The day after Christmas, my sister and I hit SoHo, which is not represented in any of the images on this blog. We were too busy taking advantage of any after-holiday sale to be concerned with taking pictures. We were also too cold to take our hands out of our gloves, and it is impossible to hit the right itty-bitty camera buttons while mittened-up.

The next day--which I believe was even colder--the sis and I met up with some family friends (The Sparrow's) at the temple and they took us up to their house in West Point, NY. The last time I was there was Thanksgiving 2006, but it was Andrea's first time, so Brenda gave us both a tour of the sights of that amazing miliatry academy. Our first stop was the West Point Chapel. The building is quite lovely, but on sunnier days it is even more beautiful when the sunlight shines through the stained glass windows.


I was thoroughly impressed with the way the hymnals were lined up so perfectly.

After walking around Trophy Park--a park lined with cannons and guns from all American conflicts, we warmed up back at the Sparrow's house. The kids got a Wii for Christmas, so we had some friendly bowling, tennis and golf competitions. I am not good at sports in any way, shape, or form EXCEPT the Wii form. I actually connected with the tennis ball, broke 100 in bowling and WON the golf game. Thanks to Wii, I can feel like an athelete. In a way.


I must admit, Andrea and I didn't do too many touristy activities because 1) I did have to do some work and 2) I have that annual holiday desire to make more cookies than the entire population of New York can consume in one holiday season. Or something like that. We did go see Mary Poppins. (Thankfully, since the tickets were for the 19th of December and we went on the 20th of December. Many happy thanks to the box office of Mary Poppins for changing the tickets!!!) We also saw the Christmas windows, Times Square, Bryant Park, the tree at Rockefeller Center, Chinatown and Sugar Sweet Sunshine. Hey, that's not too bad. We did a lot of stuff in between batches of Cream Wafer Cookies. But I still felt that she needed to see more of the city, so we took the Staten Island Ferry to see the city from the outside.

The ferry was very crowded with passengers pressed against the windows trying to get a glimpes of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Just like or immigrant forebears. The only difference: this boat had a snack bar...and we already live in the United States. We didn't stay on Staten Island very long. Like most of the passengers on the boat, upon arrival we got back on another ferry to get back to Manhattan.

The Staten Island Ferry is free, and thus the best way to see the Statue of Liberty.

I felt a little bad for my sister, when she asked what was available for dinner, I sheepishly offered grilled soy cheese sandwiches or scrambled eggs. I just didn't shop very well before she arrived. So I had to make sure we ate at some of my favorite places. The first restaurant we visited was Peanut Butter & Company. Next we had brunch at The Popover Cafe, followed by a cupcake at Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Chipotle (I know it's a chain, but the burritos are pretty tasty), and The Chip Shop.

Uncle Bruce, take a look at this picture. This alone, to me, signifies that The Chip Shop is better than A Salt & Battery. The fish was actually better seasoned and crispier. And the chips were quite tasty.

Andrea ventured beyond the world of fish and chips and had the chicken and mushroom pie. She said it was good. I wouldn't know because I don't eat food that contain fungi.

This only added to the holiday weight gain.

Since we enjoyed our trip to Mary Poppins, Andrea and I decided to win lottery tickets for Wicked. We stood in the cold for quite some time and did not win. Instead, we went to the movies and watched that National Treasure movie. It entertained, but I look forward to the next Indiana Jones.

Andrea had one top goal (besides a Broadway play) for her trip to the city: a visit to the local ASPCA shelter. I didn't realize beforehand that many people actually wanted to visit the animal shelter here in the city. I appears that my sister is really the only one who has such locations on her tourism to do list. She does like Animal Planet rescue shows. We watched a lot while she was here. Sadly, the address we obtained from Google directed us to an interior design building and not the ASPCA. So we looked at the dogs and cats online. They had a lot of cute animals, so it is probably a good idea that I didn't make it to the shelter. Otherwise I would have a lot of new, furry roommates.

So we went to Bloomingdales, where I proceeded to turn into a cranky New Yorker and told off a lady who refused to keep moving once she got off the escalator. We looked at some expensive shoes and went to Macy's. Even though Macy's is a store I generally avoid, I thought Andrea would enjoy looking at the original escalators. They freaked me out the first time I saw them, but Andrea was only mildly entertained by the attraction. I hoped to spend my Macy's gift card, but I couldn't decide between Martha Stewart stuff or tights, so I left empty-handed.

The last restaurant we ate at is a charming place called Alice's Tea Cup. We had to wait for about an hour for a seat, but it was worth the wait. In hindsight I should have put our name on the list before we left the house. Ooops. I'll remember to do that for my next guests. For our meal, we decided to have the Mad Hatter Tea service for two, which contained three tasty scones, two sandwiches, an assortment of cookies and two pots of herbal tea. It certainly is a lot of food, and we were mighty stuffed afterward.

We had pumpkin, lemon gingerbread, and goat cheese and basil scones.

We actually didn't eat the cookies. Probably because we had sufficient cookies at home.

The yummy caramel flavored rooibos herbal tea.

After our afternoon tea, we took a nice, refreshing walk in Central Park--something I actually don't do often enough.

Aah, the lovely buildings along Central Park West. Someday, when I grow up I should like to live there...because they have the best views of the Thanksgiving Parade.

Probably our best self-photo. I think it is because I am wearing my Sunday MAC liquied eyeliner.

A view of the bag Andrea picked up in Chinatown.

The Bethesda Fountain which was actually not fountaining anything at the moment. I guess the park turns off the water during cold weather.

Since we ate at Alice's Tea Cup, we felt that we should visit the Alice in Wonderland statue in the park. It started to rain, so we didn't stay too long. I am not sure what the glowing orb is in my hand.

Andrea left the following morning, and I must admit, I was a little choked up to see her go. I wasn't sure we would have such a good time together, but I really enjoyed myself. It was really nice to have a guest. Hint, hint, hint.