there's no place like NY for the holidays

When I was getting tickets to come home for Christmas, it ended up being much cheaper to fly in and out of NYC than to Philadelphia. I spent a few days in the city staying with my sister (whose crazy retail schedule means she won't be home much while I'm here) before a taking a bus the rest of the way home halfway through the week.

My redeye flight arrived early Monday morning, so I thought why not wait in the cronut line as I've still never tasted Dominique Ansel's famous creation (I'm still obsessed with his soft serve). They ran out of cronuts when I was four or five people from the register (sad day), but the gingerbread croissant I had was delightful. Also, how darling are these Christmas pastries?! (Santa Religeuse, pinecones, and Buche de Noël!)  Dominique Ansel was even there working on prep for the following day and running the line. He was so friendly and even took a selfie with these hilarious ladies I had chatted with in line behind me (haha).

New York is always one of my favorite places to be at Christmastime, because everywhere you look are tree stands on street corners, wreaths on brownstone front doors, and skyscrapers lit up in red and green—the Empire State Building had its traditional red and green, plus a candy cane striped top—how great, right?

THERE IS SUCH A THING AS A PANETTONE DONUT (on the left)—down to the candied fruit and everything.

above: holly, red & green at Fort Tryon Park (near the Cloisters); below: Christmas decorations in Brooklyn

Above and below: the Rockefeller Center skating rink and tree, then turn 180 degrees and you have the most epic Christmas lights at Saks Fifth Avenue! The entire façade of the many-stories-high building is covered with lights making a Disney-esque castle with icicles and festoons of more lights. The clock on the center tower is accurate and on the hour it tolls its chimes complete with a light show and music. I happened to be walking through when the clock struck 9 and it was so awesome; everyone clapped and cheered in the street afterwards.

 And Bergdorf Goodman's windows were amazing, as always (these thumbnails can be enlarged to see more details).

I heart NY and especially at Christmastime; everything seems a little more magical there.