Stopping by the park on a snowy evening

Not a cold nor icy wind could keep me from stopping by Central Park on a clear winter evening. Just before dusk, I ventured down a path at 86th Street and Central Park West toward the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir where I stopped to look out over the iced-over lake and admire the frosty white pieces of snow covering everything within view. The view out over the 106 acres of ice was quite chilling so I headed toward the Arthur Ross Pinetum, the northwestern playground of the Great Lawn of Central Park.

This is also my favorite spot in Central Park, where my two favorite benches sit inside an arboretum amid a collection of pine trees. I even spotted a lone cone on a lone pine!

From there I should have gone somewhere warm to nurse my cold back to health, not make it worse, but I decided to stay in the park a little longer and then found my way to Cleopatra's Needle, aka 'The Obelisk'. It looked amazing surrounded by snow-covered magnolias and crabapple trees. The Central Park conservancy was in the middle of giving a tour there so I listened in on a bit of the history of this sculpture, then eventually did leave the park for a trip downtown to get a warm drink and enjoy the rest of the evening.

Benches in the Arthur Ross Pinetum by 85th & CPW

The same two benches in summertime

Tree by The Great Lawn, surrounded by snow and the NYC skyline


The ballfields covered in a blanket of snow on The Great Lawn


A friend looking out over the reservoir




Footsteps on the ice?

The same spot in the summertime

The Obelisk in wintertime

Spiderman on Broadway

After my 8 hours of standing around in Times Square the other night (New Year's Eve), I didn't expect to find myself back on 42nd Street anytime soon, but an opportunity presented itself this past Tuesday so I just had to go back. My friend Joe from I Still Heart New York had an extra ticket to see Spiderman, Turn off the Dark on Broadway!

I'd been wanting to see the play for a while, but I'd heard so many bad reviews that I wasn't even sure it was still going on. It turns out previews were still taking place despite recent problems with stunts and injuries.

The show goes on, risks and all, and on this particular night, everything went smoothly. I went into it with low expectations and stepped out feeling like I'd seen the best up and coming play on Broadway. I enjoyed it more than The Lion King and Wicked. Everything from the plot, stunts (Spiderman flies above the audience!) and music were perfect. Except it was a little too long - about 3 hours. And it turns out, Bono from U2, who wrote and composed the play's music with The Edge, was in the audience as well that night!

The backdrop of NYC included the Chrysler Building and the Queensborough and Brooklyn Bridges, as well as Peter Parker's Queens High School and picturesque Forest Hills neighborhood. I wish I could have gotten a picture of these props and illustrations, but I only had the nerve to take pictures during the show's end, which as you can see to the audience revealed about 10 Spiderman stunt doubles!

New Year's Eve in Times Square

8 hours of standing still, unable to reach into my pockets because it was so crowded. 8 hours of watching a clock count down by seconds, minutes and long hours. 8 hours in a white michelin man coat when it was almost 50 degrees out. 8 hours surrounded by strangers who luckily, were pretty tame and well-behaved.... I did it!! I did Times Square for New Year's. It's been a goal of mine for several months now. Last year I went out of town and I couldn't stop thinking about how I should have stayed and gone for it, so this year I knew there was only one New Year's Eve option for me. 

When I first got to Times Square around 3:45 pm, every inch of every block already seemed to be filled to capacity. I was standing at 47th and Broadway for a while but was kicked out by Police who decided to turn this perfect viewing spot into a safety zone. We were forced to leave Times Square and walk toward 8th Avenue. From there I realized I might not have a chance of getting back into Times Square, so I turned around and headed down to 46th along the barricades. Police weren't letting anyone else in, and I feared I wouldn't get to see the ball drop after all. But then one by one, a few of us were let into a clear area on Broadway, between the two performance stages where Ke$ha, The Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and Taoi Cruz performed, and next to the American Eagle store and Bank of America. From there, my perfect view was born. 

Some Nivea giveaways blocking my view

The host on stage

After 6 hours of standing around, it's now 2 hours to go!

Best looking 59 I've ever seen.

Taio Cruz performing "Dyanmite" and "Higher"

Glitter confetti. Released not just during Ke$ha's performance, but all through the night!

And the final moment after the ball dropped at 12:00, which I tweeted live after taking a few shaky photos amidst all the commotion!