Only in New York

There are some experiences that one can only have in New York. I have been fortunate to have several in the last couple of weeks.

Last weekend Esther and I went to the Morgan Library for the Babar exhibit. The Morgan is a beautiful Mansion in midtown that is now a museum. The permanent library is worth seeing and there are always special exhibits. The currently have an exhibit on John Milton's Paradise Lost but I must confess we went to see Babar.

There were galleries filled with different illustrations of Babar. Babar was one of my favorite books growing up. It was especially fun to see this with Esther since she gave me my first Babar book.

After touring the museum and gift shop, we had lunch at the cafe. There were performers dressed up as Christmas Carol characters. We were harassed several times. Esther did have to "beat" Bob Cratchet or he would get fired.

We then headed to the Chelsea Market for baking supplies. Chelsea Market is this tucked away building near the meatpacking district. Several bakeries, restaurants, food stores, and shops are housed there. We then headed to Esther's for a night of holiday baking and enjoying Asian Fusion take out.

Last week, Sandy, Terry, and I saw the premier of a Garrison Keillor documentary. We then enjoyed sushi and Soba Napon. I also learned that Terry speaks Japanese.

This weekend I enjoyed some (mostly window) shopping in SoHo. I then met up with Justin for beers at Burp Castle. I finally got to try Hebrew (the chosen beer) which was shockingly good. We then went to Cafe Odessa for soup and sandwiches. Tasty.

Later in the weekend I met friends for Brunch at Cafe Elmo. We then went to the Bust Craftacular Fair. This year I got to talk to Amy Sedaris whom I love!

The weekend ended with seeing the lights at Grand Army Plaza. :)

Bernstein and Turkey

Well it is that time of year in the Big Apple again. The department store window displays are up, the hot dog vendors are selling chestnuts, and my students are freaking out about finals. Oh yes there is a bustle that no words can describe.

A couple of weeks ago I did enjoy some Leonard Bernstein related activities. Leonard Bernstein would be 90 years old this year so the city is doing lots of celebrations around him and his work. I took Esther to the Paley Center for Media for "An Evening of Leonard Bernstein". Theater greats such as Phylis Newman, Donna Murphy, and Beth Fowler were there. They also had original cast members of West Side Story and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the audience. Esther and I find it funny that we love some of these events because we are often the youngest two in attendance. There was only one other person from my generation in the audience but since John Gallagher Jr. has a TONY and I don't, I can't quite count us in the same group.

Later that week Esther took me to ENCORES for On the Town. The dancing was incredible. ENCORES is a neat program where they revive former Broadway shows but only for six performances. Many of the actors may be performing another show on Broadway during this run so their understudies will have a chance to be on stage for a couple weeks. Andrea Martin was the big name celebrity of this show but I recognized actors I had seen over the past years in "Legally Blonde", "A Catered Affair", and "Spamalot".

Last week the majority of the Rosenberg clan were in Florida, celebrating Thanksgiving at Esther and Michael's. It was a very relaxed vacation which included plenty of pool/gym time, window shopping in Delray Beech, and spending time with the family.

So I am now back at home and trying to get everything caught up during these last 3 weeks of school.