Tuesday, December 11, 2012



     HO HO HO!  Christmas came early this past weekend for me and my two best friends!  We made the annual trek to Macy*s to see the light show and the Dickens' Village.  This show is tradition for so many people in the Philadelphia area.  I grew up going to this endearing holiday tradition and I will continue to go every year until I'm a billion.  The place is kitsch to the enth degree.  AND I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!  
     So my friends and I drove over to Philly jamming all the way to B101.  After belting multiple Christmas jams, we finally arrived.  We walked into Macy*s which is the old Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia.  The Wanamaker Building was home to Philadelphia's first department store!  (History for the shopping inclined).  Macy*s is home to the Wanamaker Organ. This beautiful and historic building now houses one of the best Christmas Spectaculars in the area.  Every hour on the hour there is a musical light show that tells multiple Christmas tales including The Nutcracker.  The show is spectacular and so much fun to watch.  We missed that hour's show by 10 minutes so we lined up for Dickens' Christmas Village instead.  
     Dickens' Christmas Village is a miniature replica of animatronic figures acting out Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol.  It is adorable!!  The only thing that is not adorable is the line.  The line is about 30 minutes in length.  It does move pretty quickly and you get to walk through historic rooms in the Wanamaker Building.  These rooms are etched with gorgeous sculptures and designs.  You also get to watch Yes, Virginia, in the second of 3 holding areas.  On a side note, I always end up watching the movie from the same scene.  EVERY.  SINGLE.  YEAR.  How does this happen?  I don't know.  I think it falls under the same magical shtick that you never get to hear Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You from the beginning.  I think this is so as to keep any/all passengers I have in my car from trying to escape Madden* by any means humanly possible.  Anyway, when we finally entered the animatronic heaven, we were greeted by animatronic, slightly  extremely scary Charles Dickens, and he welcomed us to the show.  As you walk through the animatronic figures you can read a synopsis of each coordinating scene at each stop.  When Scrooge is greeted by the Ghost of Christmas Present, the little girl in front of us asked her dad who that man was.  She asked, "Is That Santa?  He's not old.  He doesn't have white hair.  But he is wearing a red suit!"  Her dad looked at her and said, "Yes!  That's Santa when he was 35."  This answer pacified the little girl and melted our hearts.  I want my husband to be the cute and to think that quickly on his feet!  ADORABLE!  
     So we finished walking through the Village and then watched the light show from the optimal viewing location:  2nd floor, dead center.  The show was great.  Even the intense PDA couple couldn't ruin this for us.  #PDAisgross.
    After we left Macy*s, we were going to go to Reading Terminal Market for the BEST pretzels/cannolis in Philly, but it was closed.  But, what to our wandering eyes should appear but Mids and Cadets fresh out of the Army v Navy game at the Linc!  Whhhaaaat a great day!  If anyone is wondering which side I'm on I will state for the record I support Navy.  I have only good things to say about Navy and the Mids.  Plus, the uniforms are way better.  You would be surprised though, three different girls, three very different opinions about which uniform is better.  Anyway, Navy won for the 11th straight year in a row.  Bravo Zulu Navy!  
     Next, we went to Geno's.  Parking at Geno's is the only draw back to the experience.  We ended up parking on what can only be described as a Christmas Street.  Lights hanging across the street, beautiful decorations in every window, greenery and garland hanging from the doorways and windows.  Exquisite.  It put us in the Christmas mood.  Geno's is the greatest place in the city.  You can not get a better steak anywhere in the world.  Plus the people watching is second to none.  Plus there were tooooons of hot Mids there.  All the more reason to enjoy our dinner!  We congratulated several Mids on the win and ate our steaks and fries (for me).  It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!  
      This was the best way to put all of us in a Christmasy mood.  It was also the perfect distraction from studying for finals and writing term papers.  

     So spread a little Christmas cheer and visit Charles Dickens' Christmas Village because it will instantly brighten your day!

My two besties!

 Cutest Village
Kate & me

Lights Show!


xoxo  Er
 *Madden Rowse is the name of my beloved car.

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