A rainbow of fresh pasta from this bundled up salesperson.

Anyone want fresh seafood from Long Island?

And someone was optimistic that a dog owner (of a big dog!!!) would want these bones.  Ya never know.  Put ’em out there.  Somebody’ll buy ’em.

And optimism extended all the way to Chinatown.  Who wouldn’t want chestnuts just so they can roast them on an open fire?

For more optimistic photos, check out the Weekly Photo Challenge: Optimistic.

And for more on New York City in December, check out our travel series: Christmas Holiday NYC. 

A mannequin in white fur and winter finery poses in the Christmas 2015 windows at Saks with a cityscape reflection in the background.

As much as we wanted to see Rockefeller Center, Central Park and the museums of NYC decorated for Christmas 2015, we placed the windows of NYC department stores at the top of our must-see list.  Magical, sparkly, elaborate — these windows were all we expected and more.  In a previous post, we showed you fanciful pastries in the windows of Lord & Taylor and told you how the endearing Peanuts characters cheered up a down-in-the-dumps Charlie Brown at Macy’s. But the windows at Saks topped even these.

This mannequin looks assertive and poised as she “walks” toward the crowd in a window at Saks Fifth Avenue. The flags are reflections from the building across the street.

Now, we must say we were taken aback at first.  Not that the Saks Fifth Avenue windows weren’t spectacular.  They were. And they were so much more.  But they weren’t what we were expecting for Christmas windows. They weren’t traditional, and that was by design.

Cakes and candelabras added to the ambience of the Winter Palace theme at Saks.

With the theme of The Winter Palace, Saks designers and decorators worked a year in advance to prepare blue-hued windows bearing sensuously posed models in icy colors of silver and white for a breathtaking, almost ethereal, wintry experience.

A sea-like mannequin floats magically above undulating waves in a Christmas window at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Mannequins floated.  Mannequins posed.  Mannequins seemed engaged in whispered conversation. But always they maintained the aura of haute couture models wearing the finest gowns, headpieces, and jewelry found at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Lighted trees on the facade of Saks Fifth Avenue

But something else crept in to my photos of these ice princesses:  the reflection of the mid-day sun.  That brightness not only spoiled any ideas I had of shooting clear pictures for readers to see; it also reflected anything that was in front of the ice palace windows onto the photos — buildings, spectators, street vendors, etc. But rather than bemoan the fact that I couldn’t get “pure” photos of the Saks windows, I enjoyed seeing what two photos in one would look like.

So here’s my favorite “wellwhathavewehere?” photo: Two sensuously posed ladies super-imposed onto a reflection of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the building across the street.  Ironic? Perhaps.  But for sure, unexpected.

Two sensuously posed models seem ironically “surrounded” by a reflection of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

For more about the windows from an article (“Saks Fifth Avenue celebrates the Holiday Palace on Fifth”) and a video of the opening celebration, you may want to check out this site. And for clear night photos of the windows, check out this post on Focal Point Styling: “Christmas in NY: The Dazzling #SaksHoliday Window Display.”

White on white, a mannequin floats atop a cloud at Saks Fifth Avenue, Christmas 2015.

Then tell us what you think.  Do you like the Saks windows?  Or do you prefer something more traditionally Christmas?

We’d love to hear from you.

–Bert and Rusha

For more on our Christmas Holiday NYC, click here.

Beautiful ironwork on the front door of The West Townhouse, NYC.

The first question we asked ourselves while considering a Christmas Holiday in NYC was this:  Can we afford to stay in the city at the busiest time of the year?  And the question remains a valid one.  In a city where real estate prices are outrageous, hotel stays can quickly wreck a travel budget.

Although we’d never experienced Airbnb, HomeAway, or any residences advertised by owners, we were game to try.  Fortunately, TripAdvisor came to the rescue.  With 192 listings for Specialty Lodging all rated by guests, TripAdvisor offered an unbelievably extensive selection.  And thus it was that we stumbled (fortunately for us!) upon The West Townhouse on the Upper West Side.

On previous trips, we’ve stayed near Times Square in a chain hotel, but never in a residential area.  But we’ve found we like the Upper West Side so much, we’ll probably return.  Not only was the apartment spacious and affordable, it was conveniently located in a quiet area, only two blocks from Central Park and NYC subways and buses.

An apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan became our home for a week in December.

An unexpected bonus of renting at The West Townhouse? Interaction with Monica, one of the owners, who “from the git-go” emailed info concerning transportation from the airport to the apartment and arrival instructions.  Biggest bonus of all? Well-marked maps for navigating the city and how to obtain a MetroCard for a week.  (Best $31.00 we spent!) She handed us a listing of area markets, restaurants, and nearby sites on the West Side most tourists relish (Think Central Park, The Dakota, and Museum of Natural History.) and then sent us to explore on our own.  Our kind of vacation.

So, for a week, we felt as if we were blending in with the locals.  (With Southern accents, we knew better, but it was fun trying.)  We walked the streets and admired the architecture and appointments of the homes in the area.  We bought fruit from stands, sipped coffee in little shops, and stopped in for a drink at a local pub.

Pros for the stay:  quiet neighborhood, helpful landlords, proximity to public transportation, kitchen for eating in, and tips on seeing the city in affordable style.

Cons — Well, there aren’t many.  Since this wasn’t our first trip to NYC, we were fine not staying near the heart of downtown action.  In fact, we liked the quiet and public transportation to the “other places” was expedient (the subway more so than the bus) and safe.  But you may have other preferences, especially if you’re headed to the city for the first time. And you may like the idea of a big hotel with breakfast on site and a ready concierge.

One bonus for an apartment stay: walking through neighborhoods, getting to know the lifestyle.

So, think about alternative housing.  And think about searching the Internet. Who says you can’t stay in NYC?!

For more information:

The West Townhouse, West 85th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, NY; http://www.westtownhouse.com/

Hope you’ll follow us along in our Travel Series:  Christmas Holiday in NYC!

We’re Southern folk in awe of the Big Apple!

Rusha and Bert