Christmas in New York

Long time no blog ... again. It seemed for a while that I had nothing exciting enough to post about. I have been busy organizing and setting up the homestead for the last couple of months. Fall came and went pretty fast. We all seem to be settled into our routines and schedules. And we quickly learned that Northern Michigan gets a lot of snow. Jerry has become a pro at using the snow blower and I have come to appreciate the farmer across the road who has us on his plow route.

I was looking rather scrappy, so I got my courage up to try out a local hair salon. Somebody recommended a salon to me and when I map quested it I found out it was located in the old State Hospital (read mental asylum). That sounded right up my ally so I scheduled an appointment.

It was kind of creepy and interesting at the same time. And.... it looked like the perfect place for those paranormal investigators to do some serious snooping. They also converted some of the buildings into high priced condos. No thanks, I'll pass. By the way, the hair came out nice!

This year we decided to take the plunge and drive to New York to visit the grandparents and family. We haven't seen some relatives in years so it was a big deal. I packed up all my knitted projects. I think I had finished seven pairs of socks and two watch caps by the time we arrived in New York. Fourteen hours of drive time equals a lot of knitting if there's adequate daylight.

Once we were in the tri-state area, we saw all sorts of interesting sights.

Kosher foods:


Dogs in strollers dressed better than their humans:

You could tell we entered a whole different dimension.

On Christmas, we had a lovely morning at Jerry's mom's house. The kids were thrilled with all of their gifts. We then drove out East to my brother Tom and Aida's house in Shirley for Christmas afternoon with the all of the Dankowskis. My family is larger and louder and goofier than Jerry's. I was afraid of Will and Steph having a meltdown or something , but they did very well and kept things together. Tom went out of the way to keep the bull mastiff out of sight (for Stephanie) and provided a variety of food options for the picky eaters. It wasn't exactly a Charles Dickens Christmas but my kids had a great time with their Long Island cousins. Magical!

The day after Christmas we promised to take the girlies into Manhattan to see the city. The twins were born in New York City and wanted to see what it was like. We had to go in early because a blizzard was in the forecast. So Jerry, Steph, a panda and I bundled up and got on the Long Island Railroad.

Once in Penn Station we decided to separate. Jerry took Katherine to Rockefeller Center, ate a hotdog from a street vendor, and went to Saks Fifth Avenue for some swanky shopping. She was awestruck and the local mall will never look the same to her.

I did a simpler route with less walking and no subways for Stephanie. We first went to Macys.

Then we went to the Empire State Building.

Then the snow started. We didn't go up to the top observation deck but we went inside and checked out the art deco lobby. It has very elegant lines and is one of my favorite buildings.

We then stopped by Sephora to buy some sparkly cosmetics. Total teen girl experience.

The snow was getting pretty nasty so we headed back to Long Island.

The weather got really bad overnight and I thought we would be stuck. Thank God for our four wheel drive trailblazer, I don't think I could have been snowed in there.

This is the Throgs Neck bridge on the way out of dodge. Jerry's college, SUNY Maritime is located underneath at the base of the bridge. Very troll like!

Here is my favorite gift. My niece Terra, made every family a framed silk screen print of the Dankowski family crest. Makes me smile every time I look at it. I love how we embrace our ass-head heritage.

My second favorite gift is a Chumlee bobble head doll. I am a Pawnstars fan. I love seeing the treasure people bring in for evaluation. And the Chumlee guy is such a likeable buffoon.

Home Sweet Home! Enjoy your New Year everyone. Be safe!!!