The Willoughby Chronicles: November 2007

Friday afternoon, we began decorating the house for Christmas.
We began by decorating the Christmas tree. Of course, this required turning on Christmas music to sing along to and reminiscing about the many ornaments on our tree...

Next came the mantle and hanging our stockings with care...

Then on to the dining room...

Then I turned my attention to the breakfast table and decided which pieces of 'Tis the Season to set the table with...

I decided to hang the kissing ball from the breakfast area chandelier this year...

I then decorated the rest of the breakfast area...

Then moved to Ma's tea cart...

Then the island...

Then the kitchen counters...

And I had to find a place for the Christmas spreaders...

Then I moved into the living room and began with the chest (where the Santa with the train which reminds me of Daddy was placed where it could easily be seen)...

Then on to the side table...

And the little chest where our MSU Santa found a home...

And then the coffee table (I always have to place my bunny bell, a Christmas gift from Daddy a long time ago where I can see it)...

And, of course, the bookcase needed a little dose of Christmas cheer...

Then the nativity scene was placed on the entryway piece so that it would be the first thing we see as we enter our home...

Then the rest of the entryway was decorated...

Bully needed a Christmas bow...

Charles gave me an early Christmas present...a Goebel kissing ball (I love kissing balls) which we hung in the entryway...

Then, of course, the outside needed a little attention (we couldn't find our clips to make the extension cord look nice and neat, so we're headed out soon to buy some new ones)...

A small nativity scene and a few Christmas balls were placed in our bedroom, and this little tree brings Christmas to our bath...

And, of course, we couldn't neglect Toula's home...

Finally, the guest bath...

Now, I only need a poinsettia or two and a Christmas cactus which blooms (and a few more presents under the tree) and we'll be finished.

For my 30th (actually my 2nd 29th birthday), Charles took me to New York! This was back in July, the pre-blog days, so we decided to reminisce and share our memories with you...

On July 17th, we left Memphis and arrived in New York that evening.

We took a cab to our hotel, The Wellington...

Wow-we, wow-we...

After dropping off our bags, we headed out for dinner and a little exploring...
We saw Carnegie Hall and ate dinner at Carnegie Deli.

And they just happened to seat us right next to Dan Marino's photo...how appropriate!!

After dinner (the sandwiches were HUGE but delicious), we walked toward Times Square.

We saw the ESPN Zone but no sports reporters...

After joining in the bustle of Times Square for a while, we headed back toward the hotel.

The next day, was the historical day of our trip.
We took the subway to Battery Park.

From Battery Park, we caught our first glimpse of Lady Liberty.
It was raining, misting and hazy throughout the morning, but there she is in the background.

We then boarded a ferry to take us to the islands. Even though the waters were a bit choppy, the ride was exciting.

The New York skyline was behind us, and we knew we were headed toward the Statue of Liberty, the site which thrilled so many immigrants...

We deboarded the ferry and walked though the park (which was filled with interesting sculptures and plaques - especially the one outlining the symbols of Lady Liberty) until we were standing at the base of the Statute of Liberty...

Due to the rain and a flooding problem, we were not able to tour the Statue of Liberty during our first stop there, but after we returned that afternoon, we were able to; we are both glad we went back.

We climbed to the pedestal's observation deck and were able to see the skyline and Ellis Island.

We also took the tour which was very informative - our tour guide was great! We were able to see a life size replica of Lady Liberty's face (which towered over me) and the original torch...

After our first visit to the Statue of Liberty, we boarded the ferry and rode to Ellis Island.

I really enjoyed Ellis Island.
We walked around for a bit on our own and then took a guided tour, which was also informative. We toured the grounds first, learned the history of the island and saw the excavated remains of Fort Gibson. The tour then took us inside. When you first walk through the doors, you enter into the great room which was the baggage room for the immigrants. They would have had to drop off all their worldly possessions and trust that they would receive them once processed.

After dropping off their baggage, the immigrants would have proceeded to the Registry Room. While climbing the stairs and entering the room, doctors would conduct a quick 6 second inspection for any health problems. After facing a heath exam in the front of the room, they would have faced a legal exam in the back of the room.
This room was one of my favorites because you could almost fill the hopes and dreams of all of the immigrants who had waited within these walls, hoping that they would not be turned away...

Once their evaluation was complete, the immigrants would walk down the stairs of separation... Those staying in the country and staying in New York would walk down the left stairs for a ferry, those entering the country and traveling elsewhere would walk down the right stairs for a train, and those who were being detained for medical treatment or further exams and those being denied entrance into the country would walk down the center stairs.

(Actually only 2% of all immigrants passing through Ellis Island were denied entrance)

We then toured other rooms and portions of the main building on our own, and saw the changing flag...

After a full day on the islands, we returned to Battery Park and saw the Veteran's Memorial, the Immigrants sculpture and the sculpture from the World Trade Center...

This sculpture survived September 11th and was recovered from the rubble and moved to Battery Park where an eternal flame was lit as a temporary memorial. The city plans to move it back to the World Trade Center site once construction is completed.

We also saw this fun water sculpture. It was a hot day, and many kids (and adults) cooled themselves off by walking through or playing in the fountain...

After a walk through Battery Park, we walked down Wall Street.

We saw the NYSE...

And the Bull...

Then we walked to the Federal Building...

George Washington delivered his Inaugural Address from Federal Hall.

We also saw Fraunces' Tavern, where the Sons' of Liberty met...

We then walked down Broadway and saw the CBS Studios...

After all that walking, we needed some energies, so we stopped for some New York style pizza at Famous Original Ray's...

We also stopped for some New York Style cheesecake and then a little more exploring and back to the hotel...

The next day (my birthday) began in Times Square where we caught the double decker bus...

The bus took us all over downtown.

We saw the Chrysler Building...

The flatiron building...

Columbus Circle...

Willoughby's...

the building from Ghostbusters...

the Unites Nations Headquarters...

a fence filled with tiles created by school kids after 9/11...

and Rockefeller Center, where we got off the bus...

We went to the Top of the Rock...

and saw a bird's eyeview of the City.

We saw the plaza...

and NBC Studios (although we were too late to see Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann)...

We then headed back to Central Park where we had lunch at Tavern on the Green...

We dined in the rich, wooden room which looked out on this outside view...

We then strolled through Central Park ...

to Tiffany & Co.

I spent my birthday at Tiffany's!
My special present from Mama was money for a bracelet, so I had a pretty little Tiffany Blue box to open on my birthday!!

We then explored a little more...

We then went back to the hotel for a little rest and heard about the huge steam pipe exploding. I recently heard that the man who was burned so badly had survived and was much improved.

For my birthday evening, Charles arranged for us to have dinner at Gallagher's...