cabenson | New Years in New York-Day 1

Mrs. CB and I spent last weekend in NYC, taking in the stunning Holiday decorations, elaborate window displays, delicious food, hot Rockettes, local talent and time spent with friends.

I apologize in advance for the photo-heavy post(s) to follow, but there is so much to share:

Flight into Newark was great, but the ride into the city was not. What could be causing such traffic jams at 1:00pm on a Saturday? Well, that just happened to be the day of the big Giants/Patriots game. We rooted for the Giants (sorry Few!)

Our first holiday sighting?

A tour bus loaded with blue Santas.

We got to our hotel (The Michelangelo on 51st and 7th) and dropped our luggage off. We went to Rosie O'Grady's for a light lunch and a beer for the wife who was a little bit shaken. Why? She had just realized that she had left her credit cards at home. Luckily the room was pre-paid and I had my cards so we could carry on as usual. I got a full 24 hours of teasing her out of that one.

We checked into our room then decided to walk around Times Square for a looksey after which, we would hail a cab for a ride to The Village and dinner with friends. It took us 15 minutes to go two blocks and another 20 minutes to get a ride-it was at this point that we decided there would be no way in hell we could be around a million people for NYE without hurting someone.

Dinner at Malatesta Trattoria with

theholyinnocent and her spouse. Delicious food and wine followed by dessert. We left the restaurant and sauntered over to Caffe Vivaldi where we were treated to a wonderful performance by Julie Kathryn Smith. Listen to her songs, you won't be disappointed! Of course, we had to endure a short set by Boyan first. Listen to "Myspace" Friend me...friend you. I swear THI and I were thisclose to getting tossed cause we could not stop laughing. "Did she call him Bouillon? As in chicken bouillon?" Of course we did have a few glasses of wine in us. And I will admit, he as a primo guitarist.

We made plans to get together for NYE, then we went our separate ways. Back to the hotel for us where we crashed/passed out.