 30th, she got MARRIED!!! I wish Andrea and her hubby lots of health and happiness as they begin this new chapter in their lives together, as husband and wife!

I haven't quite thought about how to split up my trip yet, so I guess I will start with the trip home through to New York.

Our break officially began on December 19th at 3:10 pm. Honestly, even though I had only been back to work for three weeks, I was so ready for the break. I needed to begin my time of healing. Marcel headed over around 3:30 on Sunday morning, after saying adieu to his friends at the local bar. Needless to say, it was an adventuresome beginning to our trip.

We also had some new company with us this trip, Pierre. "How many French names can you fit into a trip?" you may begin to wonder. No fear, Pierre is the French bear who has moved into our classroom. Because the break was so long, and obviously, Andrea had better things to do than care for a bear, I got to bring Pierre along with us on our trip to the States.

Our flight was on th 21st, after some nasty New York weather that delayed our trip on Saturday. It was pretty uneventful, which is always good. It was so kind of my cousin Katie and her boyfriend Mike to come pick us up at the airport. Since they are so busy, it was nice to have the drive back to catch up on life with them. We were surprised when we got home to find lots of snow. It was really quite beautiful and we were excited for the first white Christmas in many years.
I was quite disappointed to find that my dad was working on Sunday when we arrived. He works for a town and was out plowing snow until 10 pm on Sunday night. I had to fight hard to stay awake for dad to come home!
Unfortunately, I don't have too many pictures of that first snow at home, but this is the Christ Church Tashua in Trumbull, CT.

Monday was kind of a down day for us. We visited with my dad and enjoyed the general lull of being on vacation, and at home.

On Tuesday though, we were up and out in the afternoon. The three of us and my cousin Elizabeth headed in to New York City for the afternoon / evening. We all had a lot of fun!
We got to New York around 2 in the afternoon because we had tickets for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Show at 8 pm. We were afraid to get there too early because of cold and jet-lag!

Once we got in, we made our way to Times Square. Nothing really beats NYC at Christmas-time. And, nothing really beats Times Square for a good sensory overdose!

We made our way over to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for an early dinner. There is something so touristy that draws us back to Bubba Gump. Could it be our love of the movie? For Joern and Marcel, I am convinced it is the burgers!


After our meal, Elizabeth and I headed to my makeup heaven, Sephora, so that I could pick up some essentials. Joern and Marcel headed to Toys R Us, which must have been insane two days before Christmas!

Once we met back up, I had to take some pictures in front of the Good Morning America Studio. Although I have been by the studio many times before, I was drawn to it like a bee to honey, as evidenced by my cheesy grin. The coolest thing was to see the gingerbread house contest winners the night before they were broadcast on the air! Plus, their windows were beautifully decorated for Christmas!


We then made our way over to Rockafeller Center to see the Christmas Tree. It is such a beautiful sight. The way it sits among the buildings of Rockafeller Center, and highlights the ice skating rink is simply magical.


Since we had a little time before the show, Elizabeth and I decided to check out the windows at Sax Fifth Avenue. We were quickly reminded of another New York City Christmas landmark, the beautiful store window displays.



Our show was at 8 pm. I was really glad to have gotten to Radio City Music Hall around 7 so that we could take our time and enjoy the gorgeous building before the show began.



The show itself was thoroughly entertaining. In typical New York fashion, it was big, glitzy and stylish. There was something for everyone to enjoy!
The arrival of Santa Claus was followed by a 3-D tour of New York, and at the end, Elizabeth caught a giant streamer shot into the audience!



Here are some of the great scenes from the show:





Our day in New York was so much fun. It helped me claim back what I thought I had lost this year, my holiday spirit.