Watching the ball drop in Times Square!

Everyone told us we were crazy.

Everyone said we would freeze.

Everyone said there were too many people.

Everyone said not to do it.

We did it!

It wasn't that cold.

They managed the crowd well so we weren't crammed.

We got there around 10 so no need to worry about a bathroom.

We saw the ball drop!

Check!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

In our first NYC Christmas we had doubts on how festive we would be considering we have a small NYC apartment and no car to pick up a tree from Home depot.

Good thing for us, Christmas lots spouted up all over the city, and more importantly one on the edge our block in front of the corner store.

It was probably the easiest tree pick up I'll ever have.  We just picked it up and carried it to our place.

No, Chester did not relieve himself on any of the trees in the picture.

NYC is always known as one of the most festive places to visit during the holidays, and it was very apparent that they don't mess around with decorations.

One of the things we looked forward to was the Book of Mormon.  We booked tickets in May for the first night we could get, Christmas eve.

It was a great show.  As one of the most hyped musical ever, it probably didn't hit those lofty standards but it was very entertaining.

The most iconic parts of Christmas in NYC is the tree at Rockefeller center.

It is HUGE!

We didn't get a chance to ice skate, but we really didn't feel like spending 2 hours in line and paying $40 to ice skate for 20 minutes.

We did get a great photo taken in front!

Christmas dinner was very different then the past as it was just the 3 of us (Chester).

We started with a great assortment of cheese.

We then finished with lobster tails and other seafood.

We also got to go out to the suburbs to check out NYC's version of candy cane lane.  It was intense and over in Brooklyn.  We rented a zip car, and headed out there for the night.

Occupy Mall St.

 Also known as the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday.

This was the first Black Friday in NYC or away from SF, so my game planning was a lot different.  Derrick and Michael were thousands of miles away so there wasn't going to be company camping out in line.

Also this year most if not all major spots opened up at midnight of Thanksgiving or just a few hours after we finished Thanksgiving dinner.

If this is going to be the new trend then it could end the tradition of sleeping outside in line.

So Christie, my mom, and I enjoyed a great (just a little bit smaller) version of Thanksgiving here at home.

I then got my paper and started the final steps of preparing my game plan for the night.

One other change is that NYC doesn't have many of the big box stores, in Manhattan... Best Buy, K Mart, and Macy's are really the only places close enough get to either walking or by subway.

My mom is a bigger shopper than I am, so she was also pretty excited to get out there as well.  I dropped her off at Macy's as I made my way down to Best Buy.

Best Buy was crazy... I mean the line was around the block and NYC blocks are very large.  So I did what anyone else would do and gave up and went to a bar.

I got home around 3, but my mom wasn't home when I got home.  I called and called but no answer.  Decided to give her a little more time and eventually after calling every 30 minutes, Christie, Chester, and I decided to go on a rescue exhibition. We were ready to go out and look for her when my mom walked through the door with a lot of bags in hand and a smile on her face.  She out-shopped me on Black Friday... Not many people have ever done that, but I guess I know where my genes come from.