From New York With Love!

From Alysa:
The holidays in New York are always exciting and very manic. For me, it’s always a mix of taking it all in and staying within an arm’s reach of the madness! I like to make one single jaunt to Midtown to see the festive holiday windows at big box department stores and the large Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, but other than that, my favorite holiday experience is taking in the smell of my local evergreen sidewalk salesperson steps away from my apartment. This year, here are a few things about the holidays I am loving:

Jewels by JAR

Very few things scream holiday like diamond encrusted works of art set in a dimly lit palace-feeling room of the MET with throngs of visitors.

Everyone in New York (and in the jewelry world in general) is abuzz about JAR! For those of you who don’t know, JAR is the nickname of renowned jewelry designer Joel A. Rosenthal. Jewels by JAR, which is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until March of 2014, features more than 400 exquisite pieces of jewelry.

The jewelry simply drips in the most beautiful materials imaginable. JAR’s work is intricate sculpture meets flawless one of a kind stones meets precise artistry. JAR’s atelier is on the Place Vendome in Paris, across from the Ritz, and appointments are highly sought after. After feasting over this exhibit, it’s no wonder!

A personal favorite at Jewels by JAR

Rolf’s

Rolf’s = Christmas. I had heard about this place for a while but didn’t quite understand how dressed up Rolf’s gets for the holidays until I went to have a drink with some friends.

There is something over the top festive (and almost a tiny bit hokey!) about this restaurant and bar that puts me in a party mood (you would be too if you saw its thousands of little lights). The bar’s frequenters are part happy hour crowd, part Christmas fanatics. If you’ve never been, you should make a pit stop there soon! 

Rolf's is brimming with holiday cheer between Nov-Jan!

Chelsea Market

This massive emporium of yummy food and gifts really shows off during the holidays. Little twinkle lights in all corners, the smell of fresh cappuccinos and iced cookies, and the excited faces of tourists new to the city light up my life year round, but especially during the holidays.

There are so many little shops worth checking out, and you won’t leave without getting at least a couple of snacks. My favorites are the little cookies at Sarabeth’s, the tacos at Los Tacos No. 1 (they are almost as good as the ones I eat when in Texas), the full lobsters from the Lobster Place, and the wake-me-from-the-dead coffee at Ninth Street Espresso.

The signature clock and holiday lights at Chelsea Market.

For Next Year:

The holiday season has come and almost gone, and a few of my festive bucket list items still didn’t get scratched off the list. Next year, I’m going to make sure to take a trip to the Dyker Heights lights in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, made famous by the PBS documentary “Dyker Lights”. Can you believe I have also never seen the Nutcracker and Rockettes? I’m not sure how that’s possible as, by now, I'm almost a New Yorker, but I’ll definitely be hitting that next year too!

I've never seen so many holiday lights and can't wait to visit!