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We have always had a sneaking feeling that our moms would get along like a house on fire. We have been plotting to get them together for some time, and finally, on a cold (and sometimes rainy, damn it, because it always rains when Elizabeth are in NY together, whether alone or with other friends) Saturday, it happened. The last time Elizabeth and I went to NYC (to see Avenue Q) we had no plan. None. We blithely flitted up on the train with a lunch plan (Peanut Butter & Co.) and little else. No map (I know the city fairly well, but a map is damn handy), no dinner plan, nothing. (We also managed to completely screw up on the subway and miss our train home and had to wait a very very long time for another one, but that's another story.) So I thought, here's something new: let's go to NYC and have a plan! I devised one in the shower and presented it to Elizabeth, who heartily approved. We drove rather than take the train. It was cheaper (it's over $40 a person round trip if you add up all the fares; with three of us splitting all the costs of driving, it was more like $20 apiece). Because we were driving, we could leave when we wanted and go home when we wanted and we didn't have to haul any possibly heavy purchases on the train. (This driving part ended up being a good idea except for the part where some idiot in a huge car parked across from me in small car parking at Port Authority and, in order to get into the space, actually hit the front of my car AND LEFT THEIR CAR THERE. I never would have noticed the tiny little dent if they hadn't done that. Idiot. Of course it's not worth paying the deductible to have it fixed, but I did leave them a nasty note.) We met Elizabeth's mom at the Union Square Holiday Market and had a terrific time exploring it at length and oohing and aahing over much prettiness.
We also bought some very attractive hats, as you can see. ($12!) My mom bought Greg some Axis of Evil finger puppets. (While I was at this market over Thanksgiving, I bought him the Disappearing Civil Liberties Mug. Pour in hot water, watch the Bill of Rights vanish!) I drooled over an entire stand of Artafacts jewelry (and am now kicking myself, realizing how good the prices were). After shopping ourselves starving (we did buy cookies from the farmers' market for sustenance), we got in a cab and headed down to that great Thanksgiving weekend discovery, Caracas Arepa Bar. After a bit of a wait, arepas were enjoyed by all. Then we had a wander through St. Marks before catching another cab uptown so we could go see the Big Tree. (Somehow my mother has lived 54 years, most of them on the East Coast, and never seen the Big Tree.) We crammed our way into the masses of holiday neckcraners and while we were waiting to be swept along the walkway in Rockefeller Center in order to get a closer look at the tree, this really cool thing happened. During the holiday season, Saks has this light show on the outside of their building every fifteen minutes. "Carol of the Bells" plays while huge snowflakes light up in all kinds of patterns. It is really lovely to watch. We stood and watched the whole thing, and would have watched it again if we had been in the area when it replayed.
It was so much fun. Holiday sparkles; my mom; one of the dearest friends I have ever had. Arepas. Shopping. Cookies. The only thing the day needed to be perfect was cupcakes; we won't leave that part out next time. It is a tradition; we have decreed it so.
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Last Saturday I went on what will hopefully be the first in an annual series of pre-Christmas NYC visits with my mom, 
We saw the tree, did a little window shopping, and said goodbye to Elizabeth's mom (she had a two hour train ride ahead of her). We went into Tiffany's and gawked at all the pretty things and eventually headed to dinner. Then it was off to Times Square (I needed to get something from Virgin for Greg) where we did some more touristy gawking (I can't help it; I love Times Square) before heading for the car and home.