Crys-tales of New York: But Baby It's Cold...Inside?

On New Years Eve, all eyes are on New York and Times Square. For the countless times I've been in New York and during the almost 4 years I've lived here, I have never made it to the NYE festivities. Luckily this year I was (1) in town and (2) living in the Times Square area and got to see the madness coming to and from my subway stop. I'd love to claim that the above picture is the infamous ball on the actual 31st eve, but I took this the day before. I got off at 42nd street and they happened to be testing the lights before the big day, so I caught the shot with my camera. The shot below is the morning of New Years Eve - it was the quietest walk to the subway I've ever had. Reasons being - all residents on vacation, no one working that day (except me of course) and all tourists saving up their energy for the 9 hours of standing they were about to incur. By 5 o'clock when I was on my way home to get ready, the place was already chaos - police barriers, New York's finest, crowds, lines, etc. It would be awesome to do this one year - in fact a couple friends did and they had a blast - but I just don't know if I could handle it. Especially since it was FREEZING this year.

Speaking of freezing, let's hear what I did for New Years Eve! I joined Casey, her roomie Katie and some other peeps at 49 Grove, an IGLOO formally known as a lounge in the West Village. Seriously, I saw at least 20 people (who paid good money to get in, by the way) ask what was up with the AC blasting. All were told that we would be thankful when the place got packed at midnight....but it wasn't and we weren't! Case in point, the second picture below of Casey and I drinking our beers with mittens on - LOVES IT! Did I mention they had a mandatory coat check? Yeah, by 11:30 we didn't care and it was a party in our sleeping bags! Like most New Years, the hype always leads to disappointment, but I had a great time with the girls and like Case said "we'll be laughing about this next year!"

Happy New Years to everyone - many blessings and laughter in 2009!