A Pre-Thanksgiving Day Treat: Macy's Parade Balloons Up Close

 

Kermit the Frog

 
Last night I did something I’ve always wanted to do. That’s head over to Central Park West around 79th street, the night before Thanksgiving and watch as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons are inflated.  I’d never done it before so when I got the opportunity to go behind the scenes with a group of fellow bloggers, courtesy of Macy’s, I jumped at the chance.

B. Boy in Progress

Our small group met on Columbus Avenue and 75th street around 4 o’clock and were greeted with a steady drizzle but excited tourists and New Yorkers, eager to get a preview of the big parade.  As with any big event in New York, there are glitches and even though we had bona fide press passes firmly around out necks, the NYPD didn’t want to let us into the restricted area where all the balloon goodies waiting.  But our contact Lauren Roseman did some fast talking and got us through.  

Safely behind the police barricades, we were able to get a closeup look at some of the hard work that goes into getting the 15 giant balloons and 44 mid-size balloons ready for their Thanksgiving Day close-ups.  There were spotlights along the street so workers and spectators could see the balloons more clearly and large speakers piped out jaunty Christmas music.

Julius the Monkey

First we hit 79th street where the balloons at the head of the parade are located.  They’re lined up on the street in the order they will appear in the parade.  Earlier this week, they were transported through the Lincoln Tunnel from their new studio home in Moonachie, New Jersey, to the streets of Central Park West.

"The Addams Family" Musical: A Ghoulish Hoot

Courtesy Addams Family Musical

I won’t lie to you, the Broadway musical The Addams Family wasn’t at the top of my list of shows to see.

I was a Munsters fan.

But after seeing the show last week, with its first rate cast and “let’s not take ourselves too seriously” attitude, I have to say, I had a ghoulishly good time.

The show, based on the Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons about a “creepy, kooky; mysterious and spooky” family, stars Broadway, film and TV vet Roger Rees as Gomez Addams and Brooke Shields as his ghostly wife, Morticia.

The show kicks off with the opening number, “When You’re an Addams,” and it’s a toe tapping hoot.  It takes place in the Addams’ family cemetery and is the family’s yearly celebration of life and death. 

Especially death.

Macy's Flower Show 2011

If you're in New York this weekend, stop in at the Macy's Flower Show.

You'll get a taste of spring and some great flower displays as well.

This year's theme is Tower of Flowers.  But if you want to see it in person, you'll have to be quick because the show ends tomorrow.

Enjoy!

My New Season 4 "Mad Men" Avatar

I got inspired after seeing the Mad Men season 4 premiere so I decided to create a new Twitter avatar at Mad Men Yourself and here it is!

Oh Don, are you home?  Pass me another drink!

Ideas for Fun in NYC During BlogHer '10

New York City is my hometown so I'm beyond excited that within a couple of weeks, bloggers from all over the world will be arriving for BlogHer '10.  And though a lot of time will be taken up with conference events, hopefully many of those attendees will explore some of the fun stuff the Big Apple has to offer.

First off, if you're going to do some sightseeing, get yourself a Metrocard and a CityPASS.  The Metrocard is for public buses and subways all over NYC.  The CityPASS is a booklet of tickets to six of New York City's most popular museums and attractions and will save you a total of 45% off the regular admission prices. 

Now, here are some of my favorite NYC experiences. 

Go Hunting with Watson Adventure Tours Scavenger Hunts

My cousin first introduced me to these fun scavenger hunts when she gave me one as a birthday gift a couple of years ago.  It was a murder mystery hunt through the Metropolitan Museum of Art and my friends and I had a ball. 

In addition to their museum hunts, Watson also organizes scavenger hunts in Chinatown, Central Park and even one in Greenwich Village that features locations from "Sex in the City."

Hunts start at around $25/adult and can go up to $40/adult for museum hunts.  Check out the Watson website for schedules and prices. 

A Little Review of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury in "A Little Night Music"

I went to see "A Little Night Music" last week, without knowing a thing about the show. 

Except of course that it starred the legendary Angela Lansbury and the drop dead gorgeous, not to mention multi-talented, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

The only other thing I knew was Stephen Sondheim penned musical was home to the lovely ballad "Send in the Clowns."

Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film "Smiles of a Summer Night," "A Little Night Music" is all about sex.  Some romance too, but mainly sex.

In a nutshell, Fredrik Egerman (Alexander Hanson) is an older man married to young chippie Anne (Ramona Mallory) who won't have sex with him even though they've been married for eleven months.  Meanwhile he pines for his lost love, actress Desiree Armfeldt (Catherine Zeta-Jones).  She in turn is involved with the dim witted, married dragoon, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Aaron Lazar).

What develops from all these "Liaisons" as Desiree's mother, Madame Armfeldt (Angela Lansbury) sings in the 1st Act, is a muddle of sexual complications, misunderstandings and deceptions. 

I Can Has Cheezburger: The Musiclol

I was probably one of the last people on the internet to know what a lolcat was.  See I'm a dog person and if there had been loldogs, I'd have known all about 'em.  But grammatically challenged pussycats?  Not so much.  "I has funnie pitchures and capshuns?  Wut you talkin' bout Kitty?"

Of course I'd seen a couple of funny cat pictures with cutesy sayings and I'd seen the phrase, "I Can Has Cheezburger" but I just thought it was some wise acre blogger poking fun at McDonalds.   It wasn't until I was assigned to go see the "I Can Has Cheezburger, The MusicLOL" at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York that I truly understood the size,  the scope and the power of the monstrous lolcat phenomenon.

Macy's Flower Show 2009

The 2009 Macy's Flower Show is in full bloom at the New York City Herald Square store. 

I took a long lunch the other day and snapped some photos of this year's exhibit.  I have to say, compared to last year's show, this year's was a disappointment. 

You can check out my photo album of the 2009 show, but you'll notice I didn't take nearly as many pictures this year as I last year because there just wasn't nearly as many exhibits to inspire me.

I'm thinking the bad economy had an impact on this year's show budget.

Giant flamingos made out of flowers are the most distinctive elements of this year's show.  The flamingos are part of the Living Garden and according to Macy's is their salute to plastic lawn flamingos:

These flamingos were handcrafted by the artisans at the Macy's Parade Studio, and were hand planted with hundreds of pink kalanchoe by our landscape partner, Ireland Gannon Associates.

Even better than the flower show, were all the spring flowers in bloom across the street in Herald Square Park.  The area is filled with planters and blooming trees, and it's the perfect place to sit and enjoy a few minutes of spring sunshine.

The flower show show runs until April 19th, so for a little taste of spring pop over to Macy's and then have a cup of coffee in Herald Square Park. 

Looking For Fun? Try A Scavenger Hunt

Last year my cousin Gaby J. gave me tickets to a murder mystery scavenger hunt as a Christmas present.  The hunt, "Murder at the Met" was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and it was run by a company called Watson Adventures.

Well, a few weeks later, Kay, Gaby and I joined up to form the Sherlock Dames and compete with other teams to solve the mystery of a murdered Met curator.

This is how it worked.  We were given a list of questions including directions to the general vicinity of where the answers were located.  A sample question: "Go up the great staircase and into gallery 22.  What woman in this gallery looks like she needs a good day care center?"  You and your team would then have to scrutinize the paintings in the gallery, often deciphering the tags as well, to get the answer to your question.  Once you had it, you'd jot it down on your answer sheet and move on to the next one.

We got to scavenge from one corner of the Met to the other.  From the Picasso gallery to the American Wing, from the Medieval gateway to the Temple of Dendur.  Though we ultimately failed to deduce the name of the murderer, it didn't matter because we had a blast.

Of course with a two hour time limit, there's not nearly enough time to linger over the museum's wonderful sights, but think of the hunt as a way to whet your appetite for a more leisurely return visit.

A couple of weeks ago, Kay and I did another scavenger hunt called, Naked at the Met.  This time there was no murder mystery, but as the Watson Adventures' website described the hunt:

You’ll scrutinize paintings, sculptures, period rooms, sultry sirens, a literally bronzed Adonis, a medieval codpiece, an incontinent Cupid and a randy reveler who’ll make you exclaim, “I never sausage behavior!”

The theme was all things ribald and randy---at least as it relates to the art world.  Once again the hunt was well organized by helpful Watson Adventures' employees and the competition took us from one fabulous gallery to another.

Oh, and the result?

We rocked!  Kay and I tied for first place. 

Our little team of two got all the answers correct, as did our stiffest competition, a team of four.  We won "Watson Adventure Winner" t-shirts, and Kay and I were a couple of happy scavengers. 

So if you're planning a visit to New York, or if you're a native and looking for something new to do, a Watson Adventure scavenger hunt might be just the thing to awaken your inner sleuth.

Macy's Flower Show 2008

Tired of winter?  Well, if you're in the New York City area make your way over to Macy's Herald Square and check out the 2008 Macy's Flower Show.

I took a trip over there last week and this year's show is lavish, lush and lovely.

The crowning achievement is a replica of the Macy's Herald Square store made entirely of organic plant materials like twigs, moss and bark.  It was designed by landscape architect Paul Busse and it's a whimsical delight.

From tulips to orchids to hydrangeas to calla lilies, this year's show is a feast for the senses.  I found myself looking forward with excitement to my own garden planting season in a few short weeks.

As a start, today I bought a small planter of pansies for my dining room.  The pansies are a delicate apricot color and they have a wonderfully subtle scent. 

But back to Macy's, I took lots of pictures at the flower show and you can check out the best of them here.

It's Christmastime In The City

The lights are lit.  The windows are bright.  The bells are ringing.  It must be New York City in December.

I took a chilly stroll along Fifth Avenue this afternoon and put together a little photo album of some of the best lights and windows New York has to offer.

Macy's "Miracle On 34th Street" Windows, Lord and Taylor's Old World Christmas Windows and Bergdorf Goodman's salute to the work of artist and designer Tony Duquette are all represented.

My favorites are the Bergdorf Windows.  They're not Christmas windows in the strictest sense, but they're intricate and festive and for me, a pure delight.  They were designed by David Hoey, Senior Window Merchandise Director of Bergdorf's and his team, and they illustrate Tony Duquette's "Natural Baroque" style.  Each window portrays the worlds of "Earth," "Air," "Fire," "Light" and "Water."

The "Water" window is decorated with hundreds of sea shells and shows a woman dancing with a man sporting a cool alligator head.  The "Light" window shows a red haired cabaret singer and her microphone while large golden "suns" illuminate her.

Click here for Bergdorf's windows website where you can watch an interesting time lapse, behind the scenes video of the construction of the windows.

Meanwhile over at Macy's on 34th Street, there are the sweet, traditional "Miracle" windows, but almost hidden on the Broadway side of the store are some mind blowing avant garde displays.  One, all dressed in blue, shows the huge face of a boy watching Santa and his reindeer ride a roller coaster. 

I hope you get a chance to visit New York to see these windows in person, but if you can't, the pictures are my Christmas gift.  Enjoy.

O Cyrano, Cyrano, Wherefore Art Thou Cyrano?

Island Girl scored freebie tickets to Broadway's limited run production of "Cyrano de Bergerac" a couple of weeks ago and was kind enough to invite me to go along.

The play stars the wonderful Kevin Kline and the lovely Jennifer Garner of "Alias" fame. No sooner was I ready to write a review of the show than the stagehands went out on strike and shut down the play.

Well now the strike is over, here are my thoughts.

"Cyrano de Bergerac" was written by Edmond Rostand and is about a 17th century Frenchman with a hankering for his beautiful and cultured cousin Roxane.  A consummate charmer, Cyrano has a fine way with a sword and an even finer way with words from the heart.

He also happens to have a humongous nose.  We're talking Pinocchio on a bad day.  And because of his prominent protrusion, Cyrano is a bit of an insecure mess.  He likes to pick fights, seems to have a bit of a death wish, but is quite courageous as well.  Except of course when it comes to matters of the heart.

Designer Thomas Heatherwick's Soho Star

It must be great to be a genius.  To get up every morning and see things that no one else sees and then be able to design and construct them.

That's the lot of British designer Thomas Heatherwick.  Not a fashion designer mind you, but an industrial designer.  Kind of a cross between a sculptor, an architect and an engineer.

Except his works are not limited to just sculptures or buildings.

A few weeks ago I happened on a show on BBC World called "Imagine:  The Ingenious Thomas Heatherwick." I'd never heard of Heatherwick before but before I knew it, I was drawn into his fascinating world. What I found was an enthusiastic thirty-seven year old, who looks sort of like a young Gene Wilder.  A man on the cutting edge of expanding what we see and experience by his incredible works.

They're not just beautiful.  They're not just imaginative. They're breathtaking.

Like a cube made of thin windows.  Or an unusual seaside cafe.  Or a bridge that rolls.

When Longchamp, the French handbag maker wanted a designer for their flagship Longchamp store at 128-32 Spring Street in New York City, they hired Heatherwick.

The centerpiece of the store is a 55 ton three story, steel staircase.  It's been finished to look like laminated wood and on the second level, the handbags are displayed on what look like shelves created by peeling strips of wood, gracefully falling from the ceiling.

As his website describes it:

"Constructed in 1¼" hot-rolled steel and taking six months to build, the stair landscape weighs 55 tonnes and is an installation of ribbon-like forms that divide and converge to form a topography of walkways, landings and steps."

Heatherwick had already designed a handbag for Longchamp called the Zip Bag.

"Zip Bag is an apparently plain leather handbag, which when unzipped, doubles in size and reveals a spiral of colour. It went into production in 2003 and was launched at London's Design Museum, becoming a bestseller for Longchamp."

At the New York Longchamp store, the lighting is from an enormous skylight which allows you to appreciate your leisurely walk up the staircase.  In the showroom at the top you get to browse and possibly buy the fashionable leather goods on such beautiful display.

So, if you're taking a shopping trip to Soho, or if you're just in the neighborhood, drop by the Longchamp store.  It's not just worth the trip.  It's genius.

The Lovely Longwood Gardens

I have returned!  My trusty Oldsmobile did its job and got me to Longwood Gardens and back without collapsing into a heap of tired, rusting metal.  I never had to meet up with Clem and for that I'm grateful.  So, why didn't I post on Saturday as I promised? Well you see, I play tennis.  On Saturday morning during my weekly tennis lesson, I did a "stretch/twist/reach" contortion with my body while I was scrambling for a ball. Between that and the seven hours I spent driving on Friday, my back had had enough and decided to make me pay.  Needless to say I spent the entire weekend icing, stretching, resting, and of course popping pills.  Luckily I didn't seize up.

So now, here's my Longwood story along with a photo album of snaps.

First of all, I have to increase my vocabulary because I keep using words like gorgeous, glorious, incredible, beautiful and dazzling to describe Longwood and none of those ever do it justice.  It's in Kennett Square, PA, on the border of Delaware, and is a former Pierre du Pont estate that is home to some of the most wonderful displays of plant and floral life I've ever seen.

Spring Comes To New York

After a long and difficult week for so many people, a little beauty… with love from New York City

Tulips and Pansies

Pansies and Tulips

Macy's Flower Show Windows

Spring must really be here because The Macy's Flower Show kicked off today in New York City.  The Herald Square flagship store is awash with the colors and scents of fresh flowers.  A veritable jungle of "Flora Exotica" awaits and this year's display includes two 14 foot tall giraffe topiaries that welcome visitors into the store. 

Not all the excitement is inside however.  Don't forget to take a stroll by the Macy's window displays.  Sculptures by artist Kathy Ruttenberg are going to be on display during the show from April 1 - April 15.

 

I'd never heard of Kathy Ruttenberg until I watched as the windows were being set up last week, and I'm happy I got a chance to experience her unique sense of style and humor.  The sculptures are peculiar but in an eccentric kind of way.  Not so eccentric they'll give you nightmares mind you, but just enough to be make you want to see more.

The artist and the Macy's window dressers have created a magical little world where small animals and birds are cared for by warm and earthy figures, tree branches are transformed into airy skirts or luminous lanterns, and delicate floral patterns enhance all the facets of this vibrant visual gallery.

So if you're in the NYC area and you go over to the Macy's Flower Show, don't forget to take a look at the windows.  Welcome to spring!