December 29, Sunday. Today L and I have our overnight New York City trip. We got in today and will leave tomorrow afternoon.

I slept past 6am since T and I watched a movie yesterday (the Substance with Demi Moore) and went to bed kind of late.

My daughter got ready and packed her backpack first thing in the morning. She was so excited. Her backpack was super heavy so I open it, and she has everything but the kitchen sink in there! So we talked about how this trip is only for one night so many of the toys she packed are unnecessary.

We took a train in since I did not want to drive in the city during holidays.

We had to change trains at Newark Penn station and, oh my gosh, a total ZOO! We had to let one train go because we simply could not fit.

Once we got off the train at New York Penn station, passengers dispersed, and it cleared out. We walked to our hotel on West 37th street, dropped our backpacks at the reception, and went exploring. But first, lunch! L loves sushi, so we saw a sushi and co. (I think it’s a chain) next to our hotel, so why not?

After lunch we stopped by a Japanese general store, and bought a foot long candy as well as Hello Kitty cookies.

We then walked up 6th avenue to Bryant Park. The winter village was in full swing, with artisan shops selling crafts and all kids of food from around the world. I wish I could eat my way through each shop but that is not possible. We got crêpes, walked around Bryant park, popped in and out of the shops, and L rode the carrousel. I didn’t buy anything.

I could see that my daughter was getting tired because she was getting whiny and started complaining about all the walking. But we still had plenty of time before checking into our hotel. So I convinced her to go to Macy’s Herald square flagship store. I haven’t been there for years, plus wanted to see the original wooden escalator. The Christmas decor and the holiday windows were beautiful. The wooden escalator is raggedy and constantly squeaks and coughs.

On the seventh floor, we found the toy section and, of course, L wanted a giant Barbie head with rainbow hair, and barrettes, and a hair dryer, and other stuff. You can’t bring a kid to a toy section in Macy’s and not buy her anything. So we buy the giant head, and L spends the afternoon styling that head in our hotel room. Would be interesting to bring it on the train tomorrow.

We then spend an hour or so bumming around our tiny, TINY hotel room. It was booked through T’s work with points he has so it was free but, seriously, no normal size human can fit into this room. I mean it’s NYC so what can you expect. But still.

Apart from its size (that’s what she said), the room is good. And the view is amazing- Empire State Building.

At around 5, L stated she is hungry. We went to another sushi place (I know), across the street from our hotel. We shared a bunch of dishes: seaweed salad, shumai, sashimi special and a California roll. Oh, and miso soup for me. Topped everything off with a mango mochi ice cream.

Took a walk after dinner, listening to the noises and smelling the smells of a big city, and came back to our tiny room. Showers, and a few chapters of “Magic Tree House.” She was asleep within minutes.

This post is part of my personal writing challenge to document our winter break this year.