December Food

Before.

After.

I think we have enough cookies.  Note: This was just the chocolate chip batch.  There was also a peanut butter batch and a sugar cookie batch.  If you are diabetic, do not visit our apartment.

Beef stew for the cold.

Spicy Chinese for the cold.

Fried chicken...for...the cold?

Currywurst for the cold.

I have not had currywurst since Berlin!  What an exciting find!

Nurnberger sausages for the cold.

As you can see, I eat for the weather.

December Photo Walk

I collected a number of random pictures in December, so it's time to post them.  None of them really justify their own post.

$1 ice cream.  The best part of IKEA.

We took a boat to IKEA.  How many of you have done that?  (Yes, the New York IKEA has a dedicated dock that ferries people from Manhattan to the store._

Little Italy's idea of dessert.

After eating in Little Italy, we declined dessert, so we were given some fried dough with powered sugar.  I guess it was obvious that I didn't decline dessert for health reasons?

He is stepping on his hair.  This cannot be safe.

Inside the Time Warner Center.  They change color to music.

$16 for a Manhattan in Manhattan.  But you feel so classy!  (and I didn't pay for it)

This statue hangs out by the giant cathedral near our building.

A tiny sliver of said cathedral.

Huge champagne bottle to celebrate the last day of class!

The Girl and her Mexican Food

Erin has been greatly disappointed with the quantity and quality of the Mexican food near us.  There are a few good places in the city, but nothing within walking distance.

After extensive trial and error, I finally located a place that might meet her expectations.  It was 20 blocks away, but everything is within walking distance if you have the time, right?  I really enjoyed the tamales, so I decided to go for a second visit and bring Erin along.

My exciting-looking dish.

Flautas!  In the North?!

The entrees were great, but the real surprise was to follow.

The world's greatest flan.

It was so good that we ate 75% of it before I could take a picture.  Anyone who comes to visit will be forced to try the flan.  It was only $3!  I was expecting $8-10.

Even better, they deliver to our building!  This is a monumental discovery that will change the course of our lives in New York. 

Radio City Music Hall

We bought cheap tickets through Columbia and went to see the Christmas Spectacular at RCMH.  It's a really cool venue.  I've seen a few shows there, but I really appreciate their bathrooms.  Not so much their $5 20oz bottled drinks, but what are you going to do?

How long would it take to eat a whole pound?

Looking over the balcony.

After the show.

No pictures of the show, since Santa wouldn't like that.  But it was fun to see how high the Rockettes can kick their legs.

Giant Christmas tree.

Even bigger tree at Rockefeller Center.

I need to go ice skating at Rockefeller Center.  It was too crowded after the show, but I'll add it to my to-do list.

Program.

Broken glass is sharp

I was knocked down the stairs in a subway station in Harlem.  The Lumia 920 is robust, but apparently not designed to absorb my full weight with momentum.

I liked it better before.

Luckily, insurance is covering the replacement.  Now I just have to be careful not to slice myself open on the broken shards near the bottom.

Live-in Gourmet Chef

Erin doesn't start work until next Monday, so she has had the whole semester to brush up on her cooking skills.  She really likes the food network shows and has been putting her new knowledge to work.

Pesto pasta with asparagus and garlic bread.

I thought I should post at least one picture of her work.  Tasty stuff.

Thanksgiving

After the parade, we came home to start cooking the meal.  I was worried about the lack of a turkey being married to a vegetarian, but it turns out that we had three meat eaters and only one plant lover.

Turkey!

It was my first Thanksgiving away from Texas/Oklahoma and the rest of the family, but at least the food was the same.  Now I have food for the next two weeks...

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

We woke up at the crack of dawn to get a good spot.  It turns out we should have woken up before dawn even thought about cracking.  The maze of blocked off streets was difficult to navigate and I should have scouted it out the day before.

Luckily, we ended up in a pretty good place on Central Park West near 64th St.  We lucked out when someone left around 7:00 and we grabbed the spot.

I have way too many pictures to post here and I can't afford to use up all my space, so I'll only post a select few.  (Google charges $2.50/month for hosting all these photos and videos.)

7am.  (Parade starts at 9am)

We're underway!

First band.

First balloons.

Little Ronald.

Giant Ronald! (with a brain tumor)

Is this street legal?  I might want one.

Woo-hoo!

Scratch that.  Is this street legal?

Tap-Dancing Trees?

Erin says I can't have a candy-cane woman because they are creepy.

Buzz Lightyear and some blocks?

A horde of Christmas people.

It's settled.  Santa drives a GMC Yukon.

Santa, his other half, and an elf.

The end.

Oh wait, now the end.

Uh...huh?  The end?

OK, it's over.  Erin is pleased with the parade.

It was worth waking up early, but it made for a sleepy rest of the day.

Visiting Columbus

Columbus Circle is named after Columbus, as you would expect.  He happens to have a giant statue in the center.  It all makes sense.

There is Columbus in the middle on the pedestal.

Now for something that doesn't make as much sense.

Me with Columbus.

Yes, they built a living room around Columbus.

Columbus' house.

Erin enjoying one of his chairs.

He watches TV too.

Climbing up to the living room in the sky.

It's not everyday that a statue becomes a coffee table piece.

Since we were up high, we took a few other photos of the area.  I used to work at the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle, so it's always been a fun area for me.

Time Warner Center

Central Park South

Down below.

Fun excursion.  I also found my first Microsoft Store.

Windows 8 laptops, tablets, and phones!