Macy’s Holiday Windows 2015

This year, the Macy’s Holiday Windows feature the Peanuts gang. They tell the classic Peanuts Christmas story, with characters that move. Sometimes it’s their heads, sometimes the clouds float from the bottom to the top, and sometimes they cross from one side of the window to the other. You can also hear them narrating what’s written on the window. It’s kind of sad, but ultimately happy. And it’s ironic to see Charlie Brown lamenting Christmas being this big commercial thing – in the windows of the massive Macy’s store. See the 2015 Lord & Taylor windows here.

Macy's Peanuts windows in their 2015 display. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Macy’s Peanuts windows in their 2015 display. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

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Interesting facts about the Rockettes

After seeing the Rockettes perform, I was interested in learning more about them. Here are some fun facts:

Rockettes must be at least 18 years old by August 31 to perform that holiday season

Santa's Reindeer - the Rockettes. Photo courtesy of the Rockettes.
Santa’s Reindeer – the Rockettes. Photo courtesy of the Rockettes.

They start working late September or early October and work through December. It’s a seasonal gig. Continue reading “Interesting facts about the Rockettes”

Review: Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular With Kids

Every year we talk about going to see the Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and then we don’t get plan ahead and the tickets are too expensive. Or the reasonably priced tickets are at 9 a.m. or 10 p.m. – or on a weekday while the kids are in school. (Info on discount Rockettes tickets at the bottom). This year my husband’s company got a block of tickets and we scored with reasonably priced tickets to a weekend show, so we finally got to see the iconic Rockettes.

Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan
Radio City Music Hall Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Copyright Deborah Abrams Kaplan

This review contains spoilers. It’s also the review of someone who did not research the show before seeing it and did not grow up in this area. Think of me as someone dropped into Manhattan from far away, for the Christmas show. It’s not part of our family history and the only thing I really know about them is that the dancers have a height requirement and they do precision dancing. That’s about it. Continue reading “Review: Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular With Kids”

Giving Tuesday: Helping Others this Holiday Season

As you probably know from your mailbox (especially all those charities), today is #givingtuesday. It’s a way to call attention to helping others at this time of year. I’ll be posting many giving opportunities this month, but wanted to highlight a few for today. If these don’t work for you, consider finding some way to get your kids involved in giving today, explaining how while we’re shopping for ourselves and our loved ones, that we can take a day and think about others who may not be on our lists.

It doesn’t have to be buying things either. It can be volunteering or sending holiday cards to troops overseas. It can be baking something tasty to take to the elderly person in your neighborhood, or calling Grandma to say hi.

You can win fabulous prizes donated by sponsors like Schoola and Breathometer, as well as many others, through this contest and fundraiser. Continue reading “Giving Tuesday: Helping Others this Holiday Season”

New York City Holiday Windows – Lord & Taylor

This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Barney’s windows, Macy’s windows, Sak’s windows, Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows and Bloomingdale’s windows.

See the 2015 Lord & Taylor windows here.

For Lord & Taylor’s 2014 holiday windows, they chose a journey through the imagination, and mansions filled with creatures like mice, cardinals and other animals – plus an enchanted fairytale garden. Check it out.

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The birds are actually moving in the scene.

Continue reading “New York City Holiday Windows – Lord & Taylor”

New York City Holiday Windows – Macy’s

This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Barney’s windowsSak’s windows, Lord & Taylor windows, Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows and Bloomingdale’s windows.

Macy’s theme this year is about a boy too excited to sleep on Christmas Eve. So he takes out his telescope and sees Santa visiting other planets. So the windows revolve around planets and Santa/toys.

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Here you see Alex looking through his telescope at the night sky. The story is in the bottom part of the window.

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New York City Holiday Windows – Bloomingdale’s

This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Barney’s windows, Macy’s windows, Sak’s windows, Lord & Taylor windows, and Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows.

The Bloomingdale’s main windows  were technology focused.

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You watch the bows move around between boxes and try to figure out which one it is. And you can play online.

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NYC Holiday Windows – Barney’s

This is part of a series on New York City holiday windows for 2014. You can also see posts for Macy’s windows, Sak’s windows, Lord & Taylor windows, Bergdorf-Goodman’s windows and Bloomingdale’s windows.

Barney’s Holiday Windows

Barney’s theme is a Baz Dazzled Holiday, with windows designed by Baz Luhrmann, costume designer Catherine Martin, and Barney’s Dennis Freedman. There’s live performance in several of the windows, which we missed because they weren’t doing any on Thanksgiving (what kind of holiday spirit is that?)

To catch the live performance, see the schedule here. You can also see videos of the performances here.

Barney's exterior
Barney’s exterior

To present the windows for the first time, they had a huge live performance in front of the store, partly shutting down Madison Avenue. They even had a little ice rink out front for performers. Continue reading “NYC Holiday Windows – Barney’s”