We took a day at home after school let out to clean / pack / do our Christmas with the 4 of us... then we headed up the road the next day.
Our first stop was North Carolina to visit with my mom for a bit. She made us dinner and we settled in. The next day, uncle Eddie stopped by for a visit. (Unfortunately, we wouldn't see aunt Becky this trip after her stroke, she moved to the coast with one of her sons and his wife. We'll have to plan a longer trip where we can drive over to visit her there.)
We also did some Christmas gift opening with mom, us and the kids. Afterwards, we went for a drive to a nearby neighborhood to look at holiday lights with hundreds of those light-up balls hanging in the trees. There's a neighborhood here in Marietta that does this too, however, the sheer volume of balls in this NC town put Maple Ave to shame! (photo does not do it justice)
Mom said she started to get a cold the day before we came up. I noticed the same on my end - also on the day before we went up. Unfortunately, both of us got worse as the visit went along.We took a day to travel up to NJ. The following day was Christmas Eve. I picked up Todd's niece (Marley) from the train station Christmas Eve morning because she wanted to arrive prior to her dad - Uncle Jim - which is late morning on Christmas day. Tonia was at home helping to get Rose Marie set up for the day. She fractured her arm a few weeks ago and cannot put weight on it to help get in and out of her chair or wheel-chair. Unfortunately, I was sick and stayed a good distance away from Rose Marie on the other side of the room while I finished Christmas cards and kept her company... from afar.
Family members came over to Tonia's and the festivities began. (also - Meaghan has a new puppy: Beaux - a giant golden retriever that Mercer and Isabella loved playing with.) Notice that the boy and the dog "match" ha ha!
Tonia made sugar cookies.
Todd & the kids decorated a few for Santa and thankfully Marley & Meaghan decorated the rest while Tonia went to the airport to pick up her oldest daughter, Tara, flying in from California. I missed all of that b/c I was sick & asleep!
We awoke to a bevy of gifts that Santa brought our kids! Not all of that under this tree is theirs - not to worry! The rest of the family was doing their own thing, so it was a bit quieter this year.
Our kids racked up though and didn't notice that it was bit less crowded than in years past. Santa brought all of the kids "indoor" snowballs to fling and throw. Mercer was being a target up on the balcony so that Todd could test out the sling shot launcher!
Rory Sr gifted everyone scratch-off tickets (and not the $1.00 kind!) We were all quiet for at least 15 - 20 minutes while everyone looked to see if they had won anything. As it turns out, our kids were the big winners - $40 for one and $50 for the other!
And ultimately Rory won... he got about 15 - 20 minutes of silence. Ha!
The gang did all come together for Christmas dinner that evening.
There was a big crowd with two full tables in the living room and dining room. And - there were no ER visits this Christmas Eve nor were there any fires!!
(Poor cousin Sam. Isabella would not leave him alone!)
The adults participated in a white elephant Christmas exchange... and...
... the chatter went well into the wee hours of the night... as it tends to always do with that crowd!
The next day, we were going to go into the city (NYC) but Isabella got sick! (the throwing up thing that she does sometimes). So - we stayed at Tonia's instead. Todd and Bobby put together a lift bed while Isabella slept it off. Later, she felt well enough to visit the animals in the barn behind the house.
Here are some photos from later that evening. Mercer was worn out playing with the little kids (3 year old cousin and their family friend with a 2 year old who came to the house to hang out with the rest of the gang.
And - miracles of miracles -
Isabella hugging on Westley - so sweet!
We went to NYC the following day. We drove up the highway and talked about shipping as we drove past the ports ports + talked about the density of the population up north and how there is a hustle and a bustle - constant movement. We talked about what they may see in terms of homeless people on the street and in the subway. (What we didn't talk about was the smells - urine and pot) we didn't talk about (because we didn't know) that there would be SO MANY PEOPLE and in some outdoor spaces there would be wall-to-wall / shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.
Overall, it was a dreary day - rainy and drizzly, but pretty much cleared up as we were getting into the city. This was our view into the city - before we drove through the tunnel (tube). I was intrigued by an interesting building that has "cracks" that wind around it. Later, I looked it up - it's called the Spiral by BIG. This 66-story building started construction in 2018 and opened in 2023. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), The Spiral is an unprecedented work of human-centric design. Featuring a dramatic series of cascading terraces that reach every tower floor, The Spiral delivers light, fresh air, and access to outdoor space, enhancing the health and well-being of your workforce. Interesting, but whew - can you imagine how windy it would be on the terraces above, well, floor 10, honestly !?!
Photo overload on the train station called "the Oculus." It was much like a shopping mall, but with only 1 restaurant and 1 set of small public bathrooms (which were at least clean!). We walked around several times - not on purpose - trying to find how to exit to the subway track that we needed to head back up to town. At our 2nd tour of the interior, the kids were "over" mine & Todd's stopping to take lots of photos! ha.
The Oculus is mostly underground. The structure inside is a clear span rising multiple stories with no columns on the inside.
It is smaller in appearance from the outside than the inside, but both views are soaring.
Both views are stunning!
Per MyModernMet online magazine - in their interview with Calatrava: “Through the enormous 240′ x 20′ opening, we are framing a piece of Manhattan’s sky. In the morning of every sunny day, the sunlight enters through the skylight and projects on the floor paving below a long strip of illumination that I call the ‘Way of Light.' ”
From an architectural standpoint, this stretch of light is an important element, as it illuminates the space in an aesthetically pleasing way. However, its intention transcends function, as its primary role is symbolic. Every September 11th at 10:28 AM—the time when the second tower collapsed— the sunlight shines through the skylight and illuminates the central axis of the main hall. “The sunlight goes through the center and this ‘Way of Light' aligns with the longitudinal axis of the Oculus, signifying the end of 9/11 tragedy and the beginning of the reconstruction,” Calatrava says.
"This particular alignment of the sunlight is possible because the building has been designed slightly tilted in relation ot the surrounding Manhattan grid."
Calatrava describes this phenomenon as a “sense of the cosmic,” and notes that it is the most significant element of the building itself. With this in mind, it is no wonder that he has opted to call the structure the Oculus; in classical architecture, an “oculus” refers to an opening that offers a view of the sky.
There are a pair of wings that stretch up and outward. (this is similar to another of Calatrava's buildings that Todd & I visited before kids in Milwaukee) - he tends to base many of his designs on animal-like structures. Even if there are some similarities - I'm here for it! We don't get to see much beautiful architecture, so bring it on!
According to another article, the exterior design is based on a Phoenix - signifying rebirth or a dove about to take off in flight.
One thing that bothered me was the asymmetry of the "wings" - however - when watching a time-lapse video of the construction and seeing it from above... it does seem that it fits squarely on the site, however, with the "tilt" that Calatrava incorporated for the sun angle -- it does angle the center point / central axis of the bird or phoenix.
One World Trade Center framed by a portion of the wing.
This is one of my favorite photos - the diagonal lines in contrast with the horizontal & vertical of the building beyond...
and... this is my other favorite. I like the modern with the historic patina roof with the angle against the straight and the clean white structure vs the grafitti on the shipping container of the bier-garden below.
Mercer "called" it. He said this was basically an architecture tour. Well, maybe THIS part of our visit to NYC - yes!
We walked in / around / outside, grabbled lunch at a place that said PIZZA in big letters, but you walk in and it's a deli / a grab-and-go section too. But what we did not see was pizza... until we left! (there was a small door on the side that - when you look in there's an ATM - that was not labelled well... apparently that's where you get it?! ) We were so confused why people were bringing pizza into the deli. Oh well! We just ate several rounds of New Jersey pizza instead of NY pizza this trip. Ha ha.
There was a historic church (Trinity Church) and cemetery crammed between 2 busy streets that we walked around before we went back to the Oculus.
We just had a quick walk around the church and witnessed something unique at the gate. Here's a little history of this building: The present building is the third on the site, consecrated in 1846 and designed by British-born architect Richard Upjohn in the 19th century Gothic Revival style. The first church was lost in New York’s Great Fire of 1776 and the second was demolished in 1839, at Upjohn’s suggestion, after heavy snowfall revealed structural problems. (according to one site Alexander Hamilton is buried in the cemetery out back!)
Note: these photos have One World Trade Center in the background (the tallest building in the western hemisphere!) It's really hard to photograph the front of the building b/c it's tight up against the sidewalk.
This building was interesting - it's called the Pearlman Performing Arts Center (PACNYC). I went to a "Zoom" presentation on this building during covid - through the NY AIA (New York American Institute of Architects)... that was ONE good thing about Zoom -- that you could go to things that you wouldn't normally be able to travel to in person! The exterior of the building is a double-facade that has thin sheets of marble on the outside so that it looks solid (can't see out), but is beautiful at night and light "glows" through the marble in the evenings. The building was designed to be flexible on the inside so that they could change the layout for the different performances that may be within.
PAC NYC has three flexible, intimate performance spaces. Automated walls and flexible seating systems enable numerous configurations that create a range of unique experiences for audiences and artists. Pretty innovative! Here are some photos I found online when it was lit up at night.
One photo found online is also with the 9/11 memorial lit up as well as the PACNYC and the Oculus in the background lit up.
Here is my less glamorous / more sobering photo at the 9/11 memorial. There are 2 of these fountains with the victims names engraved along the low wall that surrounds each opening into the ground. The fountains share the footprint of the 2 towers that collapsed.
We left the financial district and headed to Midtown for Part 2 of our tour - taking the subway up to 5th Avenue. The original goal was to see lots of storefronts (like at Macy's), but our little one started to NOT enjoy the rest of the tour... and our goal as soon as we stepped out of the subway (up multiple flights of broken escalator "stairs") was to get her back to the car.
We programmed in the parking deck where we were parked and started our trek.
We did get to see the Christmas decoration on the outside of Cartier and the outside of Sacs 5th Avenue.
I found a photo of Sacs at night online - since we did not stick around to see it lit up.
The walk became more excruciating because she was overwhelmed by the # of people and started crying. The manageable walk was exacerbated into what felt like crowds that wouldn't move. (This was especially true at the Rockefeller Center tree) - the crowds literally did not move as everyone wanted a picture of the tree.
(Like we did... we were part of that crowd that stopped!)
There are more than 50,000 lights and a 9-foot tall 900 lb Swarovski star covered with 3 million crystals! The kids were not impressed...
One thing that was crazy that we noticed as walked from storefront to storefront: there were LINES outside of buildings to get inside. A line outside of the Nike store. A line outside of FAO Schwartz. A line outside of the M&M store. People - have you heard of online shopping?! (FAO - I get, though - it's such a cool toy store. It was on our list of places to visit before Isabella was overwhelmed and before we saw the line out the building.)
We continued. Our directions took us by Times Square - which was still a bustling city street on the 27th - 4 days before the NYC celebration. It was not yet closed off. One thing that was shocking: the "structure" that the Times Square NYE Ball is dropped from was under construction! It was a barren concrete structure that looked like it was under renovation! It was not nice at all. Oh well - that part doesn't show up on TV!
5 minutes would pass, but our walking directions, only 1 minute was gained on our 15 minute walk which seemed to have stretched into an hour. There was no subsiding her - and Mercer was so sweet - giving her his coat because she was cold. Unfortunately we ended our tour on that note, but glad that we got to expose the kids to the "bustling" city that never sleeps AND we got to see a little bit of the architecture we wanted to check out.
There were MANY other things on the list to see - but those will have to wait for another visit: Highline (which Todd & I have been to before) + seeing the Vessel - a public open-air structure / sculptural building. I thought we should take a boat ride in the harbor to see the Statue of Liberty (maybe not onto Ellis Island, but around it) and into Central Park. Hopefully we'll go at another time when the weather is better and when the city is not as crowded?!
I honestly can't imagine what it's like on New Year's Eve with the mega crowds! Ugh. It is NOT a place I would want to be at the stroke of midnight!
After we got back to Tonia's, Isabella and I stayed in the rest of the evening while everyone else went out to bowl (or tried to bowl)... the alleys were full, so they all just went to dinner. Isabella and I played a card game with Rose Marie called "Dumb Ways to Die."
The next morning, we packed up and headed back down to North Carolina. We stayed with my mom 2 more nights (getting in really late on our travel day back from NJ). We were "recovering" the next day (I was still sick at that point and it seemed that Todd picked up my cold.) We saw a movie with the kids - Todd & Mercer seeing something different than what Isabella and I went to see. Mom didn't want to see either movie, so she stayed home. Later that evening, we played a different board game called "Poetry for Neanderthals" - it was fun!
We were a bit slow to pack up and hit the road to head back to Georgia the next day, but we finally made it home! Close to 2000 miles driven. Memories were made. Experiences were had. Grateful to have had NO PROBLEMS on the road - it was our smoothest trip thus far!
Todd & I took more recovery time on the 31st / but we did eventually got motivated for staying up past midnight to ring in the New Year. I had ordered party decorations online for store pick-up. This year, I saw glow-in-the-dark decorations that looked really cool under a black light.
We transformed our dining room into a glow room,
played family games, played board games,
and ate charcuterie for dinner (using the new cheese board Todd got me for Christmas).
The REALLY cool thing about the glow-in-the-dark stuff: the LED "Edison" lights (historic looking bulbs) we have hanging above our dining room table... they GLOW when not turned on.
We made it to midnight. The fireworks went on 'til about 1 am all around us. (We went outside for awhile to watch them - there were about 4 different "shows" we could see from our front porch and they were pretty good. Really legit fireworks!)
We're eating bean, kielbasa and spinach soup this evening... and soon... we'll be back to normal - back to the grind of work and school.
This new year, I wanted to make sure to put this out into the world: I will consciously take better care of myself. That is covered in a BUNCH of different areas. Food, exercise, sleep. Those fun beauty products that I buy - I'll put those to use too. Flossing more regularly. Etc.
I did a pretty decent job last year of meditating and learning to be more present which is a goal I had set for myself... not getting as stressed out (or not letting things get to me as much) hopefully I can continue that and add the rest of the package too!
We have not asked the kids if they have any resolutions. I'll update the post if there's anything of note! But - 2024 will see some changes. Isabella will be in middle school. Mercer will be coming off of his epilepsy medicine (in hopes that he's clear for 6 months and can drive since he'll be 16!) Todd says that they'll be really busy at work this coming year.
We'll see what the year ahead holds! Hoping 2024 is a good one!
