I spent Thanksgiving with my East Coast family for the first
time this year in Connecticut at my Grandparents house. It was just as it should be with much
laughter, catching up, teasing, eating, and general merriment. I also was able to briefly meet up with a
friend in Boston whom I have not seen since my Costa Rica days! Kasey and I
wandered around Quincy Market downtown and chatted about the overall
ludicrisity that is the holiday season and our future travel plans to Africa
(someday, someday…).
As you all know I had to postpone
my journey to New York City, as I would have arrived in the immediate wake of
Sandy’s chaos. So when I reached Maine I
bought Amtrak tickets for the first weekend in December to visit the glitzy
city and was lucky enough to have a travel buddy! I set Charlie up with a wonderful babysitter
(thanks Therese!!) while I got to stay at my Aunt Sally’s adorable apartment in
Chelsea and spent time with my cousin Liz, who took me out to Indian food and
brought me up to speed on all the wonderful things she is doing in her life. My good friend Jason (see previous New
Orleans blog) met me in the Big Apple and we crammed the whole city into three
action packed days. It was quite the
tailspin I must say and we had a ball!
We started
on Friday when he arrived and made a rough plan over sushi and miso soup and
that afternoon our first adventure took us along the Highline and all the way
down to Battery Park. We stopped at the
World Trade Center Memorial and to take a photo of the far off Statue of
Liberty, which we could not visit due to Hurricane Sandy damage (DAMN
HER!). 
We strolled down Wall Street past
all the fancy day traders in suits on their cigarette breaks to the New York
Stock Exchange and then met Sally and Liz for dinner at a really great Afghan
restaurant.
Saturday morning Jason and I were
up and running early starting with a pancake breakfast at Le Champignon. When we had our fill we braved the confusing
subway maze to Time Square and played tourists in the M&M World Store and Rockefeller
Plaza, followed by a ride up to Top of the Rock. We spent the early afternoon wandering the bizarre
yet intriguing halls of the Museum of Modern Art and chatted about what is
considered “real art” over enormous slices off greasy pizza for lunch. We
headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge just as it was getting dark and walked the
beautiful lit up city streets back to Chelsea where we polished off the night
with more Indian food. Phew!!!
Sunday was seemed ever more hectic
than its predecessor as we started the morning with a great run in Central Park
followed by a Dim Sum lunch in Chinatown. When we had stuffed ourselves to the brim with egg rolls and green tea we
hurried off to Carnegie Hall were we watched a performance by the MET
Orchestra. It was beautiful and the music
was lovely but let me just say they do not give you even one extra inch of room
in those balcony seats! The chairs are so small! That evening we met one of Jason’s coworkers,
Gabby, for burgers at a great place called 5 Napkins, which serves amazingly unique
hamburgers (a chicken mushroom burger in my case) and fantastic homemade
guacamole. When I got back to Sally’s that
night we watched her favorite TV show called Homeland and called it a day!
Monday was slightly sad as Jason
and I went for one last stroll around the Chelsea Piers to say farewell to the
famous city and say our goodbyes before heading to the train station. New York City is a special place that seems
to have a strange effect on people. The
longer one stays to visit the more one never wants to leave its crowded streets
or its cramped apartments. The whole
city was light up for the holidays and we passed several holiday street fairs
on our daily walks. It was magical and
really put me in the Christmas spirit!
On a
different note, as most of you know by now (because news in this family spreads
like wildfire!) I have been offered a job as an English teacher at a Chinese
high school in Ningbo! I am very excited
to say I leave in two weeks and will be overseas for a full calendar year;
which is ready to be filled with visitations from all of you!! The next few
weeks will be crazy and once I am settled in my new place I will send out my
address. The blog will continue as usual
(I know it’s hard to imagine life without it right ;), so wish me and Charlie luck as we prepare for this next
chapter and I hope to chat with you all a bit before I leave! (Sorry the font is kinda messed up in this blog, I don't know what happened)
Well, when I found out I was going to be in McCall for Christmas, things really kicked in gear around the MacNichol household. We got out all the decorations and Mom and I commandeered a tree from the neighbors back yard (shhh) and dressed it up with lots of lights and ornaments so no one would recognize it! We spent three whole days baking holiday treats (and much time eating them) before Neil got home from OSU and had wrapping paper all over the house for days. It snowed like crazy and I was able to bust out my old skate ski's and take Charlie for a spin! He sure loves to ski, but his tiny paws get snow burn before too long, hence the fanny pack. Don't scoff. He loves it. 
The girls came over for a movie night a while back, and I was reminded how much I love them! We ate snacks and watched Twilight and caught up on our lives; what a treat! I even got to attend a Christmas party this year with my friend Jeremy, where there was so much good food I thought I'd be stuffed for weeks! We played pool (and I won...both games ;), listened to Holiday music, chatted with his co-workers, and I even got to wear my Santa hat!
My good friend Jason flew out on the 23rd for a visit and to do some skiing! Now, Jason is from the Midwest and has Chihuahua named Shelby who looks just like Charlie who came for Christmas too! Can you tell who is who in their little elf costumes?! Jason and Shelby had never seen a good old fashion Idaho winter before, and by the time he left four days later we had him involved in every snow adventure we could think of!!! We went skate skiing, snow shoeing, downhill skiing, AND ice skating, all of which were a first for him. He did great at all of them; sadly, I have discovered I am a terrible ski instructor. But he claimed to enjoy himself through all the falling and getting up, and getting burried and getting stuck. What a good sport. John took him on an air tour of McCall in the Supercub and we even went to Cascade to watch The Hobbit, which I loved even though it was a 3 hour film! Thanks for coming Jason!!! It was great even if I did essentially push you down a mountain with slippery sticks strapped to your feet. You Rock!! :D
Other than that, things have been pretty low key around here. I am studying like a mad-woman to complete my TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) for my new job. I am nearly done thank-goodness, because I am ready to get my butt in gear and head to China!! Packing for Charlie and I has been difficult because I want to bring too much stuff and trying to plan for a whole year is overwhelming!! Also, I am so excited about the whole ordeal I can hardly focus on anything!! I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and CONGRATULATIONS to my Cousin Ross and his new fiance Sara!! Happy New Year everyone!!! May 2013 be as wonderful as 2012!! xoxoxo
