aquariann's abyss

Last Saturday I traveled to New York City! Every year, my mom's work organizes a day trip where the bus drops everyone off around Rockefeller Center and lets them roam free for about eight hours. My dad had to work at the last moment, but my friend WizB was able to come instead. We had a blast!

We did a ton of walking - across three avenues and twenty streets - and went to several amazing stores. The only souvenir I bought for myself was a tiny Smurf dressed as The Reaper, that of course, I had to share here. What a cutie! I suppose it's a good thing F A O Schwartz didn't have the whole Halloween set in stock, or I may have had to splurge. Ah well, maybe Santa will deliver them from eBay! Anyway, as astounding as the floors of toys and giant piano in F A O Schwartz was, it did not compare to the Toys R Us in Times Square with its very own ferris wheel inside! It also has larger than life statues hanging from the ceiling, including one of Superman holding back a truck that I had to send a cell picture of to the boyfriend. Oooh, speaking of him, Nintendo World was neat, too, and I wish he could have seen it! I want a Wii sooo bad now! They also had a few museum cases with vintage Nintendo systems and history in them, which was interesting. I didn't know Nintendo started out as a playing card company back in 1889!

We of course went into stores I can't afford - Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffany's, Sephora, etc. ... but it was fun just gawking over all the expensive items and decorations. We also ducked into a couple of ritzy stores just to get out of the cold, and those sales people were a bit intimidating. I'm not sure that I'd shop at those places even if I had the money to burn.

We also walked to The Pond at Bryant Park, which I was excited to see in person because of the Project Runway finales there at Fashion Week. They have Holiday Shops set up for the season in these whimsical structures that can be seen on their blog. If I lived in NYC, I would definitely look into being a vendor there. There were some very talented crafters! I even bought an awesome present for Justin from one of the shops, but I have to keep those details on the down low until after Christmas.

It was such a wonderful experience full of eye candy; I hope I get to go back to NYC soon. I haven't seen a Broadway show in years, and am still desperate to see Wicked. If only it weren't so expensive and stressful to travel there in a car!