Sara in the City: "What's with all this walking??"

Well I definitely had one of the best Thanksgivings EVER. Don't get me wrong-- I love family Thanksgivings in Temple complete with watching the parade in front of dad's fire while Mom slaves away in the kitchen-- nothing can ever replace that for sure. However, what I experienced last week was probably the closest second there could be!

It all started last Monday when my favorite sister arrived after I got off work. She arrived in a cab and I had a gourmet tortellini dinner waiting with a lovely Thanksgiving bouquet I had just purchased from the local florist. Who am I?? Those flowers are awesome though... I'm just sayin'.

So Stacy arrived and it was a beautiful sisterly reunion. We went to bed and then she promptly left me to go on a five hour (one-way) bus ride to Washington DC -- the place she has always wanted to visit-- while I slaved away at work. Stacy spent a full three hours in DC and then headed back to the ole city. We ate some fabulous thai food and headed to bed. I forced her up the next morning to go stand in a freezing line to get us tickets to the Broadway show "Memphis", again while I slaved away at the office. She endured the cold and got us front row ("partial view") tickets to the show. Lemme tell ya-- it was AMAZING. Definitely my favorite show I've ever seen. I also introduced Stacy to the beauty of Shake Shack that evening and her life will never be the same.

The next morning we left bright and early (slash an hour and a half later than planned due to the excessive "five more minutes" we alternately plead) and settled into our spots for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade at 42nd St. and 6th Ave. The spots were perfect and we were prepared to strong-arm the crowd when Meme and Aunt Janet arrived from the airport so that we could all enjoy these coveted standing spots. So I went to go meet the Meme and Aunt Janet while Stacy guarded the spots. As I promptly left the street to find them, a cop puts up a barrier and yells after me "You know you can't get back in here now, right?" Of course I didn't know that. We had a short discussion (my sassy attitude repressed since he was an officer of the law) and I made the call that Stacy would need to be meeting me and the fam at our new not-so-incredible-but-still-good standing spots. All in all the parade was a lot of fun! Chilly and crowded, yes-- but I'd definitely do it again!

On to Thanksgiving dinner-- which I thought I was thoroughly prepared for due to the success of the dry run! After we get home, I put on my apron with confidence and go to start stuffing the turkey. Only one problem... the turkey that I had been thawing for over a day was still FROZEN in the legs! I started to sweat a bit but Meme came to the rescue and did some magic with hot water and years of turkey-experience. I couldn't have done it without her. She also displayed some impressive gravy skills. The turkey ended up coming out fine and everything else tasted delish-- so I consider it to have been a success. Stacy and Aunt Janet did some helping as well-- generally in the form of "sampling" and "testing" for the "sake of the group"... something along those lines :)

After dinner we had to take a little nap in preparation for our midnight shopping extravaganza at the Queens Mall! (Don't judge- it's not ghetto! I promise!) We went to sleep around 7:30pm and planned to wake up around 11:00pm to head out with our cab. I was put in charge of the alarm. Mistake #1. The next thing I know, I roll over and it's 12:30am. Oops! Did I rush out of bed and sound the alarm? Nope-- I continued sleeping! Stacy and I can really convince one another we need five more minutes for a WHILE! We finally got up around 1:00am and headed out with our driver. Yep, I have a driver, no big deal. Sure, he's different every time and charges me different amounts but I think I'll continue to say I have a driver. We found some fabulous sales at the mall and decided to celebrate with an IHOP breakfast. (Feel free to judge-- cause that IS ghetto!). We took a car there too. And then one home. And then this conversation ensued:

AJ - "Sara, these cars are expensive!"

Me- "Yep."

AJ- "I mean is there any other way we can get around?"

Me- "Well yeah- we could take the bus home- it will take about an hour, but that's pretty normal"

AJ- "Hm.. I guess I don't need souvenirs-- call that car!"

Alright-- car was called. But after that day, we calmed down with the taxis and Meme, Aunt Janet, and Stacy learned to love the Subway. I'm going to continue this blog via pictures with captions-- I feel like the pictures really capture the experiences more! So I present to you-- the rest of our adventure, in pictures... Are some of them awkwardly tiny? Yes. Are they in any particular order? No. Should I be spending my time reading "Blogging for Dummies"? Yes. But since I'm not-- you're just gonna have to take it as it is!

Pop-Tarts World-- Nuff said.

Just some sisterly engagement photos

Stacy was throwing leaves on my face for effect... she's such an artist.

We conquered Alice AND her wonderland.

And then we brunched at Alice's Tea Cup. And took awkwardly small photos.

Not the bouquet. It's lovely, right??

This one's for you mom. We wanted to buy them so you could have them all on the tree but with these NYC prices, I was only able to afford the Middle Child one-- hope that's okay! :)

SANTA!!!

So ominous!

Rockin' the mitten-gloves-- it was so CHILLY!

Meme enjoyed every minute of the subway rides-- it's written all over her face.

Only the Southerners can truly appreciate the euphoria experienced when we spotted the "Daisy's Grits" kiosk. Brilliant-- educated them Yanks, Daisy! Grits are so TASTY.