Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade & Dinner

This year Pat and I decided to be the ultimate tourists and to make sure we did all the NYC touristy things around the holidays. Last year, I was a bit of a bah-hum-bug and never wanted to put forth the effort and brave the crowds for those infamous New York celebrations. 

One such event, is the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Last year, I didn't want to wake up early and get seats for the parade, so we ended getting to the parade just as Santa passed by. Pat was very depressed that he missed it all, so I vowed we would do it the following year. I am proud to say I follow through with my promises, even if it does mean waking up at 4:45am on Thanksgiving morning. I don't feel like there are many things in life that warrant waking up before 5am; however, I am glad to say the Thanksgiving Parade is one of those exceptions. 

We claimed our seats by 5:45am, with our friends, Tommy and Amanda, when there were only a handful of people on the street. We kept ourselves warm, happy, and full by eating breakfast sandwiches and drinking hot cocoa. 

The time actually went by really quickly in the wee morning hours as we watched the sun rise above central park and the city. 

As the sidewalks fill with people and the parade was set to start any minute, Pat decides he needs to go to the bathroom. He has been holding it for a few hours and he can't bare it any longer. So minutes before the parade begins Pat has no choice but to leave and find a bathroom, no easy feat in NYC, let alone Thanksgiving morning. With the crowds of people I really didn't think Pat would ever be able to make it back in time. I couldn't believe that Pat was going to miss the parade for the second year in a row!

Niel Diamond was by far the most entertaining celebrity on a float.
He was singing and dancing with his old man dance moves
as he filmed the crowd from his own personal camera. I loved that
he was so excited to be on a float that he was documenting it himself!

I was really excited to see Scotty McCreery. He was one of our favorites last season on American Idol. 

Fully expecting not to see Pat until the parade was over, I watched the first hour of the parade feeling so sad for Pat that he was missing all the action. Finally, by some miracle, Pat was able to make it back to our seats, only after having to take a taxi to and back from his work over 30 blocks away. I was so happy he was able to make it for the remaining hour of the parade. 

I really couldn't believe how fun and entertaining the parade was. I really enjoyed the whole experience, especially with our friends Tommy and Amanda. I am surprised to say that I had so much fun that I would gladly do it all again next year.

After the parade I was totally exhausted. The minute I came home I jumped into bed and took a nap before our Thanksgiving dinner at our friends house, the Newmans. We volunteered to bring a few sides, mashed potatoes and yams, so I set my alarm to be able to wake up on time to make it. However, Pat being the wonderful husband he is, knowing that I was so tired, did it all himself! When I woke up, he told me to go back to bed and that he was already taking care of it! I couldn't believe, that was by fat the sweetest thing he could have possibly done. I didn't argue with him one bit. I just turned around and went back to bed until it was time to leave.

The dinner was amazing. However, I was so impressed with their decorations and preparations of the meal that I totally forgot to take pictures of the most important part...the PEOPLE!!!!  So sad and a major fail on my part.

Our friends, Maria and Matt, invited us to this dinner and I am so glad they did. We had such a fun time  having the a traditional Thanksgiving meal in NYC, no easy feat. We really enjoyed getting to know people we otherwise wouldn't have been able to spend time with and of course the food was amazing. 

We played a really fun game after dinner that is a tradition in the Newman family. After dinner everyone sat in a circle on the floor and each person was given three die. However, these were not normal die, but rather wooden die with a letter written on each side: J, O, and Y. A pile of candy was placed in the center of the circle, along with some big ticket items (king size candy bars). A timer was set for 60 or 90 seconds. When the time begins everyone rolling their die and tried to spell our the word "Joy." When your die spelled out the word you were able to pick a candy from the pile in the middle or take a candy from anyone else's pile. When the time ran out you got to keep any candy that is left in your pile. I know I didn't do a very good job at explaining how to play the game, but trust me, it was so much fun and I fully intend on stealing this tradition for future Thanksgivings.