It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

One of my favorite things to do at holiday time is check out the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. My freshman year of college was the only year I attempted going to see the tree lighting. I have fond memories of that excursion. I'll share it with you now.

Some of the 4th Floor girls had planned on going. Somehow, our large group of 8 or so ended up being split off into a couple of smaller groups, because I really only remember hanging with my good friend Kathleen. It was pouring rain.

And I mean buckets.

We walked everywhere. We thought we had left with enough time to spare, but i guess arriving in Manhattan at 5pm for a 9pm lighting isn't really enough time. We were both soaked through, and in between getting rained on, trying to avoid barricades, and crushing on hot policemen, we heard the crowd at Rockefeller Plaza start the countdown. Everyone on the street though (we were just a block or two away) was also counting down, and the feeling was infectious. We counted as well, laughed along at the whole situation before heading to a Starbucks because we were so cold.

We decided to do our own lighting. which required walking right to an adjoining building of the plaza, closing our eyes, and counting down from five while we took a few steps forward. We opened our eyes at ONE - and saw the tree for the first time.

When life hands you lemons, right?

I saw the tree with friends all four years of college - and all were memorable experiences. Especially that first year, and then the following year, 2001, when all the lights were Red, White and Blue. Junior year was a nice group trip, and Senior Year was the icing on the cake, when the day we decided to see the tree, it snowed.

But the Plaza isn't just home to the tree. Lining the gardens are these angels. All lit up and trumpeting their horns. And in the background, Saks Fifth Avenue - with giant lit snowflakes, that put on their own musical show every few minutes.

So while the hubub is all about the tree, there are plenty of other things to see (especially when there are 100 or so tourists in your way).

discarded furniture

I'm a fan of new furniture. I'm actually in the market for a new coffee table. But there's something about looking at an old piece of furniture that grounds you. Makes you wonder about the history of the piece, and then in turn, the history of the pieces in your own home. About the oldest thing I own is an over sized arm chair and ottoman that I purchased at a garage sale for 50 bucks. What was its life before it started anew in my home? According to the man who sold it to me, his adorable dog made it his home. Which probably means no one sat on it much, save for the dog. I vacuumed and Febreezed that thing so often the first couple of weeks I had it.

But I do know of several pieces that hold history. And if they could talk, they'd probably tell tales of children who sat on their feet (instead of on their behinds), of spilled milk and boiling hot pans with no pot holders.

It's good to sit back and wonder about your history every once and a while. I'd like to think the pieces in the above photograph had an interesting life. I took this while doing work for the Clockwork Theater's first production, True West. The theater that housed them was on the Lower East Side, and in the "courtyard" behind the building was all of this discarded furniture. Who knows which accomplished NYC actors and actresses may have called these pieces "props" in their heyday. Or maybe, they haven't been there all that long, and I'm just feeling sentimental. Yeah, that's probably it.