"Ladies and Gentlemen: The Beatles!!!"

In New York City, even the Beatles are alive and on stage again! At least on Broadway. Our annual "Pre Christmas" event turned to be kind of nostalgic this year. 

We started the day with a Beatles show ( so much fun!!!) and continued with a visit at the Library to see the original Winnie The Pooh and his best friend Piglet (and all the others). 

And we paid respect to the Christmas Tree at the Rockefeller Center, of course ( and to the Lego shop next by, ha,ha). The Highlight of the Christmas season. 

What could be better than New York City at Christmas time?! In moments like this I still cannot believe that I live here...

Our German - American 1st Advent

The German part -  it's us and the German Christmas Market in our town. The American part -  it's our friends visiting us and the traditional Christmas tree hunt at a local farm. In one word: we had a very merry weekend! 

It all started with a dinner at The Black Forest Inn on Friday, where my husband enjoyed (finally) his German Bratwurst and Bier. 

We continued the German event at the Christmas Market, buying tons of "Lebkuchen" and drinking "Gluwein"with our friends. 

But the highlight of the seasons came on Sunday. We all went to hunt for the best Christmas tree... and found one! ( The real challenge was, as usual, to put it in the stand...ha,ha). 

The reward came afterwards in form of a real German afternoon coffee time with the lightning of one candle on our Christmas wreath. 

Even Jakob showed real Christmas spirit. He was selling Christmas wreathes with his Scout troop and played saxophone at the Christmas school concert ( personally, my absolute highlight!!).

Maybe it's not New York but the Christmas tree in our town could almost be mistaken for that one at the Rockefeller Center...

Thanksgiving 2012

We gave thanks, once again... My list is long, but at the end it comes down to one point: I'm thankful for all the people I love.  

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite (gladly adapted) American holidays. Not just because it makes me realize, once again, there is a lot I need to be thankful for. It also gives us an excuse to gather together with our friends and just enjoy each other and all the good food.

Traditions

Inside: Thanksgiving decoration. Outside: the Christmas lights. That's how it looks in and outside of our house right now! 

We're getting ready for our Thanksgiving celebration on Thursday, but also preparing for the start of the holiday season the day after. The Black Friday. Off to the shopping malls with Christmas music..! What may the indians and the pilgrims think about this tradition?!

Good choice, America!

We've got power back just on time to watch Obama winning the presidential election. What a timing! I wouldn't like to miss it! 

Olaf and I also enjoyed our  traditional "victory drink" at Midnight - the same procedure as 4 years ago. 

I cannot believe it's already "our" second presidential election here... though still just from the side line.

The true American spirit

I've got this pin button from a women at our local store.

And, walking through the neighborhood today I saw people putting Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations at their houses, even we still don't have power... That's the true American spirit!

Sandy...

That's what Sandy did to our neighborhood...

We still don't have power. Our new generator could work better, if there would be enough gasoline... Olaf waited for 2,5 hours at the gas station in the morning. School are still closed.

Still, I think, for us there is a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

We're all right

Hurricane Sandy hit us hard. We spent the night in the basement listening to the noise of trees crashing around us. The hurricane sounded like a train passing by, for hours. Thank God, none of the huge trees fell on our house. We were lucky. Some of our neighbors were not.

There is no power and the cell doesn't work either, but our generator is running. The question is for how long, because the gas stations are closed (most of the roads too). We will see. But we are fine for now, though still in shock. 

Sandy the "Stormaggedon"

It's a joke, right??! A repeat of Halloween 2011?! A "stormaggedon" with the cute name Sandy heading towards the US East Coast,  bringing possibly not just damaging winds but also snow??! The kids will not be happy to miss their favorite holiday again... Really???

Our neighbors are already checking their generators. Thank God, we can join them this year. Yes, we are all hooked up and ready for the power outage... 

Let's hope that the media is making it bigger than it is. As if we would not have enough excitement with the upcoming election! Funny, CNN election coverage is titled for weeks now: "Battleground America".  Really???

Scary times

No, it's not the economy and it's not the upcoming presidential election ( though the outcome could be scary too...). It's Halloween...soon! Get your costume now! 

Most prefer something frightening, my boys like it silly and funny.

But there is something more scary in suburban New Jersey than the decorations. The Leaves! Yes, tons of them, right in our front yards. The disadvantage of our gorgeous Indian Summer...

So, let's enjoy the walk and the decorations, as long as you can. Scary!!!

Again an American Scout event

Jakob achieved the "Tenderfoot" rank. Congratulations, honey!

It's pumpkin time!

My absolute favorite season since living in the USA is the Indian Summer. It's the time when the sky is blue but the air is crisp. It's the time when the trees look like they are on fire. You can only experience it here. It's the orange time! 

Now is the time to go to visit the farms! We did it last weekend, together with our friend. Even Jakob had fun (how convenient that there was a costume store too, right on time for Halloween...).

Finally, it's the time of great expectations: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas time are just around the corner!

No fun...

"Just don't have any fun without me!" - Jakob's advice before leaving for his scout camping trip over the weekend. As parents, we always do what our son wants. And we really tried sooo hard not to have fun in the city...without success!

ps. And we even had time for some random thoughts (it's updated!)...

Window with a view

Visiting a friend in Jersey City I enjoyed this magnificent view from her apartment at the Hudson river! It seemed almost as I could reach over to Manhattan... Could you imagine to wake up with this view?!

To be a kid...

...and play in the back yard paradise of our friends (swings and trampoline included), the next school day far away! That is what I was thinking watching our kids swinging, jumping and fighting with light sabers. What could be better than having fun with your friends! Maybe having a drink with them...ha,ha 

Thanks Tracey and Tom!

At the US Open

Yes, we were there! And watched Andy Roddick leaving for his retirement... He lost his last game against Del Porto but not the love of the people at the court. It was very emotional, not just for him. So, though I was kind of disappointed not to see Roger Federer, this (final game for Roddick) had a special touch. Especially Jakob was very proud to witness the retirement of a tennis star. 

Surprisingly we were not a little bit disappointed to watch the women play...ha, ha. Jakob even meant their game was faster and more interesting than the mens game. What a compliment! But he was less impressed by the noise they made while playing...

Anyway, another great event in my favorite city!

Ready for the Junior High?

I prefer the name Middle School. It sounds more like something between the Elementary and the High School, there is still some time left to "grown up"... 

I am not ready for the High School, not yet. But I am sooo ready for the school to start again! It's today!

Mission impossible

The lazy days are almost over, at least for Jakob. There will be no more playing with legos for the whole day, no more changing from his pajama for dining out only, no more spending the afternoons with his friends and with light saber fights and no more staying up late (!). The school starts on Thursday, in his case the Middle School.

We survived the orientation day this week and got even "mission impossible" accomplished: to open the locker (all new students nightmare). He is trying to organize his room chaos now, so he can find his clothes, and to clean up his desk - another "mission impossible". But most of all he needs to learn to work again, after almost three months vacation: double "mission impossible"...

I heard something very funny on tv this week: "It's the most wonderful time of the year...for the parents when the kids get back to school! ha, ha.

Olaf and I were already practicing to adjust to this time: with a visit in Eataly in NYC!